Carnival

My family is gearing up for the annual 4H Carnival at the Roosevelt gym in Casey, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday) night.  There will be lots of fun games, cake walks, snacks and the King/Queen, Prince/Princess contest.  It is a very cheap night of fun for the family.

For many years it was in the "old gym" at our high school, and people just crammed into that place.  It was literally wall-to-wall, shoulder-to-shoulder with people trying to follow their kids as they run from one game to another.  I must admit it was nice having it in our hometown, but it was way too crowded.

Each 4H club comes up with a game/activity and sets up a little carnival booth or stand and tries to entice participants to play their game.  There are prizes, of course, awarded at every stand.  Over the years there have been some very creative ideas, and sometimes you see some that were creative, but just didn't work out.

When I was younger, I always looked forward to that carnival night at our old gym, but never really made the connection that it was a 4H thing, we just went, bought tickets and played the games.  When Madolyn was old enough to take, we went and it was a nightmare because it was so crowded and she was darting everywhere.  I now realize that my parents probably weren't as excited as I was about going back in the day!!  Now that my kiddos are older, it's nice to go and just give them ticket money and let them have at it.  They work their shifts in our club's booth and go off to score some major prizes (ha!).

Three or four years ago, the Cloverbud group had some games for the younger kids.  Lane, who was probably only four or five, worked his shift and never left.  He had sooo much fun helping the other kids play the games.  Of course, one of them had to do with a snotty nose and nostrils and the other was sticking your hand up the snout of an elephant to get a peanut!  He was all over it.  We'll see how committed he is to working his shift tomorrow!

So if you're local and you want to experience some family fun without spending a fortune, come on over to the Annual 4H Carnival at the Roosevelt gym in Casey.  You don't have to be affiliated with the 4H program to come and enjoy the evening.  And you know there's nothing better to do on a Saturday night around here if there aren't any ball games...