Happy Father's Day - June 20th

“When my father didn’t have my hand, he had my back”
Linda Poindexter

Father’s Day was founded in 1910 by Sonora Smart Dodd.  Its first celebration was in a Spokane YMCA on June 19.  Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, was a single parent who raised six children by himself. After attending a Mother’s Day church service, the idea to honor her father was inspired. At the first celebration, Sonora presented handicapped fathers, by decorating their labels with fresh-cut roses (red for living fathers, white for the deceased), and city ministers devoted their homilies to fatherhood.

It did not become a national holiday until 1972 during President Richard Nixon’s administration by declaring the third Sunday in June to honor the role of fathers in our society.

To all the fathers, no matter what generation, we wish you the happiest of Father’s Day.  We thank you all for the vital role you play in the development of your children.