Message from the Board
By: SPA Executive Vice President Steven Webbenhurst
Time is flying and the longest day of the year (sunrise to sunset) is just around the corner on June 21st!
Did you know that on that day, we have 15 hours, 59 minutes and 33 seconds between sunrise and sunset in Spokane? We miss having 16 hours of sunlight by a mere 27 seconds! That is more than 7.5 more hours of sunlight than our shortest day in December.
Think of those people that live further north in the world. The difference is even more dramatic. A few years ago I was fortunate to travel to Alaska for work twice during that summer. Daylight lasted forever it seemed. I was in Anchorage for a total of about 5 weeks and loved that it was still dusk at midnight, but the long days really messed up my mind’s perception of when I should go to bed. We would be out eating dinner and enjoying the city and suddenly realize it was 11pm!
Of course the opposite is true in the winter when they have less than 5.5 hours of sunlight in Anchorage. Residents there told me that people force themselves to be active in the winter so that they don’t go crazy. There are lots of evening activities planned so that people don’t hibernate for the winter.
Our summer days are shorter here in Spokane than they are in Anchorage, but we still enjoy the late sunsets. It seems easy here to be active during those evenings. Summer can be a busy time with trips planned and active kids to watch over, but summer for most of us is an enjoyable time. For those in the education world, it is a break from the stresses of school.
The Spokane Pharmacy Association also takes a bit of a break during the summer. We typically don’t have continuing education programs or promote drug-company sponsored dinners during July and August. Social/networking events don’t start again until fall.
The board hopes that all of our members enjoy their summer, but hope you also look forward to those events starting again in the fall. We will be in touch again before summer is over, alerting you to what great things we have planned for the fall.
Have a great summer!
Spokane Pharmacy Association 