Father’s Day is a day intended to honor fathers, fatherhood, paternal bonds as well as the influence of fathers in society. This day complements similar days such as Mother’s Day, Grandparent’s Day and Sibling’s Day. In the United States as well as many countries around the world, it is celebrated on the third Sunday in June.

The first Father’s Day celebration was held at the state of Washington. However, it was not until 1972 that this day was celebrated nationwide as a national holiday. This year, the holiday was be celebrated nationally on Sunday, June 16.

Here at Lake Land College (LLC), many men who hold important positions are fathers and some are even grandfathers. These men shared their views on the importance of Father’s Day, and what the holiday truly means to them.

I had a great opportunity to interview the men as to the importance of Father’s Day. The men that I interviewed are: President, Dr. Jonathan ‘Josh’ Bullock, who has been the president here on campus since 2016; Athletic Director, William ‘Bill’ Jackson, who has been in his current position since 2014 while also the head baseball coach and exclusive in that position since 2018; Jon Van Dyke, who has been the Dean of Admissions on campus for the past 23 years and was the Admissions Specialist for the previous seven years; Brian Frasier, who has been the Application Engineer for the last three years; Greg Capitosti, who has taught Chemistry courses on campus for the past 22 years; Ed Thomas, who has taught Speech Communication courses along with two Broadcast Communication courses since 2007; Greg Powers, who has taught all but two Broadcast Communication courses, along with being the on-campus station manger since 2006; Matt Landrus, who has taught English courses for the last 27 years; and Bryan Burrell, who is currently an academic counselor for the past 30 years.

While the aforementioned men came from various backgrounds and took different journeys to get to their current position, it does not make what they did any less impressive.

While offering slightly different answers in regards to what Father’s Day mean to them and a few lost their own father along the way, the common denominator that they all agree on is that “Father’s Day as a youngster is about your father, grandfather and uncle and as you grow older, it becomes about you.” In addition, to balance work life with family life, “while family is important, you need work to support your family and pay for the bills.”

Father’s Day is a day meant to celebrate all paternal figures in people’s lives, so do not forget to celebrate your father as well as an important male figure on June 16 this year!