Do you love to see punctuation used correctly? Do you love to bake? Then you’re going to love the National Punctuation Day Baking Contest!  September 24^th marks the 6th anniversary of National Punctuation Day (NPD), but this is the first year for the baking contest.  What is NPD exactly?  Founder Jeff Rubin created the day as a way to celebrate “the lowly comma, correctly used quotes, and other proper uses of periods, semicolons, and the ever-mysterious ellipsis.” NPD is celebrated in schools and businesses with various games, activities, programs and contests.

Rules for this year’s National Punctuation Day Baking Contest

1. Entrants must send a recipe and a sample of their cookie, cake, pastry, doughnut, or bread baked in the shape of a punctuation mark to National Punctuation Day, 1517 Buckeye Court, Pinole, CA 94564.

2. Entrants must send two print photos—one putting the item in an oven before baking and the other taking it out when it’s done. Make sure we can see the baked goods clearly.

3. First-, second-, and third-place winners will receive a box of non-edible NPD goodies, and all entrants’ photos and recipes will be published on the National Punctuation Day website.

4. All entries must be received by September 30, 2009

I’ll be the first to admit I am a grammar nerd. I love picking out typos in restaurant menus or looking at billboards and exclaiming, “They should have used a semicolon!” As I type this, I am filled with anxiety at the thought of someone finding a punctuation error in this post. What could be worse than misusing punctuation in a blog post about celebrating punctuation? Only death! Seriously though, I think this is a fantastic way to make punctuation fun. Texting, emailing, and social networking have created fast and abbreviated typing. It’s fine when you’re sending a friend a text about when to meet up (ie. Jen sorry running late c u @ 9), but I’m afraid text speak has already spilled into professional environments, and that’s just ugly.

“Casual shortcuts bred by e-mailing and text messaging have no place in school papers or professional business writing,” says NPD founder Jeff Rubin. “In the business world, words have power and help decision-makers form impressions immediately. Careless punctuation mistakes cost time, money, and productivity. There’s an epidemic of poor punctuation in the United States, much like the Swine flu. It’s too bad there’s no vaccine to prevent it.”

For more information on National Punctuation Day and other educational programs, please visit www. nationalpunctuationday.com.

Photo Courtesy of National Punctuation Day

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