Puget Sound Dads Group members took their kids on a stroll along the Alki Trail in Seattle this summer.
Washington is the latest state to join the City Dads Group network with the addition of the Puget Sound Dads Group, a chapter for fathers living in the Seattle metropolitan area and stretching the 90 miles from the cities of Olympia to Everett.
With a growing population — the Seattle metro area alone has nearly 4 million people, the 15th largest in the United States — the need for a fathers’ group seemed evident enough. The Puget Sound region, though, will be a challenging one to conquer because of its geographical vastness so the leadership is being divided among several members. However,
“Not only is Seattle growing at such a fast rate but now Tacoma and the south sound are seeing a sharp increase in home sales with more people moving into the region,” said Brandon Garcia, who will oversee many of urban Seattle programs. “The tech industry is leading the way mostly in Seattle and on the east side but we also have aerospace in the north and a major military base in the south sound.”
Garcia, a former journalist and native to Seattle, is a married at-home father of a 7-year-old boy. He lived in New York City for a decade, where he was an active member of the NYC Dads Group, before moving back about three years ago to Seattle where his family takes advantage of the abundant outdoor and mountain sports.
Dorin Jannotta, a stay-at-father of two, will head up work in the south Seattle area. He previously ran the Seattle Active Dads Group, which merged into the new Puget Sounds Dads Group. “My philosophy has always been to get my kids out of the house for at least two hours a day,” said Jannotta, who has worked as a 3D artist and project engineer. “I mostly do playground, museum, indoor play spaces, and short hikes meetups.”
Puget Sound native Sean Leacy will be helping organize fathers in and around Tacoma, which is about 30 miles south of Seattle. The married father of four had been heading up a similar father’s group, BK’s Dads Group, and manages the scheduling for the new group’s events and social media for the southern part of the Sound.
Father of two Danny Rees will organize events in the north Seattle area. Another former member of the NYC Dads Group, Rees and his family moved to Seattle a year ago and prompted created his own dads group via Facebook to help meet new people and visit local parks and breweries.
“I am excited to continue that with the new Puget Sound Dads group and also help organize more opportunities to get out of the city and take the kids outside,” said Rees, who is a fundraiser for a public land trust.
Puget Sound Dads Group on social media
About City Dads Group
City Dads Group is a dynamic and diverse community of fathers redefining, by example, what it means to be a dad in the 21st century. Our national support network is based in and around nearly 40 major metropolitan cities in North America. These include Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Toronto and New York City.
Founded in November 2008 in New York City as a way a handful of fathers could arrange playdates and outings with their children, the organization went national as City Dads Group in 2014.
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