Father’s Day Reflections

thM1P70JR3.jpg

My Dad was a hardworking and kind man, he loved his family, wood working, taking care of the yard and a diversity of animals.

When I was a young boy I remember when the chinchilla salesman came for a visit. He made a spectacular presentation and the near guarantee of untold fortune was too good to pass up.

The day finally arrived when the soft and adorable critters become part of the collection of happy animals that lived amongst us. I was intrigued with the care required. for example, the dust bath. We would put a rectangular medal box in the cage with a grey powder and the chinchilla would hop in and roll and flip around and in general seem to have an outstanding time.

While intrigued, I was disappointed in that my attempts to make a pet of one of our chinchillas failed. As it turns out they are not much for being held and you can forget about a cuddle. They need to say busy gnawing on things as their teeth are for every growing, so having one run freely about the house was not an option.

I recall certain times of my childhood when it was a bit like Charlotte’s Web. The pasture would have cattle, a horse or two, pigs, free range chickens and rabbit hopping all about.

We are all formed by the influences of our childhood. There are so many things that my Dad did that provided a positive influence on my life. I’m glad he loved animals and I am sure that is why I do as well.  By the way, the chinchillas never made it to market.

The celebration of fatherhood goes back to the middle ages, when Catholic Europe identified March 19 as the day of celebration with the feast day of St. Joseph.

In the United States the journey to establish Father’s Day reportedly started December 1907 in the small town of Fairmont West Virginia when in a neighboring town 360 men were killed in a mining explosion. More than 1000 children were left fatherless.

Grace Golden Clayton was troubled by this tragedy as well as the losing of her own father, she asks her pastor Robert Thomas Webb to have a service to honor all the fathers that were lost in the mining accident. It was on July 5, 1908 in Fairmont, West Virginia at Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South that the first reported local observance of “Father’s Day” was held in the United States.

It’s noteworthy that Anna Jarvis’ first Mother’s Day celebration was in Grafton, West Virginia.

There is a bit of a debate over who is in fact the Father or Mother of Father’s Day in the United States. Harry C. Meeks also claimed it was his idea for Father’s Day in 1915.

Sonora Smart Dodd held a Father’s Day celebration at the YMCA in Spokane, Washington June 19, 1910. She was the daughter of civil war veteran William Jackson, who after the death of his wife he raised his six children. In 1916 President Woodrow Wilson visited Spokane and spoke for a Father’s Day celebration. President Wilson endeavored to establish an official national Father’s Day, however Congress was not ready. In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge also recommended the day be recognized.

Finally, in 1966 President Lyndon B. Johnson issued a presidential proclamation honoring fathers and designating the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day and in 1972 President Richard Nixon signed it into law, thus making Father’s Day a permanent US national holiday.

I’m glad we have a day to honor our fathers. I learned the good things form my Dad. I love fresh vegetables from the garden, furniture made of solid wood, I can’t pass an animal without being intrigued and the simple things in life are where I find peace and calm.

I enjoy the TV shows that I produce, however if it were up to Dad, I would be producing Westerns.

Happy Trails and Happy Father’s!

First Fathers Day Historic Marker.jpg