01-06-23 REELLIFE print - Flipbook - Page 13
Fathers Day Memo
ries By Mike Carey
According to Wikipedia, Father's Day dates
back to 1910: “Father's Day was founded in
Spokane, Washington at the YMCA in 1910
by Sonora Smart Dodd, who was born in
Arkansas. Its first celebration was in the
Spokane YMCA on June 19, 1910.”
Reading further, Sonona Smart Dodd wanted
a day to honor her dad, similar to Mother’s
Day. The day was made a permanent
national holiday when President Richard
Nixon signed it into law in 1972.
of casting power bait and letting it soak,
waiting for a trout to come by, and playing
on the park’s playground swing and slides.
I have a picture somewhere, buried in a box
of pictures, a lifetime of memories. It’s funny
how the brain works – so many memories,
filed away over a lifetime, coming to the
surface out of nowhere. That day it wasn’t
about catching fish, it was about father-son
time. The goal was not necessarily catching
fish, rather, it was time spent together
enjoying a shared experience. As it should
Nothing was mentioned about this being
be. At this early age, first experiences can set
the perfect Dad’s Day for fishing, but truly
the tone for a lifetime. Best to make a gentle
the timing couldn’t have been much better.
introduction and go with the flow. The child
Coming out of spring, closing in on summer,
will dictate how hardcore the day will be.
the day comes with the prospects of great
You’ll have a lifetime of adventures ahead – if
fishing and fond memories for dads and
you play it right in these formative years.
children alike.
Farther down the road of parenthood, James
My earliest memory of Father’s Day fishing
came along, and then my Klamath jet boat
was with my first son, Matthew, age two. I still joined the family. The boys had a lot of fun on
remember him running around the park at
that boat, slipstreaming turns, pulling a tube,
a small lake, the name long since forgotten.
and of course, fishing.
His toddler laughs as dad attempted to
introduce him to fishing are still crystal clear
in my mind-eye. The day was a mixture
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