Recreational activities abound on Whidbey Island and Father’s Day celebrants took advantage of the good weather to enjoy nearly the entire outdoor gambit our island has to offer. Everything from beach cleanup via dog to beach volleyball.

From north to south, fathers and their families were out in force having a good time.

At Deception Pass State Park, a large gathering of families were enjoying an old-fashioned picnic with plenty of good food, music and games.

A beach volleyball match was going full force with the older guys pitted against the younger generation and it didn’t take long for the younger players to figure out that their opponents were a nimble bunch playing in the sand and were quite adapt at scoring points.

Meanwhile at the Gallery Golf Course, the Carr family from Oak Harbor were out on the driving range where dad, Marcus, was trying out his new set of clubs.

“We bought them for him as a Father’s Day present,” said his wife, Deborah Carr.

Marcus was hitting a lot of balls with his driver, trying to correct the famous pull-hook that is the nemesis of a lot of golfers, new clubs or not.

With dad now the proud owner of a new set of clubs, his old set was handed down to eldest son, Bobby Carr, who is a student at Skagit Valley College. Bobby was also getting used to his “new” set of woods and irons, hammering balls on the driving range

The third male member of the group was 9-year-old Mac Carr, a southpaw, who took a couple of swings that made the observer look around for an umpire to go up with the right hand and hollar, “Strike three!” Still, when the young man connected with the little with ball, it really took off.

Watching the action, camera in hand, in addition to Deborah Carr, was daughter, Chelsea Carr.

“We’re sitting around trying to figure out if we want to get involved in golf,” Deborah said.

Also headed out for a round of golf on the Gallery course was James Cannon, who said he was born and raised in Oak Harbor but now lives in Everett.

Joining Cannon was his daughter, Morgan, who was all smiles and prepared to play the role of caddy for dad on Father’s Day.

At the Oak Harbor Marina, Felizardo Biboy from Oak Harbor and his sister were out early reeling in a Father’s Day lunch.

“We’re going pretty good jigging for shiners. We’ve caught 26 of them so far,” Biboy said.

Waiting for the tide to come up at the marina so he could weigh anchor was Paul Hann from Victoria, British Columbia.

Haan was spending Father’s Day alone, after stayting a week in Seattle.

“My wife took the Clipper back home and I’m headed for Anacortes tonight and then back to Vancouver,” Haan said.

Sailing his Cal-34 boat named Micmah, which means musician in first-Canadian language, Hann’s boat is appropriately named.

“I’m a musician and I play guitar for children in Canada,” he said.

The largest dog in all of Dugualla Bay Heights was having a busy pre-Father’s Day afternoon Saturday retrieving logs and moving them to other locations to clear portions of the beach.

Buddy belongs to Marge and Bill McNae and when asked what breed of dog Buddy is, Marge replied, “Big. He can be kind of intimidating, but he’s a sweetheart.”

Don’t bother throwing small sticks for Buddy to fetch and move, he isn’t interested. Buddy prefers logs. Maybe the Discovery Channel should think about doing a television series on log removal by canines, similar to American Loggers.

Father’s Day 2009 was a great one for a lot of people and here’s hoping you had a good time as well.