Hop on pop's bandwagon, and wish him a Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day from your friends at the Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP)!

Americans first celebrated Father's Day in Fairmont, WV on July 5, 1908. Seven months earlier, 210 men -- all fathers -- perished in a mining disaster in Monongah, WV. Organizer Grace Golden Clayton sought to honor the dead paternal familiaris, and chose a date closest to her own father's birthday. Few, though, paid the event -- too close to Independence Day -- too much attention. Clayton's holiday was "one and done." Two years later, Spokane resident Sonora Dodd created her own Father's-Day-themed celebration. Congress entertained legislation to create a federal holiday honoring fathers. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson came to Spokane to promote a federal Father's Day. However, Congress -- supposedly fearing Hallmark-style commercialization -- demurred. Although President Calvin Coolridge recommended a national holiday in 1924, he did not issue a federal proclamation.

The fathers of America -- unlike the mothers in the country -- went unrecognized and unheralded for another three decades. In 1957, Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith rebuked her congressional colleagues for failing to honor fathers thereby "(singling) out only one of our two parents." Federal recognition would come almost a decade later when President Lyndon B. Johnson issued a federal proclamation in 1966 that designated the third Sunday in June as a holiday honoring American fathers. In 1972 President Richard M. Nixon signed into law legislation that created Father's Day.

If you're grilling steaks for dad, fix him a cocktail -- provided that a doctor and/or judge hasn't prohibited him from imbibing. The Bourbon Sidecar is a whisky cocktail that will whet Dad's appetite while he snacks on Ruffles and onion dip.

Bourbon Sidecar

2 oz. bourbon

1 oz. triple sec

1½ oz. lemon juice

Combine the ingredients in a shaker filled with ice.

Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass.