An NIU alumnus is raising a fuss over National Inventors Day.

“If Groundhog Day can raise so much fuss, so should National Inventors Day,” said Reece Franklin, a 1972 political science graduate and author of the book “Inventors Marketing Handbook.”

Franklin is leading the fight to make the traditional day of National Inventors Day, Feb. 11, into a national holiday.

Franklin, who now lives in Los Angeles, Ca., said he is currently lobbying President Bush. But, so far, the president and Congress have done nothing, he said.

Inventors “need to be recognized,” Franklin said. Having a national holiday will help inventors “keep on keeping on,” he said.

Franklin said DeKalb is the home of such inventions as barbed wire and hybrid corn, but these facts are taken for granted. He plans to change that with the holiday.

Franklin said many inventors give up because of repeatedly getting turned down in the marketing world.

Avi Abrahm, who invented a plastic handle for pop bottles, said he thinks a national holiday for inventors is “an excellent idea” because “hopes and dreams are important” to everyone. “This country needs more inventors.”

The holiday will encourage people to be creative and invent new things, Franklin said, adding it would make America a tough competitor in the world market.

Franklin said he thinks the true purpose to National Inventors Day is to have a day were everyone can say “Thank you, guys and ladies for what you have done.” Franklin said he plans “to raise hell every year” until the day becomes a national holiday and plans to have this accomplished by 1992.