This Wednesday featured a new sensory friendly event at the Iowa State Fair, and a Pella High School teacher and her organization encouraging opportunities for children with social disabilities worked to get several families to attend.

Susan Lyons says she partnered with ICE Technologies and Iris Coffee in Pella to buy tickets for 50 families to attend a day at the fair organized by ChildServe that otherwise might not have been possible for many. Lyons was able to bring her son Keegan, who has a severe form of autism, to the Iowa State Fair for the first time, as lights were dimmed and some of the typical sounds heard by fairgoers were reduced.

TeamKeegs is an organization formed under the non-profit Launching Arrows that has raised funds for carts to support children with special needs who have outgrown their strollers, enabling families to go on walks and even participate in 5K events, as they have in the Klompen Classic for several years.

Hear more the Sensory Friendly Day at the Iowa State Fair and the local effort to get 50 families to attend on the Let’s Talk Pella podcast.