Et cetera : Party in the Park kept VS FFA members busy

By VS FFA Co-Reporters Katie Isbell and Jessica Alderson

On the 26th of June, Vinton community members were getting ready for the fun time to be had at Vinton's annual Party in the Park. People were out and about setting up for the picnic Farmers Savings Bank holds, the Farmer's Market, the Kiddie Parade, and all the other fun activities that were held down town. With community members helping out, the Vinton-Shellsburg FFA members also took time out of their day to make the event a little cleaner by setting up trash cans around the Benton County Courthouse and the Farmers Savings Bank.

When Party in the Park actually started, FFA members were still out helping. Three members- Stevie Henry, Olivia Walker, and Keri Webster- worked some of their labor hours helping with the FSB Community Picnic by handing out hotdogs and restocking chips and drinks. Two other members- Katie Isbell and Karley Kenney- ran some of the carnival games for their positions of the Benton County Fair Queen candidates. This was just the beginning of Party in the Park, and the help that the FFA members did.

On Friday, members went down town to pick up the trash cans and move them to Riverside Park and to set up gates for the animals that were to be in the FFA Petting Zoo. At the petting zoo on Saturday members brought in goats, cows, chickens, ducks, and rabbits, along with the horses for pony rides. The pony rides were open from 11 A.M to 3 P.M and was it packed! Kids were lined up all day to ride the horses, some only came once and others enjoyed it so much that they came back for more rides!

On Sunday, after Party in the Park was over, members of the Vinton-Shellsburg FFA went to the park to help clean up. They picked up all of the trash cans that were scattered throughout the park and they took back all of the gates that they borrowed from the fair grounds. All in all, everything went incredibly smoothly and everyone had a blast at Party in the Park!