What makes a Dad a hero? That was the question posed by the Community Roundtable in the 2011 Father of the Year contest. Third through fifth grade students who live in the greater Brandon area were eligible to submit an essay of 50 words or less explaining what makes Dad their hero.
Jordan Davis, a fifth grade student at Boyette Springs Elementary School in Ms. Caissen’s class (now a rising sixth grade student who will attend Barrington Middle School), perfectly answered the question and her Dad, Joseph Davis, was named the 2011 Father of the Year.
Jordan wrote in her essay that her father “practically saved everyone from a huge forest fire that two teenagers started with a tissue and a lighter.” This incident occurred behind the Davis’ residence in a conservation area.
According to Jordan, she entered the contest because “My Dad is everything to me. I’m Daddy’s girl. I’m always with him.”
The winner of the Father of the Year contest is bestowed with numerous gifts, but the best of all is the honor to ride as an honored guest in the Brandon 4th of July parade sponsored by the Community Roundtable. Jordan said, “It was very intense being in the parade. I felt like a special little girl. It’s always going to be a memory for me.”
According to Wendy Davis, Jordan’s mom, “We did not know that an essay was submitted. Jordan casually mentioned that she wrote an essay in school that day which was Joe’s birthday. When we got the call that her essay had won, we couldn’t believe it. My husband is so proud.” Wendy Jordan added, “We go every year to the Fourth of July parade, but this one was amazing. Everyone involved in the parade did a great job. The Sheriff’s patrol even stopped the parade for us so that we could take photos of Joe and Jordan.”
The Community Roundtable sponsors the Father of the Year contest along with the parade each year. According to Janine Nickerson, vice president of the Community Roundtable, “We started this contest as a way of allowing children to honor their fathers while they are still in school just as they do for mothers on Mother’s Day.” Members of the Community Roundtable judge the essays on originality and content.
For more information on the Community Roundtable, please visit www.brandonroundtable.com.
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