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Sheriff’s office holds KIDSFEST in Twinsburg Township
NATALIE PEACOCK
Legal News Reporter
Published: June 18, 2015
Reginald Ballard held his hand as flat as he could, offering the large brown police horse a carrot.
“I’m nervous,” he said as he edged closer.
“Just hold your hand as flat as you can,” said Sheriff’s Department employee Tricia Durkin. “You don’t want the horse to think one of your fingers is a carrot.”
Reginald, age 8, and his cousins Prince, age 6, and TJ Bell, age 4, were some of the dozens of children who enjoyed interacting with the animals at KIDSFEST in the AMHA Pinewood Gardens parking lot in Twinsburg Township on June 6. The event was sponsored by the Summit County Sheriff’s office with money left over from their annual “Shop With A Cop” event held in December. The sheriff’s office discovered that no children from Twinsburg Township had registered for the “Shop With A Cop” event so the Sheriff’s office decided to remedy that.
“We realized at the last minute that we had no kids from Twinsburg Township,” said Sheriff Steve Barry. “So Deputy Sheila Church came to me a couple months back and said we’ve got money left and I think we should do something for the kids. I said that was a great idea and so we not only used that money but we also funded it ourselves.”
The Sheriff and his deputies went out and shopped for prizes for the kids. The prizes included big items like bicycles, kick-scooters, skateboards and sport balls and smaller items such as dolls and pen and pencils sets.
“We saved like $1500 and this is what we bought,” Deputy Church said, pointing to the tables filled with prizes. “The Sheriff had his input and he bought a lot and we figured this way we could reach more kids and give back to the community.”
In order to win the various prizes, kids participated in hula-hoop contests, jump rope contests, ring tosses and coloring contests. The kids could also bring their report cards and if they had good grades, they were entered first into the drawing for a bicycle. In between the contests the kids were also provided a free lunch of hotdogs and chips.
The whole event was part of a greater movement to establish a good relationship with the Sheriff’s office and the communities they patrol.
“It’s a very good thing and we want to be a part of the community,” Sheriff Barry said. “We want the kids to feel like they can come to us. We’re not the enemy, we are there for them to protect.”
Sheriff administrator and co-organizer of the event Patti Kungle said the kids were excited for the festivities, which began at 1 p.m.
“This is the good part of our job and they’re great people here,” she said. “These kids were waiting for us when we pulled in about 10:30. I had my horse trailer full of bikes and the kids were sitting on the steps, waiting for us.”
Along with several horses, there were also other animals that included a beefalo calf, an alpaca and a rabbit. Tricia Durkin from the Sheriff’s department and leader of the Krazy Kritters 4-H Club said that the kids really enjoy the hands-on experience with all of the animals.
“The kids can’t get enough,” she said. “This is good community service for my 4-H kids, too. Part of the requirement of 4-H is to give back to the community, so we do a lot of community service.”
Not only was the whole Sheriff’s department a part of the event but family members were as well.
“My wife and I enjoy doing this,” Sheriff Barry said. “Our kids are grown. We’ve been very fortunate and it really makes us feel good. I just hope the kids enjoy it. My 86-year-old mom is here helping us too. She loves this kind of stuff.”
Sheriff Barry’s mother Ilene was put in charge of the prize table.
“I love it,” she said. “I’m not in charge of anything. They just told me to unload the box and put it on the table. I just do what I’m told.”
Sheriff Barry shared credit for the day’s success.
“I want to thank AMHA,” he said. “We asked them about using the parking lot and I appreciate what they have done. But I really owe it all to Sheila Church and Patti Kungle. I was happy to do it but I can’t take the credit. They worked very hard putting it all together.”