“September Is A Month For Remembering”

“September Is A Month For Remembering”

By Elaine Voci, Life Cycle Celebrant

September is a wonderful month with cooler temperatures that are pleasing, and, for many of us, with fond memories of going back to school with a new lunchbox, a new back pack, and a fresh chance to learn new things.  It is also a month with two special holidays that involve remembering: Native American Day, and Grandparents Day.

Since 1968, when Governor Ronald Reagan signed a resolution, the fourth Friday in September has been a holiday dedicated to honoring and celebrating Native Americans, the Native American culture and the contributions that Native Americans have made to the United States. 

On this special day cultural events are held, such as pow wows, to celebrate our indigenous Americans with dancing, music, singing, and socializing at markets that feature special foods and conversations that help us all remember the contributions of our earliest settlers.  Where I live, our native arts museum hosts a special day with food, music, tribal dancing and ceremonial garb worn by native Americans who live in this area to mark Native American Day.  There’s always a good turnout and many people tour the museum as part of the day’s festivities, some for the first time.  It seems there is always something new to be experienced and to learn about the people who lived in this area before it was settled during the migrations of citizens from the East Coast.

Do Something Grand It was President Jimmy Carter who began National Grandparents Day by presidential proclamation in 1978; Congress passed legislation proclaiming the first Sunday after Labor Day as the day for annually remembering and acknowledging their many contributions to American culture.

In his presidential proclamations, President Obama called on Americans to “honor those who have helped shape the character of our Nation, and thank these role models for their immeasurable acts of love, care and understanding.”  An organization called Generations United urges grandparents and older adults to share their wisdom, perspectives and key civic values with young people on this annual day of remembering grandparents.  Their slogan is “Celebrate Grandparents Day by committing to do Something Grand!”

Although my own grandparents are deceased, I enjoy some of the activities in our community that mark this Sunday such as a fitness run for seniors, various parties and celebrations in local assisted living centers that are open to the public, and the public library events during the month of September that focus on story-telling, and reading books about some famous grandparents and some that well known only among their families.  When my grandkids were young and in pre-school, they often drew pictures and created art that featured me as the centerpiece of their efforts as a grandparent they knew and loved.  I saved this precious art to return to them one day when they are grown. 

This year, I have chosen to participate in National Grandparents Day by donating time as a volunteer at the local library reading to pre-schoolers.  Not all the children have grandparents nearby, and some may have grandparents who are deceased, so for a few hours I will be with them as a representative grandparent. I will do my best to make it fun, and I am certain I will enjoy sharing stories with them that help bridge our generations.  It will make me feel grand inside and I hope it will help them remember their elders fondly.

Elaine Voci is a life coach in private practice in Carmel, IN and a graduate of the Celebrant  Foundation & Institute .   Elaine is the Editor of the Celebrant Blog for the Celebrant Foundation & Institute.
https://www.ebookit.com/tools/pd/Bo/eBookIt/booktitle-Soul-Sketches--How-to-Craft-Meaningful-and-Authentic-Eulogies. 

Life-Cycle Ceremonies: A Handbook for Your Whole Life 

How do you commemorate momentous events? Memorialize people who have shaped you? Draw support from those you hold dear? This primer offers methods for honoring the special occasions in your life with humor and grace. Its ceremonies help ground each day in the wholeness that supports our entire lives. Each ceremony has been vetted by a certified Life-Cycle Celebrant® affiliated with the Celebrant Foundation and Institute, which offers training and support for celebrants worldwide. Visit us at www.celebrantInstitute.org.

Please direct all request, comment or concerns about our CF&I Blog to our 

Social Media Manager ~ Marcia Almeida, Master Life-Cycle Celebrant. at  celebrantsocialmedia@gmail.com    

Or to the Celebrant Foundation & Institute’s director, Charlotte Eulette at: charlotteeulette@celebrantinstitute.org 

call us at (973)746-1792.  

