To outsiders, it may seem like just another big group of families camping at Washington Park, but to the fathers and children out there, it’s much more.

The annual Washington State Fathers Network campout brought close to 25 families to the park this weekend for what has been an annual event for 26 years.

It spurred from an idea by Ed Gegen of Anacortes during a regular meeting of the network, which advocates for and provides resources and support to fathers of children with special health care needs and developmental disabilities.

It also provides fellowship to fathers of children with everything from cancer to Down Syndrome, which Gegen’s son Anthony has.

Gegen joined the network 28 years ago when Anthony was born. Since then, he’s mentored other fathers in Anacortes and the local area.

Joe Waham was contacted by Gegen soon after his youngest son Asa, who also has Down Syndrome, was born. Gegen explained the Father’s Network to him and encouraged him and Asa, now 11 years old, to go to the camp out.

Waham and his Anacortes family continue to attend the event, usually not camping out to leave space for others since they live in town, but coming for Saturday’s activities.

The camp out, always held over Father’s Day weekend, brings families from all over the region together for camping and all the things that go with it including barbecues and marshmallow roasting.

It also provides an opportunity for the families to share information whether it’s about nutrition or medical advances, Waham said.

“It’s a time for R & R but networking also,” he said.

In the past, people were less accepting of people with disabilities in public places, including at work or school, Waham said.

“As time has gone on more and more people are more open to people with disabilities in public,” Waham said.

“If they’re left to do more, they do more,” he said of children with special needs. “When the community is behind you, you can get more out of each child individually.”

The Fathers Network develops support and mentoring programs and curriculum designed to enhance fathers’ involvement in home, school and other settings, helps fathers participate in organizations, conferences and workshops, and shares information through newsletters and its Web site.

The network serves as a place to find out about resources on issues from guardianship to where to get qualified sitters, sometimes from the group itself, Waham said. When families come to such an event as the camp out, they get to glean what’s new.

Though the families only get together once a year, it’s that one time a year they’re a family, Gegen said.

“It’s almost a spiritual thing,” he said. “You get to be around people with kids with disabilities who understand what you’re going through.”

It’s an avenue where the participants aren’t looked at like they are different, Gegen said. The kids are seen as the individuals they are, rather than their disability.

The Fathers Network is a Kindering Center program funded by the Office of Children with Special Health Care Needs/Washington State Department of Health, the Kindering Center and private donations. They can always use more funds, Waham pointed out. More information is available at http://www.fathersnetwork.org.