Parents were once again offered the opportunity to peruse the vast majority of Sundre's sports, clubs and recreation groups under one roof last week at the Welcome Back Barbeque information and registration night in the River Valley School gym.
The third annual event, organized and hosted by Greenwood Neighbourhood Place and RVS, was wildly successful, and organizer Jenny Jacobs of GNP said she was happy with the number of parents and children who came through the doors.
“It's an excellent turnout,” said Jacobs. “Hopefully everyone else thinks so too.”
Yvonne Siewart visited the event with her daughter, Alexus, and popped by many of the booths to help determine the best extracurricular activities for her children.
Siewart said she had been deliberating over which martial art to put her son in, and having both the Shindo Kempho Karate Do and Mountain View Tae Kwan Do there allowed her to weigh the features of both activities for 7-year-old Ethan.
“It was really nice being able to ask other parents which would best suit him,” said Siewart.
In the end, she decided on a class for her son, and was able to enroll Alexus in Cadets, and rent her band instrument – all within two hours.
“This is very helpful,” said Siewart. “It's so convenient to have everything in one place at one time.”
This convenience was exactly what GNP and RVS were hoping to provide parents with through the event, said Jacobs.
Aside from the army of recreation programs, sports, and clubs to join, non-profit groups like the Sundre River Valley School Environment Club and Sundre Skate Park Project also had a presence at the event.
School staff volunteered their time to cook and prepare burgers and hotdogs for hungry event-goers, with all funds raised from the concession going to RVS's Renaissance program.
The program, an initiative run by the school's vice-principal Ian Mulholland, promotes academic achievement, school spirit, and active citizenship for Grade 6-8 students.
