Clarence Budington Kelland

Celebrate Dear Ol' Dad this Sunday

Most folks credit Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Wash., with the idea for Father's Day. While listening to a Mother’s Day sermon, she decided she wanted a way to honor her father who had raised her and her five siblings after the death of their mother. June being the month of his birthday, the first Father’s Day was celebrated June 19, 1910. Dad’s day is a great time to fire up the grill. Treat him with an All-American burger or honor him with a juicy steak using the Sweet Grilled Steak Bites recipe *** . Beyond the barbecue, if miniature golf, a trip to the beach or the latest Blockbuster movie is not your dad’s cup of joe, leave an impression this year with BIG ARTS wide variety of perfect-for-dad gifts. Locally crafted steel sculptures of native wildlife and paintings by local artists are just two examples of gifts that any father would love. If your dad is "Mr. Fix It," Bailey’s True Value Hardware store has multi-tool sets to fit in any budget: 65-piece mechanic set for $24.97; a 3-piece set that includes a drill and flashlight, $24.97; and a 4-piece plier set for $19.99. True Value offers great gifts for any dad, but if he enjoys a nice cigar, visit The Grog Shop for the island’s best selection - Arturo Fuente, Cohibas and Romeo and Juliettas are some of the most popular. The Grog Shop also contains the island’s only walk-in humidor for that perfect cigar and it offers the largest and best selection of domestic and imported wine, spirits and liqueurs all under one roof. It is located at the Bailey Shopping Center. To view more of what The Grog Shop carries, visit its web site at www.grogshopsanibel.com '> www.grogshopsanibel.com .

QUOTES OF THE DAY « The Burning Platform

Henry James once defined life as that predicament which precedes death, and certainly nobody owes you a debt of honor or gratitude for getting him into that predicament.  But a child does owe his father a debt, if Dad, having gotten him into this peck of trouble, takes off his coat and buckles down to the job of showing his son how best to crash through it.  ~Clarence Budington Kelland

A father carries pictures where his money used to be.  ~Author Unknown

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.  But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.  ~Author unknown, commonly attributed to Mark Twain but no evidence has yet been found for this ~Author Unknown

Making the decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.  ~Elizabeth Stone

Never raise your hand to your kids.  It leaves your groin unprotected.  ~Red Buttons

I don’t care how poor a man is; if he has family, he’s rich.  ~M*A*S*H, Colonel Potter

Dad, your guiding hand on my shoulder will remain with me forever.  ~Author Unknown

There’s one sad truth in life I’ve found ~Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.  ~Dinah Craik

Sherman made the terrible discovery that men make about their fathers sooner or later… that the man before him was not an aging father but a boy, a boy much like himself, a boy who grew up and had a child of his own and, as best he could, out of a sense of duty and, perhaps love, adopted a role called Being a Father so that his child would have something mythical and infinitely important: a Protector, who would keep a lid on all the chaotic and catastrophic possibilities of life.  ~Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities

Spread the diaper in the position of the diamond with you at bat.  Then fold second base down to home and set the baby on the pitcher’s mound.  Put first base and third together, bring up home plate and pin the three together.  Of course, in case of rain, you gotta call the game and start all over again.