‘Going green’
Area students turn out for annual Kids FestBy HANS MADSEN, Messenger staff writer
Article Photos
The Community Kids Fest is growing up a bit, it's now 15 years old and in keeping with the times, going green.
In addition to the tables of fun activities from area businesses and organizations lining the corridors of the Crossroads Mall, which hosts the Hy-Vee-sponsored event, there were also several rows of tables covered with recycling bins. Each bin was labeled with a different school. The bins were filled with recyclable materials brought by the children from home.
Ann Halbur, marketing and events coordinator for Hy-Vee, explained that adding the green theme to this year's event goes with the store's efforts to get shoppers to switch to reusable bags and away from plastic.
At the end of the evening, the bins were to be weighed and the school with the most recyclables got extra points toward their share of the funds.
''This is a great way to teach how to recycle,'' Halbur said.
Cody London, 11, and Jeffery Westling, 12, both members of Humboldt Boy Scout Troop 108, were demonstrating how to get a hardboiled egg into a bottle through the too-small neck. Westling, in lab coat and safety goggles, placed the egg on top of the bottle, which had a bit of burning paper in it. As the flame went out, with a liquid poof, the egg dropped into the bottle.
While having fun doing his demonstration, Westling and London were both pretty enthusiastic about the event going green.
''It means less pollution; you won't die,'' Westling said.
Samantha Brown, 8, is a third-grader at Butler Elementary School. She brought a bag of newspapers to put into the school's rapidly filling bin. She liked the idea that you could come to the event and participate in lots of fun things yet still do something for the planet.
Brandy Mills, of Otho, came to the event with several children. For the recycling containers, they had some plastic containers and ''a ton of Messengers.''
She liked the idea of going green as well.
''It helps the kids realize what needs to be done,'' she said. ''It keeps recycling fun and not boring.''
According to event organizer Ann Halbur, this year's event raised $12,000 from businesses, which pay to set up at the the event. The money will be divided among the Fort Dodge Public Library and various Fort Dodge and area schools based on their participation. Students are given check sheets to drop into boxes for their school.
Several hundred students attended the night's activities. The goal is that besides having fun, some of them will get the green message.
''Anything we can do to encourage people to reduce, reuse and recycle,'' Halbur said.
Contact Hans Madsen at (515) 573-2141 or hmadsen@messengernews.net
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maninblack
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09-17-08 4:20 PM
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As a casual observer, this was a wonderful, fun, family oriented event, and judging from the amount of smiles, a tremendous success. Congratulations to all involved!
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CHELLS
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09-17-08 3:05 AM
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Thank you HyVee and area businesses for what you did last night at the mall you got the go green message out and also help the school at the same time THANK YOU SO MUCH1!!
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