We did it!!

Folkfest was postponed and took place last night. The weather cooperated and although there was a tiny bit of rain, fun was had by all.

Parkside performed wonderfully and there was lots of school spirit in the air!

Want to see more photos, click here!

Thank you to all the children who participated and to the parents who helped get Folkfest off the ground. All in all, there were about 40 children in attendance from Parkside and, except for a few children, everyone was able to attend the event at East York Collegiate.

How Disappointing....

Folkfest has been postponed to the raindate (tomorrow).

We were all eagerly awaiting the start of Folkfest. Although the weather wasn't the best, the rain did hold off until about 3 p.m. yesterday. We even saw sunshine after lunch. Due to the torrential downpour that took place just around the time of the decision to "go" or "no go", it was decided to postpone the fest until Thursday.

Was it ever frustrating to see blue sky and sunshine right around 6:30 p.m. when Folkfest was due to start. The great weather continued through the rest of the evening. Let's hope on Thursday we see more sunny weather.

Today's the Day - Hopefully :-)

After several weeks of practice, Folkfest is finally here. Although it's rainy this morning, let's all think sunny thoughts so that it will clear up for us this evening. I'm excited about tonight and hope that we will be able to dance as planned. We'll know today by 2 p.m. whether tonight's performance will be postponed to Thursday (the raindate).

If tonight's "a go", here's our plan:

• Parkside T-shirts will be distributed today after school in the gym - bring an extra shirt to wear underneath as the borrowed Parkside t-shirts will be returned this evening after the performance.
• We all meet at the front doors at Parkside at 5:30 p.m. (sharp!!)
• We'll be distributing ribbon badges and bandanas, then we'll walk over to EYCI.
• Volunteers will escort the children to EYCI in time for the parade at 6:30 p.m.

If it's still rainy, dress in appropriate rain gear as the field will probably be muddy and you'll want to stay as warm and dry as possible.

We're looking for volunteers tonight?
We are always looking for volunteers and it's never too late to help. If you can assist us, please meet at Parkside at 5:30. We will have approximately 40 children walking to EYCI and can use all the help we can get.

If you're new to Folkfest, it's lots of fun. We begin by marching in a parade with the other schools. There are 31 schools participating and we'll be 20th in line. After the parade, we move to our designated spot on the field and perform our 12 dances. After the 6th dance there will be a break before we continue again. At the end, the parents are asked to "join in" while we dance "at the hop". Once the performance is over, parents pickup their children on the field and take them home.

You may want to walk to EYCI as parking can be scarce. Police also have been known to ticket freely at this event.

There will be local politicians in attendance as well as the media. I'd like to take a group photo at some point so be prepared to have your picture taken.

I look forward to seeing everyone tonight!!

Maple Leaf Stomp

We had our second practice today and everyone did very well!!

Our Parkside Folkfest planning team has been chosen. The following people will be working with me to help with the decision making process. We'll discuss items such as the dances we'll be working on, what we'll be wearing and what needs to be done to get our school ready for Folkfest next month:

• Tina - Grade 5
• Kashire - Grade 5
• Afrin - Grade 4
• Laura - Grade 4
• Tanner - Grade 4

Laura and Afrin will help maintain this blog and will be our official Folkfest bloggers. Watch for some future posts on this blog by Afrin and Laura!!

If you would like to practice today's dance, the Maple Leaf Stomp, you can download the music here. Look for the column that reads mp3(music files) and click on the link Maple Leaf Stomp to download the music. In my next post, you'll find the written instructions for the dance.

Thank you again to Mrs. Cornwall and our parent volunteers Mrs. Grisbrook, Ms. Fric and Ms. Rutherdale who helped with the practice today. Everyone enjoyed the popsicle treats generously provided by Ms. Fric.

Watch for practices that will take place during recess. If the weather's nice, we'll be outside. If the weather's not so nice, we'll practice in the gym.

If this is your first visit to this website, leave me your comments by clicking on the comments link under this post and typing a message.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Our first rehearsal...

We had our first rehearsal this afternoon where we practiced the dance Pata Pata. We were a large group and numbered about 35 with a few students away. We have approximately 45 students registered to participate.

Thanks to our many, and I mean many, parent volunteers who freely offered their time, Mrs. Grisbrook and Mrs. Cornwall. Everyone's dance skills exceeded my expectations!

Mrs. Cornwall provided the group with an unexpected treat of Timbits as we left the rehearsal.

We're planning to meet again next Tuesday to work on our next dance. In the meantime, if you have access to a computer and would like to practice Pata Pata, you can:

1. Click here to listen to the music. When prompted, you may want to save the music to your desktop so you can listen to it at your leisure. Windows Media Player is the program that plays this song the best.
2. Click here to display and print a copy of the steps for Pata Pata. You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to see the directions. If you don't have this, you can download it for free by clicking here.

If you're following the written instructions for the dance, you may notice a slight difference in the footwork. I believe that the children were originally taught the "primary" version of the dance instead of the "printed" steps. Everyone knows it so well that with so few practices before the Folkfest date, I'm not going to "mess with" what everyone already knows and is familiar with.

I had fun and am looking forward to meeting everyone again at our next practice.

Welcome to our blog!!!

We're going to Folkfest and we have lots of planning to do! Check back often to see what we're up to.