Sacramento Parent happily participates in the following community events throughout the year:

SACRAMENTO PARENT DAY at
THE WESTFIELD DOWNTOWN PLAZA ICE RINK - December 15
7th & K Streets in Downtown Sacramento
Thanks to everyone who joined us in turning out for the Downtown Tree Lighting (Nov 21th) and the Santa Parade (on the 24th). We had fun, and we know you did too! We hope to see you at the Westfield Downtown Plaza Ice Rink on Dec 15th for the best of two worlds- frozen fun in sunny Sacramento. Set in the heart of Downtown, the rink is just a stroll away from the IMAX Theatre, plus family-friendly restaurants and shops- all decked out for the holidays. The fun starts at 11am. General admission to the Ice Rink is $6 for a 2-hr session, $2 for skate rental. Get one free skate rental with the coupon in our December issue, and enter to win some way-cool raffle prizes, including ski and snowboarding passes. See you there!

ELK GROVE GIANT PUMPKIN & HARVEST FESTIVAL - October 6 & 7
Elk Grove Regional Park
We're proud to be a festival sponsor for this weekend full of "peace, love and giant pumpkins," as the Elk Grove Harvest Festival once again hosts the valley's BIGGEST weigh-off contest with pumpkins tipping the scales at over 1,000 lbs.! This year's 60's-inspired theme will include music and cars from that era, retro scarecrows, and a mix of other harvest happenings for families and kids, including lots of harvest goodies, entertainment on two stages, a pumpkin patch, kids' activities and a petting zoo. Admission is FREE... We'll see you there!

TARGET CHILDREN'S BOOK CELEBRATION - September 29 & 30
Fairytale Town in Sacramento
Don't miss this two-day event celebrating books, storytelling, children and fun! Visit us at the Sacramento Parent booth, and hear Good Day Sacramento anchor, Stefanie Cruz, read her new children's book, "Delta & Dawn: Mother & Baby Whales' Journey." Other local and national children's authors will also be at the event (including "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" author, Laura Numeroff). Have fun with interactive literacy activities, enjoy theater and storytelling performances on three stages, and play at Fairytale Town. Admission is FREE!

WHOLE FOODS BABY EXTRAVAGANZA - August 25
Whole Foods hosted a full day of free samples, great classes and cool demonstrations for new and expecting parents, and Sacramento Parent was proud to take part in the fun. Congratulations to Patti Palmer of Sacramento! She won our gift basket of books, CDs, bump butter, organic chocolates and other goodies for new mommies and daddies, just by signing up for our free e-newsletter at the event. You can't win the basket (sorry, that's Patti's now), but you can still get valuable advice, monthly tips and reminders about upcoming events for families. Just visit our home page and sign up online.

THE PACIFIC RIM STREET FEST - May 20
The Pacific Rim Street Fest is a major program of the Asian Pacific Rim Foundation. To honor and celebrate the rich cultural and ethnic diversity of the Sacramento region's Asian and Pacific Islander communities, Restaurateur Frank Fat and community leaders created the Pacific Rim Street Fest in 1993. The street fest is planned and staged by volunteers from more than 15 Asian Pacific community groups. Their goals are to broaden the awareness and understanding of the Asian Pacific heritage, to showcase the many positive contributions to the community at large, and to lend support to cultural endeavors in the form of grants and scholarships. The Kids Zone was a big hit at this year's event, and Sacramento Parent was there.

ZOOZOOM – April 22
We put our best foot forward at this annual 5K and 10K Fun Run to help support the Sacramento Zoo. All ages are welcome. Race fees include admission to the zoo. For more information, call the race coordinators at (916) 443-6223 or visit www.saczoo.org.

YEAH BABY - March 17 & 18
We want to extend a big, warm THANK YOU to all the parents who came by our booth at the Yeah Baby Expo, and say, "Congratulations!" to Whitney Marchend of Auburn, who won the drawing for our raffle prize. Enjoy all those goodies for Mommy & Baby! Extra thanks to Music Matt for gettin' the dance party started! Lots of little booties were shakin' (grown up heads were bobbing too). Music Matt played songs from his CD, took requests from both parents and kids, and even shared the mic with a few little crooners. We had a blast!