Youth services librarian Jessie Ward leads the Grandparents Day Celebration story time on Saturday morning. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — The Second Annual Grandparents’ Day Celebration was held in the Shepherdstown Public Library (SPL) on Saturday morning, drawing a crowd of about 100 to the event.

The Grandparents’ Day Celebration was the brainchild of SPL adult services librarian Addison Reese and Ruth McQuade, who is the Pack Horse Ford Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Women’s Committee chair. Ruth, incidentally, is also the daughter of the founder of National Grandparents Day, Marian McQuade.

“Tomorrow’s Grandparents’ Day, but because the library is closed on Sundays, we decided to celebrate it the day before,” Ruth said. “One of my mother’s founding ideas was that there wasn’t enough communication between grandparents and grandchildren. She wanted to make a way to bring those two generations together.”

In the early 1970s, Marian McQuade began working on the state level, to get Grandparents’ Day proclaimed a holiday. West Virginia was the first state to adopt Grandparents’ Day as a holiday, followed by 42 other states over the next few years. It became a federal holiday in 1978, when President Jimmy Carter signed a proclamation from the U.S. Congress, “designating the first Sunday of September after Labor Day of each year as ‘National Grandparents’ Day.'”

“With the distance families are living from each other in the modern day, it makes it even more important that [grandchildren] have a day reserved for making a meaningful connection with their grandparents,” McQuade said.

Wyatt McBride, far left, and Liliana McBride, far right, spend time with their father, Shepherdstown resident Ian McBride, and their grandmother, Kearneysville resident Ginger Kave, at the Grandparents Day Celebration on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

During the event’s first year, about 75 people attended. This year, that number increased to around 100 people, according to SPL Director Christy Hagerty.

“There’s a lot of people that we don’t recognize here today, who have brought their grandparents. I think people are glad to have a reason to come together,” Reese said of the celebration’s significant increase in attendance. “Grandparents’ Day is about spending time together between the two generations, and we’re happy to have been able to make that possible for a number of local families today.”

Shepherdstown resident Cindy Powers was one of the people who came to the event for the first time this year, along with her seven-year-old daughter, Wrenna McGrorty, and her mother, Glenda Powers.

“We need to have more events like this, that honor grandparents and show how special they are. Too often, grandparents are only treated as helpful caregivers,” Cindy said, as she watched her mother and her daughter pick out props together for the photo booth.

The photo booth was provided at a discounted price for the event by Laughing Hat Photo Booths. According to the business’ owners, Seth and Laura Freeman, being able to help grandparents and their grandchildren make lasting memories together at the event was a reward in itself.

Seven-year-old Wrenna McGrorty poses in the photo booth with her grandmother, Glenda Powers, of Shepherdstown, at the Grandparents Day Celebration on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

“It’s for a good cause and to benefit some local groups, which makes it all worthwhile,” Laura said.

Other activities held at the celebration, included a story time with books about grandparents, a station for making family trees and a variety of craft options, such as to make Grandparents’ Day cards or to make bookmarks out of the photo strips from the photo booth.

“It’s a great family event,” said Shepherdstown resident Ian McBride, who attended with his mother and his two children. “It’s fun for them to be able to come and do crafts here! It’s a great place to spend a Saturday.”