December 6, 2017 –
Come one, come all to the Christmas Day & Santa Expo!
The Centre Chevaliers was a busy place on Nov. 25, as Christmas shoppers met with merchants and children had their pictures taken with Santa Claus.
The annual Falher Christmas Expo & Santa Day was held there and 1,058 people came through the doors, pleasing organizer Tina Simard.
“It’s getting bigger every year,” says Simard.
“We’ve had even more support from the community in the form of donations. That’s what makes the event possible, to keep it free for everybody.”
She held draws for prizes throughout the day. Simard donated the proceeds from this event, in the amount of $500, to the Twilight Figure Skating Club. This non-profit group ran the crafts activity at the Christmas Expo and raised another $175.
There were 75 tables for merchandise and other items at the event, and the merchants came from all over the region for it.
Merchandise for sale included giftware, woodwork projects, teas and other food products, knitted items and handmade journals.
RCMP staff donations provide free books to children at local schools through “Red Coats Reading Program”
Employees at the McLennan RCMP detachment began the “Red Coats Reading Program,” last year.
The program is designed to encourage children to read, to feel comfortable with police and to reassure kdis that the RCMP in their community have their best interests at heart.
The program was born from a staff discussion about finding a way of making a grassroots contribution to communities in the region, a way that incurred no administrative costs with all funds raised going to the kids.
December 13, 2017 –
Smoky River Minor Hockey Association annual “Christmas Affair Gala” a perennial success
The Annual “Christmas Affair Gala” is the Smoky River Minor Hockey Association’s major fundraiser of the year, so no effort is spared in staging a formal but relaxed evening with excellent food and entertainment in a tastefully decked out, sophisticated environment.
The SRMHA worked tirelessly over the past few months to organize its “Old Hollywood” themed, 6th Annual Gala,” transforming the Centre Chevaliers into a venue that left the mundane and the everyday at the door and offers guests a spectacular event in an elaborate and stylish atmosphere.
The event on December 2, began with hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and signature drinks, served when the doors opened at 5pm and the buffet dinner was served at approximately 7pm.
“Our sensational caterer Amber Karlson-Ouellet with Country Girl Catering is one of our amazing minor hockey parents and she has donated her services to the association for a few years now,” says Pauline Therriault one of the organizers of the event.
Don Cherry Impersonator, Clark Robertson provided the featured entertainment and staying in character throughout delivered apt hockey-themed humour that definitely resonated with the audience.
Joy to the World! McLennan holds Christmas light up
The fire crackled and the sparks flew high, and the evening was chilly but enjoyable, as the children ran around and the chatting rose in tempo.
The coffee, hot chocolate and cookies were consumed graciously and all was joyful.
The only thing to make it better was the activation of the Christmas lights, as they shone brightly to make everyone get into the spirit of the Christmas holiday.
Such was the mood of the Christmas light up at the railway museum displays by the Kimiwan Birdwalk in McLennan during the evening of Dec. 2.
Many people attended the event, gathering around a big fire to await the moment the lights came on, which was precisely at 7 p.m.
Volunteers strung the Christmas lights across the railway display, the trees and the passenger car. There was also a wood Nativity Scene set up near the railway displays.
Later, attendees broke into Christmas caroling, which included ‘Frosty the Snowman’, ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’, ‘White Christmas’, ‘Away in a Manger’, ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’, ‘Here Comes Santa Claus’, ‘Jingle Bells’, ‘Deck the Halls’, ‘Feliz Navidad’, ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ and ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’.
SRDS performs its third annual Christmas time dance recital at Villa Beausejour
On the afternoon of December 5, Smoky River Dance Society (SRDS) put on its third annual performance at the Villa Beausejour.
The 45-minute recital was greatly appreciated by the residents, family and community members who attended.
Approximately 50 dance society students of all levels and ranging in age from the very young to approximately 17 years old, performed various dance routines to Christmas themed music.
As in previous years, the show was well coordinated with swift transitions from one group to the next and everyone performed with fluency and charm.
“This is our third time coming to the Villa. It is something we decided to start because the community gives us so much and we wanted to give something back to the community,” says SRDS board member Jeannine Labrecque. “The kids like to perform and the seniors enjoy seeing the dance so it is a win-win situation. It gives the kids something to look forward to before we start rehearsing for our festivals and our recital in the spring.”
This is the SRDS’ fifth season, so the oldest group this year will be the dance societies first graduating class.
December 20, 2017 –
Four Ecole Providence students win Royal Canadian Legion Remembrance Day contest
Like most other schools, the students at Ecole Providence celebrated Remembrance Day and the days leading up to it doing activities related to the commemoration and learning about Canadian Veteran’s role in conflicts overseas.
The kids wrote to veterans, performed a play and read books and watched videos to increase their knowledge of the contributions veterans have made to the country.
Another feature of the Remembrance Day celebrations is the Royal Canadian Legion’s Poster and Literary Contests.
The contests are in two forms: visual art and literature. Each genre is then divided into two categories where students can compete in the black and white or Colour category in the poster contest and submit poems or essays for the literary contests.
The Legion allows students to enter each contest but they are limited to one submission per category.
Local entries are judged at the Branch level and winning entries proceed to the provincial and ultimately to the national level.
Ecole Providence had four prizewinners with Rylynn Gladue-Roberts receiving first place in the colour poster category.
Grace Payou won second place for her colour poster, Zahara Rempel won second in the black and white category and Mary Katherine Jordan won first place in poetry.
The students were excited with winning the contest and moving onto the provincial levels. They were also happy to receive their prize money just prior to Christmas.
The joy of the season for Ecole Routhier’s English and French Christmas concerts
The Christmas spirit shined through at Ecole Routhier in the evenings of Dec. 12 and 13.
The school held their English Christmas concert the first evening and the French concert the following night.
At the start of the each concert, Principal Diane Benoit welcomed everyone and introduced the dignitaries.
She also reflected on her Christmas treasures, which include seeing the students’ glittering eyes, their beaming smiles and laughter, and the goals that they have accomplished together.