Garrettsville – Just when it appears that there will be no end to stagnating winter doldrums, Family Week breaks up the monotony with live entertainment, contests, dinners out, a health fair and carnival of fun. Sponsored by the Garrettsville-Hiram chapter of the Rotary Club, this annual weeklong celebration to empower the family runs from Sunday, February 20 – Saturday, February 26. And it’s all free!
New this year is a Health Fair on Saturday during the Family Fun Festival, 11a.m.-2 p.m. Robinson Memorial Hospital will be at Garfield Elementary School to introduce Dr. Jessica Bittence of Garrettsville Family Medicine and the Robinson Health Center at Garrettsville, which will open near the high school and Just for Kids child care center on State Route 88 later this spring. Dr. Bittence will be at an “Ask-A-Doc” table, so the community can meet her and ask questions. The doctor will offer blood pressure readings and hand out information on different services and support groups Robinson offers.
The week’s activities kick off with a Music Festival featuring live performances by local vocal groups at 2 p.m. Sunday, February 20 at Garfield Middle School’s Iva Walker Auditorium.
Tuesday, February 22 is Grandparents’ Night at Portage County Library’s Garrettsville Branch, from 5-6:30 p.m.
Friday, February 25 is Family Night Out, with participating local merchants offering special deals to inspire families to go out together for the night. (See the ad in today’s Villager.)
Winners of family-friendly contests will be publicly awarded at Rotary Family Week’s Recognition Program on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., following the festival. Students aged K-12 from Garfield, Windham, private and home schools are competing in an art contest with pieces that reflect the Rotary Family Week Theme: “Putting Families First.” Judges will select from each grade category the three entries that best reflect the Family Week Theme, originality and neatness.
A community-wide photo contest (open to all residents of Freedom, Garrettsville, Hiram, Nelson and Windham) is also based on the “Family First” theme in two categories – individual photo and a photo collage. These family photos reflect any one or all of the following characteristics:
• Having Family Fun Together
• Memorable Family Activity
• Our Family Adventure
• Reflecting a Family Tradition
• A Humorous Family Moment
• A Special Family Vacation
• Other Family Photos depicting special events or memories
The Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary Club has also searched out the longest-married couple living in the communities of Freedom, Garrettsville, Hiram, Nelson, and Windham. The Longest-Married Couple in our area will be honored during the awards ceremony on Saturday, February 26. In addition to being recognized, the couple will receive an assortment of gifts from local businesses, including Sparkle Market, IGA, Art N Flowers, The Hiram Inn, and Main Street Grille Restaurant.
Finally, the selection of a Family-of-the-Year (from Freedom, Garrettsville, Hiram, Nelson, or Windham) will be celebrated as part of Rotary Family Week, because “Strong families are the building blocks of strong communities,” says Rotary president Amy Crawford. A family exemplary of the Family Week theme will be recognized and honored Saturday afternoon, with an Ohio Family Fun prize package.
Eligible families have been nominated by community members who submitted essays describing how the family puts their family first and increases family time together. This contest — and the entire line-up of Rotary’s Family Week activities — was founded on the basis of former First Lady Barbara Bush’s famous statement, “Our success as a society depends not on what happens in the White House but on what happens inside your house.”
New this year is a Health Fair on Saturday during the Family Fun Festival, 11a.m.-2 p.m. Robinson Memorial Hospital will be at Garfield Elementary School to introduce Dr. Jessica Bittence of Garrettsville Family Medicine and the Robinson Health Center at Garrettsville, which will open near the high school and Just for Kids child care center on State Route 88 later this spring. Dr. Bittence will be at an “Ask-A-Doc” table, so the community can meet her and ask questions. The doctor will offer blood pressure readings and hand out information on different services and support groups Robinson offers.
The week’s activities kick off with a Music Festival featuring live performances by local vocal groups at 2 p.m. Sunday, February 20 at Garfield Middle School’s Iva Walker Auditorium.
Tuesday, February 22 is Grandparents’ Night at Portage County Library’s Garrettsville Branch, from 5-6:30 p.m.
Friday, February 25 is Family Night Out, with participating local merchants offering special deals to inspire families to go out together for the night. (See the ad in today’s Villager.)
Winners of family-friendly contests will be publicly awarded at Rotary Family Week’s Recognition Program on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., following the festival. Students aged K-12 from Garfield, Windham, private and home schools are competing in an art contest with pieces that reflect the Rotary Family Week Theme: “Putting Families First.” Judges will select from each grade category the three entries that best reflect the Family Week Theme, originality and neatness.
A community-wide photo contest (open to all residents of Freedom, Garrettsville, Hiram, Nelson and Windham) is also based on the “Family First” theme in two categories – individual photo and a photo collage. These family photos reflect any one or all of the following characteristics:
• Having Family Fun Together
• Memorable Family Activity
• Our Family Adventure
• Reflecting a Family Tradition
• A Humorous Family Moment
• A Special Family Vacation
• Other Family Photos depicting special events or memories
The Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary Club has also searched out the longest-married couple living in the communities of Freedom, Garrettsville, Hiram, Nelson, and Windham. The Longest-Married Couple in our area will be honored during the awards ceremony on Saturday, February 26. In addition to being recognized, the couple will receive an assortment of gifts from local businesses, including Sparkle Market, IGA, Art N Flowers, The Hiram Inn, and Main Street Grille Restaurant.
Finally, the selection of a Family-of-the-Year (from Freedom, Garrettsville, Hiram, Nelson, or Windham) will be celebrated as part of Rotary Family Week, because “Strong families are the building blocks of strong communities,” says Rotary president Amy Crawford. A family exemplary of the Family Week theme will be recognized and honored Saturday afternoon, with an Ohio Family Fun prize package.
Eligible families have been nominated by community members who submitted essays describing how the family puts their family first and increases family time together. This contest — and the entire line-up of Rotary’s Family Week activities — was founded on the basis of former First Lady Barbara Bush’s famous statement, “Our success as a society depends not on what happens in the White House but on what happens inside your house.”
