By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – Families looking for a fun outing the next few days can go to the Columbiana Spring Carnival on the former Summer Classics property in Columbiana.

The carnival will be held April 9 at 5 p.m., April 10 at 5 p.m. and April 11 at 1 p.m.

The Columbiana Kiwanis Club is sponsoring the carnival and will use proceeds for the club’s service projects.

Kiwanis Club Secretary and Treasurer Michael Letlow said the carnival will not replace the Shelby County Fair, the club’s annual fundraiser.

Since fair attendance has dropped off the last five or six years, Letlow said, the club has had to reduce donations it gives to schools, libraries and other groups from the proceeds.

“For several years we have been trying to do a Spring Carnival to help off set the decrease in revenue from the Fair each year,” Letlow said in a Facebook post on April 6. “We have had to eliminate some groups we supported in the past and reduce most of the others. For some reason or another this has not worked out in the past.”

Letlow said a carnival company out of Trussville the club had communicated with in the past contacted the Club President Sid Wheeler with an open date this week and were looking for a place to set up the carnival. The Kiwanis Club agreed to sponsor it.

“We jumped on it,” Letlow said. “We’re just trying to find a way to make a little bit more money so we can put (donations) back. The fair will still happen in October.”

Letlow said the carnival will include rides, games and concessions.

“We’re hoping to make it annual,” Letlow said.

No vendors will be included this year because of limited planning time.

As of April 6, admission and ticket prices had not been determined.

For updates regarding the spring carnival, visit the Shelby County Fair on Facebook.