Column: Father’s Day and Juneteenth, two columns for the price of one

Dear readers,

Today is Father’s Day. If you’re a daughter, you’ve known this for weeks. If you’re a son and your mom didn’t buy a card for you to sign, you have exactly 10 minutes to sprint to Dollar General before dad realizes you forgot.

Pick something nice, maybe the least wrinkled card in the discount bin or a bag of beef jerky.

My father, Philip Meltzer, was born during the Coolidge administration, which meant he never had to worry about buying his dad a card. Back then, dads received respect, sturdy shoes, and maybe a firm handshake if they were feeling sentimental.

I was already a teenager when President Richard Nixon officially declared the third Sunday in June to be Father’s Day in 1972. This was just as well for dads in the 1960s, because they could never live up to the standards set by television.

Dr. Stone from The Donna Reed Show had solutions for everything, plumbing leaks, teenage angst, world peace (probably).

And then there was Leave It to Beaver, where week after week, Ward Cleaver calmly dispensed fatherly wisdom from the den. Always dapper, pipe in hand, wearing his trademark cardigan sweater, Ward looked like a philosopher wrapped in wool. Ward Cleaver didn’t just fix problems; he gently guided his sons toward moral enlightenment.

My dad didn’t stand a chance. We didn’t even have a den.

When my kids were young, I had it easy. Instead of being compared to the cardigan-clad Ward Cleaver, my parenting was measured against Al Bundy and Homer Simpson. The bar was so low it was practically underground. 

Enough about Father’s Day. This Thursday is “Juneteenth!”

I’ve noticed that some of you loyal readers are still scratching your head over Juneteenth. Some wonder if Juneteenth is even a real word. Others are asking, why should folks in Shelby County, Indiana, care?

Well, lucky for you, your favorite Giant FM columnist is here to help clear things up.

Yes, Juneteenth is a word. Yes, it is a federal holiday. And yes, I promise it wasn’t invented last week by a marketing team at Hallmark to sell “Happy Juneteenth” cards. 

It was on June 17, 2021, with a flourish of his executive pen, that President Joe Biden officially made Juneteenth a federal holiday. And yes, President Biden really signed it himself. Somewhere at that very moment, his childhood nemesis, Corn Pop, was probably nodding in approval.

After signing, President Biden handed the pen to 96-year-old elementary school teacher Opal Lee as a souvenir. Lee had championed the idea of making Juneteenth a holiday since President Biden was a cub scout. She lived long enough to see her dream come true, proof that persistence can win out, even if it takes decades.

So, what exactly are we commemorating on Juneteenth?

It was June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, bringing long-overdue news to enslaved African Americans: You are free!

Now, I know what you Civil War buffs are thinking. Didn’t Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrender to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865? So why don’t we celebrate the end of slavery then?

Simple, because slavery didn’t end until it ended for everyone. Without Instagram, TikTok, Meta (formerly Facebook), or X (formerly Twitter), General Granger had to do it the old-fashioned way, on horseback, shouting the message in the streets. It took 179 days for freedom to reach Galveston.

Now, why should folks in Shelby County, Indiana, celebrate Juneteenth?

Because Shelby County played a role in making that first Juneteenth possible.

If you’ve ever driven past the courthouse on South Harrison Street, you’ve probably seen the stone statue of a soldier standing on the lawn. That monument honors the soldiers from Shelby County who fought for the Union during the Civil War. Their sacrifice helped make the news of freedom possible in Texas on that historic June day.

This year’s Juneteenth celebration in Shelby County is happening this Saturday at Sunset Park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Will I arrive on horseback, portraying Union General Gordon Granger for an awesome reenactment of the first Juneteenth?  Join us to find out.

See you all next week, same Schwinn time, same Schwinn channel.