By Paul Showalter

The 98th Spring Fair was a soggy success. While mother nature kept the park wet all day, the kids (and parents) made the best of it. With reimagined games, 2,400 sq. feet of tents, new food options, and a fabulous volunteer team, the day went off without a hitch. A new addition to the Spring Fair, the “Recycling Parade”, was a big hit with the kids. This was an event created “by kids for kids” by Sara and Sofia Cakici. 

The Rosenbaum’s (Darcy, John, and Benton) once again dug into their bag of tricks and tools and transformed the park into a magical playground for kids. New games like the “Bull Ringer”, “Hole in One” and the “Frog Flinger” were well received by participants as well as old favorites like the “Axe Throw” and the “Bean Bag Toss”.

Inside the community center, the Women’s Club bake sale sold out of all their goodies; we played numerous games of “Prize-A-Bout”, with kids winning baked goods and other prizes (I served as the event’s MC which I enjoyed immensely); we had face painting, cotton candy, popcorn, a huge prize table area, and plenty of seating for people buying lunch (those soft pretzels were tasty). 

This event, like every event at Lyon Park, could not happen without a large group of volunteers. Pat Schuck did an amazing job managing the kitchen and Kim Franklin and Sharon Showalter pitched in to be event cashiers. Many other neighbors stepped up to help and it was appreciated.

We had more than 16 high school volunteers with us on Friday and Saturday. One of your neighbors, Grace Abbott, volunteered for five hours on Friday night and then spent the entire day on Saturday helping with setup, running games, face painting, and then cleaning up. We even had a crew of elementary school students (Alex Peters, Benton Rosenbaum, Zev Keller, and Alexys & Alejandro Linder) running games and painting faces. All volunteers worked tirelessly throughout the rainy day to make sure everyone had fun. We are truly blessed to live in such a wonderful neighborhood.

If you have a rising sophomore, junior or senior who wants to volunteer in the community, have them reach out to LyonParkEvents@gmail.com..