Grandparents' Day was established through an act of Congress in 1978.
Everybody observes Mother's Day and Father's Day, but did you know today is Grandparents' Day?
Though elementary schools usually hold an activity to recognize the holiday, most people ignore it or don't know it exists, according to the flower and card shops in the Easton area.
Kim Roselli, manager of the Hallmark Store in the Forks Plaza, said the greeting card company only has seven or eight card designs for the holiday this year.
“People have come in looking for the cards,” Roselli said. “But it’s done better in the past.”
Not many people are ordering flowers for the holiday either.
The Flower Cart owner Si Strouse said the holiday is going nowhere, as the Palmer Township store got five orders for flowers to be delivered sometime over the weekend.
Strouse said at one point the shop was busy for Grandparents' Day.
“It might be the economy,” he said. “It just seems that no one is really doing anything for grandparents.”
Grandparents' Day was established by an act of Congress to be celebrated nationally on the first Sunday in September after Labor Day, according to the a website devoted to the holiday. Jimmy Carter signed the proclamation in 1978.
It was the brainchild of Marian McQuade, a homemaker from West Virginia who died in 2008. One of her main motivations was to champion the cause of the elderly in nursing homes, said her daughter D.J. Lancaster, who is now coordinator of the National Grandparents Day Council.
Grandparents Day hasn't reached the commercial appeal of other holidays for a couple of reasons, she said. First, her mother frowned upon commercializing the day. Distance is often another hurdle, she said.
"With our mobile society, grandparents live in different states than their grandkids and there's so much movement, that can make it difficult," said Lancaster, of Chula Vista, Calif.
Folks should take part of the day to recognize their grandparents and the roles they play in life, she said."I think grandparents have a lot to offer," she said. "There's no more loving person than a grandparent, who can be so proud of their grandkids and who've matured enough that love comes real easy."
In Northampton County, Gracedale nursing home will observe the holiday on a small scale, said Donna Dzojko, director of therapeutic recreation.
Dzojko said the home in Upper Nazareth Township usually goes all out for a few holidays each year, and it has had big celebrations in the past for Grandparents' Day. This year, a church group will be performing for residents, she said.
“We always have something on Grandparents' Day,” she said. “But I’m finding the younger generation today doesn’t really know what it is.”
Bob Martin from the Northampton County Agency on Aging said the senior centers in the area have intergenerational activities during the summer months when grandchildren are invited into the senior centers.
“I would think acknowledging Grandparents' Day, like Mother's and Father's Day, would be a nice thing to do,” Martin said.