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I don't know who is responsible for starting Father's Day, but I for one am real happy for the holiday because it gives old Dad some quality time with his kids.

I know everyone thinks their Dad is or was the greatest Dad in the world, and I am one that feels that way. My Dad was a real great person and I could always count on him when having problems. When I was running track at Wyandotte High School in 1938 my Dad never missed a meet regardless of where it was. After a race I could always look at the finish line and see him standing there.

Father's Day is not one of the more notable holidays, but to me as a father it's one of the more important ones. You can tell a person with a low self-esteem by what they do on Father's Day. They go out and buy a tee shirt that reads "World's Greatest Dad".

Around Father's Day you can think back about all the precious moments you had with your kids and the memorable time you spent with them. One event I can well remember is my two sons and I invested in a fishing boat and we spent many hours at the lake. That was very enjoyable. Our big problem when we first started was losing anchors. We tried to get my third son involved. He thought fishing was a waste of time, but boy how he has changed his opinion. He is now an avid crappie fisherman who always takes his vacation the month of May and never misses a day of fishing. He recently purchased a chest freezer and already has the freezer with filet crappie he has caught.

When my two other sons were younger and the Kansas City Chiefs held their summer camp at William Jewell College, I would take them over to Liberty, Mo., to watch practice. One of the highlights of my youngest son was getting to play catch with Nolan Smith, better known as Super Nat. My son Mark always had a lot of interest in basketball and wanted to go to see Wilt Chamberlain and the Lakers play at the forum in Los Angeles. We made the trip through the courtesy of TWA and he had a great time taking pictures and getting autographs. These are some of the highlights I can remember.

I was able to get an extra ticket for the Kansas City Chiefs banquet and a highlight film for the season, and I took my oldest son Bub to get an autograph from Len Dawson and Lamar Hunt for my grandson Timmy.

It sounds like my Father Day highlights have been strictly with my sons, but I was able to have many fine times with my two daughters on trips to New York and Los Angeles. My dad and mother also took Bub and my daughter Carol to see the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, Calif. I think most dads probably feel as I do, that it's not the presents we receive but rather time spent with our kids, especially one-on-one. This is one holiday I would like to urge all you sons and daughters out there to try to spend a little quality time with your Dad even though he may be an old grouch. I can remember one night at Lions Park one of my sons and I were watching a men's slow-pitch softball game. There was one little guy sitting by us that was 9 or 10 years old, and every time a particular player would make a catch or get a hit he would yell loudly. After a few incidents of his yelling he turned to us and said "that's my Dad." It things like this that stick with you in a lifetime.

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