The first Dads Night occurred in the Kenilworth School of Ridgewood New Jersey in 1944. Over the years since, the tradition has been kept alive by the dads of children who attend Ridgewood's
Somerville and Hawes elementary schools. Each year the dads write their own scripts and songs, play their own music, design and sew their own costumes, build their own sets, and put on a musical review for the hundreds of kids in town. The funds that are raised are used to buy special needed "wish list" items for the schools. Everyone has a good time, and many long lasting friendships are made. Most importantly, our kids learn that their dads are committed to them and their lives as students. Why else would the dads make such fools of themselves if it weren't for the love of their children!
Extract from...The Ridgewood Herald News - November 23, 1944
"DADS' NIGHT"
Click here to see the actual Newspaper clipping!
A Ridgewood parent-teacher organization is planning to hold a "Dads' Night" sometime in January. The entire evening will be completely in the
hands of the fathers, they will take care of advance publicity, arrange
for such details as tickets and ushering, design the stage settings,
comprise the cast and present the entertainment.
A program exclusively handled by men is no novelty in these parts. But
an evening's entertainment given by the men of a parent-teacher
association is, indeed, something new for in practically every local PTA
group, the mothers are by far the more active members.
Perhaps the male element feels it high time it asserted itself. Or
perhaps it believes that parenthood is a fifty-fifty proposition and
that the fathers are every bit as much interested in their youngsters
and in the schools as the mothers are. Or mayhap, Dad is growing a bit
fed up on "staying with the kiddies" while Mother goes off to another
evening meeting.
At any rate it would seem that the Dad sector of a certain
parent-teacher association is coming into its own. The results promise
to be highly interesting."
