Matthew Wong, BPTA webmaster mjwong59@comcast.net

Space for all Berkeley PTA sites  have been generously donated by transbay.net

PTA Community Calendar

July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June

November, 2005

The purpose of National American Indian Heritage Month is to honor and recognize the original peoples of this land. 
(from the University of Kansas Medical Center)

1 Dias de los Muertos (Mexico)This is an ancient festivity that has been much transformed through the years, but which was intended in prehispanic Mexico to celebrate children and the dead. Hence, the best way to describe this Mexican holiday is to say that it is a time when Mexican families remember their dead, and the continuity of life.

The original celebration can be traced to the festivities held during the Aztec month of Miccailhuitontli, ritually presided by the goddess Mictecacihuatl ("Lady of the Dead"), and dedicated to children and the dead. The rituals during this month also featured a festivity dedicated to the major Aztec war deity, Huitzilopochtli ("Sinister Hummingbird"). In the Aztec calendar, this ritual fell roughly at the end of the Gregorian month of July and the beginning of August, but in the postconquest era it was moved by Spanish priests so that it coincided with the Christian holiday of All Hallows Eve (in Spanish: "Día de Todos Santos,") in a vain effort to transform this from a "profane" to a Christian celebration. The result is that Mexicans now celebrate the day of the dead during the first two days of November, rather than at the beginning of summer, but remember the dead they still do, and the modern festivity is characterized by the traditional Mexican blend of ancient aboriginal and introduced Christian features. (excerpted from an article by Ricardo J. Salvador)

Diwali is a five day Hindu  festival which occurs on the fifteenth day of Kartika. Diwali means "rows of lighted lamps" and the celebration is often referred to as the Festival of Lights. During this time, homes are thoroughly cleaned and windows are opened to welcome Laksmi, goddess of wealth. Candles and lamps are lit as a greeting to Laksmi. Gifts are exchanged and festive meals are prepared during Diwali. The celebration means as much to Hindus as Christmas does to Christians. (from the University of Kansas Medical Center)

Birthday of Benvenuto Cellini, sculptor (biography) and Stephen Crane, poet (biography)

2 Birthday of Warren Harding, 29th President (biography) and James K. Polk, 13th President (biography)

School Board of BUSD Meeting. 7:30 pm. 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way

3 National Culture Day (Bunka-no-hi):(Japan)  The Emperor gives his accolade to distinguished contributors to culture of the past year on this day. (from holidayfestival.com)

Birthday of John Barry, composer (biography)

4  Birthday of Walter Cronkite, news anchor (biography)

5  Birthday of Ida Tarbell, muckraker (biography) and Roy Rogers, cowboy (biography)

6 Birthday of James Naismith, inventor of Basketball (biography)

7 Birthday of Marie Curie, scientist (biography)

8  Birthday of Christiaan Barnard, surgeon (biography)

9  Birthday of Carl Sagan, astronomer (biography)

10  Birthday of Martin Luther, theologian(biography)

11 Veterans Day was formerly observed in the United States as Armistice Day in commemoration of the signing of the Armistice ending World War I. Nov. 11 officially became Veterans' Day on May 24, 1954, by act of Congress. The day is set aside in honor of all those who have fought in defense of the United States. (from encyclopedia.com)

Birthday of George S. Patton, U. S. General (biography) and Kurt Vonnegut, author (biography)

12  Birthday of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, feminist (biography) and Auguste Rodin, sculptor (biography)

13  Birthday of Louis Brandeis, Supreme Court Justice (biography) and Whoopi Goldberg, actress (biography)

14  Birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru, first Prime minister of India (biography) and Aaron Copeland, composer (biography)

15  Birthday of Georgia O'Keefe, artist (biography) and Erwin Rommel, German general (biography)

16  Birthday of Paul Hindemith, composer (biography) and Tiberius, second emporer of Rome (biography)

School Board of BUSD Meeting. 7:30 pm. 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way

17  Birthday of Bob Mathias, athlete (biography) and Martin Scorcese, film director (biography)

18  Birthday of Sojourner Truth, abolitionist (biography) and George Gallup, public opinion analyst (biography)

19  Birthday of James Garfield, 20th President (biography) and Indira Gandhi, politician (biography)

20 Birthday of Robert F. Kennedy, U. S. Senator (biography)

21  Birthday of Voltaire, Philosopher (biography)

22

23 Birthday of Franklin Pierce, 14th President (biography) and Boris Karloff, actor (biography)

24  Birthday of Zachary Taylor, 12th President (biography) and Dale Carnegie, master motivator (biography)

25  Thanksgiving Holiday. National holiday in the United States commemorating the harvest reaped by the Plymouth Colony in 1621, after a winter of great starvation and privation. In that year Gov. William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving, and the feast was shared by all the colonists and the neighboring Native Americans. Although similar observances were held locally, they were sporadic and at no set time. After the American Revolution the first national Thanksgiving Day, proclaimed by George Washington, was Nov. 26, 1789. Abraham Lincoln, urged by Sarah J. Hale, revived the custom in 1863, appointing as the date the last Thursday of  November. In 1939, 1940, and 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Thanksgiving the third Thursday in November. When a contradiction arose between Roosevelt's proclamation and some of those of state governors, Congress passed a joint resolution in 1941 decreeing that Thanksgiving should fall on the fourth Thursday of November. The day is observed by church services and family reunions; the customary turkey dinner is a reminder of the four wild turkeys served at the Pilgrims' first thanksgiving feast. (from encyclopedia.com)

Birthday of Carry Nation, temperence advocate (biography) and Joe Dimaggio, athlete (biography)

26  Birthday of Eugene Ionesco, playwright (biography) and Tina Turner, musician (biography)

27 James Agee, author (biography) and Jimi Hendrix, musician (biography)

28 Birthday of Frederich Engels, social philosopher (biography) and Berry Gordy, founder of Motown (biography)

29  Birthday of Christian Doppler, physicist (biography) and Ethan Coen, film director (biography)

30