... continued from Cover was born with brittle bone disease, Pay It Forward donated $2,000 to help the family cover medical expenses. When an elderly couple needed dozens of trees removed from their lawn, a local tree service in Pay It Forward volunteered to do it at no cost. The group has also donated funds for an adaptive bike and helped families update their homes to be more accessible, sometimes at a cost of over $65,000. With each action, Pay It Forward is doing more than giving back to its community — it’s creating a legacy and a foundation of people who step up to help their neighbors when times are tough. The group’s impact has been so widespread that it earned Mower County a spot on the annual “Nicest Places in America” list by Reader’s Digest, and I think that’s a worthy title. I believe the work Pay It Forward does in its community is powerful and worth celebrating. I know the residents and citizens who participate in Pay It Forward wouldn’t want much credit for the work they do, but they’re creating ripples in Mower County and setting a precedent that being a community member doesn’t mean you just live and work there. It means you help improve the lives of those around you. As small-business owners, we have a unique opportunity to do just that. I hope you’re as inspired by the small businesses of Mower County as I am, and I hope you will join me this Mom and Pop Business Owners Day and toast the hard work entrepreneurs do every day.
Corn Dogs and Basketball
AN AMERICAN TRADITION
It’s no coincidence that National Corn Dog Day is March 20 — the third Saturday of the month. This day is traditionally the first Saturday of March Madness, otherwise known as the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship. But wait. What do corn dogs and a basketball tournament have to do with one another?
The corn dog, like basketball, is an American creation. In the 1920s, the creators toyed around with the idea of fried foods on a stick. They battered and fried everything from cheese to bananas, but it was the battered sausages that really stood out, and the corn dog was born. By the 1940s, the convenient creation had popped up at state fairs and drive-in restaurants all over the country. In 2012, in honor of the original Corn Dog Day, the then-governor of Oregon issued an official proclamation naming March 17 National Corn Dog Day in the state. Several companies jumped on the bandwagon as well, including Foster Farms (a maker of frozen corn dogs, among many other meat products) and the Pabst Brewing Company. While it’s not an “official” national day recognized by the U.S. Congress, it’s celebrated with thousands of events every March. And it’s grown beyond its U.S. roots. An article printed in The Oregonian in 2009 revealed that National Corn Dog Day parties have been celebrated on nearly every continent — including Antarctica!
Turns out, National Corn Dog Day has everything to do with March Madness. The “holiday” began in March 1992 when two Corvallis, Oregon, high school students needed a snack while watching a basketball game. They got some corn dogs and called it good. But somehow, this simple snack and sport pairing turned into something huge. In fact, eating corn dogs while watching March Madness caught on like wildfire — and the teens didn’t even have Instagram to promote it! Though it’s not clear how, it spread across Oregon and eventually the rest of the country. It’s likely that people just heard about it from friends and family and thought it was a great idea.
2 • NortonAccountingServices.com
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