Action in Recovery will once again fill Rotary Park with laughter and the smell of hot dogs Saturday during the annual Kids Day.

Families are invited by the addiction recovery group to come and enjoy some food and fun from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The park is at the intersection of West Cunningham and South Chestnut streets.

“All are welcome,” said Melissa Coblentz, AIR vice-president.

Jason Beckwith, AIR president, says 300 people are expected to attend, about 50 more than at the original event in 2017.

AIR will offer hot dogs, chips and water.

Coblentz said the group created a planning committee to come up with new activity ideas, one of which is a dunk tank, but the favorites from last year are still there, including three-legged races, water balloon fights and rock painting.

AIR also will be giving away basketballs, soccer balls and other sports equipment to children as prizes throughout the day.

According to Jason Beckwith, the goal of Kids Day is to provide children with a positive experience to get them playing outside and meeting each other.

“We are giving away sports equipment to give kids positive activities to do in the community. Healthwise they can get out and run a little bit, get out of the house,” he said. “We’re helping kids to interact with other kids.”

Beckwith said the event is just as entertaining for adults. Last year, the water balloons the group purchased were gone quickly when adults joined the battle.

“That’s why we’re getting more water balloons this year,” he said. “We had like 800 (balloons), but we still ran out in probably an hour.”

For AIR group members and volunteers, Coblentz said the event is a labor of love.

“We have a great time planning it,” said Coblentz, “We had as much fun last year as the kids did, if not more.”

She said Kids Day brings the community together: “No matter whether you live in town or you live out here or who you are or what’s going on, that day is all about the kids and the beauty of that.”

The event is supported by various groups including the Butler Drug and Alcohol Program, the Geiser Addiction Center, The C.A.R.E. Center and the county commissioners, and is run using donations.

This year the costs are expected to be similar to last year’s at about $3,000. The majority of the funds were spent on the food and the sports equipment being given away Saturday.

“It’s a day to really focus on the kids and their needs,” Coblentz said. “I think that’s sometimes put to the wayside and it’s important to take a day just to focus on food and fun and happiness and laughter.”

The idea for Kids Day developed, Beckwith said, after the group helped another charity to give bikes away to local children.

“Once we’d seen the interaction with the kids,” he said, “we figured it’s a good way for (AIR) to give back to the community so we created our own thing.”

According to Beckwith, the event is run entirely by Action in Recovery and its 120 volunteers, 20 of whom are active members and around 100 are seasonal members.

“Action in Recovery is not just people in recovery,” Beckwith said. “We have pastors, police officers, sheriffs, commissioners, drug and alcohol people — it’s a community.”

According to Coblentz, having events like Kids Day also has an important effect on AIR members.

“Kids Day isn’t just about the kids,” Beckwith said. “It’s about members of AIR too. Members are giving back to the community. They’re getting empowered. They feel like they are part of the community.”