By Anita Weier
Northside News

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year, Tom and Jeni Hanser tried to think of a way to brighten their neighbors’ days. The answer they came up with was to post a daily Dad Joke of the Day in front of their home on Comanche Way in the Cherokee Park neighborhood.

They have kept it up for a year and are still going strong. The jokes have been a hit with neighbors and friends. “A neighbor had surgery and had to walk every day, so she walked to the joke and back. It gave her something to look forward to,” Jeni said.

Both Hansers work at home, so they can fit the dad jokes into their daily routine. Jeni works as an education coordinator for the UW Medical School Department of Dermatology, and Tom has his own business, working with a federal student loan forgiveness program.

“The jokes are groaners,” Tom explained. “Sometimes it takes a while for people to get it.”

“I thought we would do this for a few weeks, but there are a lot of dad jokes on the Internet, and a friend gave me the book ‘Bad Dad Jokes.’ People text me jokes,” Jeni said. “I change the joke every day when I go out to get the newspaper.”

They sometimes try out a joke on their daughter, Nikki, a junior at East High School. The joke is judged by whether she responds with an eye roll or not. Their son Zach attends UW-Madison so is seldom around for comment, but Nikki said the joke postings are fun.

Tom stressed that although, as a dad, he gets all the credit, it is Jeni who does the work. She researches jokes, types them up in large print and then posts them.

Many people walk in Cherokee, either in the neighborhood or on their way to Cherokee Marsh. During the pandemic, even more people walk to get out of the house and get some exercise, so the jokes are well known and anticipated.