Happy Father’s Day.

Father’s Day is a century-long tradition. The first was a one-time affair on July, 5, 1908, in Fairmont, W.V., in honor of 361 men killed in an explosion in December of 1907. Sonora Smartt Dodd initiated the Father’s Day we now celebrate. 

Today is the 99th Father’s Day since the first one in Spokane, Wash., was celebrated on June, 19, 1910. 

In 1909, as she listened to a Mother’s Day sermon in Spokane, Mrs. Dodd wondered why there was no day set aside to honor fathers. She had great esteem for her father, William Jackson Smartt, for the way he had persevered after the death of his wife as their sixth child was born. 

With great sacrifice Mr. Smartt raised his children alone. As the eldest child and only girl, 16, when her mother died, Sonora helped her father with her five brothers and saw firsthand the hardships he endured for his children. That gave her respect for her father and a desire to honor his life and the lives of other fathers.

As time went by Father’s Day grew in stature. One of the first steps came when President Woodrow Wilson traveled to Spokane to speak on Father’s Day in 1916. President Calvin Coolidge recommended Father’s Day as a national holiday in 1924, and in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson designated the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day.

Sixty-two years after the first one, in 1972, Father’s Day was declared a National Observance by President Richard Nixon. Today is that day.

I’m blessed with a good father; I hope you have one too. Let him know you care. A visit today is the least we should do and a phone call is next best. Gifts are nice but nothing shows respect more than a visit or a message delivered in person.

If by some unfortunate chance you are estranged from your father, there could be no better time to make up than on Father’s Day.

Want a piece of leftover birthday cake? Just come by our house. The ice cream is gone, but we’ve got plenty of cake. For we are celebrating six birthdays at our house in just more than a month. 

Grandchildren with birthdays include Max , turned 2 on May 17; Jesee, 4 on June 7; twins, Brittany and Brandon, 20 on June 6; and Josee, who will be 11 on June 20. And Friday, June 13, sister Brenda celebrated a special birthday. No, I’ll not risk life and limb by telling you how many. I can only say Brenda began her seventh decade of life on that day.

Around 2 a.m. one night this week, I was awakened by what sounded like an explosion along with the crackling of lightning and the boom of thunder. But our lights didn’t flicker; they just went out. I felt my way to a flashlight and lit the oil lamp and Helen lit candles. That made a pitiful glow; just enough light to get around the house. And to keep the little ones from being scared if they awoke. Makes one thankful for the modern system of electricity we have. And it makes us really appreciative of the men and women who work whatever the time or conditions to keep that power alive or restore it when it goes out. To all utility workers, thank you for keeping us out of the dark.