Primary Grades From St. Anne School Entertain Shoppers, Parents and Grandparents During Education Week

Primary Grade students from St. Anne School spent about a half hour at the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre on May 3 as part of their Education Week celebrations.

Although most of the stores had not yet opened when the children arrived, a crowd of over 70 people were on hand to hear the students perform several songs and dances.

As you can see from the picture below, the cameras were in full use by parents and grandparents who wanted to capture the moment. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the performance and were grateful to the teachers for providing the students with this experience - one they will always remember.

 
Grade 8 Class From St. Anne School Spends Friday Night Helping Out The Food Bank 

Cathy Belanger, shown second from the right in between two friendly reindeer, spend a wonderful Friday evening with some of her students at the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre on December 16, 2005. The school was in the middle of their Christmas  food drive and wanted to help ensure the achievement of their overall goal of 5000 items. They stood outside the Desjardins' Food Basics entrance collecting food and cash donations which were to go to one of the local food banks in the community. They even entertained shoppers by singing Christmas carols.
  

Special Letter of The Week
From Wendy Petro (Bisson)
(To see her other notes click here>>>>)

Hi Bob!

Just looking at the photos from St. Kevin's Tea & Bazaar...I sure do miss those things, nothing like them at all down here. No one knows what a penny sale is, and the only tea they drink down here is "iced."

I noticed a face that looked familiar while looking at these photos. I checked the name and saw it is Doris Labelle. I thought, nah, couldn't be the Mrs. Labelle I had in grade 5. Then I saw the next photo of her, and it does look like her! Can it be...??

(Yes, Wendy. The lady on the left is Doris Labelle. The lady on the right is Bertilla Rodriguez)

You don't know how much I long to be up there at this time of year. We actually had a snow flurry last week (it was above freezing on the ground, but it was cold up above us...the snow came down and melted before hitting anything), but we're back up into the low 80s again. My mom's in Sudbury right now (probably at Pioneer Manor as we speak, sitting with my grandmother). Mom said it's been warm, but then you had a bit of a freezing rain storm yesterday...? Sounds delightful to me!

I remember one time we had a whole bunch of snow, and then it got warm (I think it was in March or somewhere later in the season) and a lot of snow started to melt, and then it rained and got cold again...school was out because of the weather as the roads were iced over. It was really windy, and these kids down the street got their skates on, held a sheet between them, and ice-sailed down the street!

We just celebrated our Thanksgiving last weekend. Katie's had a cold, so she wasn't much in the mood for turkey. I must say, for not having my mom around, the gravy turned out really good (of course, I did call her to get instructions as I was doing it!). The City of Orlando had its employee holiday luncheon today at the O-rena (we still can't get used to calling it the TDWaterhouse Center). My gravy was MUCH better than the stuff they served there...their stuffing looked like it had been put through a blender...and the ham was called "mystery meat" by several of my co-workers! I wonder who catered the event?! At least the turkey wasn't too bad (although even there, I believe mine was better!).

One of my co-workers was up in Niagara Falls two weeks ago, and she'd brought back some fancy cookies...maple cream cookies! I told her you could get the same thing at the dollar store (made in Canada, of course), so went out and bought some and brought them in...no one could taste a difference. Yesterday I brought in some Dare maple cream cookies which I found at a local grocery store (and bought a bag of chocolate fudge cookies for myself, but the kids have eaten most of them already!!). Gotta show these Americans what good junk food tastes like!! I had Shirley bring me back some Coffee Crisp bars, and the following weekend I found some at another dollar store in Winter Park! And they were 2 for $1!!! That's cheaper than we'd pay up there!!! Now, if I could only get someone locally to sell butter tarts and ketchup chips! The Entenmanns company was selling Vachon cakes under their name here for a while (Au Caramels and Half Moons, as we called them up there) but they've disappeared. The Dare cookies I find every now and again, depending on the store. I'm hoping mom can bring me down a can or two of Habitant soupe au pois. I have a recipe to make some sponge toffee (looks easy enough) which will probably entertain Katie as well (and give her a quick science lesson at the same time), and another recipe for tortiere. I'll let you know how those turn out! Maybe I'll make some butter tarts, too, if I become ambitious and the weather gets cool. I can't make the sponge candy 'til the humidity drops again, should have taken advantage of the nice weather last weekend.

See? And you take all these things for granted.... LOL!!

Anyway, hope you're doing well and you're getting back on track after the elections. Please let me know whether the Doris Labelle in the photos was the same one I knew. I love when you post photos as I am constantly searching for my old life and people I knew when I lived up there in God's country!

Take care, Bob!!

Thank you for keeping in touch, Wendy. It is always a joy to receive one of your emails. I know that our readers appreciate your reflections about the "Good old days in Valley East". I will say hello to Doris Labelle for you.
  

Local Ambassadors for the Easter Seal Society Deliver Powerful Message During Valley East Lions Charity Days

Lisa Lounsbury, District Manager of the Sudbury Branch of the Easter Seal Society, is shown in the photo below with the two Ambassadors for 2006 as they spoke during the Valley East Lions Charity Days Event held on September 9, 2006 at the Centennial Arena.

Tanya Quesnel, a nine year old, Grade 5 student at Jean Sauve School and twelve-year old Sylvain Labelle, a Grade 7 student at Ecole St. Therese of Val Therese, spoke on behalf of the Easter Seal Society, encouraging visitors to support the fight for a cure.

The two children attend numerous public events during the year as spokespersons for the Easter Seal Society.

  

HEALTHY EATING 
IS IMPORTANT AT
ECOLE STE. THERESE

  

Principal, Lucie Hurtubise, stands in front of the Healthy Eating Bullseye which is a visible reminder on permanent display in the cafeteria. It was the culmination of a school-wide project that was part of the Healthy Kids for Healthy Schools project.
 

