In 1910, Sonora Smart from Spokane Washington, proposed a celebration of fathers be held on June 5th of each year, her father's (a Civil War veteran) birthday.  In 1972, then President Richard Nixon formally made Father's Day a nationally recongized day to be held on the 3rd Sunday of June.

  As we celebrate fathers this year we are highly aware of the importance of fathers in the positive, or negative, development of children.  We know one in three children will wake up on fathers day not even knowing their biologicial father, either in name or due to a permanent absence.  We also know, however, that more and more fathers are great fathers.  This very website sees thousands of visitors each month.  In Colorado, the fatherhood programs set up all over Colorado has served over 5,000 fathers in the past four and a half years.  In all of these instances these basic truths about good fathering has been brought forth:

1. Presence - A three-part process involving father engagement, availability and responsibility in their relationship to their child(ren)

2. Cooperative Parenting - Fathers, mothers and other caregivers all working together to support the child(ren)'s optimal development, and

3. Healthy Living - Providing a role model through healthy lifestyle, education and appropriate social behaviors that teach work and personal ethics, as well as social norms, to help children grow to become happy and productive members of society.

 Celebrating fathers that do right for their children is to celebrate such a basic duty, but a very, very important one.