Date: Fri 01-Jan-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

calendars-Gregorian-Webster

Full Text:

The New Calendar Crop: So Many Choices, So Little Time

BY SHANNON HICKS

Webster defines a calendar as "a system for fixing the beginning, length and

division of the civil year and arranging days and longer divisions of time (as

weeks and months) in a definite order; (2) a tabular register of days

according to a system usually covering one year and referring to the days of

each month to the days of the week."

The solar year has 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds, while the

lunar year has 354 days, 8 hours and 48 minutes. Neither of those calculations

divides evenly into a system of checks and balances, or nice neat little boxes

we can cross out with an X each time the sun goes down. At the end of each

solar and lunar year, there is time left unaccounted for -- some extra seconds

and minutes somewhere before a full new day can begin.

Around 46 BC, Julius Caesar developed what is now known as the Gregorian

calendar, which we follow to this day. Caesar took the Roman calendar and

developed the idea that April, June, September and November would each have 30

days; February, 28 days (with every fourth year giving February its leap to 29

days); and the remaining months, 31 days each.

With a couple of tweaks here and there -- a date change for the vernal equinox

in the 16th Century, and the elimination somehow of a few days later in the

century -- the Gregorian, or Julian, calendar was slowly accepted as fact.

England adopted the calendar in 1752; the Eastern Church accepted the New

Style, as it called it, earlier this century.

Phew! Now that the calendar was in place, the rest of us could take care of

presenting our days of the week, weeks of the month, and months of the year in

our favorite forms without worrying about accounting for lost minutes each

year. Thanks to Julius Caesar, all we have to do now is go out and purchase a

calendar to hang on our walls.

The average household now has almost four (3.98) calendars per year, says

Bankers Advertising, an online calendar vendor. With Americans so preferential

in everything from cleaning powder to cologne, soft drinks to favorite

entertainment outlet -- not to mention individual schedules -- it's no

surprise each house plays host to so many calendars.

But thanks to publishing companies around the world, not to mention

smaller-scale fundraising efforts in some cases, there is a calendar to suit

everyone's favorite hobby, sport, color, photographer, music group, season,

vacation spot, and even cartoon strip. First, of course, you'll have to decide

whether you want a calendar that presents the year in brackets of year-,

month-, week-, or day-at-a-glance. And are you purchasing a wall or desk

calendar, a magnetic refrigerator calendar, something purse-size or one to fit

into your Day Planner?...

So many choices, so little time!

(Thanks to The Book Review of Newtown for loaning copies of some of this

year's favorite calendars available.)

Learning From Our Children

Rideworks, a 38-town commuter transportation service headquartered in New

Haven, has a calendar available this year. For 15 years, the non-profit

commuter agency has been dedicated to exactly what its name implies: relieving

traffic congestion and air pollution throughout the Greater New Haven,

Waterbury/Naugatuck Valley, Meriden/Wallingford and Shoreline areas by linking

commuters with similar destinations and work schedules in starting a carpool

or vanpool.

The Rideworks 5th Annual Environmental Expressions Contest encouraged children

to illustrate or put into words their thoughts on the benefits of riding

together, or carpooling. Students in grades 3-10 were invited to enter the

contest.

Children submitted drawings, poems, songs and "newscasts" (one of the judges

was WTNH-TV Channel 8 anchor Ann Nyberg) depicting their ideas of the

importance of riding together. Winners were selected from the nearly 1,000

entries received from public and private schools in the Rideworks region.

The final result, after announcing and recognizing the winners, is the

Rideworks 1999 Calendar Featuring Children's Environmental Expressions .

Illustrations and ideas are presented in a colorful 12-month calendar, with

winning entries and several honorable mentions from the three age categories.

The ideas are brilliant, and they are so... simple.

Connecticut's grownups could learn a lot about traffic, saving the environment

and even making friends from our children. Whether a resident of one of the

aforementioned sections of this state or not, this calendar is something

Connecticut residents -- and all Americans, in fact -- can benefit from.