Submitted by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
United States - National One Cent Day is celebrated each year on April 1. This day is all about the one cent piece (the penny).
The Lincoln cent is the current one cent coin of the U.S. dollar. Adopted in 1909, it replaced the Indian Head cent. From 1959 to 2008, the reverse side featured the Lincoln Memorial. Four different reverse designs in 2009 honored Lincoln’s 200th birthday and a new, permanent reverse – the Union Shield – was introduced in 2010.
The U.S. Mint’s official name for a penny is “cent” and the official name by the U.S. Treasury is “one cent piece”. In American English, pennies is the plural form, other plural forms pence and pee (standard use in British English) are not used.
“As of 2012, it costs the U.S. Mint 2.00 cents to make a cent because of the cost of materials and production. This figure includes the Mint’s fixed components for distribution and fabrication, estimated at $13 million in FY 2011.
It also includes Mint overhead allocated to the penny, which was $17.7 million for 2011. Fixed costs and overhead would have to be absorbed by other circulating coins without the penny.
The loss in profitability due to producing the one cent coin in the United States for the year of 2012 was $58,000,000. This was a slight decrease from 2011, the year before, which had a production loss of $60,200,000.” (Wikipedia)
On National One Cent Day, you can research the history of the penny and also learn about saving your cents. Each cent saved accumulates over time.
Submitted by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
United States - Did you call the office this morning saying you were going to be an hour late for work because your car would not start and then walk in a minute later and say “April Fools!” or did you put a rubber band around the faucet so the next person to turn it on gets sprayed all over??
April Fools’ Day is celebrated on April 1st of each year. Sometimes referred to as ‘All Fools’ Day, it is not a national holiday. April Fools Day is widely recognized and celebrated, by many, as a day when people play practical jokes and hoaxes on each other.
Here is a little April Fools History: (There are different theories as to the beginning of April Fools Day.)
“The earliest recorded association between April 1 and foolishness can be found in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (1392).
In the 1392 writings by Chaucer,Canterbury Tales, the “Nun’s Priest’s Tale” is set March thirty days and two. Modern scholars believe that there was a copying error in the manuscripts and that Chaucer actually meant 32 days after April, i.e. May 2. (the anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia). The readers misunderstood it to mean March 32, i.e. April 1. In Chaucer’s tale, the vain cock Chauntecleer is tricked by a fox.
Many writers suggest that the restoration, in 1582, of January 1 by Pope Gregory XIII as New Year’s Day of the Gregorian Calendar in the 16th century was responsible for the birth of the holiday. With New Year’s Day moved to January 1, not all people were aware of this news, or refused to accept it, and celebrated the new year on April 1st, as in the past. These people were then labeled “fools” and were subject to ridicule and practical jokes.
1508 – French poet, Eloy d’Amerval referred to a poissond’avril (April fool, literally April fish) a possible reference to the April Fool holiday.
1539 – Flemish poet Eduard de Dene wrote of a nobleman who sent his servants on foolish errands on April 1.
1686 – John Aubrey referred to April Fools Day as Fools holy day, the first British reference.
1686 – On April 1, several people were tricked into going to the Tower of London to “see the Lions washed”
Submitted by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
Missouri - No MOre Trash! mascot, Peanut the Turtle, is a living example of how litter can affect wildlife. When young, the red-eared slider crawled into a plastic six-pack ring that someone had thrown on the ground instead of a trashcan. The ring got hung on her shell. Eventually, her shell grew but the ring stayed on, giving her the shape of a peanut. She was found and taken to the St. Louis Zoo where the ring was cut off. She has lived with the Missouri Department of Conservation since 1993.
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) encourage Missourians to do some spring cleaning outdoors and help fight litter through the state’s No MOre Trash! annual Trash Bash throughout the month of April.
The Trash Bash is sponsored by MDC and MoDOT as part of the ongoing No MOre Trash! statewide anti-litter campaign. Volunteers are needed all around the state to clean up litter from roadsides, parks, neighborhoods, rivers, streams, trails, and other places.
Participants are encouraged to report cleanup efforts and will receive a No MOre Trash! thank-you pin specially designed to commemorate the 30th birthday of campaign mascot Peanut the Turtle. When young, the red-eared slider crawled into a plastic six-pack ring that someone had thrown on the ground instead of a trashcan. The ring got hung on her shell. Eventually, her shell grew but the ring stayed on, giving her the shape of a peanut.
For more info on the April Trash Bash and how to participate, visit nomoretrash.org/trash-bash, or call 1-888-ASK-MODOT (1-888-275-6636).
Submitted by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
Dexter and Advance, Missouri - McCafé invites coffee drinkers across the U.S. to wake up and taste the free coffee. Beginning March 31, customers are encouraged to stop by their local participating McDonald’s restaurant for a freshly brewed small McCafé coffee during McDonald’s first-ever national Free Coffee Event. Free McCafé coffee is available during breakfast hours starting March 31 through April 13 in participating restaurants.