Visit us at http://www.celebrantinstitute.org/?p=business

August Is the Month For Celebrating Women’s Equality Day

 

August Is the Month For Celebrating Women’s Equality Day

By Elaine Voci

“Our history is our strength” is the slogan for the National Women’s History Project (NWHP), and it underscores that history teaches us who we are, and when we don’t know our history, our power and our potential are lessened or lost.  The Project has been a consistent force for ensuring that girls and women know the role women have played in American history.  So when Congress passed a resolution in 1971 that every year on August 26^th the country would commemorate Women’s Equality Day, the Project has been a catalyst, organizer, promoter and advocate for that event.

The date was selected to memorialize the 1920 certfication of the 19^th Amendment to the Constitution which granted women the right to vote.  That significant milestone followed a massive civil rights movement by women that had it beginnings in 1848 at the first women’s rights convention held in Seneca Falls, New York.  

What are some ways to celebrate and mark this special day with the help of Celebrants in your area of the country?  Here are two examples of events that can be offered in your community with the help of a local celebrant, local artists and low cost materials available at NWHP:

(1)  Performance Art Story-telling Event - Costumed performance actresses portray some of the historic, strong women, famous and infamous, from related periods of history such as Laura Ingalls Wilder and Mary Todd Lincoln. These historical presentations take history off the page, and allow the audience to interact with characters.  On the site of the Women’s History project is a drop down menu that lists the names of local women actors per state who are trained in historical presentations and have spent years of research and writing about a specific woman or  women’s history topic.

Each informative, educational presentation is about 40 minutes in length (not including time allotted for a Q&A session afterwards), and can be tailored to meet specific needs of audiences. For example, the popular Laura Ingalls Wilder presentation teaches children what daily life was like out on the prairie in the late 19th century.  Dressed in period costumes, history comes alive!

Celebrants can help organizers of the event by creating a special opening ceremony to set the tone for the event, and facilitate a closing ritual to integrate key learnings of the presentation and personalize the history of women’s struggles for equality.

(2)  Women’s Equality Day Program for a Women’s Book Club  - Celebrants can support the host’s intentions for the book club event, helping to craft both an opening and closing ritual to surround the main event – a luncheon during which the host can provide the Power Point presentation to book club members, and lead a group discussion of related topics.  Celebrants can suggest music and poetry for various parts of the gathering, and coordinate a central theme which can be reflected in

the menu, the invitations, and the process.

Hosts can purchase a $50 kit from the National Women’s History Project and find everything needed for an educational, entertaining, and successful Women's Equality Day Program. The kit makes it easy to present an informative program and includes an exclusive Women's Equality Day poster; placemats; bookmarks; red and blue balloons; and 25 copies of the How Women Won the Vote Gazette newspapers.  There is also a “How Women Won the Vote” Power Point, a 20-minute PowerPoint presentation, with script, that emphasizes the grit and determination of American suffragists trying to win state elections over a 50-year period.

The services of a celebrant can make any “packaged” program into a more meaningful and personalized event for participants.  Their expertise in the art of ceremony makes them a natural fit for adding rites, rituals and ceremonies into community events that will long be remembered by participants.  Since many celebrants are women, they can also naturally add a “woman’s touch” to celebrations of women’s equality events.

Elaine Voci is a life coach in private practice in Carmel, IN and a graduate of the Celebrant  Foundation & Institute .   Elaine is the Editor of the Celebrant Blog for the Celebrant Foundation & Institute.

Life-Cycle Ceremonies: A Handbook for Your Whole Life 

How do you commemorate momentous events? Memorialize people who have shaped you? Draw support from those you hold dear? This primer offers methods for honoring the special occasions in your life with humor and grace. Its ceremonies help ground each day in the wholeness that supports our entire lives. Each ceremony has been vetted by a certified Life-Cycle Celebrant® affiliated with the Celebrant Foundation and Institute, which offers training and support for celebrants worldwide. Visit us at www.celebrantInstitute.org.

Please direct all request, comment or concerns about our CF&I Blog to our 

Social Media Manager ~ Marcia Almeida, Master Life-Cycle Celebrant. at  celebrantsocialmedia@gmail.com    

Or to the Celebrant Foundation & Institute’s director, Charlotte Eulette at: charlotteeulette@celebrantinstitute.org 

call us at (973)746-1792.  

Visit us at http://www.celebrantinstitute.org/?p=business