National Doughnut Day

Today is the observance of National Doughnut Day in America. My focus on this Friday blog will be the round confections.

Obviously, on a much more somber and serious note, this is also the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. There are plenty of news outlets that will have coverage of the D-Day commemoration. If you have an interest in reading that coverage, I’d invite you to tune into the news outlet of your choice.

I don’t want to take away from those observances – both in Normandy and around the world – but I had a specific reason for talking about doughnuts this morning.

First, if you are a devotee of this breakfast treat, I hope you were able to get to a location to receive a free doughnut. I did not do this but I hope many of you were able to do so.

I actually observed National Doughnut Day, quite by accident, last night.

When I was a kid, one of the real treats we’d enjoy when I was in fourth or fifth grade, was the Friday afternoons when we’d be able to enjoy movie day. In that era, movie day did NOT entail a large tv, a DVD player and enjoying a showing of “Beauty and the Beast” or “Wall Street.”

Rather, our version of the laid back afternoon included a dark room and the whirring of a 16mm projector showing a 20-30 minute short film. If we were really lucky, we might be treated to a double feature. Or a triple!

No matter how many films were on the docket, one of the highlights was always  “The Doughnuts.” It was a short film based on the children’s book Homer Price, which was so popular when we were kids. One of the vignettes in the Homer Price book was about an out-of-control automatic doughnut making machine.

That story was the focus of the short movie.

At any rate, it was an annual staple from about third through sixth grades. Once a year, you could count on seeing the doughnut movie.

Recently, I found a VHS copy on eBay – you can find almost anything on eBay – and I purchased it. Last night, we enjoyed a trip back in the time machine to my childhood. I loved it; Lisa loved it; I think Holly and Paul were mildly amused (and somewhat curious).

So, there you have it: a pre-doughnut day doughnut celebration. I didn’t pick up a complimentary ‘Old Fashion’ or ‘Lemon Filled’ this morning. But, I was able to mark the day in more unique and personal fashion.

JG 

Originally posted 6/6/2014