Wheat State Telephone • 800-442-6835 •
A Look Back at Father’s Day
F
ather’s Day, a holiday which honors fathers in countries around the globe, is celebrated
in the United States on the third Sunday of June. It originated here in 1910, a few years
after our country began celebrating Mother’s Day.
Credit for originating Father’s Day is generally given to Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane,
Washington. Dodd’s father, a Civil War veteran, raised her and her five siblings after their
mother died in childbirth. She is said to have had the idea for the holiday in 1909 while
listening to a sermon on Mother’s Day, which at the time was just starting to become estab-
lished. Local religious leaders supported the idea, and the first Father’s Day was celebrated
in Spokane on June 19, 1910—the birthday month of Dodd’s father.
In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge lent his support to the concept of a national Father’s
Day. After a protracted struggle lasting more than four decades, President Lyndon Johnson
signed a presidential proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as Father’s Day in
1966. Then in 1972, President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance
of Father’s Day on the third Sunday of June.
Although it was originally celebrated mostly as a religious holiday, Father’s Day has since
become more commercialized with an emphasis on sending greeting cards and giving gifts.
Some people observe the custom of wearing a red rose to indicate that one’s father is living
or a white rose to indicate that he is deceased. Men such as grandfathers or uncles who
have assumed parenting roles may also be honored on Father’s Day.
Wheat State Telephone extends our best wishes to the fathers of our
community and hope you enjoy this holiday with your families.
Make a Corded
Phone Part of
Your Storm Plan
When those inevitable summer
storms arrive, will your family be pre-
pared? A tornado, lightning storm,
or heavy winds can easily disrupt
electrical service. Or a power outage
could occur for other reasons. One
item to be sure you have on hand is a
corded landline phone, since it does
not require electricity, and could be
your backup method of communica-
tion during and after a storm.
It’s important for you to know:
• Cordless phones require electricity
and will not continue to work during
a power outage.
• Cellular systems and towers are
not required to provide backup
power, so cellphones may not
operate during a power outage
either.
For safety’s sake, Wheat State
Telephone urges you to make a
corded phone part of your family’s
storm backup plan, and always have at
least one corded phone in your home.
This will help you stay in contact with
family and friends in case of a weather
emergency. For more information
about maintaining communications in
the event of storms, call us at 800-442-
6835. Additional storm safety advice
is available at
.
org
and
/
safety/safety.htm
.
