28/03/2025
Do we wish each other a Happy April Fools’ Day?
I posed that question a couple of years ago in a weekly newsletter that I put together for the Duluth News Tribune: Weekly Wave.
I am as unsure now as I was then if there is a proper way to address the jokes, pranks and general silliness often surrounding the first of April.
Here’s what I wondered then:
Do we celebrate it? Observe it? Practice it?
There are no Hallmark cards to send to each other that I know of, and the U.S. Postal Service still delivers the mail on April 1 if it doesn’t fall on a Sunday. And there’s not a single ode to April Fools’ Day that I can find in my music library. But it’s listed on my desk and wall calendars every year in case I forget.
April Fools’ Day and countless facsimiles have dotted the calendars of many cultures for centuries. It seems as though we’ve all needed an excuse to have some harmless fun at the expense of our family, friends and neighbors from time to time.
Fear not, dear Woman Today readers. This magazine intro is not a long windup into a punch line designed to leave you dazed and fooled. This is a prank-free space.
But I do wonder if April Fools’ Day has lost some of its luster. It doesn’t seem to be as widely executed as it has in the past. As a youth, I always had to be on the lookout for a family member or friend with an April Fools’ joke that landed anywhere on the prank spectrum from a simple lie to a Hitchcockian production. Now, as an adult, I tend to let my guard down on April 1 and make it through the day without so much as a “Kick Me” note slapped on my back.
I have to admit, too, that I can’t remember the last time I concocted a good, old-fashioned prank. Maybe it's time I constructed one.
Have we gotten too serious to engage in a little fun once in a while? Can we no longer laugh at ourselves when we've been fooled?
I sure hope that’s not the case. If there’s one thing we all could use in our lives right now, it’s permission to lighten up and have a little fun.
No foolin’.
Here are some of the stories we’re excited to share with you in this issue:
You’ll meet Catherine O’Reilly, who recently took the helm at the Large Lakes Observatory.
Find out what the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is all about and meet a couple of the women who help steer that organization.
Meet Tiffany Hughes, who was recently lauded as the 2024 Business Champion of the Year by the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce.
You’ve probably been inside several of the buildings she helped design. Now, you can meet talented interior designer Sara Rapp.
Get in the spring spirit and create a foam floral initial.
Thanks for spending some of your valuable time reading The Woman Today. Your readership is greatly appreciated!
Rick Lubbers
Executive editor, The Woman Today
Rick Lubbers
