Karen's New Holiday

  “What?” Hannie and Nancy said together.

  “I am going to draw lots of sunflowers,” I said. “And I am going to ask Daddy if I can give sunflowers to everyone for Augustania. Sunflowers should be the official flower for our holiday.”

  My friends thought that was a great idea.

  “And yellow should be the official color,” Hannie said.

  We worked away at our fliers. Kristy had said she would help us put them up on our street. Later, we met Kristy outside of Hannie’s house.

  “These fliers look terrific!” Kristy said.

  The Three Musketeers smiled. We thought they looked good too.

  We put the signs up on telephone poles on our street. When we were finished, I asked Kristy if we could ring people’s doorbells to let them know about Augustania.

  “All right. Let’s see if Mrs. Porter is home,” Kristy said. Mrs. Porter lives next door to the big house. I think she might be a witch. But even Mrs. Porter might want to celebrate Augustania, so I had to ring the bell.

  “Hello,” Mrs. Porter said as she opened the door. (She was wearing black. Just like a witch!)

  I told her about Augustania. Then I thought that I should mention the candy to her.

  “Kids will ring the bell,” I said. “And they will say, ‘The sun is hot and the sky is blue. Happy Augustania to you!’ ”

  “It is like trick-or-treating,” Nancy added.

  I was not sure that Mrs. Porter understood what we meant. But Kristy nudged my shoulder.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Porter,” Kristy said, and the Three Musketeers walked away.

  We told a few more of our neighbors about Augustania. Then Kristy said, “How about a snack?”

  I was hungry after seeing those fliers for Augustania. We went back to the big house, and Nannie gave us some watermelon.

  Nancy started singing, “Watermelon, watermelon …”

  “How it drips, how it drips,” Hannie sang.

  “Up and down my elbows, up and down my elbows,” I added.

  “Spit out the pits, spit out the pits,” the three of us sang.

  “Three cheers for Augustania!” I said.

  “Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!”

  I grinned at my friends. Augustania was going to be the best holiday ever.

  Hello, Washington?

  After our snack, Hannie and Nancy had to go home. I waited outside with Nancy until her mom picked her up. But even after my friends left, I thought about Augustania.

  Then I remembered my letter to Congresswoman Kesser. I wondered if she had brought it down to Washington, D.C., already. Maybe she had talked to the President about my holiday. Since I had not heard from her, I decided to call. Maybe she had some questions about my idea for a new holiday.

  I found the big phone book in our hall closet. I looked up the congresswoman’s office. I was very excited. I had so much to tell her about Augustania.

  “Hello, Congresswoman Kesser’s office,” a friendly voice said.

  “Hello,” I answered. “My name is Karen Brewer and I wrote Congresswoman Kesser a letter about a new national holiday.” (I used my grown-up voice.)

  “The congresswoman is very busy, but she and her staff answer all her mail. You need to be patient,” the woman said.

  Boo and bullfrogs. Augustania was only a few days away! I hung up the phone. I was not happy. I am not very good at being patient.

  “Karen!” Nannie called.

  I went into Nannie’s kitchen. She was busy tying ribbons on the little white boxes we had gotten from Mr. Morgan. She was filling a large order for the library’s summer fund-raiser.

  “Would you like to help us?” Nannie asked.

  I like to help Nannie. And since I wasn’t off to Washington, D.C., to tell the President about Augustania, I had some time to help out. David Michael was cutting ribbon, so I started to tie bows with the ribbons.

  As I was tying my third red ribbon on a box, Sam walked in. He was just finishing his paper route.

  “Is Shannon going to be in the parade?” Sam asked David Michael.

  “Yes,” David Michael said. “She’ll be the star!”

  “What parade?” I asked.

  “The Dog Days of Summer Parade,” Sam said. “I thought that was part of your Augustania holiday.”

  I glared at David Michael. “What parade?” I said again.

