Many attend Child Care Network’s annual Kids Fest

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Victor Silva could barely contain his excitement after participating in the bike rodeo during the 21st annual Child Care Network Kids Fest.

The 4-year-old learned all he needed to know about bicycle safety, how to ride a bicycle and had the opportunity to be fitted for a new helmet.

The event is co-sponsored by the Seymour Noon Lions Club and took place Saturday at Seymour Middle School.

Silva, along with parents Felix and Kayelee and little brother Zayne, of Austin made the trip to Seymour and were one of hundreds of families that attended the annual event.

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“We came here today so he could learn to do different things and different activities,” Kayelee Silva said. She said it was the first time the family had attended the event and was impressed with the amount of booths, information and people attending. “It seems very nice and a lot of stuff to do for children. It’s pretty cool.”

There were plenty of activities and information for families to sort through as more than 50 booths were scattered in Seymour Middle School’s two gymnasiums and cafetorium.

Booths also were scattered throughout the hallways of the school. In previous years, Kids Fest has been held at Seymour High School, but the location was changed this year due to other activities going on at the high school.

Displays outside in the middle school parking lot included large trucks and vehicles and farm animals.

The Touch-A-Truck exhibit featured more than 15 vehicles including fire engines, police cars, military vehicles, school buses, dump trucks and more.

It was the second year for Touch A Truck, which was implemented by a Leadership Jackson County group that set out to educate children about large vehicles and first responders’ vehicles and how they work.

To kick off the event, a Seymour fire engine brought in Rayne Booker, a student at Margaret R. Brown Elementary School. Booker won the annual t-shirt design contest and got to ride in with her family and Seymour Mayor Craig Luedeman.

Child Care Network executive director Kate Garrity said Booker had the best design with the slogan, “I’m Not Lion, it’s Kids Fest.”

Garrity said the event seemed to be well attended.

“The weather is nice, and people are coming in,” she said. “It looks like people are having fun, and there are a wide variety of booths.”

Garrity said one of the big draws to Kids Fest is that there is no cost to attend or participate in the activities.

“Everything is free, and that’s really nice, and there’s information about what is available throughout Jackson County,” she said.

There was also a focus on healthy lifestyles throughout the event.

A Leadership Jackson County project group set up an area to test strength, jump roping and other physical activities.

“I think that’s where the community in general is starting to move and talk more about physical activity and healthy lifestyles in general,” Garrity said. “There are so many people that focus on that and talk about different ways to be active.”

Booths also offered information about how to remain active through other programs throughout Jackson County.

“There’s lots of different things to do other than just go to the gym and work out,” she said. She suggested families take a bike ride for fun or atten parks in communities throughout the county. “We have a lot of booths that give you those ideas.”

Even though there were booths focused on staying healthy through activity, there were other booths that focused on other areas of health. Healthy Jackson County shared a display that showed how much sugar is in popular drinks and Seymour Family Dentistry had a booth to educate participants about healthy dental hygiene practices.

Garrity said she felt the 21st Kids Fest was a success.

“I think it went great,” she said.

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