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Monday's Internet Edition, January 05, 2009.
CRES celebrates autumn with annual Harvest Festival
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Photo by Andrew Greene
More than 150 families attend the annual Harvest Festival put on by the PTA of Cosumnes River Elementary School on Oct. 26.
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By Andrew Greene
River Valley Times Staff
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The PTA of Cosumnes River Elementary School (CRES) hosted its Harvest Festival on the unseasonably warm Sunday of Oct. 26. More than 150 families attended the popular event.
Held on the school’s campus, the festival provided attendees an afternoon of old-fashioned family fun featuring carnival games, a kindergarten cakewalk, pie-eating contest, jack-o-lantern contests, face painting, raffles with donated prizes, homemade apple cider, Halloween costume contest and refreshments that were sold by the sixth grade class for its Sly Park fundraiser.
Erin Howard, Social chair for CRES PTA and the lead of this year’s Harvest Festival Committee, said that it was the work of numerous volunteers and donors that made the event possible.
Howard said that 15 high school students, 11 adults, five Kiwanis Club members, five Optimist Club members and five Rotary members worked the festival. She added that Christopher Utterback, two CRES teachers and Principal Michael Gulden judged the jack-o-lantern and costume contests.
Howard said organizations helped in specific ways, besides supplying workers. “Kiwanis completely refurbished our old-fashioned apple cider press and ran five cases of apples through to make delicious apple cider that was free for the families. The apples were donated by Wayne Cecchetini,” Howard said.
She continued, “The Optimist Club supplied a bus shuttle to and from school for our families to help eliminate some parking issues on Jackson Highway. They also staffed our entry table and passed out free raffle ticket to all the kids in costume for their chance to win ‘Principal for the Day’ with Mr. Gulden.”
Howard said the RM Rotary Club staffed the old-fashioned popcorn machine, Davis Ranch and Utterback Sod Farm supplied corn stalks and pumpkins, Dustin Penman provided photograph service to all the families and Plaza Foods donated 10 cakes for the cake walk, which she said was the most popular game.
Howard, summing up the day, said, “The festival is not a fundraiser, but a fun family event. The sixth grade class sold hamburgers, hot dogs, drinks and snow cones to help raise money for their annual Sly Park Trip. They raised about $1000.”
Principal Gulden, with similar feelings, said, “This is simply a great family event. We don’t plan on making any money. We just try to break even.”
Both festival attendees and volunteers appeared to enjoy the day. Fourteen-year-old Matt Mattice, who ran the entry table with his mother, said he volunteered because he was a CRES alumni and to earn community service hours as a Pleasant Grove High School student.
Lena Carmona, 14, who ran the ring toss game, had her own reason for volunteering. “I used to go to CRES and had a lot of fun here. Now, I just want to help out,” she said.
In addition to the games and child-centered activities, there was an interactive whiteboard set up on display in one of the classrooms. Tom Tortora from Oliver Worldclass Labs was on hand to help teach people how to use it.
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Online publication, Copyright 2005, The River Valley Times.
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Copyright 2005, EZ Edit Web Publishing.
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