  Sam grabbed a piece of chocolate and popped it into his mouth. “There’s a flier down the street with a drawing of a big dog. It says, ‘Come celebrate the dog days of summer! Bring your dog to the Dog Days of Summer Parade this Saturday.’ ”

  Well, that was all wrong. I did not know what it was all about. I had to call an emergency committee meeting.

  Dog-Gone Mad!

  “There has been a big mistake,” I said when my friends had gathered in the big-house backyard. I looked at each of them. We were sitting around the big picnic table. “Some people did not follow my directions.”

  “Your directions were to make our own fliers,” Melody said. “And we did.”

  I stood up and put my hand on my hip. “What did you write on the fliers?”

  “ ‘Come celebrate Augustania! A luau with Hawaiian music,’ ” Bill said. He smiled at Melody. I guessed that they had made their signs together.

  “We made signs for the pie-eating contest,” Timmy said, pointing to Scott and Linny.

  “A pie-eating contest?” I said. “Pies are for Thanksgiving, not Augustania!”

  “Pies are not just for Thanksgiving, Karen,” Linny said. “My mom makes pies all the time.”

  I sat down on the picnic bench and put my head in my hands.

  “I thought Maria’s signs were really cute,” Hannie said.

  “Yeah, I’m excited about the dog parade,” added David Michael.

  But Augustania was not about dogs. I thought I had made that clear. That was not what I had in mind at all!

  “My mom even found some Hawaiian music to play at the pool,” Melody said.

  “And my dad found an old Hawaiian shirt that he is going to let me wear,” Bill told everyone.

  “Timmy and I got these great aviator sunglasses,” Scott said. “We look like real pilots.”

  I dropped my head on the table and then took a slow, deep breath.

  “There are too many different things,” I said. “If people do not know how to celebrate Augustania, it will never get to be a national holiday!”

  “Karen, we are all working very hard,” Nancy said softly.

  “Everyone has lots of great ideas,” Hannie added.

  “But it was my idea!” I said. “Now no one is listening!” I grabbed my notebook and ran inside the house. I did not want to talk to anybody on the committee anymore.

  Upstairs in my room, I flopped on my bed. I looked at my calendar and saw AUGUSTANIA written in bright yellow letters. Only three days away …

  “Oh, Moosie,” I said. “What is going to happen to Augustania?”

  Moosie is a very good listener. I gave him a big hug.

  There was a knock at my door. It was Elizabeth. Since she was not on the committee, I thought that it was all right for her to come in.

  “Karen, your friends are all downstairs,” she said. “What happened?”

  I told Elizabeth that everyone on the committee was a meanie-mo. No one was listening to me, the head of the committee. Augustania was not turning out the way I had thought it would.

  “Karen, being the head of something is hard work,” Elizabeth said. “You cannot give up so quickly. There is also a lot of hard work involved in making a holiday celebration.”

  “I have been working very hard,” I said.

  Elizabeth smiled. “I know you have, Karen. But so has everyone else. As the leader, you need to make some compromises for the good of the group.”

  “But Augustania was my idea!” I blurted out.

  “Maybe at the beginning, Karen. But now you have a group of friends who have helped to make the day very s
pecial. A good leader does not only have a good idea, she has leadership qualities. And part of that is making compromises so the job gets done. Every group needs a strong leader.”

  “Maybe,” I said. But I was still mad.

  Andrew knocked on the door. “Karen, we are all going to meet tomorrow. We hope you will come.”

  I looked at Elizabeth. She nodded. Our group needed a leader. Augustania needed me. I would be there.

  One Last Meeting

  “We all want Augustania to be great, Karen,” Nancy said.

  My friends were at the picnic table in the big-house backyard again. I could tell that some of them were still mad. I was still mad too. After all, Augustania had been my idea. But maybe Elizabeth was right. I should try to work with the other kids. Augustania needed a strong leader.

  I opened my Augustania notebook. I flipped to the first page and looked at all our great ideas. Then I turned to my notes from the meeting when we had named Augustania. I had been very proud that day.

  “Everyone has worked hard,” Maria said.

  “We all want Augustania to be perfect,” Melody added.

