Father of the Year Awards June 11, 2008 Paul with his "Father of the Year" award Paul received a “Father of the Year Award” given by the National Father’s Day Committee on June 11th, 2008 at the Marriott Marquis in Midtown Manhanttan. Four men received awards. The luncheon banquet was hosted by Hall-of-Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith and there were over eight hundred people in attendance. Co-recipient Randy Jackson, music mogul and American Idol judge, spoke of raising his children and the importance as well as the difficulties inherent in the huge undertaking of fatherhood. Mark Sargent, Vice President of Save the Children, former Maryland state congressman and nephew to President John F.Kennedy spoke of his father’s incredible public service in founding and pioneering the Peace Corps. He spoke passionately about his 92 year-old father, Sargent Shriver, struggling with dignity against Alzheimer’s when he once had been a workaholic who somehow always managed to make it home for baseball, football and basketball in the backyard when his brothers and sisters were young. Paul took the dais and paid homage to his father, an uncomplicated man, World War II veteran, ballplayer and sole supporter of a family of eight people. Paul noted, as Mark Shriver did after him, how his dad, Chick O’Neill always made it home. He remarked how there is no substitute for time spent with one’s children. Paul offered, at the end of his acceptance speech, that his idea of a hero was his father and still is. Ron Klein, Randy Jackson, Paul, Ozzie and Mark Shriver agree there is no substiture for time spent with one’s children. So many of the problems prospering in American society today, the millions of teenagers who do not graduate from high school, the overflowing prisons, are rooted in the absence of fathers from the childrens’ lives. Fathers protect, fathers support, fathers guide and ease their children into the adult world. It is the noblest of undertakings. Congratulations to all the fathers out there who try their best. To those of you who have fallen out of contact with your children, get in contact. It is extremely important and necessary. Randy Jackson, Paul and Ozzie share thoughts with media and VIPs about the importance of fathering.