CommonCents
SHELBY COUNTY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION’S
for Kids & Teens
NOVEMBER 2015 NEWSLETTER
Facts About
America’s Veterans
There are 21.8 million veterans in
the United States.
Of these veterans, 20.2 million are
men and 1.6 million are women.
Why We Celebrate
The U.S. Postal Service is the largest single employer of veterans.
Veteran’s Day
Veteran’s Day is celebrated every year
on November 11., but do you know why?
World War I – known at the time as “The
Great War” - officially ended when the
Treaty of Versailles was signed on June
28, 1919. However, fighting ceased seven
months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of war, between the Allied
nations and Germany went into effect on
the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of
the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as
the end of “the war to end all wars.”
In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of “Armistice Day”. Armistice
Day was primarily a day to honor veterans
of World War I, but in 1954, President
Eisenhower changed it to “Veteran’s Day”
as a celebration day to honor all America’s
veterans- living or dead - for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to
serve and sacrifice for the common good.
Don’t be shy about thanking veterans for
their service. A simple thank you means a
lot to those who have served our country.
“To us in America, the
reflections of Armistice
Day will be filled with
solemn pride in the
heroism of those who
died in the country’s
service and with gratitude for the victory,
both because of the
thing from which it has
freed us and because
of the opportunity it
has given America to
show her sympathy
with peace and justice
in the councils of the
nations…”
President Woodrow Wilson
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The poppy was adopted as the official memorial flower of the VFW
(Veterans of Foreign Wars) in 1922.
Texas and Florida have the second
largest populations of veterans,
with 1.6 million veterans each.
The word “veteran” comes from
the Latin word “veteranus,” meaning “old” or “of long experience”
On November 11, 1921, an American soldier was buried at the
national cemetery in Arlington.
His identity was unknown (and
his grave site is what we know as
today as the Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier). Every year on November
11, the president or a high-ranking
member of the government lays a
wreath on his grave.
Your savings federal insured to at least $250,000 and backed
by the full faith and credit of the United States Government
NCUA
National Credit Union Administration, a U.S. Government Agency
Thanksgiving Helpers ... Give Thanks by Helping Out
Thanksgiving can be a lot of cleaning, cooking and work for your parents. Show your thanks this Thanksgiving by pitching in where you can! Here are a few ideas to be a heroic helper over the holiday.
Help in The Kitchen
It can be crazy in the kitchen on
Thanksgiving! Offer to help by
cleaning vegetables, setting the
table, or washing dirty dishes. Just
make sure you stay out of the way
of the chef!
Be Grateful
Give thanks by having your family
share what makes them grateful.
Set up a Gratitude Jar for your
family and fill the jar with notes
that describe their blessings, then
read the notees at the
Thanksgiving table.
Make Table Decor
Surprise your family by creating a
sophisticated, beautiful, and easy
centerpiece for the Thanksgiving
table by filling vases with acorns
and candles. Accent the table with
small pumpkins and evergreen
branches.
Say Thanks
Mind Your Manners
Having good manners and etiquette shows that
you have respect for yourself and others. Say
“thank you”, “please,” and be courteous at the
dinner table.
It may seem like a little
thing to you, but a simple
thank you note is meaningful to adults. Send
a note to your parents,
grandparents, teachers,
and other adults this
Thanksgiving who have
positively influenced you
over the year. Share what
they do to make you
appreciate them and why
you are thankful that they
are in your life.
The Godmother of Thanksgiving
Sarah Josepha Hale may not be a
familiar name to us, but in the early
she was a the famous poet,
If you text and drive, you’re 23 times1800s
more
novelist, and intellect. Her first book
likely to have a car crash. Five seconds
is
of children’s
poetry included her
the average time your eyes are off the
road
famed
Mary Had a Little Lamb, and
she went on to be the editor of one
while texting. When traveling at 55mph,
of the most influential magazines in
that’s enough time to cover the length
of a
the country. Hale often wrote artifootball field.
cles about the creation of a national
IT CAN WAIT ... PLEDGE TOday of thanks to be held on the last
of November—a unifying
NEVER TEXT AND DRIVE. Thursday
measure she believed would ease
NEVER TEXT AND DRIVE.
growing tensions and divisions between the northern and southern
parts of the country at the time.
Her efforts paid off. By 1854, more
than 30 states and U.S. territories
had a Thanksgiving celebrations,
but Hale’s vision of a national holiday remained unfulfilled. During
the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln,
after much persuasion from Sarah
Hale, agreed to enact Thanksgiving as a federal holiday as a way
to help “heal the wounds of the
nation.”