The madness of Halloween is past, but students have precious little time to recover before fathers descend on Athens for this year’s Dads Weekend.
Dads can check up on their students while enjoying a wide range of father-centric events. A full list of events is available on the Ohio University website.
Correspondents from The Daily Show will visit Ohio University for the second-straight Dads Weekend. Last year, Jordan Klepper and John Hodgman came to OU and performed for dads and students at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.
This year, two other award-winning Daily Show correspondents, Adam Lowitt and Al Madrigal, will look to get the audience laughing.
Lowitt is a six-time Emmy Award-winner for his work as an executive producer and writer on The Daily Show. He has performed at Montreal’s Just for Laughs Festival and in the Middle East as part of an Armed Forces Entertainment event.
Madrigal is The Daily Show’s senior Latino correspondent. He has done stand-up on many late-night shows, including The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Conan, Lopez Tonight and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
For dads who are looking to get outside and enjoy the fall weather, Outdoor Pursuits is hosting three events for the adventurous.
On both Friday and Saturday nights, dads and students are invited to stargaze and enjoy s’mores around a campfire at the Ridges. George Eberts, an assistant professor of astronomy, will accompany the stargazers.
Saturday and Sunday offer two more outdoor events: ziplining and hiking. Ziplining will be available at the Outdoor Pursuits Zipline Facility, while the hike will take place in the Conkle's Hollow region of the Hocking Hills State Park.
Matt Rump, an adventure trip leader and climbing facilities manager at Outdoor Pursuits, said the events are always popular with parents.
“All of these events sell out,” Rump, a junior studying environmental geography and biological sciences, said.
Rump encouraged people to try the zipline, which also includes a rope course.
For dads hoping to have fun in a more relaxing way, Alden Library will host their fourth annual Alden Open, during which three floors of the library are transformed into nine-hole and 18-hole miniature golf courses. Barbara Fiocchi, coordinator of libraries events and community outreach and engagement at Alden, said the Alden Open is generally a popular event.
“It’s really fun, and it’s low-key … you can talk and chat,” she said.
Local businesses will provide unique obstacles for the courses, including spinning houses and giant pancakes with glitter maple syrup. Golfers will also be able to enjoy a snack donated by Avalanche Pizza.
The funds raised from the Alden Open will benefit the Student Research & Creative Activity Expo, during which hundreds of OU students present scientific research and a variety of other creations.
“It’s like a creative event supporting a creative event,” Fiocchi said.
Fiocchi said that the pleasant, mellow atmosphere is part of what makes the Alden Open enjoyable.
“No one is playing cutthroat mini golf,” she said.
