The Masters Tournament is all about tradition.  The winner is awarded a cash prize and the famous Augusta National Green Jacket.  Winners keep their jacket for one year, then they must return it to the club where they can wear it whenever present.  Other traditions include the current U.S. Amateur Champion (Peter Uihlein) playing with the reigning Masters Champion (Phil Mickelson), The Honorary Starters (Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus in 2010), The Past Champion's Dinner and the Par 3 Contest.  The Masters require all caddies to wear a uniform consisting of a white jumpsuit, a green Master ball cap and white tennis shoes.  The defending Champion's caddy always wears bib#1. The remaining caddies wear progressive numbers in the order which their player registered for the tournament. 

April Fools Hoax Augusta National Goes Public The May 1990 issue of Golf magazine had good news for golf enthusiasts. It reported that Augusta National, the elite private golf course where the Masters tournament is held, would begin allowing public access to its course at certain times. As a result of this report, both Augusta National and Golf magazine received hundreds of calls from eager golfers inquiring about playing privileges. But the report was an April fool's joke, despite its placement in the May issue. Golf magazine was forced to publish a retraction, reaffirming that Augusta National was still a private club open only to members and guests.

SPRING FESTIVAL FAVORITES 

National Cherry Blossom Festival.   Washington, DC welcomes the arrival of spring with the National Cherry Blossom Festival, a tradition that showcases the beautiful gift of 3,000 cherry trees that the city of Tokyo gave to our nation's capital. But Did You Know? - The original 1910 gift of 2000 cherry trees from Tokyo had to be burned after they were discovered to be infested with agricultural pests and disease.

Sisters Meal Festival.   Love is in the air in this courtship ritual in Guizhou, China.  Young unmarried women and men set about finding themselves partners through the medium of sticky rice.  During this annual festival, women adorn themselves in silver (to warn off evil spirits) and dance to entice young suitors. The men offer women parcels of colored rice indicating their interest. Flirting at it's finest - without speaking a word, the young women indicate their level of interest by what they bury in the sticky rice.  A pair of red chopsticks means "I love you too"; one choptick means, "no, thank you"; and garlic or red chili indicates a flat refusal.  

Atlanta Dogwood Festival and Gone With the Wind Celebrating 75^th Anniversary this year. This year's festival is partnering with the Atlanta History Center and Margaret Mitchell House to provide visitors special celebratory activities around the city.  On April 19, 1936, Atlanta invited the world to attend her first Dogwood Festival. Walter Rich, president of ADF and founder of Rich's department store, sought to make Atlanta internationally known for the blooming of the dogwood trees during the week-long event.  Just one month later Gone With the Wind was published. But Did You Know? - That the speeding taxi cab that hit and killed Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mitchell as she was crossing the street, was driven by the cousin of one of our very own Delaney employees. 

Easter Egg Omelet Anyone?  Easter is the key festival in the Christian Calendar, but while church going, new suits and dresses, and Easter Eggs are all common in the US, the tradition in Hayx France is to make a giant omelette for 1,000 people, using 4,500 eggs. Polish people douse themselves with water and Finnish children traditionally blacken their faces with soot.  

The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention.  The symbol originated with the Pagan Festival of Eastre.  The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter Rabbit to America.  The Easter Egg also predates the Christian Holiday of Easter.  The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a custom that was centuries old when Easter was first celebrated by Christians. 

Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism as well as its position in the calendar.  In most European languages the feast called Easter in English is termed by the words for passover in those languages.  

OPENING DAY is another sign that Spring has sprung.  In Cinncinnati, Ohio, Home of Baseball's First Professional Team, an annual parade marks the start of the season.  Cincinnati remains the only team who always opens the season with a home game.    

In 1940, Cleveland pitcher Bob Feller threw a No-Hitter.  It remains the only No-Hitter in Opening Day History.  On April 4th, 1974 Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit his 714th Home Run on his first pitch of the season, tying Babe Ruth's Home Run Record.     

Las Vegas odds to win the World Series

PHILADELPHIA  3 to 1

BOSTON    9 to 2

N.Y. YANKEES  5 to 1

SAN FRANCISCO  15 to 1

ST LOUIS  20 to 1 

PITTSBURG  500 to 1 (Last)  

April Fools Hoax Sidd Finch 1985: Sports Illustrated published a story about a new rookie pitcher who planned to play for the Mets. His name was Sidd Finch, and he could reportedly throw a baseball at 168 mph with pinpoint accuracy. This was 65 mph faster than the previous record. Surprisingly, Sidd Finch had never even played the game before. Instead, he had mastered the "art of the pitch" in a Tibetan monastery under the guidance of the "great poet-saint Lama Milaraspa." Mets fans celebrated their teams' amazing luck at having found such a gifted player, and Sports Illustrated was flooded with requests for more information. In reality this legendary player only existed in the imagination of the author of the article, George Plimpton.

HOW LONG IS A MARATHON? The marathon is one of the most storied races of all time. Originally conceived as a race for the 1896 Olympics in Athens, it was then transported to Boston in 1897 by American spectators.  The history of the marathon in the new world is almost as long as the history of the marathon itself.  But how did they decide on the official distance???  It seems as though the event planners of the 1908 London Olympics, were feeling a little "royal" pressure to be sure this popular event took the "correct" route.  And so it began at Windsor Castle and ended in front of the Royal Box - that's 26 miles, 385 yards to be exact.  It was not until 1921, that this exact distance was adopted as the "official" Marathon distance by the IAAF.