Chick-fil-A holds dad, daughter event

Saturday evening's "traffic" at North Augusta's Chick-fil-A had a decidedly different atmosphere, with the restaurant playing host to Daddy-Daughter Date Night - an event that dozens of other Chick-fil-As also observed, possibly due to the success of a prior gathering in North Augusta.

Jenny Jackson, the local restaurant's marketing director, said the restaurant played host to at least 120 guests, and Jon Dawkins, the owner-operator, shed some light on the background.

"This is the first time that we've used our corporate reservation system, where people can go online and register to come to this event, and all the Chick-fil-As in Columbia, Atlanta and Augusta are doing this on the same night, and so it's over 100 Chick-fil-A restaurants."

The original event, Dawkins said, was held in February 2011 at the Knox Avenue eatery. "The idea is that dads and daughters spend time ... alone together, over dinner, and just get to know each other better, and I think it's a great thing."

Features included pictures (with Baby Cow, one of the restaurant's mascots), upscale table settings and other decorations, table service, gifts, live violin music (courtesy of local resident Jessie Dollar, 17) and a limousine ride after the restaurant visit.

"We have done it before at our location," Dawkins said. "We've never done it as a big group like this, with other stores, but it was a huge success on our first one. I think that's why the other 100 stores decided to jump on it."