Kids event blends fun, learning

Getting into the back of a police car isn't most people's idea of fun. Unless you are 7 years old and you've never done it before.

Chris Mastuzo of the Carteret Boys & Girls Club of Manassas experienced this and more firsthand Wednesday at the organization's National Day of Kids Celebration in Dale City. Nearly 400 registered members of various Northern Virginia Boys & Girls Clubs took part of the structured event that was part learning experience, part good time.

"I liked the walkie-talkies," said the 7-year-old Chris, who exited one door of the Prince William County police vehicle only to race around to get back inside through the other door.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., children enjoyed bingo, arts and crafts and scaling inflatable walls and moon bounces. There were also fire engines from Prince William County Volunteer Fire & Rescue, and a trailer where children got a firsthand lesson on fire safety. In each of the three rooms, small groups got to test their knowledge of potential fire hazards before eventually climbing out the back window of the trailer filled with controlled smoke.

Hylton Boys & Girls Club member Cory Harris learned that he should touch a door first to feel for warmth before trying to exit that way out of a burning building. But the 12-year-old's educational fire safety experience didn't measure up to a bungee jumping activity in which children could bounce around an inflatable area while attached to a harness-like swing.

"I liked doing flips," Harris said.

Wednesday was also a time to reflect for some of the individuals who came through the Boys & Girls Club in years past. Starting at age 10, volunteer Erin Rivera spent the better part of three years hanging out the Hylton facility.

The 19-year-old Rivera attends James Madison University and plans on majoring in kinesiology. Her major requires a certain amount of volunteer work with children, something she's already accomplished before her sophomore year, thanks to her two summers spent at Hylton.

Volunteer Tony Keiling, 20, was also a regular at Hylton as a child. Keiling moved from Germany to Virginia before third grade and said his experience at Hylton taught him a lot about different people with different backgrounds.

"I got to learn how to cope with new people in a basic life setting and it helped me meet new friends," said Keiling, who plays football for Concord University in West Virginia.

Wednesday's experience, along with the many field trips offered by the club, open the eyes of children to a much bigger world than their own, said Fredericksburg club employee Jan Shaffer. The Fredericksburg organization is smaller than the Hylton club, sporting about 100 to 160 people at peak usage.

On Wednesday, the Fredericksburg club brought 60 children including 6-year-old Jawun Parker, who won a T-shirt during bingo and judging by the colorful smudges by his mouth, had clearly enjoyed some cotton candy.

Mastuzo, on the other hand, was all about the

popcorn.

"It was so yummy," Mastuzo said.

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-369-5738.