American Heritage Girls - Ava

This is an article copied from Fosters (6-1-2013 - Fosters Article).  This is the event Ava and Mom were at while Mason and I went to the Bellamy hike.  She got her picture in the paper!!!

Children’s Fest opens with success By Liz Markhlevskaya lmark@fosters.com 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) 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. 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) 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. 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) 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. 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) “It’s been going great,” said Alexander, who said the Children’s Festival took members of Dover Main Street about six months to organize.