Newspaper clipping from 1960
My grandmother, Isabel, supported Mrs. Dodd in her Father's Day movement. Isabel was the secretary for the International Father’s Day Association in Spokane, WA for many years. The first Father's Day was observed in Spokane in 1910. It wasn't until 1922 that the day was observed nationally.
The committee kept meeting even after the goal of a national Father's Day had been achieved. I scanned some of Grandma's notes she took for the years 1959 to 1963. In reading through her minutes for many of the meetings, it appeared that usually 9 to 12 women would attend the meetings, held at a local hotel. The first meeting I have the notes for was in 1959. The earliest meetings were at the Desert Hotel. Later they moved to the Coeur ‘d Alene Hotel. The last gathering she recorded was in May of 1963.
Mrs. Dodd is not mentioned very often in the minutes. She was cited at the May meeting in 1960. “Mrs. Dodd’s idea in regard to the June Father’s Day luncheon was given.”
The officers were elected each February. Some of the names mentioned are Margaret Brown, Jessie Gibson, Freda Carpenter, Mae Masecar, and Lydia Himes. The meetings were opened with prayer and the flag salute. The meetings closed with a prayer or the Mizpah.
Genesis 39: 49 and Mizpah, for he said, "May the LORD watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other.
Afterward they adjourned to the dining room for lunch. Now I know where I get my preference for going out to eat!
Grandma’s notes are succinct. In one page she covers everything accomplished. I also prefer writing this way. No excess words for me!
Only one time was any controversy mentioned. “A resolution from the City Federation favoring the proposed civic center was read. The Father’s Day Assn. tabled the proposition as it is a controversial subject.”
These records remind me of a Norman Rockwell town. Such peaceful precious lives they all seemed to live.
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