Published in the May 17, 2017 edition
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
LYNNFIELD — Where can you ride in a hot air balloon, meet Wally the Green Monster and Batman with his Batmobile, visit a petting zoo, ride a pony, play video games and laser tag, try your hand at archery and soccer, run through an inflatable obstacle course, become a ninja trainee, plant a flower, soak someone in a dunk tank, touch-a-truck and (for kids 12 and under) enter a coloring contest for a chance to win $50 worth of ice cream all in one day?
Families can experience all these activities and a whole lot more at Geraniumfest and Kids’ Day on Saturday, May 20 at the Lynnfield Middle School. Sponsored by Townscape, all proceeds from the 30th annual Geraniumfest will benefit the public shade tree campaign of this nonprofit volunteer organization to beautify town streets and parks while proceeds from the third annual Kids’ Day will benefit future improvements to the town’s parks.
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Hey kids, inserted inside today’s Lynnfield Villager you will find the Geraniumfest and Kids Day coloring contest entry forms sponsored by the newspaper. Children can also stop by the Villager’s booth in the sponsorship area at Kids’ Day where a table with crayons will be set up.
All children who enter the contest will have a chance to win a $50 gift certificate to Meletharb Homemade Ice Cream plus a one-year gift subscription to the Villager for their parents. There are two age categories: 6 and under and 7 to 12 years. Deadline to enter is Wednesday, May 31.
Additionally, the Villager is offering a free six-month trial subscription for new subscribers as part of our Geraniumfest and Kids’ Day celebration to those attendees who stop by our booth.
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Geraniumfest opens at 8 a.m. and runs through 1 p.m. Those who pre-ordered their geraniums can pick them up during these hours. Additional geranium plants, as well as a large selection of hanging baskets and patio containers will also be available for sale. All plants are grown in Massachusetts and credit cards are accepted.
Kids’ Day
Word is getting out about the multitude of Kids’ Day activities, all of which can be experienced for one low fee during the event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Advance online registration was at an all-time high a week prior to the event.
“We have had 53 people register online already, which is great. I am really excited about that,” said Townscape’s Director of Communications Kathryn Price.
Another unique feature of this year’s event is a small exhibit called “Humans of Lynnfield” featuring the drawings of local residents with an accompanying biography that were created by Lynnfield children. It is modeled after the “Humans of New York” Facebook page, Price told the Villager.
Hot air balloon rides
While the event will be held rain or shine, the free tethered hot air balloon rides in Big Max, donated by Re/Max Leading Edge, are dependent upon the weather conditions between 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Volunteers needed
“We’re kind of low on volunteers for the second half of the day,” Price said. This shift would run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and they are also in need of volunteers willing to help with cleanup from 1 to 2 p.m.
“Ideally, we’d like to have 10 (more) adults. The Lynnfield lacrosse team is coming and they always do a great job helping with the games and rides, but we need people to oversee registration and raffle sales,” Price said, particularly during the 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. shift. Price said she is grateful for the assistance of these dedicated boys’ lacrosse players who help with set-up at 7 a.m. and stay until everything is cleaned up at 2 p.m
“The flower sales from Geraniumfest will go to purchase more trees for the tree canopy. This past year we purchased 16 trees and we did improvements at the Forest Hill Cemetery planting some shade trees and various other projects,” Price said.
“The money that we raise from Kids’ Day is going into the playground fund,” Price said, most likely for Jordan Park, which will not be an immediate expense.
“We will continue to raise funds over the next year,” she said, explaining, “It’s a similar situation to Glen Meadow Park. Because the town voted to fund that project at Town Meeting the money that Townscape raised was used toward some extras that weren’t part of the initially purposed plan” for Glen Meadow, such as a bike rack.
“We were all a little bit surprised by how generous people were at Town Meeting with the funding we were working to privately fund raise toward. Because the residents voted to fully fund the remaining aspects of the fields project (such as the Middle School track) we really don’t need to be fundraising for the fields at this point,” Price said.
“The way Kids’ Day works is we try to provide the budget for the event out of sponsorships and then all of the registrations end up being the money that we raise for the project,” she said.
TICKETS
Tickets are now for sale. Adults and children under age 2 are free. The cost for children is as follows:
• Registration fee for one child: $20
• Registration fee for two children in a family: $40
• Registration fee for three or more children in a family: $50
ONLINE REGISTRATION
Pre-register online to avoid waiting in line at the event with Eventbrite at:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/townscapes-geraniumfest-and-kids-day-2017-tickets-33505362441.
IN-PERSON REGISTRATION
In-person registration will be available Friday, May 19 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. near the tennis courts at Lynnfield Middle School, and on the day of the event, Saturday, May 20, starting at 8 a.m.
WAIVERS
Each child entering Townscape’s Geraniumfest and Kids Day must have a liability waiver form signed by his or her parent or guardian. (i.e. a friend’s parent cannot sign the liability form in lieu of that child’s parent or guardian). Forms can be printed in advance from home and brought to the event to speed up the registration process. Forms will also be available at the registration table.
REGISTRATION BRACELETS
In order to enter the event, each child must be wearing a registration bracelet. Registration bracelets can be picked up either in-person Friday, May 19 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Lynnfield Middle School, which allows attendees to bypass the registration line entirely on Saturday, or register on the morning of the event, starting at 8 a.m.
REFUNDS
Because this is a rain-or-shine event, no refunds can be given. Please email townscape.communications@gmail.com with any questions.
Featured Kids’ Day amusements
• Game Truck featuring 20 video game consoles
• Laser Tag, provided by Lahey Health
• Baby Animals Petting Zoo, provided by Northrup Associates Realtors
• Fish Bowl Game
• Gymja Warrior Ninja Training
• A visit from Wally the Green Monster, provided by Marjorie Youngren Team, Century 21 Commonwealth
• Pony Rides
• “BIG MAX,” from 8-10 a.m. only (weather permitting), a tethered hot air balloon contributed by RE/MAX Leading Edge
• Inflatable obstacle courses for young kids and big kids
• Dunk Tank
• Face painting
• Balloon Animals
• Kids’ Live Music and Movement Class provided by The Village
• Lynnfield Youth Soccer Station
• Kids’ Games sponsored by Lynnfield Recreation
• Kids’ Gardening offered by the Village Garden Club of Lynnfield
• Archery with Camp Eastman, YMCA
•Touch-A-Truck featuring the Batmobile as well as vehicles from Lynnfield’s Police and Fire Departments, Mass Pipeline, Four Star Towing and more.
• Food and dessert trucks in the center of the event including: Roxy’s Grilled Cheese Truck, Cupcake City, Makin’ Jamaican and Lemonade from Kids Stuff Amusements. A portion of their profits will benefit Townscape.
• MiniEmporium, a fashion truck with unique styles for kids
• Jennifer Scala’s styling clothing tent for moms, teens and tweens
• Sponsor area where Townscape will feature all of the local businesses who have sponsored Geraniumfest and Kids’ Day. Sponsorships enable Townscape to provide these fun activities for all to enjoy.
• Vendor area featuring members of local community groups, such as the Boy Scouts, and local artisans.
•Humans of Lynnfield exhibit.
