Fun and learning at Children's Festival
By Diane Beaudoin Journal Correspondent

The halls of the Overlook Middle School in Ashburnham looked anything but school-day like on Saturday as the Ashburnham-Westminster Community Partnership for Children held their 9th annual Young Children's Festival.

Exhibitors set up booths promoting fun, hands-on activities and crafts for the youngsters, featuring advice on fire safety, animals, toys, illnesses and how-to ideas. The festival's goal is to promote business and organizations that can educate and entertain children and their families.

A big part of the entertainment was Blinkee the Clown who spent the morning creating balloon animals for an endless line of children of all ages. Tiny tots could be seen wearing balloon hats and cuddling their favorite air-filled animal.

Another exhibitor, Top Fun Aviation Toy Museum, demonstrated toy airplanes and gave some of the fliers out. The museum has moved to Fitchburg from Dracut and is completely dedicated to aviationrelated toys.

The MOMS Club of the Montachusett Region gave out literature about being a stay-at-home mothers, and the support the club can offer - the international group offers the benefits of friendship, playgroups, kids tours and activities and mom's night out.

Debbie Pettirossi set up shop with iinformation on Lyme Disease. Pettirossi herself contracted Lyme Disease three years ago and has two daughters who also suffer from the illness.

"I believe I got it in my own back yard," she said.

Pettirossi said her oldest daughter, now five years old, contracted the disease first. Debbie herself had the illness and passed it on to her second daughter, now three, through breast milk.

"My biggest symptom was incredible fatigue," she said. "I am here to promote awareness."

Lyme Disease is contracted through tick bites and is a bacterial infection that may initially cause flu-like symptoms. Pettirossi said the first indicator is a bull'seye rash where the bite occurred.

"I just want information out there now that spring and summer are here once again," she said.

Another exhibitor, The American Red Cross, handed out information on life guarding classes, as well as other courses such as babysitter certification.

Brittany Moccio, a Red Cross volunteer also demonstrated the stop, drop and roll technique if a person should catch on fire.

Canines for Disabled Kids had information about assistance dogs for children with disabilities. The CDK, partnered with NEADS in Princeton, which is the nation's top provider of assistance dogs in the country.

Assistance dogs help their human companions with such things are retrieving and carrying objects, pressing buttons and opening doors, hearing an alarm or another person, and are motivators in physical therapy.

Heifer International was also on hand with baby goats on display for children and adults to pat. Heifer is a non profit organization to end world hunger by giving cows, goats and other food and income-producing livestock to impoverished families around the world.

Heifer volunteer Matt Cloyd held Tulip, a three-week-old goat, who lives on Overlook Farm in Rutland.

"Children love to see and pat the baby animals," Cloyd said, surrounded by youngsters.