Happy Fathers Day

[Teresa]

Happy Fathers Day to my  sons, Danny & Derek Cookson..who are nothing less than awesome dads.

And to all you Dad's out there..

and especially to my daddy, Fred McDonald. .....I love you~ 


Here is the history of how we came to have Fathers Day:

Sonora Dodd, of Washington, first had the idea of a "father's day." She thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909.

Sonora wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. Smart, who was a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.

After Sonora became an adult she realized the selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. Sonora's father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.

President Calvin Coolidge, in 1924, supported the idea of a national Father's Day. Then in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day. President Richard Nixon signed the law which finally made it permanent in 1972.

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"Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him daddy!"

[Jo McDonald]

Yes yesterday was Father's Day.  I worked the gatehouse booth yesterday and I am happy to report there were many many Fathers with little boys and little girls that stopped by on their way down to the water and picnic area-- all wearing beautiful smiles.  This one little guy was grinning so big I think his little cheeks hurt.  When I asked him if he was having a good time with Daddy - the smile got even bigger as he bobbed his handsome little head up and down.  Bless them all -- Daddys and children alike.
  Fred had his usual telephone love calls from his girls and A HOMEMADE CARD FROM SHERRI and THEN Teresa and Kjell surprised him [ us ] with lots of fried chicken - mashed potato's - CREAM gravy AND HOME MADE HOT LIGHT ROLLS all ready to set on the table - and enjoy  and enjoy we did !!!  WHAT A WONDERFUL TREAT  For me as well as her Daddy.  The afternoon was spent with the men folks taking a famous "Fred McDonald tour" in the truck and Teresa and I sitting at the table playing Rumi Cube and visiting.

  I VOTE YES FOR FATHER'S DAY SURPRISES.

[Janet Harrington]

Oh, yes, Father's Day.  About all it did for me was remind me how much I miss my Daddy.  It was kind of a hard day to get through since the church honored fathers, etc.  I don't care how long it has been since one loses a parent, it is still hard to not have them around.

I'm happy for the Father's that are still here.  Jim did get a call from one of his daughter's and a card from the same daughter, so I think he was pleased.

[Narvous]

 Thank you Teresa

[kdfrawg]

I guess I missed this before. I talked to my dad a couple of times on Father's Day. He is in Omaha and I always call him once a day. But Father's Day is special, of course, and so is today, his 87th birthday. I tried to call him earlier today but the phone didn't answer. That probably means that someone came over to take him out to lunch for his birthday. I'll call him at the regular time and get the scoop.

He has COPD and only has about 40% of his lung capacity left. He was a Navy Seabee for 36 years and was always a fairly active man. His profession was cabinetmaker, outside of Navy time. He's down to about 108 pounds, but at least that means that there is absolutely no excess tissue to supply oxygen to. He has actually been a little better since they did open-heart surgery on him 14 months ago at the VA in Minneapolis, where they specialize in such things, and replaced a leaky heart valve.

My current family campaign is "Let's Get Dad to 100!" His side of the family, what we know of them, have always been long-lived.