Father's Day



THE BEGINING OF FATHER'S DAY



From "The Now" Newspaper in BC, Canada.



From its humble beginnings in the ealy 1900's Father's Day

had grown into one of Canada's most popular holidays.

Father's Day is also distinct, because four different people

came up with the idea at almost the same time.



The first occurrence is credited to Mrs. Charles Clayton

of West Virginia. In 1908, she convinced her pastor to

hold a special service commemorating fathers.



In 1912, Washingtionian J.H. Berringer conducted

another Father's Day service, believing it to be the

first of it's kind.



Harry Meek sold a similar idea to the Chicago Lions

Clubs in 1915. His celebration, held the third Sunday

in June earned him the title of "Originator of Father's Day"

from the Lions Club.



But the driving force behind the holiday was Sonora

Smart Dodd, a devoted daughter from Spokane,

Washington. After listening to a church sermon in

1909 on the merits of Mother's Day, she campaigned

for a Father's Day celebration. The reason behind

her effort: Her dad, who served as both father

and mother to his six children for 21 years.



Because of Dodd, a state-wide celebration was

proclaimed in 1910. The date chosen was

June 5, her father's birthday. However, festivities

were moved to June 19, the third Sunday,

because there was not enough time to prepare.



Eventually, annual celebrations were held throughout

Canada and the United States, but it wasn't until

1972 that Father's Day was officially recognized

by the U.S. Congress.



Today, an idea that began almost 100 years ago is

still going strong. But even though the tradition

remains constant, the nature of fatherhood has

changed. Today, in addition to the traditional

family unit of mom, dad and the kids, many

households are distinctive in their make-up.

We have stepfathers, foster fathers,

grandfathers raising children and same sex

parents where a child will have two "fathers".




Since I was into genealogy, I thought this would

be a great tibbit of info :) hope you enjoyed it.


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