Father Daughter Ball also a fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters

Rachel Brown

Bob Haverland is taking a much younger female dancing this weekend — his daughter.

Brooke Haverland, 8, and her father plan to show up in fine pink or blue attire — they still have to go shopping — at Trevitt Hall on Friday for a Father Daughter Ball that doubles as a fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Georgia Mountains. All of the money raised will stay in Whitfield and Murray counties, organizers said.

“I hope (people who hear about the event) are going to the father daughter dance because it’s a really exciting thing for me,” said Brooke, a rising third-grader at Westwood Elementary School. “I like to dance, and I want to play a lot of games and do the raffle.”

Administrative assistant Jane House said Big Brothers Big Sisters’ programs match adult volunteers with children in need of extra attention. There is an in-school program in which high school students or adults visit younger children for about an hour each week. There is also a community program in which an adult and child — a match — visit off campus or participate in group activities. For example, a group is visiting Lake Winnepesaukah in Fort Oglethorpe this weekend, House said, and the trip will be funded with money raised from events like the Father Daughter Ball.

The chapter is based in Dalton and covers Whitfield, Murray, Gordon, Floyd and Bartow counties. In Murray and Whitfield counties, there are 75 community matches. The in-school program varies from 600 to 800 matches throughout the school year, House said. Mentors are approved after they undergo a criminal background check and training.

Board chairman Mark Marlowe, a Dalton Utilities employee, said there will be plenty of raffle prizes at the ball, including rounds of golf, free bowling and items from local toy stores.

There will be “heavy hors d’oeuvres,” and daughters will receive a gift at the door, he said. A disc jockey will play music from Hannah Montana as well as from “Grease,” “High School Musical” and other titles.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Big Brothers Big Sisters in Whitfield and Murray counties.

“It’s a great organization,” Marlowe said. “It provides one-to-one mentoring to children who need an adult friend, need some guidance. All the research shows that the Big Brothers Big Sisters program improves the academics for these children. It decreases the behavioral problems that they have in class, helps keep them out of trouble, helps keep them off drugs, all those kinds of things.”

Of Friday’s event, he said, “So many of the kids that are in our program and kids that struggle come from families where there is either not a father or the father is not really involved in what’s going on, single mother homes and all those kinds of things. We just thought it would be a great way to show how important fathers are and how important that relationship is and a great opportunity for fathers to spend some time with their daughters and highlight the importance of that relationship.”

Bob Haverland said he and Brooke spend a lot of one-on-one time together as well as family time that includes his wife, Dena. He said he wants to pass along some of the same values his father gave him when the two were fixing the car, playing catch or grabbing a snack together.

“I remember when I was a little boy spending time with my dad, and it made me feel really important,” said the native of New Mexico.

Brooke said her father is “funny and nice to talk to.”

Father Daughter Ball

When: Friday at 6:30 p.m.

Where: Trevitt Hall

Cost: $35 for fathers, $15 for daughters

Age: Any

Activities: Dancing, dining, raffle

Reservations: (706) 278-0702 or bbbsball.kintera.org