Old McDonald’s funky farm came to Boyle Nov. 24 during the Supporting Healthy Active Resilient Early Development (SHARED) coalition first event in the village.
Juno-award nominated family singer-songwriter and performer Mary Lambert gave an interactive performance at the Boyle Seniors Centre, getting 80 parents and children alike on their feet to dance.
Nadine Byers, chair of SHARED, said she was “really excited” about all the energy amongst the young families in the room.
“We’re pretty impressed, we had no idea how many people to expect, so we are happy with the number of people we had,” she said.
SHARED put on their first event back in May at the Athabasca Regional Multiplex, a family fun fair featuring displays of local organizations young families can access.
Before Lambert took to the stage, families in Boyle also got the chance to see what services are available to them, as local organizations had displays set up.
Byers said events such as the children’s concert are important because age zero to six is a key time in children’s development.
“It’s just so important for parents to be doing things with their kids and modeling that,” she said.
Village of Boyle Coun. Shelby Kiteley brought her family to the concert, and said it was a “fun environment” and very “kid friendly.”
“I think it’s really important to engage young families in the community, because I feel that has been an area we were lacking in,” she said.
Byers added more SHARED has future events in the works.
“We had a successful spring event in Athabasca, so we can’t think of not doing that again.”
