Leisure Services Takes Children to the 'Final Fun-Tier'

As summer vacation winds down, more than 200 local children showed up to Wednesday for one last celebration held just for them.

Hosted by Union City Leisure Services, the annual has given local youth something to look forward to during the dog days of summer for at least 30 years, according to staff.

The children played a variety of 25-cent games, such as bean bag and ring tossing, Pop the Balloon and others one would find on a fair’s midway.

The event was not just for those participating in UCLS' seven summer camps, but for all Union City youth.

“This is a great event for the community. It’s not only fun for the campers, it’s open to all families. These kinds of events are good for the community,” said Adrian Valadez, a camp counselor with UCLS' Youth and Family Services Department.   

This year’s carnival theme was "The Final Fun-tier!” Camp counselors donned costumes of futuristic characters from popular films. 

Youth leaders representing Kids Sports Camp were dressed up as blue-skinned Na’vi from Avatar; those from the Rec-n-Crew Teen Camp came as characters from the summer blockbuster Cowboys & Aliens; counselors from the Summer Sports Camp transformed into the aliens from Toy Story;  Marsh Hawk Day Camp leaders guided kids around the carnival dressed as the title characters from the Men in Black movies; and Discover Camp teen leaders were easily identifiable in their Star Trek getups. 

Among the most popular food vendors of the day were the cotton candy and ice cream booths; the lines never let up for them.

A bounce house and Slip 'n Slide water slide helped to burn off the kids’ sugar-induced energy.

Check out some of the highlights from the event in the photo gallery above.

For more information on UCLS summer camps, call 510-471-6878.