Kid's Business Fair in Jackson

The debut Kid's Business Fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, at Jackson's Elks Lodge, 542 W. independence St., and the public is invited.

Parent organizer Melinda Arends said there will be 27 booths, staffed by children aged 5 through 18.

"One child will have a booth wrapping presents. There will be ornaments, too. Some kids have been knitting or baking — and it's really cool seeing just how many different ideas these children have come up with," she said.

Melinda's 11-year old son, Benny, is the spirit behind what is believed to be the first-of-its-kind event for the county seat town.

"Back in March, [Benny] said, 'Mom, I want to do something,' and I told him we'd try to make it happen," said Arends, who hopes the fair will be the first of many annual events encouraging entrepreneurship among kids.

Sponsors include the Jackson Elks, Jackson Noon Optimists, ATA Legends Martial Arts, Edge Realty's Deb Martin and Wood & All.

"When we started gaming this out, we thought maybe we'd have 10 to 12 booths, so we're blown away to have this many. It's amazing for the first time," Arends said.

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