BELPRE - Today is the day set aside to celebrate fathers.
Father's Day has different meanings, from doing things for him or just calling him to say "I love you."
For Toni Anderson, of Parkersburg, said Father's Day, in her opinion, should be a time to express appreciation.
"To me it should mean children appreciating everything their fathers do for them from birth to 40 or 50 years old," she said. "Running them to baseball, football, soccer and other places."
Anderson said it should be a given that fathers and mother should be appreciated.
Scott Anderson, a Parkersburg resident and father of five sons, agreed that fathers should be honored for what they do in their children's lives
"It's for honoring your father for everything they have done for you throughout your years," he said.
Anderson said there is one difference between being a son and a father on the day.
"It's nice to get some recognition," he said.
Melissa Thompson, of Little Hocking, said she does not get to spend the day with her father who lives in another state.
"He might get a card," she said. "I'll probably text him."
Thompson said as she has grown up, Father's Day is less special. When she was younger it was different,
"We'd get him a gift or something," she said. "His birthday is usually the day before Father's Day; he wanted me to visit him this year but I couldn't get away from work."
Matt Munching, of Parkersburg, said he will not see his father this year.
"My dad lives in North Carolina," he said. "It's just a day I call and talk to my dad. I'll call and say 'I love you Dad' and we'll probably set a time to see each other."
Bonnie Nichols, of Parkersburg, said she never knew her father but she did recognize her husband for what he did for her children.
"I honor him for that," she said.
Patrick Moyer, of Parkersburg, said Father's Day is for looking up to one's father.
"When you're a kid, your dad is like a god," he said.
There are a range of events which may have inspired the idea of Father's Day. One of these was the start of the Mother's Day tradition in the first decade of the 20th century. One event took place in West Virginia.
On July 5, 1908, in Fairmont, W.Va., Mrs. Grace Golden Clayton organized a memorial service at the Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South, now known as Central United Methodist Church, for 361 men, many of them fathers, who were killed in a mining accident in Monongah in December 1907.
On the other side of the country in 1910, Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Wash., was an influential figure in the establishment of Father's Day.
Dodd's father, William Smart, a Civil War veteran, raised six children by himself after the death of their mother. Sonora was inspired by the work of Anna Jarvis in Grafton, who had pushed for Mother's Day celebrations. Sonora felt her father deserved recognition. The first time Father's Day was held in June was in 1910. Dodd suggested a celebration for fathers to the local ministerial alliance to be celebrated on her father's birthday, June 5, but the alliance chose the third Sunday in June.
The first presidential proclamation honoring fathers was issued in 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson designated the third Sunday in June as Father's Day.
Father's Day has been celebrated annually since 1972 when President Richard Nixon signed the public law that made it permanent.
