As the bleachers fill with fans clad in blue and white, the members of the New Hyde Park Dad’s Clubs are heating up their grills and stocking the condiments.
Soon into the game, the smell of hot dogs carries into the wind and draws a line of famished football fanatics to replenish their spirits and warm up from the cold.
“They’re a great support for our students here at New Hyde Park,” New Hyde Park Memorial principal Richard Faccio said of the organization.
The Dad’s Club has been a part of the high school since 1968 and in its 45 years the organization has helped fund programs and provide scholarships for outstanding students.
Gracelyn Beck, a secretary to the guidance department chairperson who oversees the scholarship committee in the school, said that at the end of February each year a committee meets with teachers, advisers, and administration to determine which student will receive the award.
While the Dad’s Club does not nominate students it does recommend criteria the awarded student should have. This years Senior Awards Night will present 18 awards with the financial support from the Dad’s Club.
Beck said the awards range from honoring former Dad’s Club presidents, alumni that have passed away, citizen scholarships, and athletic scholarships.
Last year, Faccio said, $5,700 was raised for student scholarships and presented at the Senior Award Night.
Michael Horan, a father of a seventh-grader who joined the club in the fall, said he enjoys participating in the fundraising efforts.
After attending a comedy fund raising event for his niece’s high school in Valley Stream several years back, Horan pulled together the Dad’s Club Comedy Night.
This year’s Comedy Night will take place at the Governor’s Comedy Club in Levittown on March 10.
Horan said he feels right at home in the club, having made new friends and reigniting old friendships.
Five-year member Brian Glover knows all too well the camaraderie in the Dad’s Club.
“Homecomings are a lot of fun, people coming back to the school, seeing people you haven’t seen often or in a long time,” Glover said.
Faccio, who attends every meeting, said he knows the vital part the Dad’s Club plays in the school and not just for scholarship.
“There’d be a big hole in the school environment (without the club) because they do fund a lot of extras for the programs.” Faccio said.
Some of the unsung smaller charities the organization has contributed to are the seventh grade Homecoming float, the book club, the Key Club Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, and the recent dedication of a plaque to commemorate deceased former member Peter Inguanta.
When it is fall again, the Dad’s Club will return to the concession stand as always, cooking up memories and enhancing the futures of student’s in the neighborhood.
