This Month's Birthdays:
May 1: Blake Winder
May 4: Elaine Wedeking
May 11: Mary Denmead
May 15: Anita Starr
May 16: Bob Arn
May 17: Gordon Edgar
May 18: Wade Bowers
May 21: Sally Peck
May 24: Tate Bowers
May 27: Henry Alvarez
May 28: Lauren Bowers
Why Mother's Day?
In the late 19th century, the United States saw many different movements to organize a Mother’s Day, including the efforts of Julia Ward Howe, an abolitionist and suffragist, who wrote the “Mother’s Day Proclamation.” This called for mothers to unite and promote world peace.
The day we now recognize as Mother’s Day came from the efforts of Ann Jarvis’s daughter, Anna, in the 20th century. Anna saw how valiantly her mother expressed activism to give mothers the recognition they deserve. She made it her life mission to get Mother’s Day onto the national calendar. In 1908, she sparked the first widely recognized celebration of the holiday while she held a public memorial for her mother in Grafton, West Virginia.
Anna’s campaign continued to gain popularity over the years. She teamed up with floral companies and department stores to spread the word. By 1912, Mother’s Day had spread to Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada, and 45 US states (many of which adopted Mother’s Day as an annual holiday).
Finally, in 1914, Mother's Day celebration became an official holiday. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother’s Day a national holiday to be celebrated every year on the second Sunday of May.
*Get the latest news and link to the Sunday zoom worship services on Facebook @
"West Branch Friends Church" page!
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Anniversaries
May 18: Lucy Hansen and Jim Kasper
May 21: Robin Jindrich and Mike Cecil