Gray skies and rain falling would seem to be perfect weather for a Halloween event.
For the folks involved with the Fall Fun for Youth event Saturday at the Natrona Park and Playground on River Avenue, the gloomy weather prevented the kids, 3-year-olds up to high schoolers, some 40 in all, from enjoying as many games and activities as the organizers had planned for them.
The organizers of the event, Fun and Freedom Youth Sports and the Natrona Comes Together Association, were planning to keep the kids moving but, in the end, that didn’t quite end up happening.
“We did everything but the sports,” Sports Director/Community Outreach & Missions Director Lorie Sakala said. “Dodge ball and basketball is what they normally like. (But) we got the crafts in, we got the pumpkin decorating in. We had the little smaller pumpkins, and what we do is give them a sticker and they had a choice between five things they could put on the pumpkin. It was just stickers, not carving. And we did prizes at the end.”
Administrator Penny Houston said there was a prize table where the kids drew numbers and were able to pick everything from candy to coloring books.
“We used to do the sports program down here, but now we do community days and picnics and try to get more of the family atmosphere,” Sakala said. “We work with Natrona Comes Together, who does a lot of programs down here too, for the kids.
“We started Saturday morning kids sports and then we started doing picnics in the park and we do Christmas parties in December. It’s rewarding.”
