Construction zone
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 7 months AGO
Children pound and paint away on a project in the Kids Workshop, sponsored by the Home Depot, at the Grant County Fair Wednesday.
CHERYL SCHWEIZER/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Theo Zollinger, 7, builds a tool caddy with the help of his dad Garrett Zollinger Wednesday at the Kids Workshop at the Grant County Fair.
From left, Myra Toto, Olivia Hochstatter and Charlotte Hochstatter work on their message boards at the Kids Workshop, sponsored by the Home Depot, at the Grant County Fair.
Steven Goodwin, left, cautiously proceeds on his construction project, with the help of his dad Jack Goodwin, right.
Ellie Zollinger, right, and her mom Arianna Zollinger, left, show off Ellie’s completed project.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | August 16, 2023 7:06 PM
MOSES LAKE — Donning carpenter aprons, the builders went to work.
Hammers pounded industriously. Projects were painted, sometimes carefully, sometimes not.
The tables at the back of the arts and crafts building were filled with children hammering in nails, applying paint and otherwise building projects from kits supplied as part of the Home Depot’s Kids Zone. When they left, children had a message board with room for a marker, a tool caddy customized with their design, or both.
Home Depot brought the Kids Workshop to the Grant County Fair Wednesday. Home Depot employee Tristan Manderscheid said children could take home the carpenter apron and their finished projects.
Some children were very careful with the tools, hammering in the nails with cautious little taps. Others pounded away with gusto. A carpenter wasn’t at all pleased with her work - that nail was in there crooked - so she took it out with as much confidence as if she’d been in the construction business for years.
The arts and crafts building has other activities for children during the fair. There’s a coloring contest every day, and NCW Libraries sponsors a storytime every day. Other games for children are set up in the Kids Zone, at the north end of the midway.
Jack Goodwin was helping his son Steven build a tool caddy, and said it was a good way to pass the time.
“The carnival doesn’t open for another hour,” he said.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].
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