Sutter Auburn Faith Children's Christmas Faire returns to fairgrounds in Auburn Thursday

Christmas festivities continue at the Gold Country Fairgrounds on Thursday with Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital's 32nd annual Children's Christmas Faire. Kids can look forward to Christmas games and activities like crafts and cookie decorating, face painting, clowns and a photo with Santa. Carol Zobel, event organizer and secretary to the hospital CEO, said the faire is a "free event for kids to come and enjoy things associated with the holidays," and the wildlife rehabilitation group Wild Things will be at the event from 1:30-3 p.m. to show animals it has rehabbed and teach the kids about them. According to Zobel, the faire was started in conjunction with the Faith & Fantasy Ball, the hospital's annual fundraising event. "They used to decorate the fairgrounds and they would hold the Faith & Fantasy there … and since the place was all decorated up, they thought, 'Why not have a second event?' " Zobel said. Faire activities will be put on by different groups, including Rotary, Soroptimist, ARD, Placer County 4H and the Placer County Sheriff's Office. Zobel said Harris Industrial Gases also supports the event by providing helium so every child gets a free balloon. "It's just something that the kids enjoy, and now that we've done it for so many years, parents who had attended as a child are bringing their children," she said. "It's something that the hospital does with the support of many community groups so it's good to be working together as a community." The Children's Christmas Faire will be from 1:30-5:30 p.m. in the Sierra Building at the Gold Country Fairgrounds. For additional information, call 530-888-4557.