MAYOR KILPATRICK TO HOST 3RD ANNUAL DAD�S DAY OUT ON JUNE 16

Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick will host the 3rd Annual Dad�s Day Out at Belle Isle Park (Shelter #8) on Saturday, June 16 from 1-5 p.m. During the four hour celebration of fatherhood there will be food and refreshments, games for children, guest speakers, and entertainment. This year�s theme is �Dads for Dads.�

�As a father of three boys I look forward to Father�s Day every year,� said Mayor Kilpatrick. �It�s a day that is as special for my children and me as it is for so many dads across Detroit. I want Detroit men to come to Dad�s Day Out to celebrate fatherhood.�

Last year more than 1,500 men and their families came to Belle Isle for Dad�s Day Out. Dad�s Day Out is a free event, but those planning to attend are asked to RSVP by calling 313-224-4415.

Cornerstone Schools-Dad�s Club and Father�s Who Care INC are partnering with Mayor Kilpatrick�s office to host this celebration of fatherhood. Daimler Chrysler is the Dad�s Day Out Corporate Sponsor. Other sponsors include: Vitamin E Water, Steve�s Soul Food, Sherwood Foods, Aramark, Sam�s Club, Greater Detroit Resource Recovery Authority, Michigan UAW * CAP Council, Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO Council, Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters & Millwrights, UAW-Daimler Chrysler National Training Center, UAW, and Intuitive Touch Wellness Center.

Sonora Smart-Dudd, the daughter of a widowed father and sister to five other siblings, envisioned Father�s Day in 1909. She invented the day in honor of how her father�s parenting was so sacrificial and compassionate for her and her siblings. Smart-Dudd initiated the first Father�s Day on June 19, 1910, the month her father was born.

President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed Father�s Day as the third Sunday in June. Later, President Woodrow Johnson proclaimed the day as an official holiday. Finally in 1972 President Richard Nixon signed a law incorporating Father�s Day in the U.S. calendar as a permanent holiday.

Smart-Dudd also designated the red rose as the official flower for Father�s Day. It is to be worn by living fathers and a white rose should be given to the children in memory of a deceased father.