What a Day!

Build day was an overwhelming success with a large number of hard working volunteers from the school and from the community. It was fantastic to see so many come together for such a worthwhile cause.

Making Progress...

The equipment has arrived and initial layout is being done to get ready for the big crew on Saturday!

And It Begins...

Site preparation work began on the playground today with a crew of hard workers and equipment. The new equipment will go on the level surface shown in these photos.

Wanted: A Few Good Tools

Response has been great to our requests for tools on build day, but there are still a few items we will need. If you can bring any of the items below, please let us know by sending us an email

• torpedo level
  
• ratchet straps
  
• drill bits - 21/64" and 5/32" (6 each)
  
• impact guns (4)
  
• shovels (11)
  
• rakes (11)
  
• wheelbarrows(12)
  
• ladders of various sizes
  
• gardening gloves
  
• gardening trowels
  

Going, Going,Gone

The final piece of the old playground was removed last week. Now the kids are really looking forward to our build day!

Weekday Help Wanted

Can't make it on the 8th, or would you like to help out on an additional day? We have a need for a smaller group of volunteers during the week prior to our build day.

• On Wednesday, May 5th we need 5 to 6 people from 5:00pm to 8:00pm for unloading.
  
• On Thursday, May 6th we need 5 to 6 people from 8:00am to 12:00noon, and from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. These volunteers should be capable of lifting 100 lbs. Lunch is provided.
  
• On Friday, May 7th we need 3 to 4 people from 8:00am to 12:00noon, and from 1:00pm to 4:00pm for measuring and drilling. Lunch is provided.
  

If you would like to volunteer for any of these days/times, you can use the Join The Effort button to your right, and let us know when you are available by writing that in the Special Skills field.

Make Sure You Join The Effort

Build day is getting closer all the time, and it is so exciting to see this project coming together. Our financial goals are so close that we may be able to add in a few of the independant play structures that the kids wanted. You won't want to miss the chance to participate in this amazing day, so please make sure you sign up now if you haven't already. We need to know how many people to expect so that we have enough food on hand to feed everybody lunch. Click on the Join The Effort button to your right. There are tasks for everyone, including construction, gardening, kid's activities, mural painting, food, and of course set up and clean up.

See Our TV Spot

Wow, can you believe that our new playground will be up in less than a month? And none too soon, as the remaining structure was dismantled this past week. Let Them Be Kids recently recorded an interview with Darla Pauls from our playground committee; watch it here.

Raffle Winners

Last night at the Shakewood Annie family dance, the winning tickets were drawn in our raffle. The winners are:

1. Judy Wilkinson (houseboat trip)
   
2. Nancy Hermanson (night at the Prestige)
   
3. Aneda Zondag (woodcarving)
   
4. Joey Wandinger (round of golf)
   
5. Chris Teare (round of golf)
   

Many thanks to all those who sold tickets, bought tickets, and donated prizes!

Fantastic Fundraiser!

The Beef on a Bun & Beverage fundraiser at Duffer's Den was a huge success last night. A huge thank you to all who attended and especially to those companies and individuals who made some large donations towards the Cody Davies Memorial Playground! Initial count shows that this evening brought in approximately $11,900.

Beef & Beverage

Join us for beef on a bun, salad, and a beverage at Duffers Den on Saturday, March 27th at 5:00pm. By supporting this event you will be helping in our fundraising efforts. The evening will include a silent auction, 50/50 draw, basket draw, toonie toss, lotto tree, and more. Tickets are just $10 each and can be purchased at Munro's or at the Lighthouse Market.

Raffle Tickets

Get your tickets now, the draw date is April 1st at 7:00pm. Tickets are $4 each, and prizes are as follows:
1st prize: Houseboat trip from Waterways (worth $2000)
2nd prize: A night at the Prestige (worth $200)
3rd prize: Chainsaw wood carving by Jerry Levesque (worth $200)
4th prize: Shuswap Lake golf course - 18 holes plus cart for two (worth $177)
5th prize: Shuswap Lake golf course - 18 holes plus cart for two (worth $177)
To get your tickets, call Darla at 675-4913

What Fun!

We had a great time at the carnival - wonderful to see so many families participating, both those from our school community and others from the Sorrento community! Many thanks go out to the parents who ran games, helped with set up and clean up, and cooked and served food in the kitchen. A huge thank you also to our principal, Mr. Horton and teachers, Mrs. Hadath, Mrs. McManus, and Mrs. Seibel who agreed to let some very enthusiastic students throw a pie at them. After all our expenses were taken care of, we raised another $1563 from this carnival to go towards our playground.

Come to the Carnival

Our school carnival will be on Thursday, February 18th from 6:00 to 8:00pm, with dinner served at 5:30. Last year this proved to be a very successful event, with a full house from both our school community and the surrounding community. Come enjoy a meal, then take part in the many carnival games. Bring a decorated cake to the school that day and it will be entered in the cake decorating contest. These cakes will later be used for the cake walk. New this year is a Lego car race, so bring a car made from Lego and see how fast it can go. All kids can enter in the chance to win some fabulous door prizes. Make sure you stick around to bid on the chance to throw a pie at our principal and teachers!

This is what the new playground will look like. The designer used the results of the dotmocracy and our budget to come up with this playground design.

The Video

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Dotmocracy

With some of the old playground already taken down, it became time to think about what the new playground would look like. And who better to decide that than the kids who will eventually play on it? Dotmocracy, where everyone got to vote on the playground equipment they like best, took place during the second and third weeks of December. The results of dotmocracy will be used to design our new playground.

Playground Equipment Removed

Some of the older playground equipment shown here was taken down in November.

$$$

The playground committee has been hard at work over the past year and a half. Fundraising efforts have included a very successful carnival, spaghetti dinner, bingo nights, hamburger sales on Canada Day, donations from recyclables at the bottle depot, and Lamontagne giftware sales. We have been given money from the Shuswap Community Foundation and the Sorrento Lions Club. And now with our fundraising efforts being matched by the Let Them Be Kids organization, we are well on our way to making our new playground become a reality.
But we still need your help, as you can see by our fundraising thermometer. Please consider our project and get involved in any way you can. Click on the Join the Effort button to your right to sign up to help us on our build day.

Why Build a New Playground?

Join in our journey as we work towards building a new playground at Sorrento Elementary School! The old playground has served us well, and has many memories in the minds of current and former students, as well as those in the community and visitors. However, it is no longer meeting present safety standards. Much of the equipment can no longer be repaired when it breaks. For that reason, the playground committee was formed in 2008 to focus on raising funds for new playground equipment.