That’s right, November is already here and that means it’s only eight Mondays till Christmas Day. Yikes! Hope y’all have begun your Christmas shopping! Anyway, enough about Christmas because next month we’ll put out the “Five Things To Know In December”. Here is a list of the five things to know in November. Hint, I can already smell the turkey roasting and the bread baking.
Let’s begin with a celebration for the whole month of November.
Number 1 – Peanut Butter Lover Month:
Believe it or not, Peanut Butter Lovers Month began 28 years ago in 1995. Peanut Butter has become a staple in most households since the 1940’s. Peanuts, which are cheap and high in protein, have been consumed in the United States for more than 250 years, but peanut butter wasn’t developed until the 1890s and didn’t become popular until the 1920s when it was first mass-produced. The meat shortage caused by World War II made the creamy spread an American icon. Locally, we have peanut producers and peanut butter is made with some of the peanuts from Terry County.
Number 2 – Daylight Savings Time, Nov. 5, 2023:
Daylight Savings Time was first implemented in the US with the Standard Time Act of 1918, a wartime measure for seven months during World War I in the interest of adding more daylight hours to conserve energy resources. Year-round DST, or “War Time”, was implemented again during World War II. After the war, local jurisdictions were free to choose if and when to observe DST until the Uniform Time Act which standardized DST in 1966. Permanent daylight saving time was enacted for the winter of 1974, but there were complaints of children going to school in the dark and working people commuting and starting their work day in pitch darkness during the winter months, and it was repealed a year later.
Number 3 – Election Day, Nov. 7, 2023:
Texans will decide the fate of 14 constitutional amendments approved for the ballot by state lawmakers. Texans will decide the fate of 14 constitutional amendments recently sent to the ballot by state lawmakers during the Nov. 7 election. Many of the proposed amendments would create or alter funds to support:
- Higher education research
- Water infrastructure
- Gas-fueled power plants
- Broadband infrastructure
- Maintenance and creation of state parks
Several others would address taxes by:
- Raising the homestead exemption for homeowners from $40,000 to $100,000
- Creating some tax exemptions for medical equipment and child-care facilities
- Banning lawmakers from imposing “wealth taxes” without voter approval.
Number 4 – Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2023:
Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, to honor military veterans of the United States Armed Forces. It coincides with other holidays including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day which are commemorated in other countries that mark the anniversary of the end of World War I. Major hostilities of World War I formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. At the urging of major U.S. veteran organizations, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.
Number 5 – Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23, 2023:
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated in the United States (Other nations and territories celebrated on other days) Prayers of thanks and special thanksgiving ceremonies are common among most religions after harvests and at other times of the year. The Thanksgiving holiday’s history in North America is rooted in English traditions dating from the Protestant Reformation. It also has aspects of a harvest festival, even though the harvest in New England occurs well before the late-November date on which the modern Thanksgiving holiday is celebrated.
