Kids Love Fall Festival

DAYTON - Families flocked to the Fall Festival, the newest addition to Day- ton on Tour, Saturday for family-friendly fun focused on kids.

Cara Watts oversaw and coordinated the new kid- friendly event.

"A lot of families are com- ing out with kids," Cara Watts said during the event.

Cara Watts' husband, John Watts, estimated 70 to 75 people attended the event in the first two hours alone.

John Watts, who worked at the apple bob station, said he was happy with how the event turned out.

"The weather is perfect," John Watts said. "(And) peo- ple have been really nice."

The apple bob station drew several curious children while John Watts tied apples to string so they would be suspended in the air. Once tied up, kids would pick an apple and try to take a bite out of it without using their hands or arms.

Youngster Nick Watts demonstrated, saying if a par- ticipant was able to get a bite out of the apple, they could untie it and take it.

John Watts said half the fun of the event was watch- ing people chase the apples around determinedly. Cara Watts said she was pleased with the turnout for the event.

"Nobody knew how it was going to turn out," Cara Watts said.

Cara Watts had her whole family involved, helping work at the event. Her hus- band, sister and children all helped keep children and families entertained with a variety of activities. A horse- drawn carriage appeared ev- ery 30 minutes to take event participants out on a tour of a historic neighborhood in Dayton.

Chamber Director Brad McMasters said the chamber office is pleased with how Dayton on Tour turned out as a whole. McMasters said the office is happy with the participation with the home tours, the art crawl and the Fall Festival.

"The art and wine reception in the upstairs gallery of the Depot was also very well attended," McMasters said. "We received very positive feedback from the Dayton Historic Depot Society in regards to the number of His- toric Home Tour tickets sold."

McMasters said the chamber office also received posi- tive feedback from nearly all of the venues of the art crawl, saying they all received a no- table number of participants entering the businesses, mu- seums and galleries through- out the day.

" We're so proud and thankful for all the hard work of chamber board member Cara Watts and her family for their hard work on the Fall Festival, Lael Loyd and the arts community for their work on the art demonstrations, art venues and art crawl, all of the coordinators and volunteers of the Depot Society," Mc- Masters said.

He added that the chamber office is appreciative of the business owners, non-profits and the student organization who added to the festivities.