Page 16 - WashCountyArts_Fall13.indd
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washington county arts guide
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September — November 2013
By Molly Jones
L
ike falling leaves, brand
new school shoes and the
smell of pumpkin guts,
few childhood memories of
autumn stand out quite like a
trip to the carnival.
That might explain why, after more
than 20 years, the Fall Festival at
Cedar Hills Recreation Center
continues to draw a crowd of nearly
2,000 people each year.
“We call it a Fall Festival because
that’s what it really is,” explained
Lynda Myers, supervisor at the center,
located off Cedar Hills Boulevard, just
south of the Sunset Highway. “It’s a
celebration that includes costuming, so
children can put their Halloween
costumes on, but it’s much broader
than a Halloween event.
“It’s a community event [in which]
we open our doors to the community.”
They truly do open every door.
Every room in the entire facility
contains a different activity to
accommodate festival-goers of all ages.
For children under the age of three,
for example, there’s the Little Goblin
Room, where parents can take their
toddlers through a miniature obstacle
course and other age-appropriate
activities. For kids who have
graduated past the “Little Goblin” age,
some of the most popular attractions
include clambering over gymnastics
equipment at the Pirate’s Cove
Obstacle Course, winning prizes at
classic carnival games in the Freaky
Festival Games Room or creating their
very own masterpieces in the Pumpkin
Painting Room.
“We get all ages,” Myers
explains. “I would say the games and
activities are geared for children
basically from [age] three through
maybe fourteen or fifteen, although we
have a lot of older kids who come just
because. Everybody likes to relive
their childhood.”
Some of the families who attend the
event include parents who went to the
Fall Festival when they were kids. But
it’s not just families who show up;
At Cedar Hills rec center, goblins’ costumes are art forms
Twenty years and 2,000 fall visitors
Young ghosts and goblins haunt the Cedar Hills Recreation Center in Beaverton each October during the Fall Festival, showing up for
treats, not tricks — and lots of opportunities to make art.
Courtesy photo
