July 1, 2009, marked the day when some of the kids in Forest Grove were the cleanest ever. There’s a good reason for this: you may recall the mention of Canada Day celebrations in my last column; well, these kids attended and spent most of the day in the shallows of Ruth Lake.

The weather was perfect, the setting was beautiful and there was enough food and activities for kids and adults to enjoy celebrating Canada’s birthday.

Friends, relatives, acquaintances and even strangers from all around Forest Grove area came to Ruth Lake Park. The potluck was a hit, and most hit the tables more than once. I’m sure no one left the park feeling disappointed or hungry.

So, what is a Canada Day potluck? Well, it’s about a half a dozen tables packed with everything from cheese and crackers to salads, including a purple potato salad, barbecues, biscuits, rabbit stew and wrapping up with the real good stuff like brownies and pies filled with, your choice, apples, rhubarb or peaches. Ahh, maybe next year you will attend; just bring some polka dot tomatoes or some flaming fillet of yak, or, well, you know what I mean.

To wrap it up, we sang “Oh, Canada”… I told you last issue that we would. Actually we sang it in English and in French… well, I didn’t do the French thing because I had to do the pictures, and I wasn’t allowed to sing French because I’ve only been in the Cariboo for a year or so. There’s rules up here, you know!

We sang the English version facing west so our voices would echo across the lake, up the rocks and trees and into the blue sky. That was Marianne Van Osch’s request and so they did. Some of the voices there hadn’t sung since last Canada Day but they were singing now and, likely, the bears and the birds in the area took notice.

Part of the wrap-up was a tug-o-war with the kids taking on the Lions. No, not real lions; we couldn’t get them this year so we used members of the Forest Grove Lions Club instead. (More about them in the next issue.)

The kids were ready to take on the old Lions; they trounced them thoroughly, and these were just little kids. Not only do they know how to sing, they also know how to draw the line in the sand. Try as they might, the Lions could not regain their lost ground and the kids tasted the win early.

Scanning the crowd I could tell by the look on everyone’s face that doing Canada Day celebrations is a good thing and getting together like this makes us all feel good. And why not? We have so much for which to be thankful and it’s nice to take the time to appreciate what we have.

Awards day

If the activities on awards day are any indication of how well Forest Grove School is doing, then this school is doing all right. To wrap up their school year, principal Kerry Tunnacliffe and her staff held awards ceremonies with a few students wearing proud smiles.

The top award for citizenship was shared by Haylie Jones and Todd Saenger. Heading the academic area, Maggie Cummings and Tianna King received awards recognizing their hard work over the past year. Kira Saenger and Travis Couture were the recipients of awards for being the top athletes in Forest Grove.

In the 1960s, a traditional award called Open ½ Mile was established. This year the top runner to receive the honours was Liam Haretzmuller.

There was a talent show presented to showcase the students of the performing arts. Tasha McKay and Haylie Jones walked away with the top talent show award with their duo performance of “Follow Me.”

Ceremony ended with a slide show; a collage set to music depicting events from throughout the year. This tribute to the student body and the staff, produced by Tanya Au, gave everyone a final look at the past school year and left them with some nice memories.

When asked to comment on the past 10 months, Kerry had this to say: “It was an eventful and successful year thanks to the staff, community and parents throughout the year. They want to keep the school alive.” Great job everyone!