Family to be focus of Aug. 12 Youth Day events
Posted Jul 29, 2010 By Ryland Coyne
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Tweet ThisEMC Events - It's an opportunity for families to come out and enjoy some fun, quality time together in a festive atmosphere.
That's the plan behind International Youth Day activities, being planned for 5-9 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 12, at Lower Reach Park in Smiths Falls.
Co-ordinated by Tyler Thibeault, a summer student at the Smiths Falls & District Club for Youth (SFDCY), the four-hour event will feature a wide array of family-focused activities and competitions including hay bail tossing and rolling, corn cob eating contest, 3-legged races, and even touchdown celebration dances.
"I hope to have a bunch of dads pulling out their old moves" without pulling any muscles, Thibeault said with a chuckle.
The idea for the Youth Day celebration came to him, he says, while visiting various festivals and carnivals.
"It was kind of like an epiphany," he said. "You never see potato-sack races or competitive races between fathers and sons. I thought it would be kind of cool to bring that to Smiths Falls."
While the list of activities was still being finalized late last week, other possibilities might include volleyball games, cupcake decorating or having the children paint the faces of their moms and dads.
He hopes to have a variety of prizes available to be won. Any business or individual who has item they could donate as prizes can contact Thibeault at 613-284-1784.
In addition to publicizing the event in local media, volunteers are also planning to hand out flyers and posters throughout the community.
"We're trying to get the word out as best we can," he said.
Volunteers from the SFDCY will be joined by Katimavik participants to help the event run smoothly. Anyone else who would like to offer their services is asked to call the youth club.
"I'm hoping for 400 or 500 people or more," the organizer said, but really any number would be great as long as families are able to come out and enjoy a good time together, and maybe even spark some healthy mother-daughter or father-son rivalries.
"That would be great," he said.
YOUTH DAY ORIGINS
In 1999, in its resolution 54/120, the General Assembly endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth (Lisbon, August 1998) that Aug. 12 be declared International Youth Day. The Assembly recommended that public information activities be organized to support the day as a way to promote better awareness of the World Programme of Action for Youth, adopted by the General Assembly in 1995.
This year's International Youth Day is a particularly important day for youth around the world, notes the U.N.'s Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a message posted on the U.N.'s youth day website. In December 2009, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/64/134 proclaiming the Year commencing this International Youth Day (Aug. 12, 2010) as the International Year of Youth.
The events being hosted here in Smiths Falls are part of a world-wide celebration. The global launch of the International Year of Youth takes place Aug. 12 in New York City. "The event will be a celebration of young peoples' energy, imagination and initiatives and will recognize their crucial contributions to enhancing peace and development," Ban Ki-moon notes.
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