Wealth of knowledge and services given at fifth annual Community Baby Shower

Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: The fifth annual Community Baby Shower at the Safford City-Graham County Library was a hit Friday.

By Jon Johnson

jonjohnsonnews@gmail.com

SAFFORD – The Safford City-Graham County Library was buzzing with excitement Friday as the fifth annual Community Baby Shower gave parents and expectant parents a wealth of information and services.

Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: Alexandra Sanchez holds her 1-year-old son, Daniel Dawson, who sports the Thomas the Train prize they won at the event.

The event, which is sponsored by First Things First, was organized by the library’s early literacy coordinator, Retha Russell.

“It’s a really good place to get resources for the young child all in one place,” Russell said. “We just have a  lot of resources for new parents.”

Some of the groups present at the event this year included the Graham County Health Department, Early Head Start, Aloha Baby Ultrasound and Photography studio, Safford Lions Club, and the community group Mom Village.

In addition to all the various groups giving information, the event also had free grab bags to all the moms and door prizes, one of which was a Thomas the Train had that Alexandra Sanchez won for her 1-year-old son, Daniel Dawson.

“It’s a great event,” Sanchez said. “There’s lots of stuff you can do, including activities.”

Aloha Baby, which specializes in early gender identification for gender reveal parties as well as ultra HD, 3D, and 4D ultrasounds, and maternity, baby, and everyday photography, is owned by April Harris. She said she was happy to be a part of the event this year.

Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: April Harris of Aloha Baby was one of the new vendors this year.

“This is pretty cool here because if you’re expecting a baby this is the place to come get your services all in one place,” Harris said.

“We’re just here doing free vision screenings today,” said Safford Lions Club Service Coordinator, Chris Gibbs. “Youth vision (and) sight preservation is our whole purpose.”

Denise Mueller brought her three children to the event and all of them got a clean bill of health for their eyes from the Lions.

Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: Denise Mueller reacts after how fast the Lions Club checked her baby’s eyes.

“How they do it is interesting,” Mueller said. “It’s very fast. They can check it very fast.”

“We’re having a good event and we look forward to doing it again next year,” Russell said.