How to Celebrate Father's Day
The third Sunday in June is Dad's time in the sun. And, contrary to what some cynics contend, this holiday was not the invention of a greeting card company - commercial greeting cards as we know them didn't even exist when Sonora Smart Dodd thought up Father's Day in 1909.
Steps:
1. Pamper him with whatever culinary ceremonies he enjoys most, whether it's breakfast in bed, a burgers-and-beer lunch at the local sports bar, dinner at his favorite four-star restaurant - or all of the above. (After all, Father's Day comes but once a year.)
2. Eschew the ties, shirts, golf balls and best-selling thrillers. Instead give him something you know he'd love but isn't likely to buy for himself: perhaps Ella Fitzgerald's songbook collection on CD, a drawing he's been admiring in a local gallery, or an autographed photo of his childhood baseball hero.
3. Look for clues. If he keeps saying he wishes he'd practiced the piano when his mother told him to, sign him up for lessons. If he reads every issue of "Gourmet" Magazine cover to cover, give him a gift certificate for a cooking course - in France, Italy or Switzerland, if you're feeling flush.
4. Give him the ultimate gift: your time. Present him with a gift certificate announcing the plan: dinner and a ball game, a day at the beach, a weekend jaunt to the PGA tournament, a camping trip in the Rockies, or simply an afternoon of side-by-side digging in the garden.
5. Make him a scrapbook commemorating "Life With Father" over the past year. Or go all out and make a scrapbook, or a series of them, covering your whole life together.
6. Honor your father's memory if he's no longer living. Send a donation to his favorite charity, or lend a hand to a cause he cared about.
7. Remember, you needn't limit Father's Day to your biological dad. Do something nice for all the father figures in your life, whether grandfathers, stepfathers, uncles, godfathers, big brothers or that first boss who helped you launch your career.
Trivia:
Father's Day was the brainchild of Sonora Smart Dodd, whose mother had died giving birth to her. At a time when many widowed men sent their offspring to live with relatives, Sonora's father reared her and her five siblings alone, on a farm in eastern Washington. In 1909, grown and married, Sonora was in church listening to a Mother's Day sermon when the thought struck her that fathers deserved credit, too - especially hers. Through her efforts, Spokane, Washington, held the first Father's Day observance the following year.
By 1924, the custom had spread through the country, and Calvin Coolidge made the first presidential proclamation in support of Father's Day. Nearly 60 years later, President Richard Nixon made it permanent in 1972, when he requested that Congress pass a joint resolution making the third Sunday in June a National Day of Observance in honor of fathers everywhere.
Granite Springs, New York
Granite Springs is a small community in Somers, New York. It is quite small, containing very few buildings other then houses. It has a very low crime rate and the largest event to have happened there in years was the burning down of the largest and oldest house in Granite Springs, the house of Phillip Smith, his wife, and his two 12 year old twins Henry and Katy.
Granite Springs is one of five communities in the Town of Somers. The other communities are Amawalk, Baldwin Place, Lincolndale, and Shenorock. The Town of Somers is located in the northern part of Westchester County, NY.
The town we call Somers was originally occupied by Kitchawanks, part of the Mohegan tribe, who called the land Amapaugh, meaning
'fresh water fish.' This land was located in the eastern segment of an 83,000-acre tract that King William III of England granted to Stephanus Van Cortland of New York City in 1697. The part of Van Cortland Manor that ultimately became Somers and Yorktown was known as the Middle District, or Hanover. Settlement in the Somers area began after Van Cortlandt’s death in 1700 and the final partition of his estate in 1734. Early European settlers included tenants and freeholders from neighboring areas, among them English, Dutch, French Huguenots and Quakers. It wasn’t until March 7, 1788, when the first town meeting was held at an inn, owned by Benjamin Green, that the town named Stephentown was established. However, there already existed a Stephentown in Renssealaer County. The resulting confusion, particularly in mail delivery, lead to a change in the name to Somerstown and in 1808 to the Town of Somers. The town was named as a tribute to Captain Richard Somers, a young naval officer from New Jersey who lost his life in the Tripolitan War. A memorial in West Somers Park was erected in his honor at Memorial Day ceremonies in 1958.
Today, numerous 19th century historic buildings remain including Mount Zion Church (1794) and the Wright-Reis Homestead (1867). The Somers Historical Society oversees these properties and makes them available for public visitation several times a year.
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