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| A grade 8 girl in line for food at the Family Picnic |
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 16th annual Family Picnic was held on Thursday, May 16th. 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. Many of them brought lawn chairs and socialized while their children enjoyed the various activities planned by the organizing committee.
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| A lot of parents brought lawn chairs to the Family Picnic |
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 comfortable and colourful summer wear. This was a great idea because the weather was sunny and 22 degrees – perfect for a picnic.
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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. |
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| Parent volunteers preparing and passing out hot dogs, 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.
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| The food was served after Father Isadore lead 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.
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| The dessert table and the beverage table |
As in the past few years, there was one main attraction at the Family Picnic – an inflatable bouncer. This 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 a few minutes to try it out.
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| The inflatable bouncer is always a favourite with the kids |
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.
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| Some of the tossing games at the Family Picnic |
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.
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| Some of the hard working teacher, student, and parent volunteers |
Other activities featured at the picnic were:
- A face painting station where face painting was performed by artistic junior high volunteers.
- A tattoo table where junior high volunteers applied stick-on tattoos.
- A station for younger children to make soap bubbles.
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| Fun with face painting, tattoos, and bubbles! |
Ms. Rowe and Ms. Karhut ran a few outdoor games for students on the grassed area of the playground, including a candy scramble for the younger children.
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| Ms. Rowe and Ms. Karhut organized some games for the kids |
A table was set up for people to enter their names for a free raffle of donated prizes. This year, the door prizes were gift cards, and every family attending the Picnic was eligible to enter their family???s name once.
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| Grade 8 students checking off names entered for door prizes |
Everything about the picnic seemed to go as planned. The weather was fantastic and everyone seemed to have a good time! Thank you to Ms. Ruff and Mr. Dumaua for organizing the event, and for all the volunteers who made the family picnic the success that it was.
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Click here to view additional photos of the Family Picnic |
