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Tyrone Chandler cocks his head and zeroes in — best to be unobtrusive. He silently approaches the unassuming man in the light-blue shirt and clears his throat. He has caught John McCarthy being a “Golden Dad.” The second annual Golden Dads campaign, an effort to recognize involved, responsible and committed fathers, occurs Father's Day weekend in Indianapolis and nine other U.S. cities. The National Fatherhood Initiative, which aims to increase the proportion of children growing up with involved fathers, conducted the event with Rendezvous Entertainment and HUM Recordings, recognizing 100 Golden Dads in each city. “We noticed you being a responsible father and wanted to present you with this badge,” Chandler tells McCarthy. He hands McCarthy a bright yellow bag full of goodies such as CDs, bookmarks and a button proclaiming the Golden Dad status. “It's a great opportunity to celebrate fatherhood,” said Roland Warren, a father of two and president of the National Fatherhood Initiative. “We think it's really important to illuminate those dads that are doing the right thing.” Golden Dads received recognition in Indiana on Saturday at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis and at the Indianapolis Zoo. Volunteers with the Indiana Youth Institute, the state affiliate for the National Fatherhood Initiative, scoured the sites for positive father-child interaction, said Chandler, the institute's director of community development. He had caught McCarthy, of Westfield, displaying that interaction at the museum. "It's just a great joy to have kids — playing with them and watching them grow up," McCarthy said. He had been watching a video about how sneakers are assembled with his 5-year-old daughter, Bridgette. Accompanying them were his wife, Jean, and sons Johnny, 4, and Joe, 1. They'd arrived at 8:30 a.m., just in time to be first in line for the Dinosphere exhibit. "It was good," Bridgette said, from the safety behind her father's back. Other fathers recognized Saturday included Troy Goley, of Fishers, who took pictures of his wife and three children at the museum. And there was Muhia Karianjahi, of Carmel, whose two sons played with toy trains with his wife. Roland Ball, of Dallas, wanted to surprise his 8-year-old son, whose room has dinosaur decorations, with the Dinosphere exhibit. And JR Runkel, of Illinois, played with toy shovels at the museum with his 3-year-old twin sons and their grandfather. Steve Webb, a nurse from Danville, also was recognized at the museum. Webb was there with his 2-year-old daughter, Emily, while his wife, also a nurse, worked. Webb was quick to explain the best parts of fatherhood. “The hugs and the kisses,” he said, smiling and holding Emily. Indianapolis Youth Institute volunteer Gloria Vaughn had spied Webb being a Golden Dad. And now, on the first floor of the museum, Vaughn thinks she sees another one. She observes her subject from afar and watches him twirl his children around the museum as they shriek with pleasure. With a child clutching each of his hands, and with his wife and other child by his side, the man prepares to leave. Vaughn intercedes. “You've been caught,” she tells him, laughing. “You were caught being a Golden Dad.” But the man shakes his head. He laughs, too. Then he holds up a bright yellow bag to show he's already been nabbed. The man is John McCarthy. The same qualities that earned him recognition only an hour earlier had attracted Vaughn's attention, she says. She thinks he should be named a Golden Dad again. “His smile was bigger than the kids',” she says. “He was having just as much fun as they were.”
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