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Happy Father's Day
Any man can be a Father, but it takes a special person to be called Dad.

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 Mother's Day sermon in 1909.
Having been raised by her father, William Jackson Smart, after her mother died, Sonora wanted her father to know how special he was to her. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. Sonora's father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.
In 1926, a National Father's Day Committee was formed in New York City. Father's Day was recognized by a Joint Resolution of Congress in 1956. In 1972, President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance of Father's Day to be held on the third Sunday of June. 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 Mother's Day.







The excert below is from the Silver Anniversary Book on Father's day published in 1935. I would like to thank William Jackson Smart's great granddaughter, Bonnie, for sharing this with me.
"This year, 1935, the Silver Anniversary of Fathers' Day is being observed. Thirty-seven years ago, in the Big Bend hills of Washington, the day had its 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 powdered 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 in the life of Mrs. John Bruce Dodd of Spokane, Washington, who was then Sonora Louise Smart, was the inspiration for Fathers' 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 the sacrifice of fathers about her everywhere, her idea of Fathers' Day crystallized in 1910, through a formal Fathers' Day petition asking recognition of fatherhood."

What Makes A Dad
God took the strength of a mountain,

The majesty of a tree,

The warmth of a summer sun,

The calm of a quiet sea,

The generous soul of nature,

The comforting arm of night,

The wisdom of the ages,

The power of the eagle's flight,

The joy of a morning in spring,

The faith of a mustard seed,

The patience of eternity,

The depth of a family need,

Then God combined these qualities,

When there was nothing more to add,

He knew His masterpiece was complete,

And so, He called it ... Dad
Author is unknown

You may listen to music while viewing mypage by clicking on the midi player below.
Daddy's Hands by Holly Dunn
I remember daddy's hands folded silently in prayerAnd reachin' out to hold me, when I had a nightmareYou could read quite a story in the callous' and linesYears of work and worry had left their mark behind
I remember daddy's hands how they held my mama tightAnd patted my back for something done rightThere are things that I'd forgotten that I loved about the manBut I'll always remember the love in daddy's hands
Daddy's hands were soft and kind when I was cryin'Daddy's hands were hard as steel when I'd done wrongDaddy's hands weren't always gentle but I've come to understandThere was always love in daddy's hands.
I remember daddy's hands workin' 'til they bledSacrifised unselfishly just to keep us all fedIf I could do things over, I'd live my life againAnd never take for granted the love in daddy's hands

Gift Kids Can Make For Dad
Fill a jar with Hersheys Hugs and Kisses. Take one pair of new sports socks and one pair of gloves (gardening gloves, work gloves, etc.) Tack the socks together toe to toe. This makes a pair of arms. Tack one glove to the the open end of each of the socks. Now you have arms and hands. Wrap the arms and hands around the jar a couple of times, crossing the hands at the front and tack together. Attach this poem:
DADDY,

If all these Kisses aren't enough,

There's two hands to help with garden stuff.

If all these hugs don't work their charm,

There's two arms to help keep you warm.

If this gift doesn't show how much we care,

We have REAL hugs & kisses to share!

Father's Day Links
Father's Day at Alphabet Soup
Barbara's Entourage A Tribute to Father
Billy Bear's Happy Father's Day
Marvelicious Happy Father's Day
Father's Day on the Net - Welcome
National Center for Fathering
Father's Day at 20ishParents.com

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All Pages Designed By C Murchison © Copyright 1996.Please do not copy text or graphics from this site without permission.Special thanks to Bonnie, great granddaughter of William Jackson Smart, for sharing the history of this holiday with me.