FULTON – Families in the Fulton community enjoyed a day of warm weather at VanBuren Park Saturday, June 8.
There was an inflatable obstacle course, horse rides, games, basketball, an assortment of small animals and other free activities.
Sponsored by Oswego County Federal Credit Union, Friends of Fulton Parks arranged A Day in VanBuren Park for families to spend the day at one of Fulton’s parks.
FOFP board member Ashley Galloway oversaw the event. After successful events within the past few years at Foster Park, she said FOFP wanted to highlight VanBuren Park as well to make the community more aware of its existence. She said they chose VanBuren Park because it offers a lot of space.
“There are a lot of parks in Fulton that don’t get much use, so we decided to highlight a new location,” Galloway said. “[It] gets kids active and actually get to enjoy the outdoors.”
Children received ‘passports’ – a card to be stamped after visiting each booth’s activities. After they stopped at each booth, FOFP offered prizes like flip-flops, T-shirts, fidget spinners flower seeds and jump ropes.
Galloway said FOFP is aimed at teaming up with the Fulton Parks and Recreation Department to help with park cleanup, fundraising and assisting whenever possible.
Oswego County Opportunities, Cornell University Cooperative Extension, Oswego County Health Department, Boy Scouts of America Troop 715, Grace and Glory Animals, Route 80 Quarry Ridge Stables, among a few others, teamed up with FOFP to educate families on their various topics.
A large topic families learned about was healthy living and staying active. Public Health Educator Emily Boyle with the Oswego County Health Department rewarded children with a healthy smoothie that they made themselves using a blender powered by a bicycle. The smoothie blended with the power of the pedals.
“Basically, we’re promoting physical activity as well as a nutritional drink,” Boyle said. “Get them up and moving, and drinking something healthy. On this nice, warm day, something cold feels good.”
Boyle also educated families on immunizations, lead, rabies, mosquitoes and ticks, which have had a big presence this season given the high amount of rainfall. She handed out single-use insect repellent wipes and informational packets.
Abigail Kyle with G&G Animals, a small zoo in Oswego, presented tortoises, an Argentine black and white tegu named Jill, and two snakes named Bella and Diego. Bella is a 12-foot-long Burmese python and Diego is an 8-foot-long Red tailed boa.
“A lot of [the children] are really excited and want to come up and pet the animals; some of them are a little weary about the snakes,” Kyle said.
On the other side of the park, Route 80 Quarry Ridge Stables brought two horses, a pony and two goats for families to pet.
Rebecca Dorgan, one of the handlers, said children have one of two reactions to the horses – either fear of the large animal or complete fascination. She said they wanted to expose children to horses and educate them.
“Get them around [horses] a little bit so when they get scared like that, maybe it’s not so bad next time,” Dorgan said. “They either love it or hate it.”
One little boy had the opportunity to conquer his fear of heights and ride a horse for the first time. Following the ride, he asked his family if they could get a horse.
Harry Greeney is the chairperson for the Oswego County Federal Credit Union board of directors. Greeney and a few other representatives of the credit union sponsoring the event also held a booth with information along with beach balls and frisbees.
“We like to be involved in any event in the community; we’re very community oriented,” Greeney said. “Our credit union is member owned and anything we can do to support the community, that’s what we do.”
Greeney said in comparison to last year, the turnout was a little lighter for a few reasons: a new location, other events going on that day, and the warm weather after several days of clouds and rain.
Ever since the not-for-profit credit union opened its Fulton location, it has been contributing to the community by sponsoring events throughout the year, such as movies in the parks with pizza, according to Greeney.
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