How it Began
Anna Jarvis, founder of the national holiday we call Mother’s Day, is a West
Virginia native from Webster. She was born on May 1, 1864. Her family moved
to Grafton when she was a child. She attended school in Grafton and then
Augusta Female Academy (now
ow known as Mary Baldwin College) in Staunton,
VA. Following college she taught school for seven years back in Grafton.
Her mother had set up Mother’s Day Work Clubs in five cities to improve health
conditions and sanitation. These clubs also provided impartial treatment for men
wounded in the Civil War regardless of what side
Brettof the conflict they supported.
In her early years, Anna remembered hearing her mother recite a poem. Two
lines struck a chord with young Anna. It said, “I hope that someone, sometime,
will found a memorial mother’s day commemorating her for the matchless service
she renders to humanity in every field of life. She is entitled to it.”
In 1907, two years after her mother’s death, Anna set out on a mission to
establish a national
al holiday, Mother’s Day, the one her mother envisioned. Ms
Jarvis campaigned tirelessly to promote the special day. She spoke in numerous
towns to gather support for her idea. She carried petitions for persons to sign to
endorse her efforts. She asked that red and white carnations (her mother’s
favorite flower) be worn, with white carnations to honor deceased mothers and red
carnations to signify living mothers.
Over the years, towns and states picked up on the idea. By 1911 almost every
state had some
ome kind of commemorative day planned. In 1914, President
Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day a nationally recognized holiday, setting
aside each second Sunday in May for its observation. In 1934 the US Postal
Service put out a stamp honoring Mother’s Day.
Unfortunately Anna and her sister spent her family’s inheritance campaigning
against what the holiday had eventually become. Anna was quite unhappy that
people were so lazy that they just send their mother a commercial Mother’s Day
card instead of visiting
ing “the woman who has done more for you than anyone in
the world.” She called the florists and greeting card companies who were
profiting from the holiday “charlatans, bandits, pirates, racketeers, kidnappers and
termites that would undermine with their greed one of the finest, noblest and
truest movements and celebrations.” It got to the point that she actually expressed
to friends that she wished that she had not founded Mother’s Day.
Ironically, Anna Jarvis herself never became a mother.
She died in 1948 at the age of 84. She is buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery in
Philadelphia next to her mother.
Today her home is the Anna Jarvis Museum, located in US Route 250 about five
miles south of Grafton. The home is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday
from April 1 through December 31. An admission fee is charged.
This article, written by Bob O’Connor, originally appeared in The Journal on Mother’s Day, 2014
Holy Spirit Conf
Conference
The 2017 Holy Spirit Conference will be held on July 17 -20 at Columbia
Furnace Church of the Brethren in Woodstock, VA. The speakers will be
Dr. Paula Jones (not THAT Paula Jones) and Dr. Mark Virkler. Evening
worship services, which are wonderful
ul times of worship, are open to all. A
registration form for those who wish to participate in the workshops held
during the day is available in the narthex. Usually several people go. If
you would like to go along, arrangements for rides are made that week.
NOAC
A reminder that registration for
National Older Adult Conference at
Lake Junaluska Coference and Retreat
Center in North Carolina. The theme
of the coference is “Inspiration 2017”
and will be held September 4-8,
4 2017.
A bus will be leaving from the MidMid
Atlantic district. More information, on
both the conference and the bus trip,
are available on the bulletin board. If
you have questions, see Carolyn
Graham, who has been to NOAC a
number of times.
Older Adult Month
Each May, the Church of the Brethren
observes Older Adult Month, an
opportunity
tunity to celebrate God’s gift of
aging and the contributions of older adults
in our congregations. Throughout the
month, we will hold some “pop-up”
“pop
events. Watch the bulletin each week to
see what is in store!
Along with what the church may plan,
why nott think about what you can do to
honor older adults in your congregation
and in your neighborhood. You could take
an older widow or widower to lunch or
just spend some time with her/him letting
that person know you care. Or maybe she
needs a ride to the store or would he would
like to go to a movie. Maybe a couple has
been like parents or grandparents to you.
Let them know how important they have
been in your life. These are things that we
should be doing all year round, but Older
Adult Month is a great
grea time to start the
habit.
Farhney Keedy
Fahrney-Keedy
Keedy will hold a Spring Fest
Open House and All-you-can-eat
All
Pancake Breakfast fundraiser on
Saturday, May 13. The breakfast is
served from 8-10
8
a.m. for $6 for adults
and $3 for children over 5 years old.
Younger children under five will eat for
free. The open house will be from 10
a.m.-2
2 p.m. Visitors can enjoy a guided
tour by walking the campus or by riding
in an electric golf cart.