Come on now, let's all celebrate and have a good time! Do you remember that song "Celebrate" by Kool and The Gang? This could be my theme song. Yes, I think we have to be reminded to celebrate each day, each month, each season.

I have just found a new place to celebrate. Have you been to The Cake Bake Shop? Oh, my goodness! My first time visiting the cakery was enchanting. With pink, crystals, silver, and sparkle everywhere, I kept thinking any minute Tinker Bell or Cinderella would stop by my table that was laced with pink and white balloons. The following week I visited often, stacking up my pink boxes and not even wanting to throw the containers away. I was celebrating a fundraiser and hopeful end of winter.

Yes, that fundraiser for Canine Companions for Independence for which I am a puppy raiser was a huge celebration too. The gala at the Scottish Rite Cathedral featured dinner, concert, silent auction, testimonials, service dogs, and good company. The Indy Chapter was celebrating all the good work local puppy raisers do and the miracles Canine Companions facilitates by providing service dogs for free to people with other than sighted disabilities. It was a joyous occasion.

Each day I celebrate. You know it doesn't have to be a birthday, wedding, or huge party. Every day as I leave home, I read the sign just above my screen door: "Make It A Good Day!" It's my mission each day to celebrate, make a memory, or give a positive message to people with whom I come in contact. As the years pass, I realize the positives and the celebrations are important in our lives. They help us look forward; they help us thrive.

Some of my most fun celebrations have happened in my backyard-- birthdays, garden blooming, a newly dedicated tree house, welcoming a fire pit, sandcastle day, doggy swim day, apple picking, and gathering nature finds for fairy gardens. I love the magazine photo of dinner parties that have long tables with lots of people dining al fresco. What a fun way to have a neighborhood gathering.

Celebrations are great for neighborhood spirit -- ice cream socials, sledding behind a tractor, hayrides on a wagon pulled by a lawnmower, 4th of July bike parades, caroling, ice hockey on a frozen yard, candlelight tree lighting, and in summer for enchanted fairy nights. It just takes one person to say "let's celebrate." Last year we even had a tour to celebrate eight recently remodeled kitchens. Each home provided refreshments, and we walked around with our own wine or beer glasses.

One of my most memorable of recent community celebrations involved Backyard Birds (BYB) and the Indy Chapter of Canine Companions for Independence joining the Broad Ripple Christmas Parade. What fun! The dogs and puppy raisers walked in front of the BYB red convertible covered with lights and handed out candy to spectators. The next time you are restless or don't have anything to do, cook up a celebration. Broad Ripple has lots of places to hold a celebration: parks, eateries, galleries, and quaint niches of the Village.