The Huntsville Item; September 25, 2004

By Kurt Allen/Assistant Managing Editor

Cody Ziober keeps his eye on a flying football with the New Waverly Public Library, under construction, in the background during Saturday's annual library cook-off activities. Photo by Richard Nira/The Huntsville Item.

Give them an afternoon, some games and a plenty of room, and they'll have fun. In fact, they'll make it look like child's play.

While Friday and Saturday's New Waverly Library Cook-Off featured plenty of grown-up activities, every effort was made to cater to the children, too. And why not, say event organizers.

"It's good, clean family fun," said Reinetta Gingles, a Canton resident who joined her friend Dee Kolb at the site of the library on Highway 75 South on Saturday. "The kids can run around and you don't have to worry about them."

Gingles and Kolb were manning a hair-painting booth in the children's area at the cook-off Saturday. A steady flow of children, many of them girls, showed up to get their hair sprayed different colors.

Nearby, other kids lined up to participate in a cake walk, while others paid a couple of tickets each to hurl soaking sponges at a teen poking his head through a target wall.

"It's very important to have entertainment for the kids," said Becky Kolb, who was in charge of youth activities. Her husband Ron is one of the key event organizers and has done much of the construction work at the new library building "We have all kinds of games for them to play. We have arts and crafts."

All the money raised from the cook-off and its related activities - things like an auction, raffle, garage sale and food booths and more - will go toward the library's construction fund. Of that, the children's booths contribute a significant portion.

Becky Kolb said the features available at this year's cook-off included an expanded children's area. In addition to the sponge toss and cake walk, other booths featured washer pitching, football throwing, a fishing pond, sand art and beading and a tin punch.

"We make pretty good money for it and the kids have a ball," Becky Kolb said.

In addition, the children's area makes the cook-off even more of a community affair by including the assistance of local high school students. Kolb got permission from New Waverly ISD officials to visit the high school and drop off posters seeking volunteers to man the booths.

"That's thanks to the cooperation between the library and the school system," Kolb said.

Six-year-old Katy hadn't been at the cook-off long Saturday when she found her way to the hair-painting booth, but she and relative Alex, 8, already had their sights set on other things.

"We went on the horse ride and we're going to ride the fire truck," Alex said.

Ten-year-old Travis tried his hand at the sponge tossing booth, missing on three throws despite being motivated by a smiling teenager who made noises and stuck out his tongue.

Travis said the football throw was also a fun event, but he added he wasn't sure what we was going to do next.

Miguel, 12, was joined by several friends in an open part of the cook-off field, throwing and catching a football. With sunny and warm weather, the boys were enjoying themselves.

"I've eaten barbecue at three or four different places," he said. "They've got some good cooking, too. My favorite are the ribs."