GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — A beloved summer festival will be short an event this year. One that will be missed by families of kids with different abilities.
Grand Haven's Coast Guard Festival carnival will not host a "Special Needs Day" at the carnival this July.
The annual event had smaller crowds to create a less stimulating environment for people with special needs.
Festival organizers explained last month at a city council meeting that the event simply got too big to handle.
For mom Tori Drier, who has two children with special needs, it's sad news.
“We went last year. We took our oldest son— he’s three and he’s about to be four. He has autism, so he doesn’t do good with really big crowds and stuff like that,” Drier explained. “It was just amazing because out in public when you have a special needs child, the general population, they don’t understand all the needs and stuff it takes for a kid with special needs. I honestly didn’t even realize it until I became a mom of a special needs child myself."
This year, things will go differently.
Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival Interim Executive Director Sharon Behm spoke on behalf of the Skerbeck family, which runs the carnival, at a May 15 city council meeting, explaining why this year there will be no "Special Needs Day."
“There was the overwhelming response of last year, but it was also too overtaxing for the family and the staff. They made the decision that, for right now, we’re going to suspend it for a year and then we’re looking at getting back together with the OAISD [Ottawa Area Intermediate School District] and reevaluating,” Behm said. "They were very sad and disappointed that they were forced to have to do that."
Cree Vanderzwaag is a long-time lover of Special Needs Day, and has attended the event since high school.
“I was extremely heartbroken. Just immediately, so distraught for family members of the community that really enjoy this day, that really look forward to this day,” Vanderzwaag said.
She hopes for a solution that doesn't mean suspending the day entirely.
“It’s a day we all look forward to, lots of community members,” Vanderzwaag added.
Coast Guard Festival organizers did not want to go on camera Thursday to discuss the suspension of the event, but again, have previously said they want to re-evaluate the event for next year.
For those looking for an event they can enjoy with children with special needs this year, there is a "Special Kids Day" being hosted by the Fremont National Baby Food Festival this year.
