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Sunday is Grandparents Day.

Contrary to what you might first think, Grandparents Day is not the result of the marketing scheme of some greeting card company. It was the brainchild of Marian McQuade, a West Virginia housewife, mother of 15 children and grandmother of 40 who started her campaign for the holiday in the 1960s. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter designated the Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day.

* Older Americans are living longer and better than ever before, according to government studies. The Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics says the 65-plus population will swell from an estimated 35 million people today to about 70 million by 2030. Americans 85 and older are the fastest-growing segment of the older population.

* An estimated 5 million children in the U. S. live with their grandparents. About 1.5 million of those live with their grandparents without their parents. Earlier this year, the U. S. Supreme Court overturned a Washington state law that allowed grandparents to seek legal visitation rights over a parent’s objections.

* Symphony in the Glen will present its third annual Grandparents Day concert Sunday at 3 p.m. in Griffith Park. Conductor Arthur B. Rubinstein will lead the orchestra, performing works by Mozart and Rossini. Television personalities Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows will be on hand to receive a proclamation from Los Angeles County honoring them as celebrity grandparents of the day. And a children’s chorus will sing the “Grandparents Song,” with words by Rubinstein and music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. (213) 955-6976.