On August 15th, 2024 from 4-7PM, Tsartlip Health Centre hosted its annual Back to School Fair, drawing large crowds for an afternoon of fun, games, and community care.
Tsartlip Health Centre’s annual Back to School Fair is an opportunity for the community to nourish wellbeing and start the new school year off right with several hours of sports and games, delicious food, arts activities, and community service offerings.
First on the agenda at this year’s Fair was a lunchbox and snacks giveaway. Attendees filled complimentary backpacks to the brim with snacks, providing necessary fuel for the start of the school year. Then, with backpacks in tow, attendees moved on to explore the Fair’s many offerings.
Community service organizations with tables at the Fair included NIȽ TU,O Child and Family Services Society and South Island Wellness Society. Additionally both Indigenous Health Diabetes Nurse Educator Judith Atkin and Indigenous Health Dietitian Amanda Henry attended on behalf of Island Health.
Towering above the tables were two, brightly-coloured inflatable playgrounds, including a sky-high inflatable slide and a bouncy house where youth fought laughter-filled battles with oversized inflatable sticks.
Attendees also enjoyed art stations to exercise their creative muscles. Arts offerings at this year’s Fair included multicolored pipe cleaner crafts and the opportunity to create at the McTavish Academy of Art, an art tent where attendees were encouraged to draw everything under the sun, including themselves, animals, bugs, flowers, mountains, the sea, rainbows, and even abstract shapes.
While attendees moved between activities, they had the opportunity to stop to have a balloon animal crafted right before their eyes by the talented Kydo Klownz, to get their face painted by Danger by Design, to enjoy the drumming of community members, or to pose with a special guest: the Victoria Royals’ own Marty the Marmot.
With all the activity, it was important for attendees to stay properly fueled. Luckily, Tsartlip Health Centre hosted dinner for all on the soccer field. Once dinner was over, The Ice Cream Truck arrived, offering sweet treats to top off the afternoon of fun.
Events like these are not only an opportunity to acknowledge the start of the school year, but a chance to nourish the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health of all Tsartlip community members. Thank you to all the attendees who showed up, participated in the fun, and made the Fair a memorable event for all.
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