The Glove City Coalition, in partnership with the Fulton County Youth Bureau, ASAPP’S Promise Coalition and the Johnstown Community Coalition, will host its second annual Fulton County Youth Day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., July 16, at Trail Station Park.

“Last year’s event was very well received. We had a good turnout with more than 300 people in attendance. We expect at least that this year and possibly more,” Gloversville City Coalition director and project coordinator Bonnie Peck said. “Last year, the Gloversville Recreation Program brought their participants and this year they will be attending again and the YMCA Day Camp will also be attending. One way we knew people were having a good time was when it rained for about half an hour, people didn’t leave. They went under cover and then came back out once the rain let up.”

In the event of rain this year, the alternate date will be July 17.

Fulton County Youth Day is an opportunity for the community to support healthy living and positive community involvement. All activities and booths will be free.

Some activities will require youth to be accompanied by an adult and have a signed permission form in order to participate.

“One thing we learned from last year’s event was that while our target age group was school-age children, most families that attended included pre-school age children for which some of the most popular activities were not age-appropriate,” Peck said. “So this year, we are having a ‘kiddy corner’ which will have a bounce house specifically available to younger kids as well as organizations with activities targeting a younger participant.”

The event will provide opportunities for young people to build social skills through group games, team-building activities, fun competitions and recreational activities. Planned activities include an obstacle bounce house, lawn games, corn hole, a tug of war contest at 12:30 p.m., sack races at 1:30 p.m. and Romano Dance Academy will be teaching a group dance at noon and Axis Fitness will be there with a fitness challenge for participants to complete.

There will also be a DJ, face painting and free STEM kits from Home Depot. A “Mascot Dance-Off” will take place at 11:30 a.m. where the audience will vote for the best mascot dancer.

The Gloversville-Johnstown Kiwanis Club will be making free hot dogs for kids from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Crystal Geyser has donated water.

Youth Day Partners include the Fulton County Youth Bureau and Danforth Fund, and Youth Day Advocate Sponsors include Nathan Littauer Hospital, Fage, MVP Healthcare and Punky Balloonster.

The Glove City Coalition will be honoring three young people who were chosen as Youth Community Engagement Award winners for the year and two adult Community Advocate For Youth Award recipients at 1 p.m.

Gloversville Transit System busses will provide free transportation for anyone who identifies that they are going to Fulton County Youth Day and get off at Trail Station Park between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. in Gloversville and Johnstown.

“We hope to involve youth participants in social skill building activities including games, team-building exercises, fun competitions and recreational activities that support community connectedness,” Peck said. “Local organizations will be on hand to provide families with information, resources and activities for families. We especially want to do all this in an event that is free for all to participate in and plan to have something available for all ages from preschoolers through young adults. We would love to see youth from all over the........

© The Leader Herald