Carnival organizer hopes Springfield event will be day of fun, family and community
Can a single community event spark togetherness, stir up the embers of old memories and ignite a new enthusiasm for Springfield Township and Lakemore residents and schools?
That's a lot to ask, but organizer Tia Lentini hopes the April 26 event with the really long name of "Experience Springfield Township Carnival & Community Expo" will do just that.
Lentini, who is promoting the upcoming carnival, has gathered some 40 businesses and groups to sponsor the event at Springfield High School on Canton Road.
The Mindy Covington Agency in Uniontown, one of those 40, jumped at the chance to sponsor the event.
"Within 30 seconds, I said, 'Absolutely, I will support this,'" Covington said April 18. "… I think it's a great opportunity to show the community I support them."
Covington said she plans to be a part of the carnival on an annual basis, and says the theme of the carnival is in sync with her views.
"Community, to me, is truly at the heart of everything I choose to do," she said.
Lentini said she fondly remembers such events, which have become less common in the township once known as a fun hot spot for Greater Akron. Throughout the early 1900s, Springfield Lake Park was a popular amusement park, featuring a roller coaster that extended out over the lake.
"Feedback from the community has been super positive," Lentini said. "They remember how much fun they had at their school carnivals."
The 3 to 6 p.m. event will be indoors, with a variety of food trucks in the triangle area of the school grounds, Lentini said.
Entertainment includes a 5 p.m. performance of Major Scales, an Akron-based act that performs circus-type acts like juggling and stilt walking, and a cake walk with cakes from around the area.
What is a cake walk? Think musical chairs with a cake as the prize.
The event comes a little more than a week before the May 6 election, in which Springfield Local Schools has two levies on the ballot that narrowly failed in the November election.
Lentini hopes the carnival will stimulate conversation among attendees about the role schools play in the Springfield-Lakemore community.
"(We want to) foster that connection," she said. "If you don't have a sense of community, you struggle. Sense of community is very important."
Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at aashworth@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj or Facebook at www.facebook.com/alan.newsman.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Organizer hopes carnival in Springfield sparks business, sense of community
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