Sports Day Weekend

As I mentioned in my previous post, this past weekend was “Sports Day” weekend in Klemtu. It was a weekend that brought the whole community together to have fun and celebrate physical fitness. It kind of reminded me of track and field day that we had when I was in elementary school, except all ages got to participate in the events. Here is a recap of the weekend:

Friday night kicked off the weekend with a dance up at the Hall, and Tiff and I signed up to be chaperones. Other than the little kids, who ran around and danced until it was time to go home, it looked a lot like a middle school dance with little dancing going on amongst the older kids. They had food and refreshments, gave away lots of prizes, and did fun dances that looked like the Canadian equivalent to the Chicken Dance. I got the chance to bust a move to “Cotton-Eyed Joe” and “Ice Ice Baby.” All and all, it was a great night.

Saturday morning was supposed to be the parade, but rain forced the events to be moved inside and the parade was postponed until Sunday. Starting at 11:00, there were events for boys and girls from toddlers all the way up to adults. Some of the events were the 50 meter dash, 100 meter dash, 3-legged race, potato race (you had to balance a potato on a spoon and run to the finish line), walking race, and skipping rope. There was extra incentive to participate, as first place for each event in every age group received $5.00, second place got $4.00, and third place received $3.00. Some kids as young as five or six must have walked away with close to $100 at the end of the weekend, although most much preferred the ribbons we handed out over the money. Also, every time someone participated in an event, their name was entered into a drawing in their age group to win a bike that would be raffled off at the end of the weekend. Carolyn and Katie, you would be proud to know that I got first place in the walking race thanks to our daily speed walking warm-ups at Brebeuf. We finished up around 4:30, went home for dinner, and then opened up the youth center for a few hours of Rock Band.

I had Tiff and her family over for pancakes Sunday morning before the events began. I then made a quick trip to the Band Store (fresh produce had just come in that morning) and hurried down to the waterfront to watch the parade. The kids decorated their bikes, scooters, and wagons and dressed up in their most creative costumes to walk up and down the waterfront. They went all out on the decorations as there was a contest for the best costumes. After the parade, the events started up again, except this time we got to be outside. They went through the same cycle of races as the previous day in the morning and afternoon, and then had a half mile run, mile run, tug of war, pie eating contest, and canoe race. I entered the mile run and was happy to take second place and collect my prize of $30! I hadn’t run a mile that fast since college and had forgotten how good that burning sensation in the lungs felt…okay not really, but the cash prize helped ease the pain a little. Once all of the events were over, awards and prizes were handed out, including about eight bikes that were raffled off in each age group. All of the bikes were donated through the health budget, and many kids left with a big smile on their face! After it was over, I headed back to the house for dinner and went to the church for Sunday night service. I finally was not the first one to arrive, and even came in a little after the service had begun. There is really no format to the church service here, which I have found very refreshing. We shout out our favorite hymns and sing them until there are no more requests and then one of the church elders shares whatever is on his or her heart and opens it up for anyone to share how God has been speaking to them. I leave feeling refreshed and ready to start a new week focused on God’s will.

Today (Monday) was Victoria Day in Canada, which is a federal holiday celebrating the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. Everyone had the day off and enjoyed a beautiful day of sunshine in Klemtu. Tomorrow is my first day with a different grade at the school, and I’m looking forward to interacting with a new group of kids. Have a wonderful week and I will be sure to post again soon!