We are here. Next weekend is the 29th-annual Washington Summer Festival presented by PotashCorp-Aurora, and we are ready.

One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is that we will have a Kids Zone on Saturday that is going to have awesome, free things for children to do. Our local Lowe’s Home Improvement store will be doing crafts with children all day. There will be cheerleading, aikido, strength demonstrations, clowns; face painters and storytellers. All of it is free and open to the public. Also, at the First Presbyterian Church, the Beaufort-Hyde Partnership for Children will hold Blockfest, a free event for children that provides hands-on math and science learning for children 8 months to 8 years old. This will happen three times Saturday, so stop by at 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. and take advantage of this great free opportunity for you and your child to have fun.

As we move into the weekend, we look forward to providing a festival that everyone can enjoy. We couldn’t do that without our faithful sponsors and the support from the community. This is our largest fundraiser of the year, and many people work hard to provide a fun and safe event for all. We appreciate the City of Washington employees who work with us as well as all the volunteers. This isn’t just a chamber effort, it is a community effort.

When you come by the festival this upcoming weekend, stop by the local vendors listed below and say hello. We appreciate their local support: Washington Evening Lions Club, Kona Ice, The Aristecraddock Company,  White Rock Fish Farm, Village Royal, American Red Cross, Washington Height Church of God, East Coast Equipment, Literacy Volunteers of Beaufort County, Beaufort County Concert Association, Harvest Church, Orr Masonic Lodge (fried-flounder plates), chamber T-shirt booth, chamber Ambassadors’ hot dog booth, Beaufort County Republican Party, Eagle’s Wings, Bead Dazzled, Crabby’s Stained Glass, GAE Enterprises, CenturyLink, Modern Woodmen of America, Park Boat Company, Enchanted Gardens/True Value, Washington Motors Inc., Washington High School Touchdown Club, U.S. Cellular, Thin and Healthy’s Total Solutions and Ruth’s House.

We look forward to seeing you this weekend. For more information about the schedule of events, visit www.wbcchamber.com or call 252-946-9168.

Catherine Glover is executive director of the Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce.