Open Streets to come back to Lawton

“This is the first generation of children in the history of our country whose life expectancy won’t be that of their parents because of obesity, inactivity and associated medical illness like diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Ben Cooper, President and Board Chairman of Fit Kids of Southwest Oklahoma said.

From 9-2 p.m. on April 20, Fit Kids, The City of Lawton, and the Comanche County Memorial Hospital’s TSET Healthy Living Program seek to help fix that with Open Streets, a biannual event that gets families outside so they can be more active, enjoy the weather and have fun.

Sandy Foster, a member of the Planning Committee for Open Streets, said this is their first time back since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ve been talking about it and people have been asking ‘Are you going to bring it back? When are you going to bring it back,’” Foster said. “This was the right time.”

Foster said the first Open Streets in Lawton was in June 2015. Every year until Fall of 2019, they’ve done the event biannually, one in the spring and one in the fall.

“We’d learned from our first one that June was not a great time for an event outside,” Foster said. “It was just too hot.”

Foster said they plan to have another Open Streets event in the fall.

“We’ve talked about trying to look at a day tentatively, but we’re so close to the event,” Foster said.

Foster said one of the most interesting things about the event is that the Lawton Public Library will bring a few Disney Princesses, including Moana, Belle, Elsa and Ariel to the event.

“They’re also going to be at the library and available to take pictures with the kids and families,” Foster said.

Foster said they are also partnering with the Lawton Police Department for their Cops and Kids Car Show and Poker Run.

“From C Ave., 2nd St. to 3rd St., they’re going to be having some really amazing cars that car enthusiasts and kids can come out and take a look at,” Foster said.

Foster said there are many events happening downtown that help make the event a success.

“I can’t stress enough how exciting it is that so many people are coming together to make sure that this Open Streets is a success,” Foster said.

The event is free to the public. Foster said the only thing that people would need money for is to buy something at the Farmers Market or the food trucks.

“It’s a great community event that gets people out, it gets them active,” Foster said. “We get to play in the streets. It’s an opportunity for our families to learn about resources. It’s a really great event.”

For more information, contact Foster at (580) 585-5406 or (580) 699-9876 or at [email protected]. Others can also contact Caitlin Gatlin at (580) 704- 7262