This holiday is much more important in some regions than in others (Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo being the biggest Sweetest Day cities).  It is a holiday that is gaining in popularity every year throughout the country.

Somewhere long about 1915 or so, a Cleveland man, believing that the city's orphans and shut-ins too often felt forgotten and neglected, conceived the idea of showing them that they were remembered.  He did this through the distribution of small gifts.  With the help of his friends and neighbors, he distributed these small remembrances on a Saturday in October.  During the years that followed, other Clevelanders began to participate in the celebration ceremony, which came to be called "Sweetest Day".  In time, the Sweetest Day idea of spreading cheer to the underprivileged was broadened to include everyone, and became an occasion for remembering others with a kind act or a small remembrance.  And soon the idea spread to other cities all over the country.

Today, Sweetest Day is celebrated on the third Saturday in October as a day to make someone happy. It is an occasion which offers all of us an opportunity to remember not only the sick, aged, and orphaned, but also friends, relatives and associates whose helpfulness and kindness we have enjoyed.

Sweetest Day is not based on any single group's religious sentiment or on a family relationship. It is a reminder that a thoughtful word or deed enriches life and gives it meaning.

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