She wanted a celebration that honored fathers that were like her own father, William Smart. He was a Civil War veteran, his wife died when Sonora was 16 and he had to take care of all six children. On June 19, 1910, she arranged a tribute for her father in Spokane. She had previously enlisted in 1909 the help of the Spokane Ministerial association, and young members of the YMCA went to church wearing roses: a red rose to honor a living father, and a white rose to honor a deceased one. Dodd travelled through the city in a closed carriage, carrying gifts to shut-in[clarification needed] fathers.

She was the first to solicit the idea of having an official Father's Day observance to honor all fathers. It took many years to make the holiday official. In spite of support from the YWCA, the YMCA and churches, it ran the risk of disappearing from the calendar. Where Mother's Day was met with enthusiasm, Father's Day was met with laughter.

The holiday was gathering attention slowly, but for the wrong reasons. It was the target of much satire, parody and derision, including jokes from the local newspaper Spokesman-Review. Many people saw it as just the first step in filling the calendar with mindless promotions like "Grandparents' Day", "Professional Secretaries' Day", etc., all the way down to "National Clean Your Desk Day."

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Birth gifts ; birthday gifts ; father's day gifts ; mother's day gifts ; party gifts ; retirement gifts ; secretary gifts ; valentines's gifts ; astrology gifts; humor gifts; keepsake gifts ; poem gifts; gifts for children; gifts for couples; gifts for her; gifts for him; gifts for teenagers.