MARYSVILLE — Strawberry Lanes drew close to two dozen children and adults alike, dressed up in Disney-style finery for the city of Marysville’s first “Princess & Pirate Breakfast Bowl” on the morning of Sunday, March 2.
City of Marysville Recreation Coordinator Andrea Kingsford reported that the event’s debut registered 27 attendees, and was planned to serve as an annual followup to the city’s highly popular Father/Daughter Valentine’s Dance.
“Every year around this time, we have folks who are interested in events that the whole family can take part in, so we’ve been looking for new activities for a while now,” Kingsford said. “Not only are princesses and pirates very popular among kids, but they allow both boys and girls to get involved.”
Kingsford thanked Strawberry Lanes for their generosity in agreeing to host the Breakfast Bowl, which Kingsford expects will return to the bowling alley on a yearly basis each spring, but she also credited the success of the event to the activities it included in addition to bowling.
“The families really seemed to love having the arts- and crafts-making mixed in with the bowling,” Kingsford said. “It helped keep the kids busy while they were waiting their turns on the lanes. We started out with just the kids making crafts, but by the end, both kids and adults were busy at work.”
“We’ve been looking for something new to do for a while now,” said Kristie Johnson, as she helped outfit her daughter, princess Savannah Stanton, with a tinfoil-and-paper-cup pirate’s hook. “Between the breakfast and the games, this offers a great variety for a good price.”
“It’s great that Marysville can provide something like this,” said Alysha Williamson, mother to fellow princess-turned-pirate Ava. “Being able to do arts and crafts with her gives us both some fun activities for the weekend. It’s a wonderful outlet for all these kids’ energy.”
Pirate Elijah Melum and his dad Brice were looking for an athletic activity that wouldn’t overtax Elijah, who has a heart defect, so the relatively leisurely demands of bowling seemed, pardon the pun, right up their alley.
“I love seeing all these kids happy and enjoying themselves,” Brice Melum said, after Elijah won one of the Breakfast Bowl’s costume contests.
Kingsford added that prizes were also awarded to those who knocked down given numbers of pins, so that they wouldn’t be limited to the highest-scoring bowlers.
