Gala to benefit preschool renovations

Spider-Man visited St Joseph School on Friday.
Several of them actually, as the superhero’s colourful mask topped the request list at the face-painting booth as the primary school hosted its biennial gala.
The homemade brownies and cupcakes proved popular, as was anything cold as the sun beat down on the huge crowd filling the field behind the school. The bouncy castle was filled with squealing children while, at other booths, students tested their skills at throwing darts or putting golf balls. Even the playground equipment was the site of a number of impromptu games, including one where two young ladies, Victoria and Genesis, vied to see who could raise the most blisters while swinging across the monkey bars.
An umu smoked away at the back of the property as breakfast segued into lunch. The food stalls did such a roaring business, in fact, that most of their wares were sold out by just after noon.
The school’s principal, Sister Celine Simon, surveyed the fun from her office while discussing the goal for this year’s gala.
“Our main target is to renovate our pre-school building,” she said. “It’s leaking and there are many holes.”
The 2008 gala raised $40,000 and the organizers were hoping to surpass that total this year.
Simon said she had already done several circuits of the grounds to join in the fun but managed to emerge without a single spider web or butterfly adorning her face.
“I would love to do that but I have no time for all that,” she said.
Just for the record, if you’re wondering who to thank for the recent brilliant sunshine during what is supposed to be the winter season, Simon is quite willing to take some of the credit.
“We were praying for a week,” she said. “The children, myself, the bishop and the sisters – all of us were praying for the good weather.”

By John Ireland

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