HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

The History of Father's Day

Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Washington, conceived the idea of Father’s Day while she listened to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart, a widowed Civil War veteran who was left to raise his six children on a farm. A day in June was chosen for the first Father’s Day celebration - June 19, 1910, proclaimed by Spokane’s mayor because it was the month of Smart’s birth. The first presidential proclamation honoring fathers was issued in 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson designated the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Father’s Day has been celebrated annually since 1972 when President Richard Nixon signed the public law that made it permanent.

My father loves telling this story…

“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.” – Mark Twain

Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I love you. And I never thought you were ignorant. Granted, there were times in my teens when I thought I knew better (especially when it pertained to fashion or to boys), but I always knew you were a smart guy.

This is a photo of my dad, Maurice "Mo" Leyrer, with my niece and nephew, Anna and Jackson Percy.