Business & Tech

Fathers Enjoy Breakfast with Their Kids Through 20-Year-Old Club

The Cochituate Breakfast Club brings fathers together with their kids as part of a tradition at Mel's Commonwealth Cafe.

Sometimes there's not a better way to start your Wednesday than some conversation with your kid over a piping hot plate of bacon and eggs.

Just ask the fathers who bring their kids to a pre-school day breakfast at Mel's Commonwealth Cafe each month for the father-son or father-daughter breakfasts known as the Cochituate Breakfast Club.

On Oct. 17, the first father-daughter breakfast of the school year, 64 people filled the booths and tables at Mel's for some quality family time.

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Jeff Baron serves as the organizer for the father-daughter breakfasts and said it was the largest crowd he'd seen since he took over organizing four years ago.

"There's so few opportunities to do something like this," Baron said, adding that the club has been around for about 20 years.

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Dave Raftery and his first-grade daughter Abigail Raftery were first-time guests at the October father-daughter breakfast, but Dave Raftery said they enjoyed themselves.

"It's always nice to be able to do something from a father-daughter perspective," he said. "We're always on the go. You don't have as much time to be one-on-one."

And while spending time father to kid is an important part of the breakfasts, there's also an element of camraderie and sharing among the dads.

"It's a good opportunity to get out in the community," said John Kingsley, who attended the breakfast with his daughter Ava. Kingsley and his daughter shared a breakfast table with Raftery and his daughter.

In addition to enjoying breakfast together, the dads are also given some time to do a bit of public bragging on their kids. At one point in the morning, Baron asked dads to call out their daughter's accomplishments.

Everything from finishing the last Harry Potter book, to scoring soccer goals, to touring the White House was shared among the group.

The kids are encouraged to spread the word about the Cochituate Breakfast Club. If they bring a friend (with a dad, of course), they get an extra ticket in the raffle for prizes that is held at each breakfast.

But the prizes aren't the only reason the kids want to come.

"It's more time for me to spend with my dad," said Skylar Volman, a fifth grader at Claypit Hill School.

Sam Baron, Jeff Baron's daughter, agreed.

"It's good time to spend with my father because he goes to work so early," Sam Baron said. "Dads get to meet other dads and we get to spend time with friends."

The Cochituate Breakfast Club meets twice each month: the father-son breakfast meets the first Wednesday of the month and the father-daughter breakfast meets on the third Wednesday. The club is open to families with kids in kindergarten through fifth grade. Annual dues are $30 per family (to support the raffle prizes), plus $13 for each father-son or father-daughter pairing (with $5 for each additional son or daughter) to cover the breakfast buffet when you attend.

Contact Jeff Baron at jeffrey.s.baron@gmail.com with questions.


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