UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - Hundreds of kids and adults filled Utica's Johnson Park Tuesday night to celebrate the Park Center's 17 years in the Cornhill community.

From kickball to board games, the annual Week of Celebration features free activities at the park to promote positive change in the community.

"It is to show that we can have fun without doing drugs," said Johnson Park Center Founder Rev. Dr. Maria Scates. "It is to help reinforce a drug-free, crime-free and violence-free lifestyle."

While there's lots of food and even a Mini Youth Olympics, the week is not just about fun, but learning too.

"Each night we have various service providers as well as our
Green Design Team," said Rev. Dr. Scates. "A solar panel worker... now an architect here is teaching how you can become an architect."

The events continue until Sunday, July 29th at Johnson Park in Utica's Cornhill neighborhood.

Tuesday, July 31st the Johnson Park Center will hold a grand opening event announcing the edition of their new energy efficient Johnson Park Apartments V for formerly homeless women and families.