sweetest day

Reaching out to those we love and to those who need love is something we frequently forget to do or save for Christmas or birthdays. Well today is a reminder. Today is Sweetest Day, started in 1922 by Herbert Birch Kingston, a philanthropist and candy company employee out of Cleveland. Kingston wanted to bring happiness to shut-ins, orphans and the underprivileged, and did that by giving them candy and small gifts.

As Americans, we tend to take gifts to nursing homes, hospitals and soup kitchens at Christmas time. Our lives get busy and many of us tend to forget about those in need until the following holiday season.

Well, today is a little reminder. Though this day does not get much attention you will see greeting cards and even gifts earmarked for Sweetest Day. And instead of the day being focused on the needy, these gifts and cards tend to focus on spouses, romantic partners or someone we are dating.

How about making today, Sweetest Day, something special by refocusing it on someone in need? Perhaps you have a neighbor who is housebound. Maybe you have not spoken to a family member for quite some time for whatever reason. Maybe your neighbor's child is serving in Iraq and a letter would mean a lot to either the soldier or her parents. Maybe the school down the street is in need of supplies. There is no end to the list of people in need and that is what today is really about.

When Kingston started this special day, he would get movie stars to pass out candy and small gifts. Well, we don't really need to contact Hollywood in order to give our neighbor a pie or give our child an extra hug. We can just do it. Yes, you can organize an event. That might be nice. Get a group of people and go to the nearest nursing home, candy in hand, and spend a couple of hours chatting with those who are sitting, bored to tears, in hallways and television rooms. They will feel better and so will you. Or just get in the car and go by yourself. Can't drive? Get your address book out and start making phone calls. You could contact many folks today and never leave your chair.

We tend to postpone things like phone calls to old friends and visits to nursing homes in October but those are the very actions that make life just a bit happier for many people.

I usually buy Bill a Sweetest Day card, but today he and I will visit a neighbor who does not get out much. I know she will appreciate it. Perhaps we will take along a bit of candy and offer to take her out for coffee.

I urge you to consider making this Sweetest Day the real thing. Do something special for someone who will feel better because you called, visited, or dropped something in the mail. That is how we change the world . . . one phone call or visit at a time.

Mary Friedel-Hunt is a freelance writer, a publisher (Voice of the River Valley) and a licensed clinical social worker who has been a psychotherapist for 32 years. Her column runs weekly in WellBeing. You may contact her by writing to: P.O. Box 189, Lone Rock, WI. 53556.

The love of Sweetest Day is starting to spread.

The unofficial holiday celebrated on the third Saturday of October is finally starting to come into its own and is growing in popularity, according to Cleveland-based card-maker American Greetings.


STEVE MANHEIM / CHRONICLE
A triple-layer chocolate cake with chocolate icing and fresh strawberries is on the menu at Moss' Prime Rib and Spaghetti House in Elyria for Sweetest Day.

While Ohio, Michigan and Illinois remain atop the company's Sweetest Day sales charts, 2006 overall sales in the states of Texas, California and Florida ranked among its top 10.

Frank Cirillo, an American Greetings spokesman, attributed part of the growth to the timing of the year.

"Sweetest Day is its own animal," he said. "We come off these summer months, and there aren't really that many occasions to come together. It gives you a nice little respite from daily life."

For years, many incorrectly linked the birth of Sweetest Day to the marketing ploys of greeting card makers, but the holiday can be traced to a 1920s Cleveland-based candy company employee, Herbert Birch Kingston, who campaigned to distribute candy and small gifts to the underprivileged and the forgotten.

Local movie stars of the day such as Ann Pennington and Theda Bara jumped on board, handing out boxes of candy to Cleveland newspaper boys, hospital patients and moviegoers.

As word of the holiday began to spread throughout the region, other states within the Great Lakes area joined in and the love behind the day has been spreading ever since.

"To my knowledge, we've always recognized (Herbert Birch Kingston) as the background to Sweetest Day," Cirillo said. "It's the inspiration for what the day has become."

Local restaurants are also seeing the benefits of the holiday, and reservations have begun to slowly fill up tables for two around the county.

"It's an excuse for people to come out to dinner," said John D'Amico, owner of Chez Francois Restaurant in Vermilion. "We're already filled up."

Owners from Nemo's Grille in Avon and Moss' Prime Rib and Spaghetti House in Elyria said they're also expecting big numbers.

Ron Heldorfer, co-owner of Fratello's in Avon Lake, said the popularity of the holiday rivals that of Valentine's Day and is something he didn't see in New England.

"People in New England don't even know what Sweetest Day is," he said. "But it's big here." tPC would like to wish all of our readers a Happy Sweetest Day. What, you've never heard of Sweetest Day?
Sweetest Day is celebrated on the third Saturday of October in various regions of the United States of America. The holiday was begun in 1922 by a Cleveland candy employee, Herbert Birch Kingston, who apparently wanted to do something considerate for the less fortunate city residents.



Ohio is the top state for Sweetest Day sales, followed by Michigan and Illinois, according to www.theromantic.com/sweetestday.htm.

Today, the "Sweetest Day of the Year" is likened unto that of Valentine's Day so celebrate by sending a greeting card to your friends and family or use it as an excuse to take out your significant other for a night on the town.