Mission PT - March 2021

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3321 E. Queen Creek Rd. #106 Gilbert, AZ 85297 (480) 550-9100 missionptaz.com

Inside This Issue

1 PT Is Here for You

2 Sunlight Does the Body Good 2 How to Easily Increase Your Water Intake 3 Tasty Thai Fried Rice 3 Meet Heather! 4 A Match Made in Cornmeal Batter Heaven

AN AMERICAN TRADITION Corn Dogs and Basketball

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? 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. 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!

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