601-707-7726 info@excelby5.com

BY MELANIE ADDINGTON
Staff Writer

The EXCELebration to honor the community’s recently earned Excel by 5 certification will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Powerhouse Community Arts Center. In collaboration with United Way of Oxford, the party will be free and open to the public but targeted toward families with children age 5 or younger. Events include arts and crafts, songs and story time, and games.

The event has a circus theme. Refreshments will be served. “Children can have fun painting, stamping, making necklaces, digging in the dirt, and making caterpillar collages,
 while their parents receive valuable information on car seat safety, early childhood resources and health information,” said Kayla Beck, an organizer for the event. A stage will be set up for Kindermusik, children’s Zumba and storytelling.

Special ringmasters
There will be a ringmaster in charge of the ceremonies each hour of the event. Max Hipp, executive director of the Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce, will serve as ringmaster from 10 to 11 a.m., followed by Jeff Busby, president of the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors, from 11 to noon, then Dean David Rock, from UM School of Education, from noon to 1 p.m., and finishing with Richard Howorth, former mayor of Oxford and the owner of Square Books, from 1 to 2 p.m. Excel by 5 was a two-year process to receive a community- wide certification as a child friendly community. The focus of the certification is that the community supports development from birth to age 5.

Volunteers are needed on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Contact Beck at kaylambeck@gmail. com to sign up. To learn more about the LOU Excel by 5, visit www.excelby5. com/ lafayette- countymain or contact Kathy Sukanek at 236-4265 or ksuwlou@bellsouth.net.

melanie@oxfordeagle.com

Copyright © 2013 The Oxford Eagle. All Rights Reserved. 07/26/2013