WHAT: Slide the Fletch
WHEN: Saturday, Aug. 8, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
WHERE: Hall Fletcher Elementary activity field
WHY: Slide the City promised to bring a giant slip-and-slide to downtown, but when permitting issues halted that event, one local parent saw an opportunity.
“There seemed to be a lot of people, myself included, who were bummed out about Slide the City being canceled,” says Hall Fletcher Elementary PTO member Robin Payne. “We have a really big field with some slopes at Hall Fletcher so I figured, ‘What the heck?’”
Payne and other PTO members will set up two 100-foot slides for racing and two 50-foot slides for human bowling. To partake in the latter, brave individuals launch themselves at a set of inflatable pins.The funds raised at the event will support the school’s PTO, Payne explains, including the school’s in-the-works Outdoor Learning Center, the yearbook and an in-school store that rewards positive behavior.
“The students are thrilled about the OLC,” Payne says,“because they know some of their classes will be held outside, that some of their friends in wheelchairs will be able to experience a tree house for the first time, and because they see efforts continuing in the beautification of their campus.”
In addition to massive slides, the field will house a few smaller slides “for those who are less extreme,” as well as water balloon games, crazy sprinklers, food trucks (Latino Heat and others) and live music performed by The Square Circles and Made in China — a band composed of former Hall Fletcher students.
“We will have an all-around fun and wet time,” Payne says. “Bring a towel, slap on some sunscreen, grab a friend and come Slide the Fletch!”
Visit slidethefletch.com for more information or to purchase advanced tickets. Entry costs $10 for a single slider or Hall Fletcher family pass and $15 for a regular family pass. Registration online or in-person is required.
