On the morning of October 23, Xavier celebrated its annual Father-Daughter Mass and Breakfast.
One new aspect started these past three years is raffle prizes. “Everyone gets a raffle ticket just for showing up and we gave away over 70 free gifts,” said Dominic Palmieri, a Dads’ Club member who helped run this event.
Fathers and daughters attended a Mass celebrated by Rev. Elario Zambakari.
“We had 300 total come, which was more than double from the previous year,” said Eric Silvernail, Dads’ Club president.
After the Mass, fathers and daughters ate breakfast together, the Honor Choir sang and Xavier alumnae sisters Denise Malkoon and Camille O’Reilly spoke.
Malkoon graduated in 2012 and attended the Father-Daughter Mass as a student. Her speech was about how the father-daughter relationship that her Dad and she shared in high school continued though college, traveling, moving, first jobs and up until now. She thanked her dad for all of the times he showed up for her.
“What strikes me most about an event like the Father-Daughter Mass and Breakfast is that it seems so big, but it’s really a celebration of all the small moments,” said Malkoon.
Palmieri said that the Mass and breakfast is open to alumnae of Xavier as well. “You don’t have to be a current student here to attend,” Palmieri added. “It sends a great message that just because the girls graduate and move on that they can still be part of the school and spend a great morning with their dads. When seniors move on to college they should still do special things with their dads.”
Palmieri and Silvernail look to improve this event every year, specifically with the number of attendants.
“As a Dads’ Club our goal was to lower the cost this year and make sure anyone who wanted to come was able to,” said Silvernail.
“I wanted the event to return to numbers that were pre-Covid,” Palmieri added
