Dads Treat Their Little Girls to a Date Night

Fathers and daughters filled the McNease Convention Center Monday night for the 24th Annual Father Daughter Date Night. Little girls aged from Kindergarten to sixth grade dressed up to have a good time with their fathers, dancing the night away to a variety of music.

“It’s just something our community has really enjoyed,” said Maryann Vasquez, City of San Angelo Recreation Manager. “It sells out every year.”

The date night started as a program years ago with many cities involved, according to Vasquez, and San Angelo’s is the longest running date night in Texas.

The theme for the 2014 date night was “Passport to Anywhere,” with a travel theme, such as airport terminal signs pointing out the destinations and directions to the dance floor and photo booth.

In the foyer, size three sparkly shoes stood next to large cowboy boots in line for pictures, while in the main hall, dads and daughters danced to country music, cumbia, line dances and even slow danced together. Some fathers danced with more than one daughter.

“Some dads bring more than one daughter, but here there are also uncles and grandfathers,” explained Vasquez. “It doesn’t have to be the dad and daughter or the mother and son, it can be any adult that is special in their lives.”

She even described a man who didn’t have a daughter of his own, who came out to help his friend who had four daughters, making sure they got to dance to their heart’s content.

Vasquez feels that both the Father Daughter and the Mother Son Date Night are important programs because they make the children feel valuable.

“It really kind of shows them how people should be treated on a date,” she smiled. “Dads here really show little girls how they should be treated.”

Feb. 11 will be the Mother Son Date Night, and the following Wednesday will be another opportunity for dads to take their little girls out for a dance.

For more information call 325-657-4450.