Father’s Day together
2 events gather the community to build bonds, have fun and share valuable lessons
A young 8-year-old at the annual Trout Unlimited Kids Fishing Day in Cave Spring on Saturday summed up the experience in a succinct manner.
“It’s fun when you’re catching fish,” said Barrett Lewis, whose father Bart Lewis was standing over him helping him cast his line out into the pond at Rolater Park.
Though the boy has been out fishing several times with his grandfather, Saturday was the first time he ever went with his dad. And that, on the eve of Father’s Day, was a similar experience for bunches of other fathers passing down fishing knowledge and guidance to their sons or daughters.
On their way to Birmingham to visit family for the weekend, Mark Bell and his 8-year-old son Miles stopped in Cave Spring for the first time and hit the edge of the pond in an attempt to snag a trout or two. Mark Bell and his family are new to Rome, moving here from Newnan, and he wanted to take his boy out to enjoy the weather and to let him try his hand at fishing.
Away from the groups of families at the pond, single father James Sutherland got some help from his parents in taking his three daughters fishing in Little Cedar Creek at the park. And as usual, the youngest of the bunch, his 5- year- old Molly, was catching the most fish.
The girls were planning on gifting their handprints drawn onto a piece of paper with “Happy Father’s Day” written on it for their dad.
‘This is what we need to bring the community together.’ Michelle Dixon at Chambers Street 4 Kids
For the kids
“This is what we need to bring the community together,” said Michelle Dixon, a new resident to Chambers Street who was watching her grandkids play on the inflatable water slide in the middle of the street.
For the eighth straight year during Father’s Day weekend, the Chambers Street 4 Kids Committee blocked off their road and set up a water slide.
“It’s all about the kids,” said Patricia Cooper, who started the Fathers & Kids Block Party in 2010 with her husband Jerry Cooper and neighbors. “So they can have a safe place to have fun.”
The free event is open to anyone who cares to come each year, and the dinner menu — put together with community donations — of barbecue chicken, hot dogs, baked beans and coleslaw has become a tradition, Jerry Cooper said.
There are always new faces as people move into the neighborhood and come out for the celebration. When the sun is still out, the crowd is moderate, Patricia Cooper said. But when it goes down, with the cooler night air descending, people come in droves, she laughed.
“It makes me feel great,” said Melissa McMillan, another organizer, adding it is a special feeling to do something nice for the youth while keeping them from getting into trouble.
The event, at its core, is about putting a face to neighbors and members of a community — to use this communal atmosphere for connecting people who may not interact normally, Dixon said. Kids imitate what they see from adults, she continued, such as setting the example of togetherness and peace.