Hundreds of people flooded the school yard of Dr. S.E. McDowell Elementary in Shawville on Thursday to take part in an entertainment-packed evening organized by its Home and School Committee – the annual spring fair.
The event was buzzing with games and activities, from face painting and hair tinseling to a crowd favourite, the Cakewalk, which saw participants compete in a musical chairs-like game to win cupcakes. Some kids got up close and personal to the ponies, bunnies, and goats that trimmed the school yard grass, while others watched as a man on stilts waded through the crowd, and others took their turn on one of two bouncy castles.
The Shawville-Clarendon Fire Department rolled in one of their trucks, giving kids the chance to hop inside or drop their names in a firefighter’s boot for a chance to win one of two bikes donated by the department.
Two-year-old Raelyn Pape was excited all day to come down to the fair, said her parents, Jackie McBane and Chris Pape, especially to see the fire truck. “It was definitely a bribing tool,” joked McBane.
Everyone had the chance to walk away with a full tummy as snacks were hard to miss. Between the available popcorn, cotton candy, ice cream sold by the 4-H club and the Shawville Lions barbeque, there was no shortage of treats.
“It’s always a great hit with the community,” said Chelsea Laframboise, vice president of the committee.
“This event is great because other than the Shawville Fair, there isn’t much else like this around [ . . . ] It’s more kid oriented and open to the whole community too.”
The spring fair and annual auction, which wrapped up on the second Friday of May, raised a total of $10,300 for the committee.
“The Home and School Committee organizes fundraisers to purchase things the school traditionally wouldn’t,” Laframbroise said.
Priorities for the committee include supporting the school’s breakfast club needs, which they were able to do with the help of Giant Tiger, and revamping the outdoor recreation equipment.
This year, the committee also funded a four-day AstroPontiac exhibition and hired a local artist to paint sidewalk games like four-square and Snakes and Ladders directly onto the schoolyard concrete.
Last year, the committee funded a caterpillar project that brought monarch caterpillars, caged and contained, into the classes. The pupils watched and learned about the baby caterpillars before they were released. It was such a hit, the committee has committed to the project again this year.
Laframbroise said alongside helping fulfill teachers’ wish lists, next on the list for the committee is rejuvenating the school’s outdoor spaces, which will include bringing in new sand and outdoor equipment and aerating the soccer field.
