We rang out our 25 bells, and celebrated our 25th Annual Crusader Craft Sale and Scholastic Book Fair with a whole lot of spirit, a touch of nostalgia and a fun-filled day for our community and surrounding area!

Special thanks to all our exhibitors who travelled from far and wide to join us – their tables were amazing and many wonderful gifts were purchased. We had exhibitors who have been with us for many years as well as new vendors and displays. Each added to the holiday cheer that filled our gym!

We were able to bring back the live entertainment and would like to thank the following for taking the stage: Mr. Shaun Anderson, Mr. Kelly Burke, Mr. Randall Krys (who played in various locations throughout the day), Mr. Ryan Clarke, Mrs. Jess Clarke and son William, Alex Duffee, Peyton Proudlove, Zoe Ainsworth and Emma Zuk. The special treat of the entertainment day was having The Elk Point Theatre Group perform one of their numbers from the upcoming Dr. Suess play, Suessical Junior, which will hit the stage in the spring of 2019. Thanks to Mr. Larmand for setting up the sound equipment and Mr. Krys for running it throughout the day!

We had a variety of child-based activities that really rounded out our day. Free face painting by Crusader artists, Jessica McQuinn and Rhianna Bjorkman, resulted in many robots, puppies, tigers and leopards roaming the event. The Crusader Critter Zoo (a favorite of all ages) was possible thanks to Mrs. Diana Richer and her amazing menagerie of not-so-normal pets. Special thanks to the following Crusaders for helping her throughout the day: Dalyn Parr, Darianna Boorse, Nathaniel Cousins, Stephanie Jacula, Emma Zuk, Zander Warner, Alex Duffee, and Andrew Richer. The Grinch (portrayed throughout the day by: Elisha Sears, Zoe Ainsworth, Jayci Marcoux, Marcel Jenkins, Zander Warner and Emma Zuk) was here with his former arch nemesis, Santa Claus (portrayed by Mr. Doug Bassett) for all-you-can-take pictures with family and friends.

The Holiday Gift Shop experience for children only was open both Friday and Saturday with volunteers Mrs. Kathy Berlinguette and Mrs. Micheline Walker wrapping and helping customers. Special thanks to them and to the shopper escorts (Shaylyn Klatt, Emma Zuk, Elisha Sears, Sam Urquhart and Nathaniel Cousins) for aiding the children with their purchases. We would also like to send a HUGE thank you to Mr. John Braga for taking charge of the inventories, setup/take down, and data collection for the event and Mrs. Berlinguette, Mrs. Forbister and Mrs. Bjorkman for all the work with setup and take down.

Our Scholastic Book Fair had another great year. Be sure to check the blog out for more details! Extra special thanks to Mrs. Forbister for all her help, both pre and post fair, and Mrs. Elaine Bjorkman for her help as well. We ran the fair both Friday night and Saturday and were able to keep approximately $1300 in books and cash for our Learning Commons.

Events like the Crusader Craft Sale could not happen without the multitude of hands that help with preliminary work, setup and putting it all back the way it was. We would like to acknowledge the help of the following people who contributed in big and small ways to the success of our event in a myriad of ways: Tyler Loughran, Kendra Warholik, Sandi Capjack, Sherry Oszust, Michelle Hardcastle, Melissa Skarsen, Mr. Rohan for his technical skills, our custodial and maintenance crews, Jenna and Lennyn Loughran for taking care of the concession Friday night and Rhianna Bjorkman for tallying numbers and taking care of the draw box, Mr. Younghans, Mr. Bjorkman, Nolan Koren and Brian Poitras for getting the tables to and from the arena, and to all the students and staff who helped to set up the stage, move tables and chairs as well as all the other little things that needed to be done. If we missed anyone, our sincere apologies and thank you!

Thanks to Duane Zaraska and Colleen Hanlon who kept everyone going with hot beverages, tasty meals and snacks throughout the day, the Town of Elk Point for putting our event in the water bill flyers, and the Elk Point Review for their article about our landmark year!

Thank you to all the members of the Elk Point and outlying communities that supported our event – you are the biggest part of our success and it is great to see everyone each year. All the proceeds from the book fair and the exhibitor fees go back into F. G. Miller High School in the form of funding for various areas in the school, books and student driven activities. Thanks to everyone for helping to make FGM great!

Finally, special thanks to Mrs. Tracy Loughran who organized the exhibitor side of the event, Mrs. Bjorkman for organizing the remainder of the event. We were so happy that one of our original organizers, Mrs. Donna Gulayec, was there to celebrate our 25th Crusader Craft Sale and Scholastic Book Fair – it’s really hard to believe that we have 25 bells on that tree. Next year bell 26 will ring out – listen for it in the fall of 2019!

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