Staff
Parents are invited out to learn about what services the region has to offer their families at a Children’s Services Fair slated for Tuesday, Oct. 5.
“It’s going to be a fun event,” said Miranda Sigurdson, chair of the Coming Together for Kids Coalition, which is organizing the fair that will run from 3-7 p.m. at J.W. Walker School here.
Two speaker sessions are slated for 4 and 6 p.m. featuring Anne Ainsworth, an early learning specialist from Kenora, Sigurdson noted.
“They’re going to be half-hour sessions on how to use music to promote literacy in younger children,” she explained.
“So those will be interactive workshops for both parents and kids.”
The fair also will feature booths set up by service clubs and agencies that deal with children, although Sigurdson said the exact lineup still is being confirmed.
The organizing group—Coming Together For Kids Coalition—is made up of representatives from different service agencies throughout the district.
“We get together about four times a year and we just network, brainstorm, and try to identify any needs in the community,” Sigurdson remarked.
This year’s project was to organize a children’s services fair so parents will be more informed about what is out there for their kids.
Pharmacies, chiropractors, and hopefully an optometrist will be present, Sigurdson said, and there also are plans for a small group demonstration from the local karate club.
“We’re hoping to have the ambulance parked out on the parking lot so children can do tours of the ambulance vehicle,” she added.
“And then hopefully we’ll have a few surprise mascots that will show up, as well.
“We’re also going to have a small kids’ play area, so there will be a place with tumble mats, face-painting, crafts,” Sigurdson continued.
“We’re trying to hopefully get a local artist to play guitar with the kids and do a sing-song kind of thing.
“But that, again, is still all in the works, as well,” she stressed.
Organizers also are aiming to offer food for those who come out, such as chili and buns.
“There’s going to be some great door prizes,” Sigurdson enthused.
“Every information booth will have a door prize available at their booth, too, and there will be a registration door prize, as well, when [parents] first come in,” she noted.
“We’re just kind of getting it all in the works, get the word out there.”
Those interested in manning a booth at the fair can contact Sigurdson at the Northwestern Health Unit (274-9827), with the deadline to register being this coming Monday (Sept. 27).
