Submitted
Families are encouraged to grab their strollers and head downtown for the second annual Baby Care Street Fair in historic downtown Hays. The event, sponsored by Hays Interagency Coordinating Council’s Hospital to Home Committee, seeks to provide parents with helpful resources, and at the same time offer a no-cost morning of family fun.
The event will be from 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday, July 23, on Main Street between 10th Street and 12th Street. There will be a car seat safety check lane on the east side of 1000 Fort, and a lactation lounge for nursing mothers in Hays Arts Council’s annex at 1010 Main. There will be prenatal and infant massages available from Samantha Baker, a fire truck with the Hays Fire Department, as well as the annual Downtown Hays side walk sale.
This year a Facebook baby photo contest has been added to the events. Entries must be with infants birth to 12 months and the photo cannot be taken professionally. The first place winner receives a $75 cash prize and a $50 off card for a photo session with Holly Ray Photography, and the second place winner likewise receives a $50 cash prize and a $50 off card for a photo session with Holly Ray Photography. To enter, visit 2016 Baby Photo Contest on Facebook. The photo with the most likes wins. The winners will be announced at 10:30 a.m.
Several community agencies and businesses will have tables at the event offering helpful parenting resources or family activities.
These agencies include Early Childhood Connections, Hays Area Children’s Center Infant/Toddler Services, Hays Medical Center Lactation Clinic, Hays Medical Center Pediatrics, Hays Medical Center Women’s Center, Healthy Start, First Care Clinic, Rook County Health Center, Children & Youth with Special Health Care Needs, and La Leche League.
This event is scheduled in conjunction with World Breastfeeding Week 2016. This year’s theme is about how breastfeeding is a key element in getting us to think about how to value our wellbeing from the start of life, how to respect each other and care for the world we share. For more information about that campaign, visit www.worldbreastfeedingweek.org.
The Baby Care Street Fair has all coordinated with the Ellis County Cancer Council’s “Hit the Bricks” 5K walk/run/stroll-a-thon. Registration is from 5:45 a.m. to 6:45 a.m. with the race beginning at 7 a.m. at 10th and Fort streets.