An event planned for Thursday and Friday encourages communication between students and Ames officials.

Welcome to Ames will be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. each day on the corner of Chamberlain Street and Welch Avenue. The event is free to the public.

City employees and Ames City Council members are planning to attend to “be more visible” to students and “foster communication,” said Judy Parks, assistant city attorney.

“Students sometimes don’t have the interest or time or knowledge about what is going on out here because they are so focused on class and school,” Parks said. “We want to bridge the gap and get to know them better and have them get to know us better. The city impacts them and sometimes they don’t know it until it’s directly in their face.”

There will be several contests for students to participate in, including shooting free throws, putting golf balls, kicking field goals and shooting hockey pucks, said Nancy Carroll, director for parks and recreation.

“The field-goal-kicking contest is modified — it’s a smaller size than you’re probably used to seeing,” she said. “And we’ll be using a tennis ball instead of a puck because we don’t want people to get hurt.”

Carroll said they wanted to incorporate events the Parks and Recreation Department offer to the community. There will also be prizes for the winner of each competition.

“Some of the prizes include a free pass to the ice arena and a free pass for golf at Homewood course,” Parks said. “The prizes try to help draw students out into the community, at least that is what we are attempting to do.”

There will also be music played through a sound system rented from KURE 88.5 and free pizza and water, Parks said.

This is the first event of this kind, but Deputy Fire Chief Paul Sandavol said he hopes it continues into the future. This event was Sandavol’s idea and Carroll said he was instrumental in getting all the planning and processes done.

“We hope to continue this every fall,” Sandavol said. “After this event is over we will review what went well and what could be modified to do better and implement those changes in the future.”

Sandavol said they wanted to reach out not only to students but also to their parents.

“There will be a postcard the students can send to their parents,” he said. “All they have to do is sign it and fill in their parents’ address; we will provide the stamp and mail it for them.

“The postcard reads ‘Having a great time in Ames. The people are friendly — they even took a picture of me. Please send more money.’ And the postcard has a picture of student standing with their empty pockets hanging out. Our contact information is also provided on the card if parents have any questions.”