What is Father’s Day?
In the United States, the first modern Father’s Day celebration was held on July 5, 1908, in Fairmont, West Virginia. It was first celebrated as a church service at Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South, now known as Central United Methodist Church. Grace Golden Clayton, who is believed to have suggested the service to the pastor, is believed to have been inspired to celebrate fathers after the deadly mine explosion in nearby Monongah the prior December. This explosion killed 361 men, many of them fathers and recent immigrants to the United States from Italy. Another possible inspiration for the service was Mother’s Day, which had been celebrated for the first time two months prior in Grafton, West Virginia, a town about 15 miles (24 km) away.
Another driving force behind the establishment of the integration of Father’s Day was Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd, born in Creston, Washington. Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, as a single parent reared his six children in Spokane, Washington. She was inspired by Anna Jarvis’s efforts to establish Mother’s Day. Although she initially suggested June 5, the anniversary of her father’s death, she did not provide the organizers with enough time to make arrangements, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday of June. The first June Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, WA.
Unofficial support from such figures as William Jennings Bryan was immediate and widespread. President Woodrow Wilson was personally feted by his family in 1916. President Calvin Coolidge recommended it as a national holiday in 1924. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson made Father’s Day a holiday to be celebrated on the third Sunday of June. The holiday was not officially recognized until 1972, during the presidency of Richard Nixon.
In recent years, retailers have adapted to the holiday by promoting male-oriented gifts such as electronics, tools and greeting cards. Schools and other children’s programs commonly have activities to make Father’s Day gifts.
In the Roman Catholic tradition, Father’s Day is celebrated on Saint Joseph’s Day, March 19, though in most countries Father’s Day is a secular celebration. However, Father’s Day falls during the Lent Season which means that the church can’t celebrate the day as a feast.
Father’s Day is a secular celebration inaugurated in the early twentieth century to complement Mother’s Day in celebrating fatherhood and parenting by males, and to honor and commemorate fathers and forefathers. Father’s Day is celebrated on a variety of dates worldwide and typically involves gift-giving to fathers and family-oriented activities. The gifts given often have slogans such as “World’s Best Dad”.
Father’s Day is a special day for everyone! We use this day to honor our fathers all over the world! We celebrate this holiday on the third Sunday in June. A woman named Sonora Smart Dodd from Spokane, Washington, thought of the idea for Father’s Day while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909. Her father, Henry Jackson Smart, had raised Sonora after her mother died and she wanted him to know how special he was to her. Her father was born in June, so she chose that month to celebrate the new holiday! I hope you enjoy the activities I have here for celebrating Father’s Day!
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
A box of cigars, a necktie and a lopsided play-dough heart are sitting side by side in a Father’s Day line-up — a row of gifts waiting to be chosen. Which one does your father hope to take home? Brawn and sophistication may get top honors in advertisements, but every parent knows that it’s a swatch of blue construction paper with “I Love You” marked in fat red crayon that can melt a father’s heart faster than an ice cube in a hot cup of coffee.
In celebration of fathers and those glorious melting moments, here are five projects sure to stir a few emotions. As arts and crafts projects go, they weigh in very light on the maintenance scalecutting and pasting are as involved as things get. What distinguishes the finished pieces, however, is their ability to express what children love about their fathers, what makes their relationship different from every other one on the block.
At heart, each project included here is a collage. From a creative card in the shape of a father to a collection of painted stones, they all give children the freedom to mix and match, weaving together materials, shapes and sizes in order to tell a story. So, this Father’s Day, whether the child is six, 16 or 36, remember that it’s the lopsided and the homemade that hit the heart and then get saved for years and years.
CRAFT MATERIALS:
Paper towel tubes
Construction paper
Card stock
Tape or glue
Scissors
Markers or paints
Craft foam, optional
Time needed: Under 1 Hour
1. Tape or glue construction paper to cover two cardboard paper towel tubes.
2. Cut out a piece of card stock that’s slightly larger than the photo you plan to use.
3. Attach the photo to the card stock with rolled pieces of tape. With a craft knife, make vertical slits in the tubes for the sides of the card stock to slip into (a parent’s job).
4. Now your child can cut out decorative shapes; such as a tennis racket, golf club or baseball pennant; from colored craft foam or construction paper. Then she can use markers or paints to add embellishing details before gluing the shapes onto the frame and presenting her gift to Dad.
The Ultimate Father’s Day Gift:
