By Charley Falkenburg, Staff Writer
It may be a cold and icy winter, but that didn’t stop hundreds of parents and their children from adopting a summer-state of mind on Saturday as they explored all kinds of summer camps and programs at the Westin Forrestal Village.
Packet Media Group, publisher of this newspaper, hosted its 15th annual Camp, Kids and Sports Expo on Jan. 26, which brought in 830 people and about 45 different camps, organizations and services.
From cheerleading and golf to rowing and nature, families were presented with a slew of options their children might be interested in pursuing over the summer months.
”It was such an interesting mix of camps and definitely a big turnout,” said Gerri Rieckhoff, the coordinator of the event. “People were stopping by the registration table saying how much fun their kids had.”
This year, the Packet Group tried something new by adding a few family oriented services geared toward the parents. From orthodontists and home realtors to skin care companies, adults were able to shop around for their families while their children kept occupied with demonstrations and activities.
And there was plenty to keep them occupied. Stilt walkers and jugglers traipsed around as children of all ages got their faces painted, built mini sailboats, made balloon animals and created works of art at various crafts stations.
There were also demonstrations of martial arts moves, dance performances, circus lessons and even a reptile exhibit from a nature-oriented summer camp.
”We tried to keep it like a party atmosphere,” said Ms. Rieckhoff.
There were also plenty of door prizes and raffles to go around. Ms. Rieckhoff said about every 10 to 15 minutes, a participant was winning something.
Many people walked away that afternoon with prizes such as Disney on Ice and Trenton Thunder tickets, complimentary time at various camps, gift certificates for massages, gift cards for Jazaams in Princeton, the Tiger’s Tale restaurant in Montgomery and other restaurants.
”There were a lot of smiling faces,” said Ms. Rieckhoff.
Deeming the expo a success, Ms. Rieckhoff said the Packet Media Group is already gathering ideas for next year’s event. She wasn’t unable to reveal any specifics, but did say they would try to feature more sleepaway camps, theme parks and different types of venues for children’s birthday parties.
”The camps will always be the focus and then we’ll branch out from there,” she said.

