Kids Day at the fair is all about 'building the future'

WELLINGTON — Wielding a hammer with the greatest of ease, Serenity Garriott looked like a pro Wednesday as she tapped nails into wood blocks at the Lorain County Fair. The 9-year-old Wellington girl's project quickly took shape — a small birdhouse to take home. "I just think it's fun to make things," Serenity said, her voice nearly drowned out by thumps and thwacks as dozens of other tiny builders tried their hand at woodcrafting. Reaser Construction provided enough supplies for 150 birdhouses. Marketing Director Amanda Reaser said the hands-on activity was all about "building the future." "It's so good to get the kids involved and see what it's like to take something from nothing and build something," she said. "We need more kids engaged in the trades, and this is just one way that we can show them how exciting it is to be a carpenter and build things." Kids Day has been a midweek tradition for years at the fair. For 2022, many of its attractions centered on science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM. Mark Light, who heads a statewide 4-H STEM initiative for Ohio State University, parked a big bus in front of the grandstand and let kids hop aboard. Armed with devices donated by Apple and a two-year grant from the Ohio Department of Education using federal COVID-19 relief dollars, the Mobile Design Lab is a traveling classroom. Its mission is to deliver the kind of hands-on activities many younger students didn't get at school "because they missed so much during the pandemic," Light said. "What we're trying to do is move kids from being consumers of technology to becoming creators of technology," he said. Inside, kids can grab a screen and get a lesson in robotics, or instead of just playing a game they can learn to write the digital soundtrack for a game. Other Kids Day fun was less educational — there was a Dippin' Dots ice cream eating contest, gem panning, appearances by Cinderella and Snow White, a magic show, stencil painting and prizes. The fair always has celebrated Lorain County's agricultural heritage, and that was on display inside the Lorain County Beekeepers Association barn. Members there handed out coloring supplies for Kids Day and watched as children rushed through a bee maze. Zya Miranda, 8, of Lorain, was more interested in a cross-section of a beehive behind glass. "I found it! I found the queen!" she yelled, pointing to a longer and shinier bee crawling across the honeycomb. Randy Leiby, a trustee with the association, estimated there are 10,000 bees in the display, which has long been a popular draw. A queen can lay 1,500 to 2,000 eggs in a day, he said, so the display is always buzzing. The bee population in Lorain County is "OK, but just OK," Leiby said. Varroa mites are infesting hives, and he fears they can't be stopped. That's a big problem, if true, since honey bees are responsible for pollinating crops. Leiby got into beekeeping as a hobby after retiring, "and it's become a big hobby" with a lot on the line, he said. He now has 28 hives and this year started raising his own queens to make the colony self-sustaining. "Have I been stung? I've been stung every once in a while, but it doesn't bother me. I don't even swell up anymore," he said. Zya didn't seem worried at all about being stung, instead enjoying straws of flavored honey that are a perennial bestseller at the association's fair barn. "I just think bees are cool animals because they could sting you but they usually just crawl around and mind their own business," she said. Reporter Jason Hawk can be reached at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.