Fathers make time for Rain Gutter Regatta

By JENNIFER KOVACS Tribune Chronicle
WARREN — It was about 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday when Andre Sanders looked at the clock and said he’s usually heading to work about that time.

But Sanders wasn’t running late or playing hooky. He scheduled himself a vacation day so he could spend the afternoon at Jefferson Elementary School with his daughter, Andrea, for the annual Rain Gutter Regatta.

The school’s entire first grade class crowded into the gym with their dads, grandpas and other important male figures to build tiny wooden boats set to sail down water-filled gutters brought in by local Boy Scouts. The boat kits were bought through a First Energy grant.

Laura Janus, who organized the event for Jefferson, said the regatta is planned to not only bring father figures into the school but to teach kids an assortment of science lessons.

Ranging from using all their breath to blow the boats down the gutters, to playing with magnets or learning how weight affects floating and sinking, the duos traveled to the various activity tables as screams of enjoyment echoed through the room.

‘‘It’s really a great community event that ties everything together,’’ Janus said.

Greg Workman said he was just happy to spend the afternoon with his son, Marshall, who nodded his head in silent agreement.

‘‘We don’t get much time,’’ Workman said.

Working more than 80 hours a week so that his wife can stay at home, this dad said that moments with his seven-year-old usually come on Sundays when the family takes trips like recent ones to the Seneca Caverns and Gettysburg.

The scenario is a familiar one for Louis Mann.

Mann said that when he was growing up, his dad worked as a semi-truck driver and was on the road a lot. Remembering the efforts his father made to make it to his football games, Mann said he wanted things to be different with his two children.

‘‘I always promised myself that when I had kids, I would spend a lot more time with them. I’m a hands-on dad,’’ he said.

Waiting with daughter, Skilar, to race their Cincinatti Bengals-themed boat, Mann laughed that his kids were born into being fans of the football team.

‘‘She’s got no choice,’’ he said.

But win or lose when their boat took to the water, Mann said he was plenty happy with just being there.

‘‘My favorite part of the day, honestly, is spending time with my daughter,’’ he said.

Sanders, too, was enjoying his vacation day at Jefferson. And when the regatta was set to come to a close at the school day’s end, he said he was taking his little girl home to relax with just one plan in mind.

‘‘Spoil her a little,’’ he said.



jkovacs@tribune-chronicle.com