Wishing all Happy Gandparents Day!

National Grandparents Day
Originated in W. Va.
By DONALD W. WYATT
Each generation of Americans includes a few strong-willed individuals who formulate ideas and persist in making them realities. They figuratively move mountains and change the courses of rivers to attain their goals. West Virginia has such a person in Mrs. Marian McQuade of Oak Hill, who modestly calls herself "just a housewife." She did not rearrange the landscape but unhesitatingly tackled the not inconsiderable task of convincing her state's Governor, U.S. Senators, and a President of the United States of the rightness of her cause-National Grandparents Day.
A lifelong Mountaineer, Mrs. McQuade cares deeply about people. Her many achievements and activities through the years reflect her humanitarian nature.
The 76-year-old mother of 15, grandmother of 40, and great-grandmother of three has been vice-chairman of the West Virginia Commission on Aging, delegate to the White House Conference on Aging, president of the Vocational Rehabilitation Foundation, and vice president of the Nursing Home Licensing Board.
As a mother and community activist, she has made positive contributions to the state she loves through organizations such as the Order of the Eastern Star and the Fayette County Historical Society, but she is best known beyond the state's borders as founder of the annual tribute to grandparents.
It will surprise many who believe the observance has commercial roots, but it is because of the dedication and persistence of this unassuming coal miner's wife that the Sunday after Labor Day each year is designated National Grandparents Day.
She and Joe McQuade, her husband of 57 years, are devoting their golden years to making the observance truly meaningful. They reach out to grandparents and grandchildren throughout the nation from their home in Oak Hill, a community of about 5,000 centered around U.S. Route 19 in Fayette County 40 miles southeast of Charleston.
Mrs. McQuade was born Marian Herndon in Caperton, which is now one of the ghost towns in the New River Gorge. Her father was a coal miner. As a child, she often visited her grandmother, Maude McClung Dickerson on her 130-acre farm.
"After working all day on the farm, Grandma would walk off to visit elderly people of the community," she recalls. "Often I would tag along. I never forgot talking with those delightful people. That's where my love and respect for oldsters started."
She was given an opportunity to express her regard for older people in 1956 when she first helped Jim Comstock, editor of the West Virginia Hillbilly and the Richwood News Leader, with organizing a Past 80 Party. Now a 35-year tradition, the Past 80 Party is held annually in Richwood on the second Saturday in June. Some 135 octogenarians plus additional seniors under 80 from all parts of the state enjoy an afternoon of feasting, contests, and entertainment. Among those cheerfully serving participants have been U.S. Senator and Mrs. Robert Byrd and state and local officials.
Organizing the Past 80 Party required contacting nursing homes, and Mrs. McQuade was saddened by learning of the chronic loneliness experienced by so many patients.
"They load these people up with gifts at Christmas," she said, "but they leave them alone the other 364 days of the years. I wanted there to be another day to visit."
In addition, her concern sparked the idea of honoring the nation's grandparents wherever they reside. After five years of intense personal lobbying, she obtained a proclamation from Governor Arch Moore, and on May 27, 1973, West Virginia became the first state with a special Grandparents Day.
But that was only the beginning. Buoyed by success at the state level, Mrs. McQuade worked through U.S. Senators Robert Byrd and Jennings Randolph to create a national observance. The date was shifted to September because May's calendar is too crowded and also to symbolize the autumn of life.
Her efforts bore fruit in September 1978, when the White House called to inform her President Jimmy Carter had signed Public Law 96-62-it had been given unanimous Congressional approval-designating the Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day. The first nationwide observance occurred in 1979 and it continues to grow in popularity.
The statute's preamble cites the day's purpose as: "... to honor grandparents, to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children's children, and to help children become aware of strength, information, and guidance older people can offer."