Shawville’s Mill Dam Park was buzzing with activity throughout Saturday morning as The Parents’ Voice hosted its biennial park party.
A slew of kid-centred activities were organized for all ages, including bouncy castles, a clown, and an airbrush tattoo artist giving many kids their very first ‘tattoos’. There was also a magic show and a live animal presentation by Meet the Keepers, where children got up close with reptiles and other small critters in a fun, educational experience.
A fire truck was parked nearby for kids to climb in and explore, the Lions Club kept everyone well-fed with a barbeque, and The Parents’ Voice handed out free freezies to help beat the heat.
The Parents’ Voice alternates between hosting a park party and a touch-a-truck each year. This year was the group’s eighth park party.
The first party was hosted to celebrate the new playground that The Parents’ Voice supported getting. Since then, the group has hosted the parties to celebrate other park additions for which the group has fundraised, including the shade sail installation, the toy bin, a free library, and the planting of shade trees.
“Now really, Park Party just exists to celebrate the beautiful park that we have,” Alina Holmes, president of The Parents’ Voice, said while standing in the shade of the trees the group planted 10 years ago.
“It’s kind of dreamy for us to stand here and see how big the trees are now. Our kids were the little ones when we started doing this, and now our kids are like teen people walking around helping, and there’s a whole new generation of little kids. It’s pretty special.”
She said the event usually ends up drawing about 150-200 families.
“It’s really nice to see the whole community get together and show up.”
Vanessa Levesque was one of the many who were at the event with their families. While watching the Meet the Keepers performance, she said whenever they hear about Parents’ Voice events, they love to come out.
“It’s great for the kids,” she said.
Holmes said the group was established 12 years ago out of a desire to bring to this small community events and activities for young families that one would otherwise have to drive to the city to find.
The group now has eight full-time and some part-time members who help organize activities. Heading into the fall, it will be organizing toddler and parenting workshops and other classes. All of their events can be found on the group’s Facebook page.
“The goal is just the more we can bring here and keep in our community, the better for our kids, the better for our families,” Holmes said.
