The Freedom Lounge was founded in March 2016 and opened at the Buffalo International Airport in October 2016, a special lounge for  military personnel, veterans and their families.   Their Mission Statement indicates they are "providing a private place within the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport where eligible patrons can rest and recreate before, between and after flights". It is located on the lower level of the passenger terminal on the east side of the baggage claim area and staffed by veterans, veteran organizations and military supporters.  The Lounge provides snacks, beverages, telephone and internet access, and a private gathering place to await flights. 

For Father’s Day we will be using May and June Communion collections for the Freedom Lounge. There will also be a list of items needed at the back of the sanctuary. A box is in the Sonrise Room for your donations.

SUGGESTED DONATIONS:

Snacks water, sodas, pillows, children’s games, plastic utensils, styrofoam cups, cup of soup, breakfast bars

Father's Day was first organized by Sonora Smart Dodd in Spokane, Washington on June 19, 1910.

The campaign to celebrate the nation’s fathers did not meet with the same enthusiasm–perhaps because, as one florist explained, “fathers haven’t the same sentimental appeal that mothers have.” 

On July 5, 1908, a West Virginia church sponsored the nation’s first event explicitly in honor of fathers, a Sunday sermon in memory of the 362 men who had died in the previous December’s explosions at the Fairmont Coal Company mines in Monongah, but it was a one-time commemoration and not an annual holiday. 

The next year, a Spokane, Washington woman named Sonora Smart Dodd, one of six children raised by a widower, tried to establish an official equivalent to Mother’s Day for male parents. 

She went to local churches, the YMCA, shopkeepers and government officials to drum up support for her idea, and she was successful: Washington State celebrated the nation’s first statewide Father’s Day on June 19, 1910. 

Slowly, the holiday spread. 

In 1916, President Wilson honored the day by using telegraph signals to unfurl a flag in Spokane when he pressed a button in Washington, D.C. 

In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge urged state governments to observe Father’s Day. 

It was later made an official holiday by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966.

(Thank you Sandy for the history) 

The observance of Mother’s Day originated with Miss Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia, PA, in 1908.  Her mother had died in 1906 on the second Sunday in May. A year later, Miss Jarvis, along with some of her friends, were at her home remembering the anniversary of her mother’s death.  She discussed with her friends her desire to dedicate a day to all mothers.  Within a year, she had interested many local groups and organizations in the observance.  Let’s never forget the important role God has given women.  In his order of creation, God has given both man and woman special duties and responsibilities.  This Mother’s Day, let’s be sure to thank God for Christian mothers. 

(Thank you Sandy for the history of this observance.)