Congrats to our Father's Day contest winners

The West Orange Times received many entries for its Father’s Day contest, and there are a number of father-son lookalikes in West Orange County. The winner is Sean Reish and his son, Cael, of Winter Garden. For sharing so many similar features with his son, Sean Reish will be recognized Sunday, June 15, at 1 p.m. at the Winter Garden Squeeze home baseball game at West Orange High School. He will also receive a $50 gift card to Ace Hardware and a $100 general gift card.

The history of  Father’s Day
The nation’s first event exclusively honoring fathers took place took place on July 5, 1908, in a West Virginia church in lieu of a Sunday sermon in memory of men who died in coal-mine explosions the previous year. But it wasn’t until a woman named Sonora Dodd took an interest in creating a holiday specifically for fathers that serious action for national recognition took place.

Dodd gathered support from local churches, shopkeepers and government officials, and on July 19, 1910, Washington State celebrated the nation’s first Father’s Day at the Spokane YMCA.

At this time, mothers were already on their way to securing a national holiday. Dodd wanted to create equal recognition for moms and dads, especially because of the significant influence her own father had on her life — raising six children as a single parent.

A bill to receive national appreciation on the day was introduced to Congress in 1913, and in 1966, 53 years later, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation celebrating fathers and designating the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. It became a permanent holiday in 1972 when President Richard Nixon signed it into law.