By Lauren Wanko
Correspondent
Whether it’s at a game or a barbeque, lots of dads will be doing the same thing this weekend — spending Father’s Day with their kids. Billy Clohosey has three.
“There’s a lot of good things about being a dad. One of the best things is seeing them grow up through the different stages of their lives,” he said.
Americans have been honoring dads for more than a century. It started in a church in 1908.
“With a memorial celebration in West Virginia. Then it moved from there to a celebration in 1910 which actually was the first celebration in Spokane, Washington,” said William Gorman of Monmouth University.
Gorman says it didn’t become an official holiday until decades later.
“In 1972, Richard Nixon — at the height of Watergate — signed legislation that created the actually national holiday of Father’s Day from Congressional legislation into law,” he said.
Over the years the holiday’s become a day to not only celebrate dad, but to spoil him too. The National Retail Federation’s 2015 Father’s Day Spending Survey indicates spending for dad is expected to reach $12.7 billion. L&H Woods and Water typically offers promotions to customers this time of year.
“It can be somewhat intimidating for people coming in to a hunting and fishing store for the first time so we sell a lot of gift certificates to people and a week after we see dads come in with pockets full of gift certificates and big smiles on their faces,” Timothy Carey said.
Gifts aren’t the only things that make some dads smile. Baylor University’s Dr. Mark Morman found shared activities, especially sports, are game-changers for father-daughter relationships.
“What we ultimately determined is that fathers pulled their daughters toward more masculine orientation when it comes to closeness so doing things like coaching a team. singing in the choir. It didn’t matter what it was, just that dad was engaged in an activity with his daughter,” Morman said.
Over the years my dad and I have kayaked together on the river so I figured this would be a great way to spend part of his special day. What did he think? “It sure is a good way to get started,” Steve Wanko said.
I can’t help but ask what’s the best part about being a dad? “Number one would be memories between you and your sister between growing up and where you are today,” he said.
May this Father’s Day remind us all dads can be pretty great.