The Salvation Army of Suffolk held their annual Back-to-School program on Friday, with fun, prizes and entertainment being the most visible, but not the most important, aspect of the morning.

&uot;We want the community to know it’s important to us that their kids stay in school and get as high an education as possible,&uot; said Capt. Veronica Banks, &uot;and our giving supplies for the start of the school year is a way for us to show it’s important to us.&uot;

Those supplies were backpacks for each of the kids who were part of the Friday fun, along with grade-specific materials included inside each of the new backpacks.

&uot;We purchased them, and we get some donations from the neighborhood churches,&uot;said Banks.

It was the second year that the entertainment was a part of the day, but the Suffolk Salvation Army has a long history of organizing the Back-to-School supply drive, Banks said.

&uot;We go with the slogan that the president has been saying for the last few years, and that’s to ‘Leave no child behind,’&uot;

Banks said, &uot;We want all the children here to be ready for school and purchasing supplies should be the least of their worries.&uot;

About the day’s fun, there was &uot;Back-to-School Jeopardy&uot;, and a very crowd-inclusive, and equally funny, magic show from Smiley D. Clown.

The Blue Team narrowly beat out the Red Team in Jeopardy, although both teams were a perfect 10-for-10 in the history, spelling, math and true-false categories.

Smiley entertained all young and old with his varying degrees of magic involving his coloring book, his mental deduction, his handkerchiefs, and his magic peanut butter and jelly.

andrew.giermak@suffolknewsherald.com