HOULTON, Maine — For Kristi McAtee of Houlton, Father’s Day always meant tradition.
It revolved around food and one of her father’s favorite past times — riding motorcycles.
Although this is the first year that she will celebrate the holiday without her father, Paul McAtee, she said that she looked back fondly on their traditions.
“If the weather was good, we always went for a motorcycle ride,” she said on Monday. “We would go to his favorite restaurant for a meal, even if it was just after something like working on the woodpile for the day.”
She always gave him a gift, she said.
“I think that my favorite Father’s Day memory is the year I got him a T-shirt that said, ‘Hell hath no fury like a Dad whose toolbox is messed up.’ He couldn’t stop laughing at that one because it was true. He was a mechanic and God forbid if a wrench wasn’t where it was supposed to be.”
For other Aroostook County residents, Father’s Day also centers on tradition and spending time together.
Frank Carlton of Houlton said that his favorite Father’s Day memory was just a few years ago, when each of his three children returned to Maine to celebrate with him.
“They all have families now and are scattered across the U.S.,” he said. “It is hard to get them in one place at the same time. I am usually the one that has to fly out to see them because they are so busy now. That year, however, they made it a point to come visit me and we had a tremendous lobster dinner. It was the first time that some of my grandchildren had ever tasted it, and they were hooked.”
No matter what, he said, all of his children make it a point to call him on Father’s Day.
“I know some people who don’t even hear from their kids on the holiday,” he said. “So I am fortunate.”
