Teens Dress The Part To Help Make Family-A-Fair A Success

Mon., Oct. 27, 1997

Josh Silverstein Lewis & Clark

Family-a-Fair is an annual event based on the notion that families should do things together. Even though I’ve attended each fair because my mother is a member of the steering committee, only in recent years have I been old enough to be part of the group that is essential to Family-a-Fair: the teen volunteers.

The teens help set up Friday afternoon, come early each morning to get the stage ready and help people set up their booths. They come from public and private schools, church groups and the general community.

Teen volunteers, myself included, also have the opportunity to dress up as well-known characters such as Smokey the Bear, Crash Test Dummies and Little Caesar (who, strangely enough, some thought was a dinosaur).

Even though in many of the costumes you couldn’t see anyone until they were right under your nose, it felt good to have little kids run up to hug you and shake your hand.

Sometimes they didn’t even know who the costume represented, and certainly didn’t know there was a person inside it. Still, it made me feel loved, which is the whole idea of Family-a-Fair. If not for this great feeling, the costumes would hardly have been bearable.

They were hot, sweaty, smelly and some of the heads were so heavy that you had to take a break because your neck was so sore. The vision was so bad that in all the costumes except for the Crash Test Dummy you had to have someone lead you around. But the sense of euphoria when you were crowded on all sides with joyful children and couldn’t move except to hug them made up for it all.

Teens love to volunteer and Family-a-Fair is a great place to volunteer.

Meghan Pinch, a volunteer from Spokane Jewish Youth, said, “It was very fulfilling and allowed me to be creative at the same time.”

Adie Goldberg-Yates, one of the event’s co-directors, said they couldn’t do the fair without teen volunteers each year.

This year more than 300 teens volunteered their time to make the event a success.

If you’d like to put your name on a list to volunteer for next year’s Family-a-Fair, call 456-3733.

Editor’s note: If you are a teen and know of a event, project, group or organization that teens should get involved with, send your column to: Our Generation, Get Involved, 999 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA 99201. Or fax it to 459-5098. Be sure to include your name and phone number. Limit: 300 words.

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