We love our neighbour(hood!)

How often do you get to talk about loving your neighbour to over 100 kids in your community? Not often! 

But we had the opportunity to do this at Family Fun Day in Lynn Valley Village on Saturday, September 6. We marvelled at the big crowd on this busy back-to-school weekend - but then we learned the mayor was there to give out medals to the library's summer reading club members, and the firefighters had hot dogs on the barbie as well. And the face painters are always popular!

For our part, St. Clement's offered children the chance to pick out a home that looked most like theirs - a house, highrise or townhouse - put their name on it, and affix it to a (not quite to scale!) map of Lynn Valley we had started on a display board. Over the course of the event, we collectively constructed our community and brought it to life. Our theme, "Love Your Neighbour," was written in a sky banner that flew overtop the homes, pulled by a North Shore Search and Rescue helicopter. 

Each young participant was given a colourful Love Your Neighbour backpack tag, but we ran out towards the end of the event after we had given away 100 of them. We were delighted by the reception these received from the families, with parents appreciating our message that the tags were meant to be a reminder that we all need to look out for and take care of each other. 

Also popular was our bean bag toss, which (despite having loose rules and no prizes!) attracted an unending stream of youngsters for the entire three hours, giving our volunteers plenty of exercise along the way.

Organizers Beth and Peggy would like to thank those who came out to represent St. Clement's so well: Jason, David, Olivia, Wilna and Dave - you are so appreciated!