Dads and their special girls dance the night away

It’s a can’t-miss event for Ty Podeszwa and his daughter, Ella.

The Auburn couple have attended the last eight Daddy Daughter Date Nights – a special evening of song and dance – put on by the Parks, Arts & Recreation Department.

The community event – open to dads and their daughters ages 4-10 – has grown so much n popularity over the years that the event spans two nights on a February weekend.

The Podeszwas joined other couples at the Auburn Community & Event Center last Friday. It would be their last dance at the event because Ella, a fifth-grader at Hazelwood Elementary School, has turned 10.

The streak was tested a year ago. The Podeszwas had just landed at Sea-Tac Airport after a two-week family vacation in Thailand.

“We realized the date,” said the mom, Melissa. “We basically raced from the airport to the dance.”

Just in time for dad and daughter – jet lagged and in matching tourist shirts – to crash the dance, step to a few numbers on the floor and take a keepsake photo together at the booth.

The event is fun and worthwhile for many families.

“It’s an opportunity to connect both as a dad and daughter and with the community and have a memory that they can keep for a time to come,” Melissa said.