The 100th Father's Day

Today is the 100th Father's Day. As you may know Father's Day is the idea of Sonora Smart Dodd, of Spokane, WA. Sonora after listening to a church sermon at Spokane's Central Methodist Episcopal Church in 1909 about the newly recognized Mother's Day, she thought it nice to recognize father's as well. So with a little help from the YMCA, on June 19, 1910 young persons wore a rose to church, red for a living father and white for a deceased. Sonora Smart Dodd, went about the city giving gifts to shut in fathers.

Unlike Mother's Day, Father's Day had a very difficult time getting official recognition. Even in Spokane, the day with met with laughter and jokes. Congress didn't adopt it as an official holiday, because we needed not fill the calendar with needless holidays and for fear of commercialization. So, even though both President's Wilson (who actually spoke in Spokane on Father's Day 1916) and Coolidge lobbied for recognition, it wasn't until LBJ in 1966, that a proclamation was signed. It wasn't an official national holiday until 1972, when Nixon signed it into law. So happy Father's Day and remember thanks to tricky Dick it's not a joke anymore. Oh the irony.

Anyway here's a picture of my Dad.

Dan