By Kelly Friesen
Journal editor
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To say the Kids Summer Fun Camp's Comic-Con event on July 25 went well would practically be an understatement, as hundreds of kids showed up to take part in the day's activities.
"The turnout was amazing," said Jeff Burton, a leader for the event. "Ball parking, we had at least 150 kids, maybe around the 250 mark. The camps are for kids ages 5-11, so that was the majority. But we have kids that are 12 and older that are junior leaders, so we had a mix of ages."
Burton led the charge of hosting the Comic-Con event. He had a desire to put it together because of his passion for comic books and belief that kids similar to him would thoroughly enjoy it.
"I'm a bit of a comic book geek, so I was the one who thought of this idea," said Burton. "I've been working with these camps for eight years and kind of take my passion for comic books with me. So I thought it would be a good idea to try this and pull something together. I know when I was eight years old I would have died to get to do something like this, so I thought some kids would appreciate it."
Just like at an adult Comic-Con event, the kids were encouraged to dress up in superhero costumes.
"We saw a lot of kids dress up and we encouraged them to do so," he said. "I've been to a Comic-Con myself and saw how it's part of the fun to dress up. So it was good to see some of the kids in costumes having a really fun time."
The kids who went to Comic-Con were able to take a piece of it home with them as complimentary comic books were handed out.
"Handing out comic books was something we wanted to do for everyone to take one home," said Burton. "We purchased about 150 comic books and the Saskatoon Comic Expo donated about 100."
The Kids Summer Fun Camp is a weekly event that takes places once a week throughout July and August. The organization has a unique event planned every week to keep local kids entertained during the summer holidays.
"The kids camps last eight weeks and run from July to the second last week of August," said Burton. "It's a lot of fun and the year has been going really well so far. The Kids have a lot of fun when they come and get involved."
