Shoals Elks bring back Fun Day in Spring Park

It may have been a lot of hard work in the Southern summer heat, but it was worth it.

That is how Shoals Elks Lodge member Dr. Jean Love described the Fun Day in the Park event held June 22 in Spring park in downtown Tuscumbia.

The Fun Day was an annual event hosted by the Shoals Elks until the COVID-19 pandemic derailed the fun in 2020.

Fast forward four years and one National Elks Lodge Beacon grant later, and the fun returned.

The event featured free armbands for children ages 4 through 13, which allowed them to ride the train, carousel and other fun activities.

There were also things like face painting, lunch and even karaoke.

“It went extremely well,” Love said. “It was wonderful. We try to have a good, wholesome, fun day for kids that wouldn’t normally get this fun for free, We work with the City Council to get a discount on the park armbands, so everything is free for the kids and their families. “We fixed lunch for them, and they loved the karaoke and facepainting and games. It was a great day for us and the community.”

Love said there were over 200 children attending the event, with many more either younger than 4 or older than 13.

She said the Shoals Elks members came together to not only procure supplies but set everything up at 7 a.m. ahead of the fun day, run booths, cook food and clean everything up once the event was over.

“Seeing the event come together gives me a lot of pride, but it’s a team effort,” she said. “It took many hours to get everything set up and later cleaned up in the heat, and no one complained.”

Love said she hopes to make Fun Day an annual event once again, so long as the grant is available each year.

“We had several people asking us when the event was coming back and looking forward to it,” Love said. “(The Elks) need to get out there and let the community know what we do. We are always looking for good members.”