Disney knew it and so do the organizers behind the 11th Children s Day celebration set for Sunday in the streets of downtown Portsmouth. Everything that s planned and everything that s done is totally to stimulate them. There is one event however that parents should really plan to make sure their children particularly the younger kids are on hand for. That s the noon-time christening of the day when 10 very recognizable and very large characters who normally reside in the pages and television screens of your home will be landing at the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company. Upon disembarking, the characters will depart in separate directions and spend the afternoon scattered about the city before they traipse back to the docks a little before 4 p.m., for the grand finale and their boat ride home to Character Island.
Goofy there are ample opportunities for surprise.
The day is hardly just a character parade, though, according to both Hamilton and Children s Day Committee Chairperson Natalie Hassold. This is the sixth year that Hassold and her husband Bob, the owners of Tugboat Alley on Ceres St., have been among the many merchants who have participated in what has been described as an unabashed feel-good event. Children s Day is an event that fits neatly under the promotional umbrella of Pro Portsmouth, Hamilton says. This is the second year that the organization that also brings Market Square Day, the Tree Lighting Ceremony and First Night Portsmouth to the Port City is in charge of Children s Day promotions. Formerly it was under the auspices of the Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce.