THE LYNNFIELD Moms Group is holding weekly bake sales on Sundays this spring during Lynnfield Youth Soccer games to raise funds for upgraded children’s playgrounds at Glen Meadow Park and Jordan Park. Offering the yummy treats along with fliers detailing their proposed re-design of Glen Meadow Park are (from left): Erika Wilson, Sonia Brady, Erica Kelly and Melissa Adams. Final timelines and costs with each project have not yet been finalized. (Courtesy Photo)
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
LYNNFIELD —A fun-filled day of family-friendly activities awaits all who attend Saturday’s Geraniumfest and Field Day celebration.
It’s all happening at the Lynnfield Middle School, 505 Main St., on May 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The new, larger venue with plentiful parking was chosen to accommodate both the traditional geranium plant sales that fund Townscape’s annual civic shade tree campaign and the first-ever Field Day events geared toward kids ages 1-10.
Field Day events include family-friendly kids’ races for children ages 1-10; soccer stations hosted by the Lynnfield Youth Soccer Club; kids’ yoga from Here Comes The Sun Yoga; potting and planting with the Lynnfield Village Home and Garden Club; and touch-a-truck featuring the Batmobile plus fire, police and construction trucks.
There will be a children’s petting zoo, magician and balloon animals, a video game truck with 20 consoles, sand art and face painting stations, a photo booth with instant photos and food trucks from Boston’s Greenway.
Radio Station AMP 103.3 will broadcast live from Geraniumfest and Field Day and local vendors will be on hand with goods and services for sale.
But this event is so much more than just flowers, foot races and food trucks. It’s about intergenerational community involvement. It is the first major fundraising event being held by Townscape since the 30-year-old nonprofit group expanded both its mission and its membership last year.
By combining forces with leaders from the Lynnfield Moms Group, which focuses on enrichment activities for children 6 and under, and the Fields Committee, which supports improvements to the town’s playing fields, Townscape has broadened its reach. In addition to funding shade trees and other community beautification projects, Townscape now has the ability to help improve the town’s existing playground structures and recreational facilities.
Kathryn Price, Townscape’s communication director and a member of LMG, is thrilled with how Geraniumfest and Field Day has come together over the last few months, thanks to the hard work by the volunteer members who coordinated it all.
“It’s really amazing. So many local groups have jumped in to support us and I think it will be a really fun community event. The feedback has been really good,” Price said.
“From 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. there are races at the track at LMS for children ages 1 through 10. From 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. is Field Day. So alongside the geranium sales we have five food trucks coming and they are contributing 15 percent of proceeds of purchases from the food trucks to us,” Price said.
Evereve, a women’s clothing store at MarketStreet, is also donating 15 percent of the profits from its “trunk sale” at the event, she said. The store will also provide postcards that will be good for the same 15 percent promotion from any in-store sales throughout the weekend.
The petting zoo is provided by Animal Craze while local photographer Joe DeLuca will offer a photo booth, she said.
“Sharon Marrama, who teaches children’s yoga at Summer Street School and also at Solstice, will be doing yoga at the event. And Lynnfield Village Home and Garden Club will be planting sunflower seeds with the kids. All of the gardening material was donated by Home Depot in Reading. I’m really excited about that because I think that will be exciting for the kids to watch it grow and it is nice for them to have a take-away like that,” Price said.
“We have 14 vendors who have rented tables. And we did some free tables. A young man from the high school, Nick Miller, who is part of the environmental studies program at the high school, is doing a project to re-purpose old wood into furniture,” she said. A middle school girl who makes fancy cell phone cases and a Girl Scout troop raising money for a community service project were offered the other free vendor tables, Price said.
“Lynnfield Rec reached out to me today and wanted to do some kids games too,” Price added.
The cost is $10 per child for kids’ races and $15 per child for the field day events. The maximum cost is $60 per family for pre-registered children. Preregistration options are available at the website through Thursday, May 14.
Additionally, in-person registrations will be taken at LMS from 5 to 8 p.m. “The benefit of doing that is there is a $5 discount. The day-of registration is $5 more per child,” she said. “Everything in the event is free once you enter, and adults are free,” Price said.
All money raised from Field Day events will go directly to initiatives to improve outdoor recreational facilities in town. Refer questions to Price via e-mail at Townscape.Communications@gmail.com.