PAM'S DELI MAKES
ANNUAL VISIT TO
ECOLE STE. THERESE

  
St. Therese Students Treated To Annual Visit From John Hopley of Pam's Deli 

The photo above shows Chef John Hopley, owner of Pam's Bakery & Deli in the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre, during one day in June 2004 spending a few wonderful hours at St. Therese School in Val Therese. The purpose of his return to school was to provide a BBQ lunch for the more than 200 students and staff. Hopley, shown providing Madam Hess, Acting Principal with one of his delicious hot dogs, throughly enjoyed the experience.
"It was a fantastic time. We served over 200 meals in no time at all and the kids simply loved it," he commented.
The meal consisted of hot dogs, caesar salad and a pop. Madam Hess' Grade 6 Class was responsible for preparing the salads and helping distribute the food. Everything was donated by a group of merchants from the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre, including: Pam's Bakery & Deli; The Gallery & Brew Shop; Billie Jean's; The Hanmer Bargain Outlet; Desjardins' Food Basics, and; Val Mazzuca, owner of the mall.  On top of the food, the group also donated the BBQ to the school to be used as they see fit.
  
FRUIT-KABOBS WERE THE ORDER OF THE DAY IN 2005 WHEN JOHN CAME VISITING

John Hopley, owner of Pam's Deli, is shown in 2005 helping students prepare delicious fruit-kabobs for recess the next day. The treats were prepared by Madam Louella Hess' Grade 6 class.

Madam Hess is shown with several of her students cleaning utensils at the sink.

All of the students had their particular jobs and were very intent on "doing it right" in order to receive the approval of Chef John.

The containers in the front of the photo above contain all of the cut up pieces of fruit that will be put on skewers for the entire student population the next morning at recess.

John Hopley, Principal, Lucie Hurtubise, and Madam Louella Hess enjoy a quiet moment to reflect on the experience being provided to the children. For Louella, it was a bitter sweet moment since this is her final year of a 36 year career. She will be retiring at the end of June 2005. It was also quite a moment for Lucie, since she would be saying good bye to her former teacher; Madam Hess taught Lucie in Grade 2. For John, he was already looking forward to 2006 when he would return again to continue the tradition.
 
ANNUAL FOOD DRIVE HELD AT NEIL'S INDEPENDENT FOR FIRST TIME PROVES TO BE A HUGE SUCCESS

As President of the Parent Teacher Association for Ecole Notre Dame in Hanmer, Angele Mrochek is responsible for organizing many of the fund-raising and community activities for the school. This year her committee decided to try something different for their Annual Christmas Food Drive by holding a special "Family Day" on December 17, 2005 at Neil's Your Independent Grocer. Angele is shown in the photo above with a special "Thank You" display which is a collection of photos that were taken during the day. She was presenting it to Neil Lindenbach who will have it on display in his store.

Dozens and dozens of parents, grandparents, teachers and children turned out from 1 to 4 p.m. to sing Christmas Carols, make balloon animals, have their faces painted, eat hot dogs, go on wagon rides provided by Brakar Family Ranch and to receive holiday tattoos.

The admission fee to take part in any of the activities was an item of food. Both the people from Ecole Notre Dame and the regular shoppers were extremely generous with their donations. In addition to the food donations, a total of $300 in cash was also raised.

The end result was that the Knights of Columbus #5005 and the Good Neighbours Food Bank had plenty of items to fill the Christmas Hampers which were then to be delivered to needy families in the community. All grades were involved in this event, which promises to become an Annual activity for the school from now on.

   

MOTHERS' DAY CARD CONTEST

 
A number of classes at the school took part in a special Mothers' Day Card Contest sponsored by the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre. Each class was asked to make one large card to be put up at the mall, or several smaller ones. One of the participating classes was then to be drawn at random to receive a "Sub-Party". This year, Madam Lisa Charette's Grade 3/4 class was the winner of the party.

GRADE 3/4   2005-2006
Madam Lisa Charette

 

Thank You To All Children, Teachers and Schools For This Wonderful Tribute To Mothers and Grandmothers....

On behalf of the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all children and teachers from classes which contributed to our 'Tribute To Mothers & Grandmothers' this year. Dozens of beautiful cards were on display for Mother's Day and were seen by thousands of appreciative mothers from around the region.

Robert Kirwan
Marketing & Public Relations Director
Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre

    

The Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre invited all of the teachers of elementary schools located in Valley East and Capreol to take part in a special tribute to Mothers and Grandmothers of the area.

Val and Violet Mazzuca, owners of the mall, offered each school a pizza party to be awarded to one of the participating classes of the school. They were asked to create a Mothers' Day card that could be put on display in the mall during the week prior to Mothers' Day.

The response was overwhelming. What follows are photos of the cards that were submitted by the classes. Everyone who has seen the display is absolutely moved by the expressions of love contained in the cards.

The display will be up until Mothers' Day, May 14, 2006. Make sure you drop in to look over the cards.

 

 

 

 

  

  

 

 

  

  

  

   

  

 

 

 

  
The Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre wishes to express their sincere appreciation to the participating classes from the following schools:

St. Mary School of Capreol
C.R. Judd Public School of Capreol
Pinecrest Public School of Val Therese
Ecole Foyer Jeuness of Hanmer
Ecole Notre Dame of Hanmer
Ecole Ste. Therese of Val Therese
Ecole St. Joseph of Val Therese
Valley View Public School of Val Caron
Val Caron Public School of Val Caron
Ecole Decouvert of Val Caron
St. Anne School of Hanmer
Redwood Acres Public School of Hanmer
Ecole L'Esperance of Val Caron

 
 

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