For many people, festivals are fun. The food, the music, the attractions and the people all blend together to create an exciting environment that leads to laughter and great memories. But, for some with special needs, those sensory inputs can be difficult, if not impossible, to manage, leaving them unable to enjoy the things that others find it hard to live without. That is why Ronceverte River Festival committee members have decided to do something a little different this year to make sure everyone can make great memories at the river festival. They are calling it Sensory Saturday.
Sensory Saturday will be a quiet time at Island Park that will give those with special needs the ability to enjoy the festival without all the extra input, according to Ronceverte River Festival Committee Chair Mark Mengel.
“We are excited to be doing this,” Mengel said. “We are really happy that we can offer this option to all of those with special needs in Ronceverte and the surrounding area.”
Sensory Saturday will begin at 10 a.m. and last until around noon, on Saturday, June 12, at Island Park. Food stands will be open and there will be games and activities including rock painting and a small-scale duck hunt. Folks may also stroll around Gateway Industries’ community garden, Mengel said.
“Everything will be a little less hectic,” Mengel noted. “Noise and excitement will be at a minimum, and people can wander around at their own pace.”
Because this is the first time the river festival committee has held an event like Sensory Saturday, Mengel said they are willing to accept input from the special needs community on how to design the environment.
“We admit that we are unsure how to proceed, but we are willing to learn,” Mengel said.
He added that the idea for a special environment came into being due to the activism of Ronceverte resident Ashley Guet and incoming Mayor Deena Pack.
“Mark said it best when he said that if you don’t have a special needs child or a special needs member of your family, it’s not something that you really think about,” Pack said. “So when Ashley started making these suggestions, it just made sense. The idea of a Sensory Saturday was all Ashley’s.”
Guet has been a strong advocate for her daughter. Through her work, the city will be installing four non-verbal communication boards in the city — two at Island Park and two at Ronceverte Elementary. Additionally, a wheelchair accessible swing will soon be coming to Island Park, Pack said. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as if these assistive items will be available for Sensory Saturday, but the ultimate goal for the event this year is to learn and make the event more inclusive as each year passes.
“I am really excited about Sensory Saturday because I think that Ronceverte is leading the area in these inclusive initiatives,” Pack said. “There are a lot more people in our community who can really benefit from these things than you would think. The idea that we can give them the opportunity to come down and still enjoy the festival without some of the things that trigger reactions is a really cool idea.”
Guet agrees that Sensory Saturday will be a really great event for the special needs community.
Her 8-year-old daughter, Winter, who was diagnosed with non-verbal regressive autism at age 3, was born and raised in Ronceverte, but has never been able to attend the river festival.
“It’s just too much,” Guet said. “It’s too loud, the chaos is too much and there are so many people. So, she has never been able to have the experience.”
More than anything, Guet said she is excited to take her daughter to the festival for the first time.
“I really want her to be included. She wants to do the same things that others do, but can’t always,” Guet said. “I am really happy and excited. I hope other local cities and towns will pick up on this idea and add to it.”
Guet said the best advice she can give others on advocating for those with special needs is to ask for whatever you need.
“I was really scared to go to city hall for the first time to ask for the non-verbal communication boards,” Guet admitted. However, she said that by the time she left that first meeting, she felt empowered because so many people were willing to help.
“I went in asking for one board and left getting two,” Guet remembered. “That’s how you start advocating, you ask for something and it snowballs.”
In addition to getting the town of Ronceverte to increase their special needs support services, Guet is putting together a parental support group for those who have children with special needs. Meetings will be held at Ronceverte Island Park. For more information on this, visit Guet’s Facebook Page “Rainbows and Sunshine.”
The River Festival kicks off with a Grand Parade on Friday, June 11, and ends with a grand fireworks display on Saturday, June 12. A complete list of festivities can be found at https://roncevertewv.org/festival.htm.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.