Florida Senate - 2011                             (NP)    SR 112
       
       
       
       By Senator Bullard
       
       
       
       
       39-00031-11                                            2011112__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution expressing affection for and gratitude to
    3         all fathers.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, in 1909 Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington,
    6  first had the idea of a “father’s day” while listening to a
    7  Mother’s Day sermon, and
    8         WHEREAS, Sonora Dodd realized the strength, courage, and
    9  selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a
   10  single parent, and thus chose to hold the first Father’s Day
   11  celebration in Spokane, Washington, on the 19th of June, 1910,
   12  and
   13         WHEREAS, in early times, wearing flowers was a traditional
   14  way of celebrating Father’s Day, and
   15         WHEREAS, in 1924, President Calvin Coolidge recognized
   16  Father’s Day as a national event to “establish more intimate
   17  relations between fathers and their children and to impress upon
   18  fathers the full measure of their obligations,” and
   19         WHEREAS, in 1926, a National Father’s Day Committee was
   20  formed in New York City, resulting in a Joint Resolution of
   21  Congress in 1956 recognizing Father’s Day, and President Richard
   22  Nixon signed the law that finally made Father’s Day a permanent
   23  holiday in 1972, and
   24         WHEREAS, Sunday, June 19, 2011, has been designated as
   25  Father’s Day in the United States, and
   26         WHEREAS, the American tradition of a productive society and
   27  a secure home has depended in great part on the hard work and
   28  sacrifice of fathers who tirelessly seek for their children a
   29  better life and greater opportunity than they themselves have
   30  known, and
   31         WHEREAS, fulfilling the demanding roles of fatherhood, as
   32  provider, teacher, role model, comforter, and protector, is an
   33  act of true heroism in today’s world, and
   34         WHEREAS, each new generation looks to its fathers for
   35  courage, strength, and understanding, and
   36         WHEREAS, the enduring affection between fathers and their
   37  families is recognized and appreciated as one of the most
   38  positive elements upon which our future as a nation depends, and
   39         WHEREAS, it is fitting and appropriate that the members and
   40  staff of the Florida Senate recognize the immeasurable debt of
   41  gratitude owed to fathers for their strength, guidance,
   42  understanding, and love, NOW, THEREFORE,
   43  
   44  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   45  
   46         That the members of the Senate do hereby express to their
   47  own fathers and to all fathers, on behalf of the people of the
   48  State of Florida, personal affection and heartfelt gratitude.
   49         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be spread upon
   50  the Journal of the Senate as a tangible token of the love and
   51  respect that the members hold for all fathers.