Southdown VIP Night Goes Over Big
It was a night of fun as the Southdown School PTA held its annual VIP Night for fathers and their children. The get-together went over big with participants who enjoyed spending time with one another while music and laughs filled the air.
The theme of this year's event was "music" and that meant utilizing a variety of instruments. Richard McKenna, who chaired the extravaganza and whose son, Harrison, is a Southdown second grader, assembled dads who could play instruments ranging from electric guitar and piano to trumpet and drums.
The fathers spoke a little about their instruments prior to giving a demonstration. Then the dads jammed out, playing a wide range of selections from "Yellow Submarine" and "Sunshine of Your Love" to "Amazing Grace."
One father, Nick DiVico, premiered a song titled "Southdown." Children played along with small percussion instruments provided to them by the PTA.
The event included special guests, too. John Scarpulla, a world-renowned saxophonist, composer and arranger and a Huntington father whose sons will soon be attending Southdown turned out as did David Crimi, a Southdown dual language teacher who played guitar and Robyn Balduzzi, a Harborfield High School student who came with a set of bagpipes. Students from Kidz Hitz also performed.
"I think the dads and the kids had lots of fun rocking out," said Mr. McKenna, a
Stony Brook University computer science faculty member.
After the tunes played out, Southdown PTA volunteers served Herrell's ice cream sundaes to a hungry crowd.