Massachusetts News 
By Edward G. Oliver 

September 2--A father’s simple prayer seeking a stronger, healthier relationship with his four-year-old daughter led him to found a popular local tradition that is spreading across the country. 

Pittsfield City Councilor James J. Massery credits a "Focus On The Family" broadcast examining father-daughter relationships for leading him to pray: Lord help me improve my relationship with my daughter Marisa and if possible whatever idea you give me, let me share it with other fathers. 

Massery recounts, "The Lord, within a few seconds, gave me the idea, the theme, and the inspiration to improve my relationship with Marisa. The second half of my prayer, a dance that I could share with other dads, is continually being answered." Thus, the first Father-Daughter Valentine Dance was conceived back in 1993. 

Massery’s vision for the special evening included "cookies baked by moms, wholesome music, little girls dressed up, fathers giving corsages, and daughters learning how a gentleman treats a lady." Three hundred fathers and daughters turned out for the fun that first time at St. Marks Church despite severe weather. 

By 1995, the dance was so popular hundreds of people seeking tickets were turned away. Others soon began duplicating the dance in churches and schools throughout the Berkshires with the help of a 24-page guidebook Massery created and offers on his web-site. 

Today, the event is the hottest ticket in the city of Pittsfield with over 1,000 fathers and daughters attending annually. "1250 tickets will sell out in a week" an enthused Massery told Massachusetts News, "It’s like putting on a Presidential Ball!" He described how his wife and a small army of volunteer mothers designed and made over fifty permanent banners, which are stored at the local cleaners. "All proceeds are poured back into the event." He explained: 

"Keep in mind now this is an event that started off in a Christian church that has now spread to the public schools. And the reason it can spread is what we’re doing is not a religious thing but fathers and daughters dancing. They may be able to legislate God out of the schools but they cannot legislate the Spirit of God." observed Massery. 

As Massery puts it, "Another small miracle gained some national exposure for the local dance concept. My disk jockey for the first two years, a guy named Jim Pivero, ended up becoming the program manager at the ‘Focus on the Family’ radio show." That connection led to an article in the show’s magazine, which has circulation of four million. A flood of messages and calls poured in after the article was published, leading Massery to mail out over 500 hundred how-to guides to thirty states. He knows of eighty or so duplicate father-daughter dances so far but estimates there are scores more from spin-offs. One dance in Val Dosta, Georgia, boasts an attendance of seven hundred, while another in Bigler, Pennsylvania, numbers five hundred attendees according to Massery. "They’re really turning their communities upside down. What it’s really all about is dads spending time with their daughters, which is what they need; they really want the one on one time." 

Twelve-year old Alexandra Lapointe attended the dance every year since its inception. She told Massachusetts News: "Most fathers work a lot, it’s so much fun to spend most of the night dancing with my father..." 

Massery said the girls’ ages run primarily "from four years old right up to thirteen." Father Henry Dorsch, the current pastor of St. Marks Church in Pittsfield, confirmed for Massachusetts News what Massery described but added: "I think it would be great to have a stronger delegation from the father-teen level; there are some in that area, but there is a tendency to kind of drop out a bit." 

"It’s a ministry," said Massery "because it focuses on teaching dads what their priorities should be toward their daughters and teaching daughters what their priorities should be on a date. The daughters’ priorities should be fun and respect. These girls will have a barometer. When they go out into the dating world they can look back on dates with their dads and make comparisons. We’re setting a very high standard of what a good time is and they get it year in and year out. Not only that, I have two sons too... they see their dad as a role model respecting and putting his daughter up on a pedestal. They are being shown how important a date is. I buy a corsage, dress up, it’s very special." 

Massery summed up his vision: "We believe that someday the Father-Daughter Valentine Dance in a community will be as natural and commonplace as trick-or-treat. It’s just a matter of time and certainly has more meaning."