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Vitamin Shoppe, GNC, Herbs
Etc. to host events; Broad support expressed by industry
media; Local AHG chapters to participate
(April 26, 2006) -HerbDay 2006 is six
months away and numerous sponsors and participants
are already planning an exciting array of events to
celebrate herbs and herbalism at sites all across America.
Reports of events and offers to become involved are
pouring in as people and companies register at the
event's website: www.herbday.org.
Several retailers,
large and small, will participate as HerbDay hosts,
either on HerbDay itself (October 14) or on the days
just before and after. For example, the GNC chain
is planning a variety of store-based activities and
special offers to honor the day, and The Vitamin Shoppe
will hold events in all of its 280 stores to highlight
the value of herbs. Herbs Etc. will host HerbDay activities
in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, store and community.
Beyond
the retailer arena, the San Diego Herb Club and that
city's chapter of the American Herbalists Guild (AHG)
are joining together to plan an informational fair
in Balboa Park, including tours of the newly expanded "Trees
for Health" medicinal tree grove and garden. In
Ben Lomond, California, the East-West School of Herbology
will also participate. Further east, Herbalists Without
Borders (based in State College, PA) will host an "HerbalSlam" -
a poetry contest on the theme of "all things herbal." And
the HerbDay Coalition will produce a multi-day event
at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, DC with
support from staff and students from Tai Sophia Institute,
based in Columbia, MD, and the DC chapter of the
AHG.
The herb industry media have also expressed
support for HerbDay as several "Media Sponsors" have
signed on to promote the event to their readers.
Ads and editorials will be running in each of these
magazines well in advance of the event and up to their
October issues, including: Health Supplement Retailer,
Remedies, Vitamin Retailer, and Whole Foods Magazine.
In addition, Taste for Life will publish a special
edition in October that includes a 24-pages pullout
section with carefully researched articles by respected
herbalists. As with all special Taste for Life editions,
Herb Day 2006 will also be a stand-alone publication
with a lengthy shelf time in natural products chains,
health food stores, and herb shops nationwide, offering
leading manufacturers an excellent opportunity to support
consumer education through advertisements.
The entire
herbal community is invited to participate actively
in HerbDay 2006, either by hosting an event or providing
sponsorship in the form of financial support. Now
is the time to start developing ideas for local HerbDay
activities to ensure that every community celebrates
the wonders of herbs. Visit www.herbday.org to review
the initial menu of ideas that the HerbDay Coalition
has developed, and to register to tell others what
you are planning to do to join the herbal celebration.
The website will be the primary location to organize
and disseminate information about HerbDay activities
and resources.
HerbDay is a coordinated series of
public educational events celebrating the importance
of herbs and herbalism through harmonized, independently
planned activities that will occur on October 14,
2006, and/or during the days leading up to and following
that date. Activities will occur at retail stores,
botanical gardens, and parks throughout North America.
HerbDay activities will be designed by each hosting
venue, which will have broad latitude in selecting
its own events, such as lectures and workshops by
well-known herbalists; herb walks; in-store cooking
demonstrations featuring herbs and spices; seasonal
herbal handcrafts; in-store herbal beauty product demonstrations;
presentations by herb company representatives; activities
with herbal themes for children; etc.
Five national
nonprofit organizations- American Botanical Council
(ABC); American Herbalists Guild (AHG); American
Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP); American Herbal Products
Association (AHPA); and United Plant Savers (UpS) -
are working together as the HerbDay Coalition to launch
this event. |
