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The Story Of Fathers Day
Copyright (c) 2007-2010 Wesley Berry, AAF
Father's day, contrary to popular misconception, was not established as a holiday in order to help greeting card manufacturers sell more cards. In fact when a "father's day" was first proposed there was no fathers day cards!
The idea for creating a day for children to honor their fathers began in Spokane Washington. A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for father's day while listening to a Mothers day sermon in 1909.
Sonora, Mrs. John B. Dodd, of Washington, first proposed the idea of "fathers' day". Mrs. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. William Smart, a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife (Mrs. Dodd's mother) died in childbirth with their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington State. It was after Mrs. Dodd became an adult that she realized the strength and selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent.
Sonora's father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Fathers Day celebration in Spokane Washington on the 19th of June, in 1910. At about the same time in various towns and cities across America other people were beginning to celebrate a "Father's Day." In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a National Father's Day. Finally in 1966 president Linden Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as Father's Day.
So Father's Day was born in memory and gratitude by a daughter who thought that her father and all good fathers should be honored with a special day just like we honor our mothers on Mothers Day.
The excerpt below is from the Silver Anniversary Book on Fathers Day published in 1935. We should thank William Jackson Smarts great granddaughter, Bonnie, for sharing this with us.
"This year, 1935, the Capital Silver Anniversary of Fathers Day is being observed. Thirty-seven years ago, in the Big Bend Hills of Washington, the day had it's nativity in a lonely farm dwelling. There Sorrow ministered amid the moaning of the March winds.
A father sat with bowed head in his aloneness. About him clung his weeping children. The winds outside threw great scarfs of powered snow against the window panes, when suddenly the last born tore himself from the group and rushed out into the storm calling for his mother. Yet even his baby voice could not penetrate the great silence that held this mother.
Hurriedly, the father gathered him back to his protection and for more than two decades, William Jackson Smart, alone, kept paternal vigilance over his motherless children.
This poignant experience and the life of Mrs. John Bruce Dodd of Spokane Washington, who was then Sonora Louise Smart, was the inspiration for Father's Day which materialized through the devotion of this father and the father of her own son, John Bruce Jr, born in 1909. Through the observance of the love and sacrifice of fathers about her everywhere, her idea of Father's Day crystallized in 1910, through a formal Father's Day petition asking recognition of fatherhood."
Most of us have had times when our fathers have given us strength and guidance. We know them to be supportive, wise and caring. Father's Day has become a day to not only honor your father, but all men who act as a father figure. Stepfathers, Uncles, Grandfathers, and adult male friends are all honored on Father's Day.
Here are some ideas for the special man in your life:
1. Get physical. Play basketball with your family, or a group of friends. Play tennis or get in a round of golf. Reserve a tee time or court and surprise him.
2. Take your dad to his favorite book store and let him browse around. Don't rush, he is sure to find something that will pique his interest, and then get it for him.
3. If it is not cold or rainy, take a blanket outside and lie outside under the stars. Spending quite time together makes it easy to talk and become closer.
4. Indulge in a massage. Make an appointment, give dad a spa gift.
5. Take in a movie. Even let dad go by himself.
6. Allow him a day of solitude. Let him sleep in, go fishing, or go hiking.
7. Work with your hands. Garden or build something together. If dad enjoys it you will to.
8. Get back to nature. Take a walk in the woods, visit the zoo, or go on a garden walk or a bike ride.
9. Get involved in a hobby your dad likes. Who knows it may lead to lots of great time together.
10. Make some popcorn and watch a favorite video.
11. Lounge on the beach or by the pool. Don't forget to take along some cold drinks and a good book.
12. Get away from it all and go camping. A change of scenery will be great for dad.
13. Meet up with a good friend you haven't seen in a while.
14. Hug the fathers in your life, your children, and your friends. We all need a good hug now and then.
No matter how you choose to honor your dad on Father's Day your florist can help add to the festivities. Send dad a special flower arrangement with some golf balls or fishing lures tucked in it. Or, send a gourmet basket filled with snacks and candy he loves. If you live near by drop in and deliver it yourself! Your visit will mean as much or more as the gift does. And most important of all, remember: Any man can be a father, but it takes a special person to be called dad.
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