COUNTYWIDE : Tribe of Dads, Kids Increases

Tom Collins has found a way to get the dads of Orange County more involved with their kids.

Collins, Orange County YMCA’s Man of the Year, is the recruiter for their Indian Guides and Princesses program. His approach has raised membership from 1,100 to 1,300 fathers and their children in one year.

“In Orange County people are so busy, dads tend to say, ‘I can’t do it now, I’ll do it later,’ ” said Collins, 42. “But this program is designed around that--a dad and a kid schedule time together at one of the tribe houses, and the father gets directly involved with the social life of his children.”

The YMCA Indian program involves children in kindergarten through fourth grade, and Collins helps make it rewarding for both dads and and their children.

“It’s a very good opportunity for fathers to compare notes on the kids and on what they’re doing, and a good experience for the child to have the undivided attention of the father,” he said.

Collins, who works as a controller in Los Angeles, has been involved as a volunteer and tribe leader with the Indian program for eight years and has been a recruiter for the last two.

Collins works out of the Orange YMCA (referred to as the Long House of the Orange Sky), which is divided into 10 different tribes, each of which has about 15 sets of fathers and children (girls and boys have separate tribes). Each tribe has its own Indian name, and each tribe member picks out his or her own Indian name.

Collins, a former leader of the Shoshone Tribe, named himself Red Fox (“I have red hair, and I like to tell jokes”) after his son Keith, 11, took the name Quick Brown Fox. His daughter Tara, 9, then took the name Pink Fox, and his blond-haired daughter Kate, 5, decided upon Blonde Fox.

Other fathers go for more outlandish names--an investment broker calls himself Fast Buck and his daughter is Little Doe; another calls himself Running Bear; an accountant named himself Dances With Polyester, while another daring dad calls himself Thunder Pants.

“There is a lot of humor, indicative of the fun the kids and dads have in the program,” Collins said.

The tribes hold meetings every other week and go on regular camping trips. Every so often they go on other special visits--Collins and his tribe recently visited a retirement home (which they dubbed the Gray Hair Tribe), held a meeting there and sang with residents.

“When we left, (the residents) were acting like young children again--and the girls, who don’t spend that much time with their grandparents, got a good feeling and learned that it’s OK to be with older people, and they like to have fun too,” Collins said.

Collins and his family are not new to civic activity. Collins is a district deputy of the Knights of Columbus, and he and his wife, Suzanne, are very active in their church. In 1990, the Collinses were named California Family of the year by the Knights of Columbus.

But Collins said he was moved to become involved with his volunteer activities partly because of his experience as a Boy Scout: His troop folded because no one would step forward to be a leader.

“I’m making up for that,” he said. “But that’s only part of it. God has given me a lot of strength and gifts, and it’s time to pay it back and share it.”