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Click here to read the entire policy Published: 6/16/2012 10:32 PM | Last update: 6/16/2012 10:55 PM
(Travis Morisse/The Hutchinson News) Greg Wamsley plays with his sons, Simon, 8, left, and Seamus, 10, Friday in their home. <!-- | Buy Hutch News photos -->
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A Father's Day wish
Gifts may be nice, but area dads have their eyes on time to spend with their children.
While a bottle of Glenfiddich Scotch and a grilling tool that transforms to flip, grip or spike meat are popular gifts this Father's Day, neither was on the wish list of several area dads.
Along with alcohol and barbecue tools, fishing equipment and a $168 Coach wallet from baseball leather made the top-10 Father's Day wish list according to askmen.com.
However, when it comes to local dads what they want most this holiday doesn't come with price tag.
Hutchinson Police Lt. John Moore didn't hesitate for a second when asked what he wanted.
"That's easy," Moore said. He wants nothing more than to spend time with his children. Moore's 21-year-old son is serving in the U.S. Air Force.
"So seeing him won't happen. But, I'll be with my daughter," Moore said.
As far as he's concerned, time with his children would be the best gift of all.
According to the National Retail Federation, ties and outings to restaurants and sporting events still rank high among Father's Day gifts. Americans will spend $91 on average for Father's Day gifts and spend $9.4 billion overall on this holiday.
But store bought gifts aren't what Gregg Wamsley, director of the Hutchinson Public Library, is longing for today.
A free day with family is what he hopes to receive. Wamsley's definition of a free day would include no chores, and especially no errands.
"Just some time goofing off, playing, and relaxing," said Wamsley, a father of 8- and 10-year-olds. "There's always some event to go to or activity to participate in when we're not trying to catch up around the house. It seems like weeks and months, and then whole school years just fly by, so any time we have without the travails of life pulling at us is a blessing and a great gift."
Before checking the Sunday work schedule at Hutchinson Fire Station 5, firefighter John Likes hoped he would hang out with his kids, perhaps heading to the swimming pool. Then he checked the schedule and saw he was on duty. That was OK, because his family would know where to find him, and he's confident they would know what he'd appreciate the most - a call from his kids. And maybe they would stop by the station with an ice cream treat.
"It's about being together," Likes said.
Denny Stoecklein's family knows better then to rack their brains trying to find him a unique Father's Day gift. The general manager of the Kansas State Fair admits he's frustrating to buy for because whatever he needs he purchases for himself. So forget the gifts; instead he relishes a Father's Day tradition of being with his wife and two sons at an annual baseball tournament at Hobart-Detter Field.
"Both my sons started playing when they were very young," Stoecklein said. "The nice thing for me and the boys is that my wife also enjoys baseball. We're a very sports-minded family."
Baseball tournaments have been a Father's Day tradition since his sons were young. While 19-year-old Jordan will be in the bleachers, 16-year-old Ryan Stoecklein will be playing in the tournament.
City Manager John Deardoff spends his days at city hall planning and the same goes for this Sunday. It has been the same format for years. Something he organized, pleases him, and he knows will work. It's a tradition that will begin with playing 18-holes of golf at Prairie Dunes.
"It's a tradition that the U.S. Open is the same weekend and I will have an uninterrupted afternoon of viewing the open."
Then he plans to have a nice barbecue with his family. He'll cook the steaks.
"Father's Day?" said a surprised Terry Field, when he asked what he would like to receive on June 17. "We haven't celebrated Mother's Day yet."
That May 13 holiday slipped past unnoticed because they had a daughter graduating from high school.
He has one simple request for Father's Day, "I would like for the world to slow down a little bit," Field said.
Michael Manuel, a worker at Tyson, plans to pay for his Father's Day entertainment by taking his 6-year-old son Jordyn to Kenwood Cove Aquatic Park in Salina. Far from his home near the water in Louisiana, he longs to be wet in central Kansas.
"It's all about water," said Manuel as he played with Jordyn on a recent evening at Avenue A Park. They were gently splashing each other in the spraying fountain. It's all about the water - and being with Jordyn.
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