LAKEWOOD - Young people will have run of Lakewood on Saturday.
A number of events are planned up and down the village in celebration of the inaugural Kids' Day. Mindy Sandberg, owner of Mindy's Place, said that nearly everyone on the main strip of Lakewood is participating.
''We pretty much have all the businesses on Chautauqua Avenue,'' Mrs. Sandberg said.
Children will find plenty to do in town, from a ''Bubbles and Breathing'' relaxation technique at Crescent Moon to a scrapbooking exercise at the A Page In Time, Mrs. Sandberg said. The day gives the village a chance to showcase all it has to offer, she said.
''We're showing the Lakewood spirit,'' she said. ''We feel we are our own community.''
Mindy's Place will once again be sponsoring Alex's Lemonade Stand, Mrs. Sandberg said. In addition, the restaurant will host The Balloon Man and a sidewalk-coloring contest.
''All the kids are going to get a box of chalk and a square on the sidewalk,'' she said. ''We're going to make sure we fill up the whole street.''
Image Embroidery is adding to the kids' enjoyment by donating backsacks emblazoned with ''First Annual Lakewood Kids' Day.'' Yesterday's and Hungry Hannah's will provide the children with lunch during their fun days, Mrs. Sandberg said, and Chautauqua Nutrition will provide small-sized shakes. Indulge Salon will give kids temporary hair coloring and do their nails.
Other businesses on the street getting into the fun with assorted games and activities, Mrs. Sandberg said, include Amy's Place, Christa's Angel on Earth, the Lakewood Apothecary and Wellman Brothers.
''They're doing things like filling up jars, and you have to guess how many things are in them for a prize,'' she said.
Tordella's, Casey's Heating, Groomingdale's and M&T Bank all donated money toward prizes for kids, Mrs. Sandberg said. The Lakewood-Busti Police Department, Lakewood Fire Department and the Lakewood Memorial Library are also involved in the event, she added, and the Lakewood Rotary Club is also a sponsor of the day's festivities.
Mrs. Sandberg said she always puts Alex's Lemonade Stand out on the Fourth of July, with all the money raised benefiting cancer research. She said that any opportunity to do that again is a good one.
''This is just another excuse to put the Lemonade Stand out, and just make it entirely a kids' day,'' she said.
CHILDREN'S AUTHOR TO VISIT
One of the highlights of the first annual Lakewood Kids' Day will be an appearance at Off The Beaten Path Bookstore, 28 Chautauqua Ave., by children's author Sean McCartney.
McCartney is the author of ''The Treasure Hunters Club: Secrets of the Magical Medallions,'' about four present-day eighth-graders' struggle to maintain possession of a secret medallion as they are pursued by an evil treasure hunter.
''The book is a fast-paced action kind of novel,'' McCartney said. ''It's grabbing kids' attention because it doesn't bog you down with long passages - we designed it specifically to be quick, hard-hitting, fun and something that they can imagine themselves doing.''
A graduate of Alfred University, McCartney is a teacher in Canton, Ohio. He visited Bemus Point Elementary School in June - where a relative of his wife teaches - and where his book has been purchased to be used as part of the curriculum.
He met up with Holly Richardson, owner of Off The Beaten Path, while in the area and asked her about doing a book signing. The concept of Kids' Day came up, and McCartney put together a pair of activities that youngsters could do in correlation with the book.
''On one side you have to break a code, and on the flip side you have to color a medallion,'' McCartney said. ''I wanted something for the older kids and something for the younger kids.''
The book is targeted for readers from fourth grade through eighth grade, McCartney said. He said he is looking forward to meeting enthusiastic young readers in Lakewood as they are enjoyed themselves during the Kids' Day.
''I've never done this type of thing before, so I'm excited about it,'' he said. ''I've done two signings so far here in Ohio, and they've both sold out. It's been amazing to me.''
For more information about McCartney and ''The Treasure Hunters Club,'' visit his website at www.treasurehuntersbookclub.com. Video trailers of the book, which he hopes to show in Lakewood during his visit, are also available there.
