Jun 15, 2021

Happy Father’s Day

Father’s Day

“Now for the rest of the story” as Paul Harvey used to say.

          How did this special day get its start? It almost didn’t. On July 5, 1908, a West Virginia church sponsored the first event. A sermon was preached in memory of 362 men who had died in a coal mining explosion. But this was just a one-time event.

          In Washington state, June 19, 1910, a statewide honoring occurred. For the record, Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day an official holiday in 1924. Calvin Coolidge tried unsuccessfully to urge the state governors to observe Father’s Day in 1924.

          Many men scoffed at the holiday. In Europe and Latin America, men were honored on St. Joseph’s Day each March. Even in New York City, leaders tried to scrap both holidays and wanted to make just a Parent’s Day, during the 20s and 30s.

          Finally, in 1972, President Richard Nixon declared Father’s Day and official holiday (58 years after Mother’s Day). 

Enjoy your special day. Wear that tie proudly. Display your youngster’s artwork as if a masterpiece. And know that you are loved- by your family and by God.

Scriptures for Father’s Day:

Psalm 103:13: “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.” Proverbs 22:6: “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” 2 Samuel 7:14-15: “I will be a father to him, and he’ll be a son to me.