Offering up lots of fun and knowledge, the first annual Yellowstone Dig it Days will be held in Billings on Saturday, August 17, at the Johnson Lane Interchange, 10 am to 4 pm.

Kids can explore, inspect, take pictures and learn about all kinds of heavy equipment – and even operate a back hoe.

Kids of all ages, including parents and grandparents, will find this unique display of heavy equipment, as well as emergency service vehicles a wholesome, constructive family experience, which besides being fun and educational, will generate funds for three worthwhile youth-oriented organizations – the Yellowstone Boy and Girls Club, the YMCA and the Lockwood Optimists Club.

The first 500 kids will receive “Dig It” t-shirts and a plastic hard hat. Concrete and materials will be available for kids to make and decorate “stepping stones” to take home. Food and drink vendors will be on hand, as well as a kid tattoo booth, and best of all, a big sand mountain. Knife River, one of the event sponsors, will haul in 200 tons of sand for one of the biggest sand mountains ever seen in Yellowstone County, for the sole purpose of having fun in the sand.

Other sponsors of Dig It Days are RDO Equipment Co., Northwestern Energy and ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. The sponsors and the beneficiary organizations will be providing volunteers, who will be making safety, during the event, a priority.

The event is being produced by Yellowstone Family, a newly created non-profit dedicated to supporting the community.