Carnivals, Concert, Kidsweek Keep August Hopping
If it’s August in the Inland Northwest, kids will be sure to have fun with concerts, penny carnivals and Kidsweek, as Spokane celebrates its youth in the waning days of summer before the school bell tolls.
Here is a rundown of events for the week:
A Penny Carnival will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at 22 city parks, sponsored by Spokane Parks and Recreation Department, with each park organizing its own carnival.
Kids of all ages are invited to bring their pennies to play bean bag toss, ring toss, cake walk, musical chairs, fishing and much more. Booths will cost no more than three pennies each. Food booths will also be available.
For more information, call 625-6677.
KPBX Kids Concert features Malidoma! from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at the Riverfront Park Clocktower.
Malidoma!, a West African and Caribbean drum and dance ensemble, presents a concert of music and dance using traditional instruments, singing and costumes. The concert also features interactive singing, a dance lesson and a question-and-answer period in which children can ask about folk traditions and origins.
Free to the public, the concert is sponsored by KPBX Listener Supported Public Radio, Music for Youth and the Musicians Performance Trust Fund of the Musicians’ Union.
Concert costs are underwritten by Boise Cascade, Excell Food Stores and PEMCO Financial Center.
For more information, call 328-5729.
Kidsweek begins Saturday and runs through Aug. 18, featuring nine days of children’s activities, presented by Chase Youth Commission and sponsored by local businesses, agencies and volunteers.
The kick-off event is Kids Day in Riverfront Park from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, with entertainment and 40-plus game booths throughout the park.
The event is free to the public.
The remaining days of Kidsweek will feature nearly 100 events throughout Spokane, with activities for teens as well as children.
A Kidsweek calendar of events (featured last Thursday in the Spokane edition of The Spokesman-Review) is available at all branches of the Spokane Public Library, community centers and Rosauers stores.
For more information, call the Kidsweek Information Line, 625-6909.
Kids, don’t forget children who need help purchasing school supplies.
Camp Fire Boys and Girls and KHQ-TV are sponsoring the second annual event, “Kids Helping Kids Back to School” on Friday and Saturday at all area Rosauers and Office Depot stores.
Barrels will be available for contributions of pencils, paper, crayons, notebooks and lunch boxes.
For more information, call 747-6191.
Community Notes
Kenneth Trent, president and chief executive officer of Spokane’s Volunteers of America, was honored with the national Leadership Award at the 100th annual VOA meeting in Spokane on June 25.
The Leadership Award is presented to fulltime staff members whose leadership, loyalty and dedication inspire and motivate others in the organization.
Trent, who joined VOA in 1974, will retire this summer. During his tenure, he founded Crosswalk and Alexandria’s House, which are centers for street kids and teenage mothers. He organized the Christmas Bureau for The Spokesman Review’s annual Christmas Fund, and designed and developed affordable housing programs for people with special needs.
Volunteers of America is one of the nation’s largest and most diversified human services agencies, active in more than 200 communities nationwide.
The optical department at Sears at NorthTown offers free, back-to-school vision screening from noon to 4 p.m. today as part of the nationwide program, “All-American Eye Check Day,” sponsored by Sears and Prevent Blindness America.
Children and adults can drop by the mall entrance of Sears, without appointment, for the screening which checks visual acuity. Though not a substitute for a comprehensive eye examination, a vision check is a good first step in protecting eye health and detecting possible vision problems.
For more information, call 482-5593.
As part of the World Walk for Breast-Feeding, La Leche League groups from Spokane and Coeur d’Alene will sponsor a 1-mile walk through Manito Park at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The walk will raise money and increase awareness about the importance of breast-feeding. Walkers will meet at the picnic shelter in lower Manito. The walk will finish with a picnic.
The groups are affiliated with La Leche League International, a non-profit group that offers breast-feeding education and encouragement to women around the world.
Anyone may participate or sponsor a walker. For more information, call 533-5897.
Help is available for battered women. The YWCA’s Alternatives to Domestic Violence Program offers support and therapy groups for victims of domestic violence. For more information, call 326-2255.
, DataTimes