A mom-son superhero duo enjoy dinner and treats during Creswell’s High’s Mother-Son Superhero Date Night, a fundraiser for the Children’s Miracle Network. PHOTO GINI DAVIS/THE CRESWELL CHRONICLE
About 165 young superheroes of every stripe – Batman, Spiderman, Ninja Turtles and more – and their moms turned out for Creswell High School’s first Mother-Son Superhero Date Night, held Saturday, April 14.
The event, open to pre-K through fifth-grade boys and their moms and sponsored by the CHS Mr. Bulldog Pageant program, raised approximately $1,500 for the Children’s Miracle Network – making all attendees true ”superheroes” for preterm and critically ill infants and children being treated at Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend.
The special mother-son Superhero Date Night was planned as a counterpart to the successful Father-Daughter Dance that debuted in 2017 and held its second annual event on March 17.
This year’s fundraising for the Children’s Miracle Network culminates with the annual Mr. Bulldog Pageant this Saturday, April 21 at CHS.
”I’m glad we were able to get this event in before our Pageant this year,” said Mr. Bulldog advisor, Barbara Sears.
Tickets were $25 per couple, plus $5 for each additional boy. Superhero attire was encouraged but not required, although most of the boys – and even some moms – seemed to welcome the chance to take on their favorite superhero persona, donning the appropriate suits, capes and masks, with some even carrying props.
The evening included a pizza dinner in the CHS commons and inflatable fun in the gym, where the energetic young superheroes bounced and flew down the slide of a bounce house, kicked soccer balls at a giant Velcro target in a game of Soccer Darts, threw balls into an inflatable Connect Four game, and shot basketballs at inflatable hoops – or just on the gym’s basketball court.
Moms and sons also posed for pictures in front of a city nightscape backdrop, and this year’s Mr. Bulldog Pageant contestants and coordinators were on-hand to help out.
The pizzas were provided at a discount by Little Caesar’s Pizza in Cottage Grove; the inflatables were provided at a discount from Destination Events.
Given the enthusiasm for this year’s Superhero Date Night, ”this is definitely an event that we plan to continue,” Sears said. ”I had so many moms thank me so much for organizing this event and say they can’t wait until next year – and one little boy come up to me at the end and asked why we had to be done because he was having so much fun!”
