WEST 57TH' FOCUSES ON COLUMBUS FATHER

WEST 57TH' FOCUSES ON COLUMBUS FATHER

Columbus Dispatch, The (OH) - Friday, December 25, 1987

Kodzo Dobosu, Columbus' parent extraordinaire, will be the star of a 17- minute human-interest story on West 57th, the CBS television news magazine airing at 10 p.m. Saturday.

Dobosu, referred to on the broadcast by his former name of Kojo Odo , is the administrator of special adoptions for the state of Ohio. Over the years, he has adopted 35 children.

"He does it at home and he does it at work. He's helped a lot of people," said Day Chaykin, producer of the West 57th segment on Dobosu.

Chaykin first heard about Dobosu several years ago, when he saw Children of Pride, an hourlong documentary featuring Dobosu. When Chaykin learned that Dobosu had been named National Father of the Year, he filed away the item as a possible story idea. Chaykin began working on the West 57th segment in October 1986.

"As it turned out, Odo's segment turned into a good holiday story, but it wasn't planned as such," Chaykin said.

West 57th began filming the segment in April in Columbus. Some scenes were filmed at Dobosu's home; others, at his Downtown office at the Department of Human Services.

One scene was filmed during Thanksgiving on the Statehouse steps, where the names of Ohio children waiting for adoption are called out each year.

Caption: PHOTO