By BRITTANY FHOLER
Cove Leader-Press
Despite a blustery wind, families came out Saturday morning to enjoy free family fun at the 5th annual Ronnie Viss Kids’ Day, hosted by the Cen Tex Exchange Club.
Event chair Tammy Martinez, said that this event is in honor of Ronnie Viss, who died in May 2022.
Viss was a beloved community member and member of the Exchange Club. The event serves as a community event that aimed at preventing child abuse and promoting resources that can help with the prevention of child abuse.
“Everything is free here- nothing is being charged,” Martinez said. “It’s not a cheap event to put on, but again, the community came out and just supported us. It’s a nice thing to see that our community, regardless of the rain or shine, weather whatever, they’re willing to be in this cold weather just to service our community.”
Although the high winds and chance for rain prevented the bounce houses from being set up, families still enjoyed a free lunch (hot dog, bag of chips and a juice pouch), as well mini train rides, face painting, nail painting by the CCISD cosmetology students, different activities at the other vendor tables, and a stuffed animal station, where kids could pick out their own stuffed animal to stuff themselves, similar to “Build a Bear.”
Sheena Burks attended the event with her family, including her children, Josh, Jeremiah, Journee and Jasmine.
She said this was their first time attending the Kids Day event. She had heard about it through their church, Cove Life. Her favorite part of the event was getting to see people she hadn’t seen in a while, she said.
Communities in Schools was one of the organizations with a table/booth. They had two mirrors set up, with markers for the kids to write one word describing themselves on to finish the sentence: “I am...”, with the stipulation being that it must be something positive.
Communities in Schools works with students and families in elementary and secondary campuses in the district.
“We’re a dropout preventive program,” said Winett Vines, with Communities in Schools. “What we do is we work with at-risk kids. We want them to be successful, not only in education, but in life as well, so what we do is we believe in mental health. We believe in making sure the mental and the physical are in good status for them to be successful.”
Vines said that this was her first time at the Kids Day event, but she knew Ronnie Viss as a person, and she called it a privilege to be in attendance.
“This is just like a extension of who he was,” Vines said. “He was an amazing person, so I think that this is awesome, and I’d like to continue to come out.”
Different organizations helped with the event, either by sponsoring or by setting up a table. Organizations include: Ag Life Extension, Altrusa International, the Boys and Girls Club, CCISD Cosmetology students, the Cen Tex Exchange Club, the Rainbow Room, the Child Welfare Board, Communities in Schools, Citizens Police Academy, the Exchange Evening Club, Cove Life Church, Crawford Bower Funeral Home, Moose Lodge, Firefly Aerospace, First Baptist Church, Copperas Cove H-E-B Plus!, the Copperas Cove Historical Society, the Holy Family Catholic Church, Refresh Spa and Salon, Black Meg 43, STAR Group-Veterans Helping Veterans, and more. The Copperas Cove Police and Fire Departments also made appearances at the event.
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