SPEAK UP FOR SERVICE DAY
Speak Up For Service Day on October 30th recognizes the importance of young people to be actively involved in community service. Too often, the good deeds of young people go unnoticed by their communities. Speak Up For Service Day gives recognition to the overlooked. It serves as a reminder to tell others about the contributions of young people to their communities.
#SpeakUpForServiceDay
Each year, the Speak Up For Service public speaking contest is held in conjunction with the North Dakota State Lions Convention. Other Lions Clubs and Districts throughout North America sponsor similar public speaking contests. Young people share their insight on issues of the day. Additionally, they speak about the contributions of Lions to making the world a better place.
HOW TO OBSERVE SPEAK UP FOR SERVICE DAY
Speak up about service initiatives in your community. Recognize the youth in your community for the projects they support and initiate. When we give credit to their hard work, our communities thrive. Many organizations also create opportunities for youth to get involved. As the young people in your life become involved, you will see their confidence grow. Their positive impact on their community will leave a lasting impression, too. As you celebrate, be sure to invite others to join you!
Use #SpeakUpForServiceDay to post on social media.
NATIONAL SPEAK UP FOR SERVICE DAY HISTORY
The Mandan Lions Club founded National Speak Up For Service Day in 2014.
The Speak Up For Service Project’s history began in 2003. The Fargo, ND, Lions Club initiated a public speaking contest for area high school students in honor of Laura Christensen Espejo. Laura devoted her life to improving the health care services available to the less fortunate in the Fargo community and Peru, the country of her husband, Lucho. Lion Robert Littlefield coordinated the contest on the local level. Soon, he was launching it as a statewide initiative while serving as District Governor in 2010-2011.
In 2010, the Lions Club held its first annual Lions Speak Up For Service public speaking contest. Contestants spoke at the North Dakota State Lions Convention in Grand Forks. High school students who entered the competition spoke on topics related to young people and community service. Brent Johnson, a senior at Shanley High School, won the first-ever Speak Up For Service Contest. Johnson and the other contestants received scholarships for their participation in the event.
The Registrar at National Day Calendar® proclaimed the observance to be celebrated on October 30th, annually.
October 30th Celebrated History
1894
Decades before the advent of the 40-hour workweek had us punching time clocks, Daniel M. Cooper receives the first U.S. patent for a “time recorder.” Patent No. 528223 described an apparatus that printed a timestamp onto a card. The invention made calculating wages easier.
1888
John J. Loud receives patent no. 392046 for a ballpoint pen. Though it is the first such device patented in the United States, its purpose was limited to coarse surfaces and never saw any great success.
1938
Orson Welles broadcasts a radio dramatization of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds. Listeners believed the broadcast to be a real news event and thought aliens were attacking the Earth, causing panic across the country.
2010
With the songs “Speak Now” and “Back to December,” Taylor Swift becomes the first artist to debut two singles in the Top 10 in successive weeks.
October 30th Celebrated Birthdays
Andrew Jackson Downing – 1815
The horticulturist is considered to be the father of landscape gardening. During his career, he wrote several books on horticulture and was an editor for the Horticulturist.
Irma S. Rombauer – 1877
In 1931, Bobbs-Merrill Company and Charles Scribner’s Son’s published Rombauer’s cookbook, The Joy of Cooking. It is one of the world’s most popular cookbooks.
Marie Van Brittan Brown – 1922
In 1969, Marie Brown and her husband Albert Brown received a patent for their home security system.
Henry Winkler – 1945
The American actor and producer rose to fame playing the role of Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli on the American sitcom Happy Days. He also played Coach Klein in The Waterboy starring Adam Sandler, Barry Zucker in Arrested Development, and Fritz in Monsters at Work.