  “Why can’t everyone just celebrate the way they want?” Andrew asked.

  No matter what Elizabeth had said, I could not let everybody else have their own way. “Because I am the one who thought of Augustania!” I blurted out. My friends grew very quiet.

  “Karen, you do not have to be such a bossy bragger,” Hannie said. She looked me straight in the eye.

  I guess I was being bossy. I was right back where I had started. And Elizabeth was right. Being the head of a group was not easy at all. I did not know what to do next.

  Just then, Elizabeth yelled, “Karen! There is a telephone call for you.”

  I ran into the kitchen to answer the phone.

  “Hello, Karen,” a woman said. “My name is Cami Warner. I am the producer at the WJSN News Station here in Stoneybrook.”

  A television producer. How gigundoly cool!

  Cami explained that she had heard about the Augustania celebration and wanted to send a crew to film it for the nightly news. I could not believe it! We were going to be on television! Congresswoman Kesser had probably called the TV station. She must have really liked the idea of an August holiday. She was probably meeting with the President right now. I guess that is why she had not called me yet. Augustania was going to be a national holiday! Now everyone was going to know about Augustania.

  I told Cami about our celebration, and then ran back outside.

  “We did it!” I yelled. “Augustania is going to be a real national holiday!”

  Everyone cheered and jumped up and down. Then we all chanted, “The sun is hot and the sky is blue. Happy Augustania to you!”

  “Now everyone can celebrate Augustania,” I said. I looked around at my friends. “Thank you for all your hard work. Augustania is going to be great.”

  Hannie smiled at me. “Happy Augustania, Karen,” she said.

  “Happy Augustania,” I replied. Then I added, “We made a holiday.”

  One More Day

  “One more day until Augustania,” I announced. Andrew and I were with Daddy in his garden. We were helping him water the giant sunflowers. I could not wait to give the flowers to my friends for Augustania.

  I love to help Daddy take care of the garden. I especially like to help with the watering. Daddy wheels out the big green hose from the shed, and Andrew and I get to take turns spraying the giant flowers. We have to be very careful. Daddy likes to take good care of his garden.

  “Karen, why don’t you and Andrew see if the cookies are ready?” Daddy said when we were done watering.

  Nannie had made sunflower cookies for Augustania. And now Andrew, David Michael, and I were going to decorate them with yellow and black sprinkles.

  The counters in the kitchen were covered with plates of cookies. We had a lot of work to do. Elizabeth said we should make an assembly line. First Nannie and Kristy frosted the cookies. Then Andrew and I sprinkled the black sprinkles in the middles of the flowers. Then Elizabeth and David Michael used yellow sprinkles for the petals. We were an excellent assembly line. Even Emily Michelle helped out. (But I think she liked eating the sprinkles much more than putting them on the cookies.) Soon we had decorated all the cookie flowers.

  “Wow, those are great!” Charlie said when he saw them. He had been at the beach all day with his friends. Sam came into the kitchen after him. He started to grab a cookie, but Elizabeth said he had to wait until Augustania to have one.

  “So Karen’s holiday is going to happen?” Sam asked. “Is she going to run for mayor too?”

  “Very funny,” I said. (I told you big brothers are sometimes a pain.)

  “Sam, maybe you should sign up for the pie-eating contest,” Kristy said.

  Sam loves to eat. “A pie-eating contest?” he asked.

  “You can make your own sundae too!” Andrew said.

  Suddenly Sam was much more interested in Augustania.

  I smiled as I looked at the sunflower cookies. I thought about a yellow shirt and yellow shorts that I could wear. I couldn’t wait to hand out my cookies and sunflowers to my family and friends. I also could not wait to swim, make sundaes, and even march in the Dog Days of Summer Parade!

  That night I had trouble falling asleep. I snuggled with Moosie and tried to close my eyes, but I was much too excited. I didn’t think morning would ever come … and I could not wait to start the Augustania celebrations!

  Happy Augustania!

  “Happy Augustania, Karen!”

  I opened my eyes and saw Andrew standing by my bed. It was morning. It was Augustania!

