They call it Kids’ Nite Out Across America, but for many parents its more like a parents’ night out.
For about how much you pay for an hour of babysitting, you can drop the little ones ages 8 to 13 off at the Paul Derda Recreation Center for three and a half hours of games, activities, music , dancing and more — almost long enough to catch a dinner and a movie.
With most movies starting around 7 p.m., it’s not always possible to catch a movie, but getting dinner will probably still leave you with an hour or two to play with.
The franchise was started in Westminster in 1989 by Joe Mivshek who saw a need for a program that catered to the dreaded tween years that seem to get ignored. Denver Post writer Aldo Svaldi was working for the Denver Business Journal where Mivshek was selling ads.
“He was recruiting and asked if I wanted to make some extra money,” Svaldi said. “You know how much reporters make starting out.”
Svaldi found he liked working with kids and moved his way up the ranks to gym manager. When Mivshek finally decided to franchise the program nationwide in 2001, Svaldi became his first franchisee with a kids night in Golden. In 2004, he started one in Broomfield, and has another in Arvada. Full post.