By Bromley Chamberlain
Rimbey Christian Elementary School celebrated a new playground Aug. 31. The school combined the ribbon cutting with its annual Back to School Barbecue.
“Welcome back to an exciting new school year. Rimbey Christian School offers an education you can believe in,” said Ivette DeBruyn in welcoming everyone.
“Here we learn that each one of us is a unique creation of God, working for Him by volunteering our time to the school, four our children, and working together as one family in Christ.”
Principal Tambourine Simpson thanked the volunteers who helped build the playground. “This year we focused the beginning of the event on the playground because we're so thankful to all the volunteers, the parents, the committee members, that have helped put this together. It was a really big project.”
Mayor Dale Barr preformed the ribbon cutting.
“The main reason we invited the mayor to be a part of it was because we feel this is something that we are sharing with the community,” Simpson said. “We are part of this community and we want to give back as well.”
The school received a Making Spaces grant from the Government of Alberta for the playschool and used some of the money to upgrade the playground.
“We used a portion of that money to purchase playground equipment. We also had a donation from our booster club, which is a catering part of our school. They raised money that way, so they donated money to go towards the playground equipment as well,” Tambourine said.
Once the committee sat down to discuss the playground equipment options they realized for the equipment that they needed, was more expensive then they thought.
“Then we were going to order it (the playground equipment) and realized how much more it was going to cost for gravel and everything. We had a third donor, anonymous donor, who donated the gravel and all that kind of stuff.” Simpson said.
Parents volunteered their time to help build the playground and it took three full days of work.
“It was a joint project. A lot of hours went into this and we wanted to celebrate the finished product,” Simpson said.
DeBruyn explained how the playground equipment could be used. “The larger unit can be used as a circuit event, where kids step and climb from one place to another. We hope that the kids really enjoy it and play safe.”
The BBQ was a big hit. Hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, veggies and dip, there was something for everyone. There were kids in sumo suits, donkey rides, even a game of football. The bouncy castle, for the younger crowd, always had a line.