Dan Powers and his wife, along with their eight kids, live in Wrangell, but some of them are currently in Petersburg, on a different island, at the boat harbor. They’re getting ready to board a huge cruise ship to play a few songs.
“They’ve all been on the stage forever,” Powers said. “They’ve grown up on the stage.”
They’ll perform dozens of times this summer. The kids range in age from 19 to three months. Powers said they’re encouraged to participate but not forced. He said he tries to teach them to engage with others with purpose.
“To care for people, like, genuinely care for people,” Powers said. “Not just get what you need from somebody, but like, absolutely taking care of those other people around you.”
10-year-old Castle thinks her dad does a great job.
“He’s the best dad ever. His jokes are really funny, ” Castle said, giggling.
Fathers have been recognized in June for decades. Father’s Day was first celebrated as a state holiday in Washington in 1910. It wasn’t until 1972 that it was made a national holiday by President Richard Nixon.
Powers’s family likes to celebrate the day with food and people. He said that his favorite dad moments come when he sees his kids connecting with others.
“Like we’ve been able to train our kids in such a way where they are able to emotionally pull people in and make adults feel like somebody noticed,” he said.
Roughly a thousand miles away in Unalaska on the Aleutian Islands, Carlos Tayag sits in front of the computer with his 5-year-old son, Remy, who is crunching an apple.
“I’m currently – I don’t know what they call us now, a stay-at-home dad or a full-time caregiver,” Tayag said.
But you’ll rarely find Tayag and Remy just sitting around at home. During this interview, they were just on a snack break. There’s swimming on Tuesdays and story time at the library on Thursdays. Today, it was the bounce house, wrestling camp, and a Little League game.
“So, we kind of have a full schedule,” Tayag said.
Tayag started the Little League in Unalaska, and Remy plays catcher on the t-ball team. Remy’s favorite part is wearing the black and white helmet, chest pads, and sometimes, leg pads.
Tayag said Rural Alaska is a great place to raise kids because you get to do unique outings like picking berries on the tundra. Remy also loves books about ships and construction and they can go see that in person at the harbor.
“I tell people all the time, it’s the best job I’ve ever had, I love it.” he said. “You kind of get to relive parts of your own childhood, or do things that you really enjoy, and kind of see the world through your child’s eye, which I think is really beautiful and fun.”
Fatherhood sometimes happens at the office. At Petersburg’s municipal building recently, the borough clerk greeted Jeigh Stanton Gregor and his two kids — a normal visit as Stanton Gregor’s been an assembly member for about a decade.
“Want to sit at the dais?” Stanton Gregor asked his kids.
“I call mayor’s seat,” said 9-year-old Margo, laughing. “I’ve been in this building a lot with my father. I think he’s great. He’s fun, he’s funny, and he’s nice and very playful.”
Margo said he’s also a good listener. That tracks, since Stanton Gregor is also a full-time therapist who co-owns a counseling clinic with his wife.
“You’re listening like you understand,” Margo said. “You’re very. . .in it.”
Margo’s brother, Silas, is 13.
“I can trust him as someone to always be there for me,” he said.
Trusting his dad was important last weekend when they were hiking on a remote trail and saw a few bears.
“And on our way back this one was big, it was a chunky bear, could tell she’d been eating well, and this one didn’t back down right away,” Silas said. “[It] decided to go into the woods. Eventually, we stopped for a moment, and my dad pulled out the bear spray and was like, stay on the left of me, trying to keep me safe like a good father would.”
So, what does Stanton Gregor think about fatherhood? Was it what he expected? He said, “Of course not.”
“I mean, any manuals you get on parenting and the fatherhood, they’re great. I read plenty of books and articles,” Stanton Gregor said. “But I’ll use my firstborn Silas as an example – as soon as he was delivered, I was floored by there’s this little creature who I don’t even know yet, but I just would do anything for, immediately.”
Back at the boat harbor, Powers and his wife take a moment to warm up their voices while holding their baby, Denver Rain. It’s a song that he wrote about his kids called “Honey”:
Powers, Stanton Gregor, and Tayag might have different families in different Alaska towns. But on Father’s Day, they’ll all be celebrated just the same.
