The Valplayso and TJ Fields was the place to be on Friday for some color and some family fun. In conjunction with the City of Valparaiso and Valpo Parks, the Mayor’s Youth Council hosted their Color Fun Run. Over 500 children competed on the 1.5 mile course through the park. The event started two years ago with just the Valparaiso Mayor’s Youth Council, but the success of it brought the city and Valpo Parks to join the event.
“This is the third time we've done the color fun run,” said Christina Darr, Director of Special Events for Valpo Parks. “We added a lot of obstacles last year. We added one more this year, so we're building from year to year on what we have.”
The obstacles included rolling down a small hill and jumping on a path of hula hoops. In addition to the activities on the course there was fun outside of it. There was a free bouncy house, free face painting, and food vendors.
“This is a great example of a more affordable family-friendly activity that's good for all ages and abilities,” said Maggie Clifton, Community Engagement Director at the City of Valparaiso. “I think that's really important for our community to have as an option.”
Having the event at a central park made for an event that was easy for everyone to get to. Ticket prices were also kept as affordable as possible.
“It's a central location and ticket pricing wise we tried to keep it very affordable,” said Clifton. “We even offered a family discount or a four pack discount. It is just another opportunity to encourage families to come together and have some fun.”
Manning the various obstacles and throwing the color where student volunteers. Most of the student volunteers were members of the Mayor’s Youth Council. The Mayor’s Youth Council provided members an opportunity to get involved in the community.
“I wanted to be more involved in the community and learn more things about it and service opportunities,” said Milauyn Ford. “I'm just excited to see that community engagement and to just see everybody out just having a good time.”
Not only do the members get to throw fun events for the community, but they also get to meet a lot of people.
“I think that the Mayor’s Youth Council is a really good way to express yourself and your desires to volunteer,” said Lauren Hefner. “I learned so much more about how to benefit my community just by being here and I would recommend that to anybody.”
Mayor Jon Costas rode on his bike to attend Friday’s event with his youth council.
“This is really a cool event because it's organized by the Mayor's Youth Council, which is a group of juniors who go through a program where they learn about city government,” said Costas. “They're fabulous kids and this came out of that council.”
The council has provided its members with an excellent opportunity to learn. They learned about local government and how to organize and run an event.
“It exposes them to what local governments are about and gives them a taste for it, but it also gives them an opportunity to lead in their own way,” said Costas. “This was their idea, they organized it, and served as volunteers to see what it takes to pull off an event and make it successful. This is certainly a success.”
Friday’s event was a tremendous success with kids, parents, and staff all having a blast.
“Today's event is a great example of students coming together with the parks department and the Mayor's office,” said Clifton. They got to engage with the community and support Valpo parks.”
The event would not have been possible without the partnerships between the Mayor’s Youth Council, the City of Valparaiso, and Valpo Parks.
“It takes a lot of hands to make this work,” said Darr. We really appreciate the partnerships with the local students and the mayor's office and everyone at Valpo parks as well.”
For more information about the Mayor’s Youth Council, please visit http://www.ci.valparaiso.in.us/1730/Mayors-Youth-Council.
For more information about Valpo Parks, please visit https://valpoparks.org/.
