Twenty-six parent couples, including Ellen & Anthony Portantino, were honored by the National Parents Day Coalition at Pasadena City Hall on July 26. Mayor Bill Bogaard presented the awards in recognition of the honorees being exemplary parents and role models in the community, and in celebration of National Parents Day. The Portantinos have two daughters, Sofia and Bella.

National Parents Day was first approved as a national holiday by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on Oct. 14, 1994. The establishment of Parents’ Day was the result of a bipartisan, multiracial and interfaith coalition of religious, civic and elected leaders who recognized the need to promote responsible parenting in our society and to highlight parental role models.