Father's Day

Father's Day is here, but many of us don't know how this holiday came about, so here's a short history:

 In 1908 a West Virgina Church sponsored the first event explicitly in honor of fathers, a Sunday sermon in memory of the 362 men who had died in the previous December’s explosions at the Fairmont Coal Company mines in Monongah.

In 1909, Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane Washington, tried to establish an official equivalent to Mother’s Day for male parents. She solicited local churches, the YMCA, shopkeepers and government officials to support for her idea, and and on July 19, 1910 Washington State proclaimed  the nation’s first statewide "Father’s Day."

 In 1916, President Wilson honored the day by using telegraph signals to unfurl a flag in Spokane when he pressed a button in Washington, D.C.

In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge urged state governments to observe Father’s Day.

Remember, your father gave you his name. He is the strength and wisdom of your family. A provider of money, shelter and security. Always respect him and love him dearly.

Happy Father's Day!