INNISFAIL – For days and days the spring rains fell but there would be no surrender at St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School.
The Penny Carnival had to go on.
This year on May 23 it would mark the 10th annual Penny Carnival for the school; a fundraiser for a new playground.
But Mother Nature would not cooperate.
Undeterred, staff organizers decided to improvise. The 10th annual event of fun and games for students and the community would be moved inside.
“With all the rain and not enough sun to dry up the grass we were worried about it just being too wet and then all of our games outside would just be soaked; not super fun, nowhere for parents and kids to sit,” said Meghan Hebert, a Grade 3 teacher who was a lead organizer for this year’s event with Grade 1 teacher Olivia Shields. “So we just made the call to bring it all inside so that it was more fun for everybody.
“We've also invited the community,” added Hebert. “If people come to our school they are totally welcome to be here and have a great time.”
This year’s Penny Carnival, which began at 4 p.m. and ran until 7 p.m., still featured a full array of activities, fun and even opportunities to take on the big boys.
The gymnasium featured a tug of war activity that was highlighted with competition between the kids and Innisfail Fire Department Chief Gary Leith, assistant fire chief Mike Thomson, Innisfail RCMP Const. Craig Nelson, the detachment's community schools resource officer and peace officers Allan Howes and Allison Koch.
And the kids more than held their own. And they were just getting warmed up. There was plenty more to do inside.
“They buy tickets to play games. They pay for the cake walk. It's like musical chairs,” said Hebert. “They pay money to get their face painted and to get a picture of them drawn.
“We usually have something with staff but with all the rain this year we don’t have splash the staff, which is a big moneymaker.”
Nevertheless, there were still many stations throughout the school where kids and community families could find fun.
Hebert said all stations were run by the school’s Grade 9 students.
As well, Shields pointed out there was also a silent auction to raise money for the new playground.
She added there was vendors this year to have a little market for both students and families, and a pet room featuring lovable animals from the Fostering Hope Animal Rescue Foundation.
“They are here with animals that need to be adopted. They’re here to spread some dog love,” said Shields.
She also pointed out the school was once against fortunate enough to have several food trucks outside that were donating back to our school.
“All of the money they make comes directly back to us, so we are very, very fortunate for that,” said Shields.
Rhamona Miller, owner of the food trucks, has offered her service to the school since the Penny Carnival’s inception a decade ago.
“My kids went to this school, and they went on to (Red Deer's) Notre Dame, and that's why we started coming here when they asked us to,” said Miller. “It’s important for them to get a new playground. Whatever we can do to help as a community is what we do.”
