Here is the latest in the series of family traditions by month; largely interrupted by the pandemic emergency.

Early in March there is trip to pick up 500 butter tarts for Pi Day celebrations. Prior to last year, this was an annual trip to Oak Run Farms in Ancaster, near Hamilton. In 2019, Oak Run Farms informed me that they ceased production of butter tarts too late for me to pivot. Last year, I switched to Grandmother’s Bakery in Toronto; their product is really very good but more expensive and much more of a pain to receive and transport. This year the lockdown interfered with normal plans so I managed with supermarket products.

Pi Day takes place on March 14. At work, I organize to have the pies delivered as close to 1:59pm as possible. This usually requires a number of assistants. Sam and Trevor have their own Pi Day protocols and we always keep in touch about the success or failure of our efforts.

Sometimes Easter takes place in March so we take note of Dyngus Day which is not a celebration that we take part in but it is fun shout out to those that do.

Later in the month, I like to note the birthday of Herb Jepko who pioneered late night talk radio which I listened to a lot when I was a teenager. Herb was also a pioneer of direct marketing and what we refer to today as Social Media.

Sam’s birthday takes place very early in April so we turn our attention to celebration plans as soon as the Pi Day excitement abates. This year, there were many plans but unfortunately the Covid19 virus proliferation has taken a serious turn for the worse and everything has been cancelled.