Dads will do a lot of things for their daughters. They’ll sip imaginary tea with stuffed animals, sit while their fingernails are painted and serve as a driver for trips to practice, rehearsals or the mall. They’ll even relearn geometry and manage to appear calm during driving lessons.
And sometimes a dad will strap on a pair of high heels to walk around San Jose’s glitzy Santana Row shopping center to raise awareness about sexual assault and raise money to fight it. There were lots of those dads among the approximately 600 participants in the YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley’s annual Walk a Mile in Their Shoes event Thursday evening.
One of them was Rich Surprenant, whose two daughters — now 16 and 18 — have been coming with him to the event for the past decade. Raising awareness about sexual assault is very important to him, he said, because of them.
“I see some of the bad things that can happen in this world, and I think this is kind of a preventative way to make everyone aware of violence that can be imposed upon women,” said Surprenant, who lives in Santa Clara and wore a pair of bright red platform heels.
Some of the other “girl dads” I talked to — including former Santa Clara Police Chief Pat Nikolai, who retired in December after a 33-year-career, and San Jose City Councilmember Michael Mulcahy — agreed that having daughters made their participation even more important to them.
Mulcahy, who has three daughters, said they were excited he was walking in the event again. “They know the purpose and appreciate they have a dad who is standing up for no violence,” he said.
Of course, the crowd was filled with a lot more than just dads. Union guys wear high heels, too, as evidenced by the large numbers of men and women brought out by IBEW Local 332 and the Plumbers and Steamfitters UA Local 393. Kaiser Permanente brought out nearly 100 walkers, Palo Alto-based law firm Cooley, Meriwest Credit Union and Synopsys. Even beloved San Jose Sharks mascot S.J. Sharkie was out there.
Adriana Caldera Boroffice, CEO of the YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley, said everyone who participated Thursday made a difference for the thousands of people who the agency provides services for every year. And, on this Father’s Day weekend, let’s have that count double for the dads.
DADS’ DAY AT HAPPY HOLLOW: Last Sunday, Coastal Kids Home Care hosted more than 50 people at Happy Hollow Park & Zoo for a special day honoring fathers who help take care of kids in their family with medically complex issues, which is Coastal Kids’ specialty.
This was just one gathering that Coastal Kids, a 20-year-old organization, has hosted for families to provide an increased sense of community for these families of seriously ill kids, who often don’t get as many opportunities to socialize. Some of the families came from as far away as King City, and Happy Hollow offered discounted ticket and parking rates for the event.
GETTING HITCHED AT THE STANFORD: Now that the Stanford Theatre has wrapped up its silent film festival to celebrate its 100th anniversary, the Palo Alto movie house has started a festival around an old favorite, Alfred Hitchcock. The festival, which runs through the end of July, kicked off Saturday and Sunday with a double-feature of “Rebecca” (1940) and “Suspicion” (1941).
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Most people will be drawn to some of the well-known classics — “Rear Window” and “To Catch a Thief” (June 27-29), “North By Northwest” (July 4-6), “Psycho” (July 11-13), “Vertigo” and “The Birds” (July 18-20) — but I’d recommend taking the opportunity to catch some of the lesser-known titles in Hitchcock’s filmography. That list includes “Sabotage” (June 25-26), “Rope” (July 2-3), “I Confess” (July 9-10) and “Marnie” (July 16-17).
Get the full lineup at www.stanfordtheatre.org.
CHANGES AT THE TOP: There’s great news coming out of the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, where Salene Duarte has been officially appointed the Fairgrounds Management Corp.’s new executive director. Duarte, who has been part of the Santa Clara County Fair family for decades, had previously been the Santa Clara County Fair Manager and then was appointed interim co-director in June 2024.
Momentum for Health also welcomed a new president and CEO last month in Michael B. Scates, an Oakland native who has held leadership roles with Kaiser Permanente in Sacramento and the Institute on Aging. He succeeds CEO David Mineta, who previously announced plans to step down this summer and has just been named the new chief executive officer at Alum Rock Counseling Center, where he’ll succeed Steve Eckert, who is retiring.
Finally, Pam Klaus is already settling into her new job as executive director of Cancer CAREpoint, joining the organization after being regional director of Pink Ribbon Good, which served a similar mission in providing support for people undergoing treatment for breast and gynecological cancers. She’ll be meeting plenty of supporters, I’m sure, at Cancer CAREpoint’s annual Garden Party, which is set this year for Aug. 24 at Nestldown in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
ARTSHOW DELAYED: Because of the “No Kings” rallies taking place Saturday, HomeFirst decided to postpone its “Home Is Where the Art Is” showcase to June 17. It’ll still take place at Open San Jose, 38 S. Second St., from 6 to 8:30 p.m. and feature more than 100 pieces by 45 residents of four HomeFirst housing centers.