Dad Basks in Limelight--for a Day

In the parks, in the malls and in restaurants, San Fernando Valley families were out Sunday enjoying a variety of activities focused on Dad.

At Reseda Park, some fathers took their sons and daughters on carnival rides, while others played baseball with their children or taught them how to throw a Frisbee. A few fathers were taking a day off from parenting, leaving children with their wives while they took naps in the shade.

“My dad is a genius,” David Storace, 24, of Woodland Hills said admiringly as he watched his father reclining on the grass a few feet away. “He is a shrewd businessman but he’s generous, too. He puts everyone else before himself. He’s wonderful.”

“He can fix things. He can fix my toys,” said 8-year-old Wes Charek of his father, Chris, 33, from Granada Hills.

As the Charek family sat waiting to have Sunday brunch in a restaurant of father’s choice, Wes cited his dad’s involvement in Little League coaching as one of his more impressive fatherly virtues.

His brother Andrew, 10, said he admired his father’s dedication to his job. “He should be able to have the day off,” Andrew said.

Janet Charek said her husband “got to do whatever he wanted--sleep in late, watch the game, go look at cars and take a nap.” Although they were out for breakfast this Sunday, she said her sons have cooked for their father at home on past Father’s Days. Among the treats at those lovingly prepared meals, she said, have been toast and jellybeans.

Robert Bendik, 14, and his mother, Nancy, of Mission Hills were selecting a greeting card at Northridge Fashion Center for Walt Bendik. Robert said he was looking for the right card to tell his father know how he felt because, “I probably don’t get much of a chance the rest of the year.”

Both of them said that Walt Bendik is a father who has a sense of humor and a parent who keeps pace with new styles. “He gets into my music,” said Robert. He said his father enjoys “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears, and he likes his father’s old Jefferson Airplane recordings.

At Reseda Park, Simon Levi, 65, snoozed in a lawn chair, a baseball cap pulled over his eyes, as about 40 members of his family picnicked around him. They were honoring the fathers in the group and also were celebrating the 81st birthday of one of the family’s matriarchs.

Levi’s son, David, described his father as a quiet man who “doesn’t like to be fussed over.” He said the birthday party was partly an excuse “so we could do something for him.”