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The Family Picnic is an annual event in May organized by the Parent???s Guild for all IHMS students and their family members. It takes place on the playground at the end of the school day, and unlike most other IHMS events, the Family Picnic has only one purpose – fun! It???s a great way for members of the school community to enjoy each other???s company in a relaxed and informal setting.

This year???s 15th annual Family Picnic was held on Thursday, May 17th. It began right after dismissal and ran until approximately 5:30 p.m. Parents didn???t have to make a special trip to attend the picnic because they had to be at the school to pick up their kids anyway. Most of them brought lawn chairs and socialized while their children enjoyed the various activities planned by the organizing committee.

Everything about the Picnic was informal – families came when they could, and stayed as long as they wanted. Admission was only one pre-cut home baking per family. As usual, there were plenty of activities and attractions to keep everyone entertained.

The day of the picnic was also a N.U.T. day, and students were encouraged to dress in their most comfortable summer wear. This turned out to be a good idea because the weather was hot and sunny with a high of 29 degrees. Just like last year, it was the hottest day of the year so far.

Since it was a picnic, a lot of delicious food was available, including barbecued hot dogs (cooked on the school???s two barbeques), salads, vegetable platters, chips, drinks, cotton candy, Freezies, and popcorn.

At 4:15 p.m., Mr. Picklyk announced that the food was being served right after the school chaplain, Father Isadore Dziadyk, OSBM led everyone in prayer.

After the meal, a dessert table was set up with the pre-cut home baking that parents brought as admission. Coffee, orange juice, and water were included in the meal for anyone who wanted.

 

As in the past 2 years, there were 2 main attractions at the Family Picnic:

 

1. An inflatable bouncer slide

2. Several tossing games

 

The inflatable bouncer slide was a large, air-filled structure that children crawled up on one side (after removing their shoes), in order to bounce or slide down the other side. Because it was so popular, most kids had to wait in line for 5-10 minutes to try it out.

There were also several different tossing games that involved throwing beanbags, frisbees, or shooting a plastic puck at a target. They attracted some attention, but were not overly popular with the kids.

Parent and student volunteers managed to keep the picnic running smoothly. Workers were needed for the inflatable bouncer slide, the food tables, the barbeques, the popcorn and Freezie stations, and the cotton candy machine. These stations also required some heavy lifting in setting up and tearing down afterwards. Parent volunteers were also busy working behind the scenes preparing the food and drink for the picnic.

Another activity featured at the picnic was face painting, which was performed by artistic junior high volunteers. There was also a station for students to make bubbles.

Mrs. Laird (with assistance from Ms. DePiero) ran a few outdoor games for students on the grassed area of the playground, including a candy scramble for the younger children.

A table was set up for people to enter their names for a free raffle of donated prizes. There were quite a few items in the raffle, and every family attending the Picnic was eligible to enter their family???s name once.

Everything about the picnic seemed to go as planned. The weather was fantastic and everyone seemed to have a good time! Thank you to Mrs. Station (who will be leaving as committee chair after years of dedicated service), Mrs. Sawczuk, and Ms. Ruff for organizing the event, and for all the volunteers who made the family picnic the success that it was.

 

Click here for additional photos of the Family Picnic
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