Kids, Diversity days keep families busy
By Barbara Arntsen
Published in News on August 7, 2005 2:03 AM
Saturday was a day full of entertainment for Goldsboro families from one side of town to the other.
Children began trickling into the Boys & Girls Club on Royall Avenue just before 11 a.m. to celebrate a day in their honor.
Water balloons and squirting water guns, filled by a nearby garden hose, kept the young ones cooled off as they played on the ball field.
Some jumped around inside a Moon Walk ride next to the parking lot, while others played a frantic game of touch football.
Inside the club, older children amused themselves with games of Ping-Pong, foosball and pool. Some had fun playing basketball.
It was enough activity for all to work up a healthy appetite for the freshly cooked barbecue and hot dogs available for free.
As the children and their parents gathered in the sheltered picnic area, Mayor Al King told the group how important it was to provide healthy activities for the children.
"They are our future," King said. "We've got to give them productive, wholesome activities, or they'll find something else to do, and we probably won't like it."
Across town, a crowd gathered for Diversity Day at H.V. Brown Park.
A line of antique cars gleamed and glistened in the sun, as spectators walked by and admired the vintage autos.
Strains of bluegrass music could be heard from the street, as a band of musicians performed a variety of toe-tapping tunes.
Out in a nearby field, several people enjoyed trotting around the area on horseback.
The afternoon sun, coupled with summer humidity, sent people scurrying to get icy drinks and scoops of ice cream.
Some people beat the heat by sitting underneath the shade of a big oak tree, where they listened to different speakers recite spiritual poetry.
Others draped towels over their heads, or opened up umbrellas, to block the sun's rays as they sat, talked and laughed with one another.
Children darted in and out of the playground, sliding through the sand, while playing games of hide and seek.
Vendor booths dotted the park, offering jewelry, clothes and art.
Robyn Jacobs, of Artful Creations, displayed her paintings for the first time Saturday. Her work was a combination of picturesque scenes, portraits and flowers painted on dishes.
Ms. Jacobs said she had only been painting about seven months, but had been encouraged by friends to display her work.
"They told me that I had talent and I should show it to someone," she said.
In the middle of the park, the Second Birth Christian Ministries of Dudley kept a crowd entertained with the antics of their puppets.
The mop-haired puppets sang songs of inspiration and performed faith-based skits with messages of perseverance.
"Without faith, it's impossible to please God," one puppet intoned. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."