  I jumped out of bed. Already the sun was shining and the sky was bright blue. It was a perfect day for a new holiday.

  Andrew and I ran downstairs. Daddy, Elizabeth, Nannie, and Emily Michelle were already eating breakfast.

  “Happy Augustania!” I said.

  I saw four presents on the table. One had my name on it, one had Andrew’s, one had Emily’s, and one had David Michael’s. Goody, goody, goody!

  David Michael ran into the kitchen next. “Happy Augustania, everyone!” he said.

  My gift was wrapped in sunflower paper. Inside was a bright yellow shirt with a sunflower on it. Perfect for Augustania.

  “Thank you,” I said to Daddy and Elizabeth.

  Andrew got a new pail and shovel for the beach. He loved them.

  Emily’s present was a bright yellow bathing suit.

  David Michael got a new soccer shirt.

  Then Nannie gave us each a giant chocolate sunflower lollipop that she had made herself. They looked too good to eat … almost. So far Augustania was great.

  After breakfast, Daddy and I went out to Daddy’s garden. He cut a bunch of the sunflowers down so I could give them to my friends. They were taller than I was.

  When Kristy, Sam, and Charlie woke up, I gave them each a flower and an ice-cream card that I had made. I think that they liked them. They each gave Andrew, David Michael, and me coupons for ice cream at Sullivan Sweets, a yummy store with lots of ice cream and candy.

  Elizabeth and Daddy helped David Michael, Andrew, and me get ready for the make-your-own sundaes. We made hot fudge and put out bowls of sprinkles and candies. (We would not put out the ice cream until later.)

  “Happy Augustania, Karen!” Hannie and Nancy were at my door. They were dressed all in yellow. Hannie had new sunflower barrettes in her hair and Nancy was wearing a sun pin on her shirt. We all showed one another our gifts.

  Kristy said she would walk up and down the street with us to get some candy. Our neighbors gave us lots of treats.

  We saw Maria getting ready for the dog parade. Astrid was wearing a yellow ribbon around her neck.

  “Look how cute she is!” Hannie said. It was time for her to get Noodle ready too.

  I saw Timmy and Scott with their aviator sunglasses. Their dog, Clyde, was happy to be part of the parade.

&nbsp
; “Are you Karen Brewer?” A woman tapped me on the shoulder. A microphone was in her hand.

  “Yes,” I answered. I knew right away that she was Cami Warner from WJSN.

  I took Cami and her crew to the Kormans’ house, where the luau swim party had begun. Bill and Maria were teaching everyone a Hawaiian dance.

  Later, we went to the Hsus’, where the pie-eating contest was going on. It was a close race between Linny and Sam. Finally Sam won.

  The last stop was my house, for the make-your-own sundaes. I think the cameraman really liked that stop. He ate two sundaes.

  “Karen, what do you think of today?” Cami asked.

  I looked right into the camera. “This is the best holiday ever,” I said. “Happy Augustania to everyone!”

  Bad News, Good News

  After the television crew left, everyone started to clean up and go back to their own houses. I helped Elizabeth clean up the kitchen. There were lots of dirty ice-cream bowls from the sundaes.

  “Where is today’s mail?” Charlie asked Elizabeth.

  “I think it is on the table in the hallway,” she said.

  “Look, here is something for you, Karen,” Charlie said as he handed me an envelope.

  I looked at the letter. It was from Congresswoman Kesser!

  I opened the envelope. The letter said that a national holiday takes years to happen. It needs to be discussed by the Congress and the Senate. Boo and bullfrogs.

  “Who is the letter from?” Elizabeth asked.

  I handed it to Elizabeth. “Why did the television crew come to film Augustania if it is not a national holiday?” I said.

  Elizabeth put down the letter and led me to the couch in the living room. She sat down and asked me to sit down next to her.

  “Karen, I told my friend at WJSN about Augustania,” Elizabeth explained. “You and your friends worked so hard that I thought people should know about your holiday celebration.”

  “So Augustania is not a national holiday?” I asked.