Work-outs, kayaking, s'mores fill Healthy Kids Day at Boardman Y
By JEANNE STARMACK
starmack@vindy.com
BOARDMAN
For Gavin Fernandez, 8, “Take on Summer” was not just a catchy slogan on a T-shirt.
Oh, it was written on every bright green T-shirt worn by Davis Family YMCA staff Saturday afternoon.
But Gavin, perched on the seat of a universal weight machine and working diligently on his pectoral muscles, was taking it to heart.
The Boardman boy had already done 20 reps at 30 pounds. Summer won’t get the best of him by turning him into some video-game playing, TV-watching couch potato.
With him was his friend and assistant, DJ Segool, 14, also of Boardman.
They were taking the Healthy Kids Day challenge, which included strength and cardio training on the machines in the Y’s Youth Fitness Center.
Healthy Kids Day, the Y’s annual community open house, is designed to promote healthy lifestyles that fight childhood obesity, explained Adele Taylor, the pre-school family director. It also is designed to get kids interested in activities they can do over the summer.
For Segool, the day was the only opportunity he’s had so far to try kayaking, which was set up in the Y’s lap pool.
For more on the day's activities, read Sunday's Vindicator or Vindy.com.