Fairfield to host Kiwanis Kids’ Day

FAIRFIELD – One of Fairfield's biggest attractions of the year is this weekend: the Fairfield Kiwanis Kids' Day on Saturday, Sept. 21.

The featured event of the day is the parade, which begins at 10 a.m. But the fun lasts all morning, beginning bright and early with the pancake and sausage breakfast from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. As if that weren't enough, the town's Central Park will be full of kid-friendly activities such as a pedal pull, bouncy house, pony rides and dunk tank from 8 a.m. until about 12:30 p.m.

Parade

The whole community is invited to participate in the parade, the theme of which is 'Honoring the Past –Envisioning the Future.” Parade participants are asked to line up at Fairfield High School, where the parade will begin, traveling west along Broadway Avenue before turning north onto Main Street and then back to the high school. Pre-registration is not required.

The event has several contests, such as contest for best float, kids' walking costumes, kids' bicycle costumes, and kids with pets costumes.

Floats are judged on five categories: theme (should be displayed); kid involvement in decorating it; originality (in float materials); overall appearance; and safety. Cash prizes range from $25 to $100.

Daryn Hamilton, Fairfield Kiwanis's Region 6 trustee, said common costumes in this day and age are Disney movie characters and superheroes. He said the theme was chosen to give parade participants the opportunity to either reflect on the past or dream of the future, or perhaps both.

'That way, Sunnybrook can have a float looking at the past, and some of the kids can look forward to the future of space travel or what they want to see,” he said. 'We also encourage any high school class that is having a reunion to do a float as well. We hope to see classic and antique cars, and antique tractors, too.”

The only thing the parade organizers do not allow is political or election-themed floats. Hamilton said Kiwanis has always been nonpartisan and nonpolitical, and it wants to keep its parade that way.

Pancake breakfast

Hamilton estimates that about 1,800 people eat breakfast in the big tent set up on Court Street every year. The club is able to net between $6,500 and $7,000 from the breakfast. It's one of their two main fundraisers of the year, the other one being their work checking campers in and out at Old Threshers Reunion in Mt. Pleasant.

The amount of money the club can net from Kids' Day depends on how many of the ingredients are donated. The club buys most of them, but this year it got a donation of 25 dozen eggs. It takes just under 100 dozen eggs to make the batter for the pancakes.

'The pancake batter is all made by hand from flour and buttermilk, it's not a store-bought mix,” Hamilton said. 'We also buy sausage and syrup, and those items are not very cheap.”

For those who want to take home a souvenir, attendees can buy small bottles of maple syrup in the tent.

Tickets for the pancake breakfast are $7 for adults and $3.50 for kids 12 and under at the door. Tickets purchased in advance are $6 for adults and $3 for kids 12 and under.

Activities

Just like the parade, all activities that morning are free. They include pony rides, clowns, barrel train rides, face painting, bouncy house, dunk tank, and pedal pull. DJ Midnight Crystal, a.k.a. Gary Septer, will entertain the crowd by keeping the music popping.

The pedal pull is a competition. All competitors receive ribbons, and the top three will receive medals. The first place winner moves on to the state pedal pull competition, which could even lead them to the national competition if they do well enough. The pedal pull begins immediately after the parade.

Hamilton said that some prominent people in town, such as the children's librarian, have agreed to be in the dunk tank.

'Kids love to try to dunk an adult,” he said.

Hamilton said most of the activities are new this year thanks to an influx of new members. The number of activities had dropped off the past two years because members who once spearheaded them retired, dropped out or moved away. But the crop of new Kiwanians have allowed the club to revive those games and add new ones.

'We're trying to gain ground and we're picking up new members. We have approximately 38 now,” Hamilton said. 'We're the only Kiwanis Club in our division that has added new members to the club this year.”

Fairfield's division includes Coralville, Iowa City, Sigourney and Washington. Iowa City and Washington each have two Kiwanis clubs, one that meets in the morning and the other that meets at noon.