MEXICO — The River Valley Recreation Center will celebrate the end of summer by hosting their first paint party from 8 to 11 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23 at the Mexico Recreation Park on Route 17.

Amanda Hamner, who recently joined the Mexico Recreation Board, said that she came up with the idea after her babysitter told her about chem-free paint parties that were held in Augusta.

“There were all sorts of chem-free dances for kids where they would have a certain theme,” Hamner said. “There were foam parties, black-light parties and paint parties, but they would cost $20 or $25 to get in. I thought, ‘Let’s try to do this local so our kids can enjoy it.’ Right now, a lot of people are excited about it, especially the middle school kids in the area.

“We just want to bring some fun to the kids, where they can get wet, get messy and have a good time,” Hamner said.

Admission for the party will be $10 each, with kids aged 13 to 19 invited. Hamner said that snacks and drinks will be available for those who attend.

Music will be provided by Hamner’s husband, who performs under the moniker “DJ Bustin’ Justin.”

The end-of-summer paint party is one of many new ideas that the River Valley Recreation Center has created to attract more children and teenagers.

“We recently held our first movie night, which was a huge success,” Hamner said. “We’re hoping that after the paint party, we can squeeze in one more movie night. We’re thinking we could run a double feature in conjunction with our Haunted Walk. It’d be fun to have a Halloween theme for the month of October.”

For more information, visit the Recreation Center’s Facebook page.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com

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