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Community Corner

Father's Day Options Around Town

From breakfast with grandparents to steaks on the grill to sleeping in, here's hoping dads get to enjoy their special day.

Grills will fire up all over Long Island today as dads celebrate an annual summer rite of barbecuing on Father’s Day.

“Steaks,” is what he’s grilling, said Bob of Huntington, who didn’t want to give his last name as he picked up a pizza on Saturday at Little Vincent’s with his kids Matt, 5, and Gigi, 10, in tow. When asked if he was doing the grilling, he said, “Who else is going to cook besides dad?”

His family has no definite plans for the afternoon after spending the morning with his parents, said Anthony Ciafardoni of Huntington, who was shopping downtown with his family. “Maybe a bike ride with the kids in the afternoon,” said his wife, Dena.

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Father’s Day, marked on the third weekend in June, celebrates fathers and their influence on our lives. Along with Mother’s Day, it’s one of two holidays that bookend parenthood. Barbecues, greeting cards and ballgames are traditional markers of the day, along with power tools and ties. Many families add in their own traditions.

For Chris MacKnight and his family, their tradition is to take part in the 5K walk/run in Deer Park every Father’s Day in honor of Chief Ray Downey, deputy chief of the Special Operations Command for the Fire Department of New York. Downey was killed when the Twin Towers collapsed Sept. 11, 2001, in New York City.

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“We’re run in every one since 9/11,” said MacKnight, who used to be a firefighter in Commack and knows firefighters in the New York City fire department. “My son Kyle, 16, has run with me since he was 6, and my daughter Kristin, who’s 14, runs some years as well.”

“We run, go to the festivities for a while, then go back to the house and have a barbecue,” MacKnight said.

The Forever Running Memorial 5K Run/Walk at the Knights of Columbus in Deer Park benefits a scholarship fund to keep Downey’s memory alive.

Here are some options for other things to do with Dad today.

The Heckscher Museum invites fathers and grandfathers to take advantage of free admission on Father’s Day and visit the museum. It is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Time your visit right and dad can take in a docent-lead gallery talk at 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., or 3:30 p.m. The kids can play in Heckscher Park when the picture-viewing is over, so there’s something for everyone.

If dad is looking for a more relaxing diversion, head to Ariana Restaurant, which from 4 to 9 p.m. today is offering a free Turkish beer, an Efes Pilsen, to dad if he books a reservation online first.

And he can cap off that Turkish beer with some world music at the Cinema Arts Centre’s Sky Room Café when Bangalore Breakdown performs, starting at 7 p.m.

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