Kids now have place to play at the fair

TIFFIN — Maybe the kids have had their fill of looking at farm animals. Or, they're tired of seemingly walking around aimlessly. Or, whatever else interests their parents does nothing for them.It's time for parents to exercise crankiness control.So, maybe a trip to the Seneca County Fair's kids activities in the Booth Building is in order.Miniature golf, crafts and bins full of corn to play in await youngsters seeking entertainment, courtesy of the Junior Fair."This is actually is actually our first year of hosting kids activities down in the booth building," said Lauren Gabel, who shares the assistant Junior Fair coordinator's duties with her mother, Joann Gabel. "It is going to be open Monday through Saturday, from 10 a.m., to 6 p.m. Kids can come anytime then to do crafts and hang out and have a good time down there."The booth building is a place where the achievements of various 4-H clubs and the like create bulletin boards celebrating achievements and the like. And, this year, they can try their hand at such activities as putting a golf ball into a hole, making a chicken out of a folded paper-plate and decorating a crown to wear around the fairgrounds. The junior fair this year has a theme of "Gone Wild," and some of the bulletin boards present information about wild animals that youngsters may find interesting."We decided the booth building needed some activities for kids to do while their parents are down there, like, looking at kids' projects and things," Lauren Gabel said. "Also, on the fairgrounds here, there wasn't really a place where kids could go for, like, educational things. So, we wanted to make it a little bit educational, but they're still getting fun out of it."Gabel said she noticed the miniature golf as being popular from the get-go on Monday."In past years, the Junior Fair board has used golfing during our 4-H kickoff," she said. "Kids would come and play games for a penny. It was a huge hit at kickoff, so we thought we might as well put it down at kids activities for, like, the older youth to participate in the kids activities as well."Gabel said she hopes for the kids activities to become a mainstay at the fair."We'll see improvement from this year, and we can make things better for next year," she said. "It's good to see what kids enjoy and go from there."