As many of you know I am part of Toastmasters International. Toastmasters trains members on how to improve their public speaking and how to build leadership skills. As a not-for-profit, we accept free or inexpensive meeting space wherever and whenever we can get it, be it in churches or colleges or other establishments. We always need to alert guests where we meet at these locations. This often means posting flyers with tape, if we have it. Upon arrival, many guests must ask where the Toastmasters meeting is being held within the building.

My name is Bill Hicks and I’m the Digital Marketing Content Manager at C-Line Products. It was the end of August 2019. I had been on staff for one short week. To celebrate C-Line Products 70^th Anniversary they had rented out the Budweiser Bleachers at Wrigley Field for a Chicago Cubs baseball game. They were playing the Milwaukee Brewers.

C-Line Products. It was the end of August 2019. I had been on staff for one short week. To celebrate C-Line Products 70^th Anniversary they had rented out the Budweiser Bleachers at Wrigley Field for a Chicago Cubs baseball game. They were playing the Milwaukee Brewers.

You might not believe it, but I had not attended a baseball game in over 10 years. That was the   Chicago White Sox in the newly rebuilt Comiskey Park circa 2002. Don’t get me wrong, I am a north sider through and through, having always loved the ivy-covered walls of Wrigley Field. But I’m a Chicagoan and harbor a hometown spirit for all our teams.

My sister called the other day and rattled off a list of things she needed to do around her house before winter settled in around Chicago. If she got these done, she could feel confident her house was in good repair before it snowed. I realized that, although I live in a condo, I also had maintenance items I needed to finish. That’s when I decided a list was in order. While many lists are just a piece of paper, I decided it would be a good idea to create a list (with several copies for future use) that would get housed in a binder, along with repair and maintenance contacts that I used and trusted. This way I could refer to my list seasonally with all my important documents in one place.

During my research on National MFG Day I found out about the MOST important and under celebrated holiday in the universe. National Doughnut Day. Once I read about it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and I was sure you would want to learn more. So, I Googled for more information.

National Doughnut Day is celebrated on the first Friday in June. Many doughnut shops give away free doughnuts on this date. I love doughnuts. I want a doughnut right now. While I’m sure I heard about it in June, somehow, I didn’t mark my calendar. I can’t believe, especially for anything as important as doughnuts! Damn it. As I read, I realized that there are TWO, yes that’s right, TWO National Doughnut Days. The second date is right around the corner on November 5.

I read about a holiday named National MFG Day and I had to find out more about it. A Google search produced this website: https://www.mfgday.com/.

The holiday started in 2014 was created to inspire young people to go into manufacturing or engineering as a career. Manufactures encourage students, parents and educators to take a tour of participating facilities. Over 1600 manufacturers participate each year. It is celebrated on the first Friday in October (in 2019, it’s October 4).

C-Line is a manufacturer of plastic storage, identification and organization items that include shop ticket holders, poly sheet protectors, and name badges (including the iconic, “Hello My Name Is” pressure-sensitive badge). We just celebrated our 70th anniversary at our corporate headquarters and distribution facility in Mount Prospect, IL. We wish to recognize our fellow manufacturers and applaud their diligence and entrepreneurial spirit. We encourage all manufacturers to participate as they can on National MFG Day. Please use the hashtag #MFG19 on social media to get the word out about this day.