Dad'sDayHarrumpff

From: Carl Mollins
To: Roy MacGregor  

Sent: Fri Jun 19 18:22:15 2009
Subject: Dad'sDayHarrumpff

Roy, old friend (couldn’t get this into yr blog, but place it there if you wish):
 I agree with you, as I have for years and years and years, including my Ottawa days and ever since—this time about Father’s Day.
   Along with you, I have a birthday that falls in June, plus an opinion that is planning a change from the conventional, gift-garnering Dad’s Day.
   In fact, I have decided to celebrate the years and years and years of pleasing, joyful fatherhood by expressing my gratitude wholewalletly with gifts to those who made it so--my wife and the two wonderful daughters she provided.
   --Carl Mollins, Toronto  19-6-09

* Globe and Mail Thursday, June 19, 2009

Father’s Day is just a Hallmark holiday

Roy MacGregor

Thanks all the same, but I’ll take a pass.

  Forget that new putter – it’s hopeless, anyway.

  No need for a flat-screen TV – nothing’s on, anyway.

  As for a whole day to myself – makes me fidget.

  This Sunday will mark the 100th Father’s Day since Washington’s Sonora Smart Dodd got struck by lightning – well, figuratively speaking – while listening to a sermon on Mother’s Day. While “Sonora” is a fascinating name to have while listening to sermons, “Smart” isn’t exactly what some of us would call Mrs. Dodd’s little gift to the world.

  That she would wish to honour her own father is perfectly understandable. Bill Smart had fought in the Civil War and then won an even tougher battle when, after the death of his wife in childbirth, he raised six fine children, Sonora included.

  She got local churches and the Y to buy into marking the day on June 19, 1910, and by the 1970s, much to the delight of Hallmark – with its approximately 800 cards to mark the occasion – it had become a recognized day of observance in countries around the world.

  Sonora lived long enough, to age 96, to see what her little idea had twisted into, but she could never have imagined the advertising and attitudes of the 21st Century.

  Some people call it the “Second Christmas.” Before this recession hit, Americans were spending almost $10-billion a year on Good Ol’ Dad.

  For many, the day also became a “freedom day,” a day to do whatever one wished: golf, fish, open a beer before noon.

  In parts of Germany, they don’t even pretend otherwise, men gather on Father’s Day to hike together while pulling a wagon filled with beer and wine. There is, not surprisingly, a movement to ban the celebration.

  In Canada, it is mostly about gifts, none of which ever appear necessary.

  Personally, I want none of it.

  But then, in respect of full disclosure, I feel obliged to admit that my birthday also falls in June.   #