According to the National Day Calendar, Friday is National VCR Day. It is observed annually on June 7.
The website NationalDayCalendar.com asks: “Do you still own a VCR player or do you know someone who does? Many young people do not know what a VCR player or a VCR tape is. National VCR Day is dedicated to the video cassette recorder (VCR). In their time, they were a marvel of technology!”
While this appears to be a “national day” that could be relegated to the trash heap, the writers note that more than 10 billion videotapes remain today with our recorded memories. That’s not just old recopies of “All the President’s Men” and “Jaws.” Many personal recordings and unique video keepsakes are stored on those tapes. Companies exist that can transfer those images to a better format. Having videotapes digitized is one suggested way of observing this “national day.”
Beyond that, we’d like to note that many of the “national days” that appear in the Great Bend Tribune’s community calendar are just for fun. Saturday, June 8, is National Upsy Daisy Day, “set aside to encourage you to face the day positively and to get up gloriously, gratefully and gleefully each morning.” Other days have been recognized for decades and are more important to us, such as Flag Day on June 14.
There are also national weeks and national month observances, and many of these are used to raise public consciousness. For example, June is National PTSD Awareness Month, and June 27 is National PTSD Awareness Day. This provides an opportunity to let the public know that between 7 and 8 percent of the population will experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder during their lifetime. And it affords an opportunity to put people in contact with others who can help, such as our local Center for Counseling and Consultation.
Some holidays seem less important than they once were. Columbus Day (Oct. 14 this year) is less meaningful than National Make A Difference Day on the last Saturday of October.
National VCR Day also seems totally outdated, but if you choose to observe it, we suggest celebrating by taking a trip down memory lane. After remembering cherished times, perhaps you may think of a way to show gratitude and to pay it forward. Follow the advice of stickers once placed on the VCR tapes we used to rent from Dillons and Blockbuster (now Shoe Sensation), “Be kind; rewind.”
