Well, here it is Father’s Day again… The first known Father’s Day service occurred at the Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South in Fairmont, West Virginia on July 5, 1908. (Another “first” for West Virginia.) Grace Golden Clayton had asked her pastor, Dr. R. Thomas Webb, if a Sunday service could be held to honor fathers.
The Fairmont service was the first known to honor fathers, but it didn’t turn into an annual event and the idea wasn’t promoted with any enthusiasm.
A number of other people across the nation had similar ideas throughout the years, but most didn’t gain much momentum. Father’s Day was celebrated mostly in local communities for many years — and didn’t become a permanent national holiday until much later. The first “Father’s Day bill”was introduced in Congress in 1913, but in spite of encouragement by President Woodrow Wilson, it didn’t pass. In 1966, Lyndon Johnson issued a proclamation designating the third Sunday in June as a day to honor fathers. Finally, in 1972, President Richard Nixon signed a law declaring that Father’s day be celebrated annually on the third Sunday in June.
A fellow Okie, Will Rogers, once said, “His heritage to his children wasn’t words or possessions, but an unspoken treasure — the treasure of his example as a man and a father.”
I think these words almost perfectly describe the two best dads I know…Happy father’s day, Dave and Chris!!
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