Chinook Centre School students glued, sparkled, and painted their way to decorating the Hometown Christmas Tree to be unveiled Dec. 18.
Grade 2 teacher Coreen Nelson supervised the young students, along with parent helpers and other staff, during craft time on Dec. 5 as reindeer and Christmas trees were created for the festive tree.
“It's going to be a Christmas tree with character, decorated with personalized glittery ornaments,” said Misty Higgs, a parent helper. “The children are having so much fun creating the decorations you just have to smile.”
Around the tables, the students aged five to 10 glued Popsicle sticks together for their creations and smiled as they painted and applied glitter and reindeer horns.
“I like decorations,” said five-year old Brook Grimmer as she applied her third colour of paint on the ornament.
Fellow classmate Amber-Lin Giesbrecht was hard at work on her reindeer.
“I made Rudolph,” said Giesbrecht wiping paint off her hands, only to grab the brush and start again.
Meanwhile, plans for the Hometown Christmas were close to finalization for the Dec. 18 event by Carla Gabert, manager of the Innisfail and District Chamber of Commerce.
“Pictures with Santa Claus will be taken in the TELUS store between 6 and 9 p.m., and there will be sleigh rides from the Henday Mall to Bankers Corner and stores will be open until 9 p.m.” said Gabert. “We are working with merchants from the Innisfail Downtown Association to make this a special evening.”
In addition to the Hometown Christmas, Santa's Sleigh “I Shop Local” promotion is running in Innisfail, Bowden and Spruce View until Dec. 16. Shoppers can have their cards stamped by participating businesses to win prizes in multiples of $5 and $10.
For more information, contact Gabert at 403-227-1177 or go to www.innisfaillive.ca.
Misty Higgs
"The children are having so much fun creating the decorations you just have to smile."
