A group of Campbell’s Bay parents have taken it upon themselves to do something about what they felt was a lack of events and activities for children in their town.
When Kellie Shea and her sister-in-law Chanelle Shea found themselves consistently taking their young families to events for kids outside of their community, they realized they could be doing something to bring some of those events to their hometown.
“We were tired of going to other communities to go to their events for kids,” Kellie said.
This February, the pair, alongside Roxanne Shea, Kate Laporte, and Scott Laporte, founded the Parent Hive – a committee that will bring kid-oriented events to Campbell’s Bay.
The Hive’s first event is a block party and bike parade scheduled for this Saturday, May 31, at the Maurice Beauregard Memorial Park.
“It’s a free event for everyone,” said Kellie, explaining kids are welcome to stop by the park with their bikes, wagons, scooters – really anything, short of a car, with wheels – to decorate their ride and parade around.
“We wanted it to be if kids came even without their parents that they could still participate,” Kellie said.
The event will also include a block party, where there will be facepainting, raffles of prizes that have been donated by local businesses, and a cash barbeque.
The Parent Hive plans to bring more activities for little ones to the community each season.
Funds raised by the committee will be given back to the community in the form of other events and activities for the kids, or will be used for specific goals, such as putting up a communication board in the park to help kids communicate what they want to do.
“A small first goal, but we wanted to be realistic,” Kellie said.
To get started, the group received a $1,000 grant from Loisir sport Outaouais, which was matched by the Municipality of Campbell’s Bay.
Kellie said the group has lots of support in council and has had no problem getting project proposals approved so far. The committee has also been offered free use of the town’s RA hall, and will take on running the canteen Sunday nights at the ball field.
The group invites new members, and welcomes fresh opinions and ideas from the people of the community.
