Happy Grandparent's Day

NATIONAL GRANDPARENTS DAYs 

Each year on the Sunday following Labor Day, grandchildren across the country honor their grandparents.

There is a special bond that can only be shared between grandchildren and their grandparents.  Grandparents are full of hug and kisses, family history, wisdom, patience, love and guidance.  National Grandparents Day gives the grandchildren the opportunity to show love and appreciation to their grandparents.

National Grandparents Day has it’s very own song.  The National Grandparents Day Council of Chula Vista, California announced in 2004 that “A Song for Grandma and Grandpa” by Johnny Prill would be the official song of the United States National Grandparents’ Day holiday.  The Council presented Prill with the National Songwriter’s Award in recognition of his highly popular composition “A Song for Grandma and Grandpa”.

The forget-me-not is the official flower for National Grandparents Day. 

National Grandparents Day is expected to grow in significance over the next decade and beyond as the number of grandparents in the United States rises from 65 million in 2011 to 80 million in 2020 as a result of the baby boom.

CELEBRATE

Show your appreciation for everything your grandparents have done for you. Keep them in mind and use #NationalGrandparentsDay to post on social media.

HISTORY

Celebrated in the United States since 1978,  the United States Senate and President Jimmy Carter nationally recognized Marian McQuade of Oak Hill, West Virginia as the founder of National Grandparents Day.  McQuade made it her goal to educate the youth in the community about the important contributions that seniors have made throughout history.   It was also her hope to  have the youth “adopt” a grandparent, not just for one day a year, but rather for a lifetime.

In February of 1977, Senator Randolph along with the concurrence of other senators, introduced a joint resolution to the senate requesting the president to “issue annually a proclamation designating the first Sunday of September after Labor Day of each year as ‘National Grandparents Day”.  Congress did  pass the legislation proclaiming the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day and on August 3, 1978 President Jimmy Carter signed the proclamation.  The statute cites the day’s purpose: “…to honor grandparents, to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children’s children, and to help children become aware of strength, information, and guidance older people can offer”.

There are some people who claim the origin of this holiday resides with the efforts of Hermine Beckett Hanna of North Syracuse, New York, recognizing seniors and their importance as early as 1961.  New York Congressman James T. Walsh recognized her efforts on February 21, 1990, in front of the United States House of Representatives, thanking Hermine Beckett Hanna “for her important role in the establishment of Grandparents Day”.

DATES
September 7, 2014
September 13, 2015
September 11, 2016
September 10, 2017
September 9, 2018