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| The History and Story of National Goldfish Awarness Week |
| National Goldfish Awareness Week seeks to raise awareness to the plight of the much maligned and oft forgotten goldfish. Some five years ago, on a Sunday not at all unlike the one to come and the one that just past, a gold ribbon was discovered at a Safeway store. It settled on the arm of an employee who was soon to have a vision. To wear that ribbon, a cause was needed. It was dubbed National Goldfish Awareness Day. As the day wore on, a single day simply felt too small. To better convey the message that would soon be so important, it was deemed that a week of celebration was called for. Potential participants were carefully selected, seeking to enlist those who would be most likely to understand the purpose. One was found. The first Annual National Goldfish Awareness Week consisted of but one ribbon, shared between two people. A tradition was born.
The idea of National Goldfish Awareness Week lay dormant, considered by many to have risen and fallen with a single page of the calendar. The following year, following my hectic initiation to the rites of a florist on Valentines day, National Goldfish Awareness Week again was brought to the fore. So began our tradition of beginning the event upon the third Sunday in February (though this was the actual starting date of the original week), thus ensuring complete avoidance with Valentines day. My non-monetary remunerations for my efforts during the more established holiday brought the support of the floral manager for the fledgling holiday. She provided an ample supply of gold ribbons, and to my joy and surprise, another of my flower weary compatriots joined heartily in the cause, distributing ribbons and explaining the event. Thusly, the second National Goldfish Awareness Week was a vast success, with nearly half of the Ellensburg Safeway participating. From the second edition of National Goldfish Awareness Week were born many of the values and traditions that live on today. The third edition of National Goldfish Awareness Week did not feature so explosive a growth as did the second, though through ardent effort and sheer dumb luck, it spread to Washington State University and to George Washington University, located in the very heart of the political landscape, Washington D.C., and nearly eighty percent of the good people of the Ellensburg Safeway participated. Such solid participation and expanding growth and knowledge lead to heightened expectations for the year to come. As the fourth annual National Goldfish Awareness Week drew nigh, expectations continued to grow. They were to prove justified. The breakthrough moment in the young history of so special an event may indeed be its secured place in the minds of those who support it. As Sunday, February 19th drew near, those who had been willing, if not active, participants in previous years of National Goldfish Awareness Week remembered its approach, and even the general date, inquiring as to its approach. Additionally, the holiday grew further beyond the sagebrush lined hills of Central Washington. With an aggressive direct contact approach featuring personal cards sent to satellite locations in Salem, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Shelton, Washington; Cadiz, Spain, and many others, the names of which are not so salient, in addition to continued growth and development at the locations reached in previous years. The circulation of the first draft of this extended mission statement helped enlighten and enliven the holiday further still. Unequivocally, the fourth annual National Goldfish Awareness Week was a resounding success, with support and growth beyond even the most optimistic expectations. Even as the fourth celebration of National Goldfish Awareness Week was coming to its conclusion, plans were being made to further grow the holiday for the future. For the first time, tangible goals were set. Plans were set in motion. The National Goldfish Awareness Week Executive Advisory Council decided unanimously to expand, and bring on several Vice Presidents, of various designations, whose names and duties are detailed below. National Goldfish Awareness Week has reached a critical point in its existence. Its past is nothing but fruitful growth, and to the future lays exciting growth. And so before you lies the opportunity to become involved in so worthy a cause as National Goldfish Awareness Week while it still young. All that is required for your participation is to, of course, wear the arm band, which may be modified in any manner not deemed inappropriate as is fashionable and comfortable to you, and to cheerfully explain why you wear it. In the text that follows, some reasons are provided for the holiday, though part of the National Goldfish Awareness Week meaning is to speak from the heart, and provide answers that are meaningful to yourself. It is fun, and entirely inane and benign. What more could you ask? What is National Goldfish Awareness Week? National Goldfish Awareness week is currently a two pronged event. There is a motion on the floor to add a third branch, but that is for another day. Firstly, National Goldfish Awareness Week does seek to raise awareness for the goldfish, or to quote the opening paragraph, raising awareness of the much maligned and oft forgotten goldfish. We simply want for them to have the rights they so justly deserve. No longer should they be won as carnival prizes, used as fraternity stunts or flushed unceremoniously down toilets. These are friendly, low maintenance creatures who deserve a better place than the one in which they are currently entrenched. Secondly, National Goldfish Awareness Week seeks to make a mockery of awareness days and weeks in general. As we have awareness days for everything and anything, even those with value a diminished by such things as National Pound cake Day and National Drinking Water Month (both of which have been documented). The answer to the question of what is National Goldfish Awareness week is perhaps best answered with another question, Why not National Goldfish Awareness Week? What does that mean, exactly? And still you ask what it means. Well, it means the National Goldfish Awareness Week stands for what you wish it to stand for. There are some basic tenets, and general guidelines, many of which have already been outlined. It is an event of unerring integrity and uncompromising values. And yet, National Goldfish Awareness Week must be allowed endemic growth, to become what it will. National Goldfish Awareness Week is meant to be said with a smile, and the telling of the why should always be followed by a laugh. Even the most deadpan of responses is worth a chuckle in the cause of National Goldfish Awareness Week. Decorate, be festive, wear your gold ribbon with pride and shame all at once. There are no limits to what National Goldfish Awareness Week can be, it is evolving and growing even as it defines itself. We seek not to cheapen the holiday, only to allow it to find its own niche, rising to the upper limits of awareness weeks, taking goldfish along for the ride. The People Behind the Magic As with any organization, event or hamburger stand, the final product is only as good as the people who put it together. National Goldfish Awareness Week is no exception, and the National Goldfish Awareness Week Executive Advisory Council is pleased to introduce here the people that make National Goldfish Awareness Week all that it is, and all that it will be in years to come. Vice President of Graphic Design Stephanie created the wonderful logo that now adorns National Goldfish Awareness Week releases, and continues to work to bring new ideas to better the aesthetic appeal of National Goldfish Awareness Week. To better bring those artistic creations to light, Vice President of Media Relations Ellen has worked to create a unique website experience, and continues to seek other mediums to spread the word of National Goldfish Awareness Week. And none of our efforts would be possible with the support of Ann, the Vice President of Logistics. Ann has long worked behind the scenes to make National Goldfish Awareness Week possible, and we pleased to recognize that work with a position on the National Goldfish Awareness Week Executive Advisory Council. Your support is sought after, and greatly appreciated Jacob Tabb President and Founder, National Goldfish Awareness Week |
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