Saturday in the park - every kid in Ada will want to be there
Lots of Ada youth will beg their parents to take them to the Ada Park on Saturday.
Here’s why: The Ada Area Chamber of Commerce, sponsor of the event, held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., has tons activities planned.
Youth (and adults) with find:
• Romick Railway, kid’s train rides
• A fishing booth with prices from Community Health Professionals
• Fun, easy musical instruments made under the direction of Vicki Mills
• Face painting and air brush tattoos provided by Brian Tomsett
• Games under the direction of YMCA
• Frisbee game by Ada Kiwanis Club
• Icees snacks by Ada Lions Club
• 200 bags of apples donated by McDonald’s
• Free bottled water from the chamber
• Free popcorn from Liberty National Bank
• Ada police, EMS and fire truck on display
• Fingerprinting by Hardin County Sheriff and Hardin VIPs
• Chamber tree planting and demonstration by Jamie Hall
(Spoiler ending – it’s a surprise)
• A visit from Santa – just checking of everyone has been nice so far this year
This list may include more activities between now and Saturday.
Dan Romick of rural Arlington, describes his kids' railway ride this way:
"What started out as a back yard toy for our gandkids birthdays and just for fun, has turned into something I never expected.
"People started stopping by our house just north of Arlington to see if my train was for rent after seeing me riding the kids around our house.
"My family encouraged me to look into what it would take to do parties and such. After getting insurance and building a trailer, thanks to my brother in-law, I started doing birthday parties, family reunions and a couple parades. The first parade was the 4th of July in Findlay and to our surprise we made the front page of the paper the next day and a 3rd place ribbon. Wow, I ended up doing 37 events of some kind in 2013 and 68 events last year. This year is off and running.
"I originally built two passenger cars and a caboose and because back in the day the passenger cars were named, I dedicated the first two to my Mom, Norma Jean and the second to my mother in-law Joanne Marie.
"Since then I've added a third, naming it Doris Ann after another special lady in my life. In fact everything about my train tells something about my life, from the names on the cars to the numbers of the engine and tender. All our kids and grandkids have their names in the trains tender car along with my wife Peggy who has been my biggest supporter and brother in-law Daniel for all of his help welding and fabricating help.
"I have a total of five cars to ride in, with the tender car being more for adults but kids of all ages can ride in all the cars and adults as well. All cars have seat beats and in some cases 4 kids can ride per car with a max capacity of about 19. The train is about 40 feet long and is power by a gas engine."