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Children’s
Fest opens with success
By Liz Markhlevskaya
lmark@fosters.com
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Sunday, June 2, 2013
 Liam McNeal, 5, gets his face painted during the first
annual Great Dover Chamber of Commerce Children’s Day at Henry Law Park
Saturday.
(John Huff/Staff photographer)
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DOVER — Just in time for the end
of the school year, children and their families gathered in the downtown on
Saturday for a day of music, art, and a variety of educational
demonstrations.
Dover’s inaugural Children’s Festival, hosted by Dover Main Street, was met
by hot temperatures, but that did not stop downtown visitors from enjoying all
that Dover has to offer.
Throughout the morning and afternoon, music and dance performances were held
at the Rotary Arts Pavilion in front of the Children’s Museum. Storytellers
entertained children at the Noggin Factory during the day, and the Woodman
Institute Museum presented historical re-enactments at the City Hall.
Artwork created by students in Dover public and private schools decorated
places throughout the city and downtown businesses, and several local
restaurants were offering free or discounted meals for children.
Dozens of booths from local organizations decorated Henry Law Park, where
children were offered arts and crafts, face painting, or various
demonstrations.
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American
Heritage Girls’ Ava Bois, 7, sells popcorn and water at the first annual
Great Dover Chamber of Commerce Children’s Day at Henry Law Park Saturday.
(John Huff/Staff photographer)
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At one booth, Emily Calhoun,
wildlife educator and outreach fellow for the Center for Wildlife in Cape
Neddick, Maine, was showing a corn snake to the children in attendance. The
snake, named Zipper, was calmly laying on Calhoun’s shoulders, as children
petted the snake and asked questions about the animal.
“He loves children,” said Calhoun about the snake.
She said that Zipper is one of 25 animals at the Center for Wildlife who are
considered nonreleasable to the wild — the snake, she said, has been a pet
his entire life.
“I’ve touched a lot of snakes before and that was different,” said 7-year-old
Owen Culcasi, of Dover.
His brother, 9-year-old Connor Culcasi, was studying the owl wings, a turtle
shell, and owl talons on display at the booth.
Connor, picking up talons from a Great Horned Owl, said, “It looks like what
Harry Potter used in the Chamber of Secrets.”
Dover resident Donna Jones said she brought her three grandsons — Connor,
Owen, and 5-year-old Aidan Culcasi — to the event as a way to spend time with
them and learn about what Dover has to offer.
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Bechy
Kerr watches her son Liam grind coffee at the Little Tree Education Center’s
tent at the first annual Great Dover Chamber of Commerce Children’s Day at
Henry Law Park Saturday.
(John Huff/Staff photographer)
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At the other end of Henry Law
Park, the Cocheco Valley Humane Society was accepting donations at its
kissing booth — those in attendance could let themselves be slobbered by two
gentle dogs, Doss and Luke, who have both been adopted from a rescue shelter
and now live in Rochester.
“They don’t always get a kiss, sometimes they get a sniff instead,” said Deb
Chaput, volunteer with Cocheco Valley Humane Society.
The Humane Society on Saturday was also offering face paint for the children,
and 7-year-old Amanda Callahan, of Dover, had a blue paw print painted on her
cheek.
While painting a turtle at another booth on Saturday, Amanda said her
favorite activity at the festival was building fishing poles out of various
craft materials at the Camp Invention booth, and then using magnets at the
end of the pole to catch plastic fish, with magnets inside.
“She loves art and science,” said Amanda’s mother, Kate Callahan.
Michele Alexander, director of Dover Main Street, said the festival, which
was met by 90-degree temperatures throughout Saturday, was seeing a good
turnout.
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Vincent
Pershing, 6, paints a car at the Paint for Fun tent during the first annual
Great Dover Chamber of Commerce Children’s Day at Henry Law Park Saturday.
(John Huff/Staff photographer)
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“It’s been going great,” said
Alexander, who said the Children’s Festival took members of Dover Main Street
about six months to organize.
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