Jared Hood, right, along with his dad Ron Hood, poses with a new bicycle he won at the Fit2Fun Family Fitness Festival last year. Six-year-old Sage Hood sits on her father’s shoulders.
SEMINOLE – A crowd of 600 to 1,000 is expected for the city’s third annual Fit2Fun Family Fitness FunFest Saturday, June 27 on the soccer fields at the Seminole Recreation Center, 9100 113th St. N.
The event, which runs from 9 a.m. to noon, is held in conjunction with kids picking up entry packets for the fifth annual Tri if you Dare Youth Triathlon set for Sunday, June 28, 7 a.m.
“This (FunFest) is a great, free community event for families involving fun and fitness,” said Seminole Recreation Director Jim Sheets. “It grew out of the fact we always had a mandatory package pickup Saturday for the triathlon. Going into year three we decided we have this captive audience so why not include families and the community. That’s when we came up with the Family FunFest concept and it has since become a summer staple event for us.”
The event provides parents and children an opportunity to participate together in a number of activities. They include archery, martial arts, a squirt-tube battle zone, a Junior Olympics Skills Challenge and a kayak safety seminar in the pool.
In addition, the Seminole Teen Runners Club plans a pancake breakfast beginning at 9 a.m. Cost is $7 for adults and $5 for children.
Members of the Seminole High School band will be selling drinks as a fundraiser for their 2010 trip to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York.
Altogether, 30 vendors will be on hand, including six nonprofits.
The list includes Bicycle Outfitters, Curves, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Caress A Salon, Yoga Etc. Studio, Definition of Dance, Longwell Massage Therapy, Steps School of Dance, Watkins Health Food, Dynamic Health Solutions, McDowell Orthodontics, Seminole Chiefs Youth Soccer, American Travel Partners, Vitality Chiropractic, Swim Zone, Unique Yaks, Juice Plus, StrollerFit and more.
All of the events are geared toward bringing kids and parents together on a participatory level.
“We really wanted to provide families with an opportunity to play together,” said Sheets. “The whole idea was to put out events both children and parents can participate in.”
“For most of our events, parents either drop kids off and leave or sit in a chair and watch,” said Duane Crandall, a recreation program coordinator with the city. “That’s what makes this unique because we encourage parents to participate.”
Sheets said another goal of the event is to involve all recreation providers in the community.
“We want everyone to be involved because we realize we can’t be the only provider of recreation in the city,” he said.
“It’s about showcasing what the people of the city of Seminole have available to them,” Crandall explained.
Sheets said the festival is something he expects to see grow in years to come, offering a variety of recreational options to all ages.
“I think it will continue to be a strong family event in the summer months,” said Sheets. “As long as we take the leadership role to promote family fitness, we’re contributing an important role in the community. I think we have some potential here.”
Sunday’s youth triathlon, for ages 5 to 15, has a full field of 300 participants. Of that number 22 have participated all five years.
The event features four age divisions with varying distances for run, bike and swim competition.
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