Open Streets rescheduled for Saturday in downtown Lawton

Open Streets and YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day, the family events that encourage active lifestyles, will kick off Saturday.

Open Streets will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Southwest C Avenue from 2nd Street to 5th Street. Healthy Kids Day will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at Shepler Park.

Alyssa Sanchez, Business Director for the Lawton YMCA, said Healthy Kids Day is an annual national incentive run by YMCA. This will be its fourth year.

“COVID put a damper on it and we kind of got out of the habit of having it,” Sanchez said. “It does require a lot of resources, sponsors, donors and a lot of people giving their time to make it happen. So we’re happy that we’ve been able to do it consistently.”

Sanchez said the event is one of the biggest events they have.

“We view it as a really important day because it is really offering all these people a lot of resources and things that most people don’t have access to,” Sanchez said. “Most of these people don’t even know the benefits that they’re getting under their health insurance.”

Onreka Johnson, executive director of Next Step, a program helping kids and young adults with services like STEM, life skills and housing for homeless youth, will have a booth at Open Streets.

“I’ve been affiliated and a vendor with Open Streets from the first Open Streets that they’ve had,” Johnson said. “I’ve been a participant every year. When I was on City Council, I actually sat on the [committee board] to help the planning committee.”

Johnson said they do many different things at their booth every year.

“What we do every year is we give away gently used and new books to the young people that visit our table,” Johnson said. “In addition to that, we do face painting, sidewalk chalk and sometimes we’ll have different games like Connect Four. We also want to make sure that they leave with at least one to three books. Over the course of time, we’ll [have] given over 3,000 to 4,000 books, if not more.”

Johnson said different vendors also provide information for things going on in the community.

“You know what resources are available for youth and adults,” Johnson said. “It’s kind of a catch all event because there’s something there for everyone in the family.”

Johnson said she looks forward to the event every year.

“It gives an opportunity for the youth to be out there, doing things that are physical,” Johnson said. “The family has an opportunity to do something together, it just brings the community in one place.”