The declaration of local emergency by Mayor Karen Bass caused by the large fire at a cold storage facility in Boyle Heights has prompted changes to Sunday’s seventh annual Father’s Day Parade in Boyle Heights.
Personnel from the Weingart East LA YMCA, which conducts the parade, and partners will conduct community wellness check-ins along the procession route and distribute face masks and resources, according to executive director Brenda Hernandez.
The parade route will start at Estrada Courts and continue along the streets surrounding the public housing project near Eighth and Concord streets.
“Serenatas Para Papá” began on Father’s Day in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic as an effort to spread joy during a challenging time and has grown into a celebration honoring fathers and caregivers in Boyle Heights through mariachi music and community connection, according to organizers.
Other events in Los Angeles County marking Father’s Day include the traditional car show on Rodeo Drive, a remembrance service at Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary and Major League Baseball seeking to raise awareness of the fight against prostate cancer.
The 31st annual Rodeo Drive Concours d’Elegance will pay tribute to the nation’s 250th anniversary and the centennial of Route 66 and its enduring influence on American car culture.
The free event will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and feature rare hypercars, vintage classics and historically significant vehicles from around the world.
A Father’s Day remembrance service will be held at 10 a.m. at Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary in Culver City honoring celebrating and reflecting on the lives of the fathers and father figures.
What organizers are billing as “a relaxed afternoon full of music, family activities, food vendors and fun experiences for all ages” will be held at the Plaza Mexico retail and cultural center in Lynwood from noon to 3 p.m.
As it has since 1996, Major League Baseball will dedicate Father’s Day to the fight against prostate cancer. At all of Sunday’s MLB games, including the Dodgers-Baltimore Orioles matchup at Dodger Stadium, on-field personnel will wear prostate cancer awareness blue ribbon decals on their jerseys and commemorative base jewels and lineup cards featuring the Father’s Day/prostate cancer awareness logo also will be used.
In Orange County, the free 19th annual Father’s Day Car Show at the Balboa Bay Resort will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Due to limited on-site parking, parking is recommended at Newport Harbor High School, with complimentary shuttle service is provided to the resort.
Father’s Day began when Sonora Smart Dodd wanted to honor her father, William Jackson Smart, a single parent who raised six children in Spokane, Washington. She initially suggested June 5, the anniversary of his death.
However, when that date would not provide organizers with enough time to make arrangements, the first Father’s Day was celebrated in 1910 in Spokane on the third Sunday in June.
In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge recommended Father’s Day be a national holiday. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson proclaimed Father’s Day as a holiday to be celebrated on the third Sunday in June, while President Richard Nixon signed a bill into law to do so in 1972.