JA’s Provisionals Launch First Family Field Day
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A Monthly JA of Water Valley Report
By Erin Dyer
Each year the Junior Auxiliary’s new provisional class is tasked with creating a new project for the chapter to execute together. This year, our provisional class put their heads together and dreamed up a family-focused service project that would allow families to come together and interact in a fun and meaningful way in order to strengthen family bonds. From this meeting of the minds, the very first Junior Auxiliary Family Field Day was born!
This two-and-a-half-hour event, held this past Saturday at City Park, featured family-favorite games such as a three-legged race, an egg race, a 62-foot inflatable obstacle course, potato sack race, a tug-o-war challenge and a dunk tank. Families had the opportunity to both work together and cheer each other on in the multiple races, as well as laugh and make memories together.
There were activities for all ages – from birth to 100! Smiles and laughter were the theme of the day!
Research has shown that family involvement in a child’s life is crucial to their overall well-being and success. A study published in the Journal of Family Psychology found that children who have strong relationships with their families are more resilient and better able to cope with stress and adversity.
“Creating an opportunity for families to come together and just play is so crucial to developing memories and relationship,” said Krista Nicholas. “We are so excited that the first Family Field Day was such a success and will continue to build upon this success for future events.”
Snacks and treats were available for purchase from several food trucks on site at the park, including Buckley’s, Magnolia Coffee and Frozen Magic Concessions. A big thank you to the City of Water Valley and the Water Valley Fire Department for helping to make this a successful event.
Local author and JA member Jasmine Hirsch read to second graders at Davidson Elementary in connection with a project to promote literacy.
If you had fun at the Field Day, you won’t want to miss the Annual Watermelon Games hosted by JA at the Watermelon Carnival! Join us on Saturday, August 5 at 11 a.m. in front of Webb Medical Clinic. Look for our tent and a big stack of watermelons!
The games will include a watermelon spitting contest, watermelon throwing and the crowd-favorite watermelon eating contest. Bring the kids to participate and get ready to cheer on your favorite contestant in each age bracket!
Earlier this month, JA also conducted a silent auction, an annual fundraising project that supports all of the service projects we do throughout the year. A heartfelt thank you goes out to all of the sponsors that donated items (over 80 items were donated!) and each of the community members that bid on the items. It’s your support that allows us to help children in our community!
In the days before school ended, we also handed out books to every second grader in Yalobusha County at Davidson Elementary and Coffeeville Elementary. Through generous donations, we were able to purchase two books for every second grader to take home and read over the summer.
This project is intended to promote literacy and prepare students for upcoming tests. This year, local author and JA member Jasmine Hirsch spoke to the students about the process of becoming an author and encouraged budding writers to pursue their own dreams of writing and publishing books.
After the presentation, JA members allowed each student to select two books to take home for summer reading. It’s always so fun for us to see how excited the children are to pick their books. It is our hope that each student will develop a love of reading and learning.
For more information on our projects and events, please follow Junior Auxiliary of Water Valley on Facebook. Businesses or individuals interested in sponsoring any of our programs or identifying any community needs for our consideration are encouraged to contact us at juniorauxiliary.watervalley@gmail.com.
