Grandparents Day Celebration at Brooks County Middle School

Brooks County Middle School held a celebration of visiting with their grandkids for Grandparents Day on Friday, September 10th, during breakfast. Grins, smiles, laughter, and a lot of love could be found right in the lunchroom with a good hearty breakfast of grits, eggs, and bacon bowls. 

Grandparents Day is a day to reflect and focus on the inspiration of all grandparents’ roles in society as well as that of society. In 1961, Jacob Reingold held the first Grandparents Day at his retirement home. New York officially made it a holiday in the same year. 

Following that in 1970 a petition for the government to proclaim a day for grandparents was given by Marian McQuade in order to educate and “adopt” a grandparent in order to learn about their importance, their lives, their contributions throughout the years, and even to learn of their desires for the future. 

West Virginia proclaimed their Grandparents’ Day in 1973 and in 1978 U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaimed a National Grandparents’ Day signing a presidential proclamation. The proclamation says: 

   "As we seek to strengthen the enduring values of the family, it is appropriate that we honor our grandparents.

Grandparents are our continuing tie to the near-past, to the events and beliefs and experiences that so strongly affect our lives and the world around us. Whether they are our own or surrogate grandparents who fill some of the gaps in our mobile society, our senior generation also provides our society a link to our national heritage and traditions.

   We all know grandparents whose values transcend passing fads and pressures, and who possess the wisdom of distilled pain and joy. Because they are usually free to love and guide and befriend the young without having to take daily responsibility for them, they can often reach out past pride and fear of failure and close the space between generations.

The Congress, by joint resolution (H.J. Res. 244), has authorized and requested the President to designate the first Sunday of September following Labor Day of each year as National Grandparents Day.

   Now, Therefore, I, Jimmy Carter, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Sunday, September 9, 1979 and the first Sunday following Labor Day in each succeeding year as "National Grandparents Day."

I urge officials of Government at the national, State, and local levels, and of voluntary organizations to plan appropriate activities that recognize the importance and the worth of the 17 million grandparents in our nation. I urge all Americans to take the time to honor their own grandparents or those in their community.

   In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fourth."

JIMMY CARTER

Grandparents’ Day is not an official holiday but people throughout the United States celebrate it in various ways including school events, grandkids spending a day with their grandparents, school children visiting senior homes, cooking together, and so many other things. 

Here in Brooks County the schools all want to help bring grandparents and grandchildren together with a breakfast. Brooks County Middle School had a grand turnout. Posted on their Facebook page for Grandparents’ Day, “BCMS Grandparents are the BEST and breakfast was oh so yummy! We were so excited to see all those smiling faces on Friday for our Grandparents Day Breakfast! We also shared a Literacy Menu with all the Grandparents for ways to support their grandchildren in reading and writing at home!” 

That Literacy Menu included: 

• Telling stories

• Reading regularly

• Using the Library

• Building a Reading shelf and buying books

• Writing letters 

• Offer rewards 

• And making reading materials available in their homes 

       Grandparents reading to their grandkids and encouraging them to read as show that it will help students build empathy, improve their language and listening skills, bonding time and facilitates important and/or difficult conversations. 

For more information on how your schools celebrate this special day you can contact your child’s teacher.