Both the Dexter and Advance McDonald's are participating.
“We’re excited to share our coffee with our customers,” said local McDonald’s Owner-Operator, John Moreland. “This is a great opportunity for them to try McCafé coffee and gives them another reason to come to us in the morning.”
McDonald’s launched its McCafé line-up in the U.S. in 2009. The collection included McCafé’s signature blend coffee and quickly expanded to include iced coffees, espresso-based drinks, such as lattes and mochas, blended-ice beverages including smoothies and frappes, triple thick shakes as well as limited-time seasonal offerings.
Should you decide to cover this exciting news on any of your media platforms, please send me a copy! Feel free to reach out with any questions you have regarding The Free McCafe Coffee Event!
About McDonald's USA
McDonald's USA, LLC, serves a variety of menu options made with quality ingredients to more than 27 million customers every day. Nearly 90 percent of McDonald's 14,000 U.S. restaurants are independently owned and operated by businessmen and women. Customers can now log online for free at approximately 11,500 participating Wi-Fi enabled McDonald's U.S. restaurants. For more information, visit www.mcdonalds.com, or follow us on Twitter @McD_MidwestTri and Facebook www.facebook.com/mcdonalds.
About McCafé
McDonald’s collection of coffee and espresso based McCafé beverages are made with 100 percent Arabica beans sourced from the rich soils of Central and South America. In addition to the existing variety of McCafé beverages, McCafé also introduces limited-time seasonal offerings at participating restaurants throughout the year. For more information and to keep up with flavors of our McCafé line, visit www.mcdonalds.com/mccafe, or follow us on Twitter (@McCafe)
Submitted by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
Missouri - In 1988, a small group of anglers got fed up with unsightly trash disrupting their fishing in Roubidoux Creek. These conservation-minded Missourians decided to clean this section of stream in south-central Missouri. In doing so, they formed the first Missouri Stream Team in 1989. The Roubidoux Fly Fishers Association (Stream Team 1) is still going strong 25 years later. During that time, the Missouri Stream Team Program has grown to more than 4,000 Stream Teams around the state with more than 85,000 volunteers.
The Missouri Stream Team Program is a citizen-led effort to conserve Missouri streams. Sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and the Conservation Federation of Missouri (CFM), the Program focuses on education, stewardship, and advocacy for Missouri stream resources.
“The success of the Stream Team Program is a great example of how Missourians care about conserving fish, forests, and wildlife, and how MDC, DNR and CFM work with citizens to conserve our natural resources,” said MDC Fisheries Biologist Amy Meier, one of several Stream Team biologists with the Conservation Department. “Stream Team activities also provide unique opportunities to discover nature in new and exciting ways.”
Meier added that the ongoing work of more than 4,000 stream teams and their more than 85,000 volunteers have made enormous positive impacts on the health of Missouri’s streams over the last 25 years. That work includes volunteers giving more than 2.2 million hours of time, energy and passion, removing more than 10,000 tons (20 million pounds) of trash from Missouri waterways, planting nearly 265,000 trees along streams, conducting more than 25,000 water quality monitoring trips, and stenciling more than 17,000 storm drains.
“Stream Team volunteers have a passion for clean, healthy streams and do amazing work to help improve our streams and other waters so Missourians can enjoy clean drinking water and outstanding recreational opportunities” Meier said.
To celebrate 25 years of education, stewardship and advocacy for Missouri stream resources, the Missouri Stream Team Program is inviting all Teams (and new volunteers) to participate in “25 Days of Stream Team” events around the state. Running from March to October, events include stream cleanups, water monitoring efforts, education activities, storm-drain stenciling, and more. For a calendar of events, visit mostreamteam.org.
“The anniversary celebration is an effort to increase awareness of citizen-led stream conservation efforts, to encourage participation in the many types of activities that Stream Teams perform, to recognize the accomplishments of Stream Teams over the last 25 years, and to demonstrate how Stream Teams benefit our aquatic resources,” Meier said.
She added that participants can track their activities to receive special appreciation items for attending multiple events, and be entered into a drawing for larger prizes at the end of the year.
“Missouri is fortunate to have 110,000 miles of flowing waters, and the Stream Team Program continues to spread the word about keeping them clean, healthy, and safe,” Meier said. “Even seemingly little things citizens do to help streams makes big differences, such as planting trees and native vegetation along streams, picking up litter, performing water-friendly lawn practices, and educating others about the importance of clean water.”
The Stream Team Program is open to anyone in Missouri with an interest in streams and offers a variety of activities for individuals, families, schools, and communities regardless of age, background, or ability. For more information, visit the website at mostreamteam.org or on Facebook at facebook.com/mostreamteams.
Shown in the photo: Bernie Arnold of Stream Team 211 digs muck out of a 1,200 pound tire during a massive two-day roundup in Southeast Missouri in 2013. This particular tire was so massive it could be seen in the stream via satellite image. Nearly 900 tires were removed from streams and sinkholes in two days.
