Today is Fathers Day, ... and let me wish a Blessed Fathers Day ... to all the fathers and grandfathers ... who are here today. (Pause)
Indeed ... It is Fathers Day, ... and the very first national celebration ... of this day .... was on June 19, ... 1924, ... via a proclamation ... of President Calvin Coolidge.
But it all came about ... due to the efforts of a woman named ... Sonora" Smart Dodd.
Sonora was sitting in church in 1909 ... listening to a Mother's Day sermon .... when the idea of Father's Day ... first came to mind.
Having been raised ... by her father, ... after her mother's death, .... Sonora wanted her father to know ... how special he was to her.
For all his sacrifices .... for being, .... in her eyes, so courageous, ... so self-less, ... and so loving.
Through her efforts, ... in 1924 .... President Coolidge ... designated the 3rd Sunday of June ... as "Father's Day."
And our nation has been celebrating it ... ever since.