Photo: Timothy Russell
The second-annual Ontario Kids Festival Presented by Sluss Realty is this Saturday, June 1st, from 10-4 p.m. at Marshall Park in Ontario -- and there are many reasons to come early this year.
Promptly at 10 a.m., Sluss Realty marketing director and event organizer, Jami Kinton-Sluss said volunteers will start passing out 250 Hedstrom playballs of all sizes, along with hundreds of drawstring bags with a free book inside, courtesy of The United Way of Richland County and The Big Red Bookshelf.
Kinton-Sluss said they want to only place these into children's hands and, to keep the situation fair, cannot give any to adults who ask to give them to kids who aren't present.
The first 100 kids to visit the petting zoo will also get a FREE $3 cup of food to feed the animals thanks to Matt Trittschuh, Sluss agent and MTIA owner.
The first 600 kids will also get to stuff their own stuffed animals with help from Pinnacle Financial Advisors, completely free.
Kinton-Sluss said there will also be free rides, free inflatable experiences, free train rides, princess meet and greets, entertainment, free carnival games with prizes and more.
"This is one of our favorite ways to give back to our community," she said. "And it's definitely a community effort. We have a lot of community partners who have donated to help make this event possible and we've appreciated the close relationship with the City of Ontario through the process as well!"
Once again, there will be a free carnival game area ran by dozens of Sluss Realty agents where kids can win prizes, but also get entered to win one of three big prizes that include a giant summer fun basket valued at $250 donated by Beyond Esthetics, a free birthday party at Richland Carrousel Park or one of two year-long passes to Altitude Trampoline Park. Free game cards are available for kids to get punched and then can be turned in to get entered to win the larger prizes.
Donation bins will also be set out to help raise money for the Humane Society of Richland County, who will also be on site to help raise awareness of their adoptable animals.
"We film a video once a month at the Humane Society," Kinton-Sluss said. "We're huge animal lovers and love taking this opportunity to help raise money for this incredible organization. We would really appreciate the community's support. We try to make everything at our event, with the exception of food trucks, free and hope that this will increase generosity toward the Humane Society. Our food trucks also donate a portion of their day's sales back to the Humane Society and we truly appreciate this support as well."
Guests can park anywhere at Marshall Park and can find the festival on the soccer field with the bandshell.
For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/share/U147DxjwraXjPh4m/?mibextid=9VsGKo
Photo: Timothy Russell