Well, Tracy, the Kinderchicklets have finally graduated from Kindergarten and will be "fledging" up to Gr. 1 next week, for a look at their new "nestbox" for next year.
It has been a very special year for this bunch of 'chicklets, who have been able to take "virtual field trips" to Orange County California to watch the hatching and growth of Phoebe's Hummingbird chicks and to Edmonton, Alberta, to watch Mother Goose brave the cold wind and snow, in an effort to successfully hatch a single baby gosling. They also watched the hatching and growth of Phoenix, the Bald Eagle on Hornby Island in British Columbia and more recently, the hatching and growth of our 4 Radisson chicks in downtown Winnipeg, although this year's webcam viewing has been somewhat sporadic and limited.
However, even though we have all had our challenges with the webcam, this has not stopped the Kinderchicklets from recognizing that all of nature is to be loved, respected and cared for and that we all have an inherent responsibility to take care of our planet earth and to protect our endangered species from extinction. As a tribute to their love of our planet, the 'chicklets even sang the song "What A Wonderful World" by Louis Armsrtrong for their families!
The Kinderchicklet Graduation was very special yesterday, Tracy, as it is every year. There were 23 'chicklets "graduating" with 87 parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who came out for the event! Not bad, at all!
Just before I called each one up to receive their "diploma", I spoke of the Radisson chicks and the Manitoba Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project. Then, as a "tease", I called 2 of the 'chicklets up to the front to take our little fancy fundraising collection box over to our Vice-Principal, who had not yet contributed to our campaign. At that point, he proceeded to empty about 4 different suit pockets that were loaded with lose change and placed the coins into our peregrine falcon collection box, until it was nearly overflowing!
I think he had this all planned ahead of time, if you ask me!
But what took place after that was something that I could not have predicted! The grandparents and aunts and uncles began to reach into their pockets, handing "loonies" and "toonies" to their grandchildren and the Kinderchicklets began jumping out of their chairs and running up to the collection box with more money!
All in all, we raised about another $30.00 at the grad, in a matter of seconds!
A few minutes later, our school Principal stepped up to the microphone, to present the 'chicklets with an enormous Publisher's Clearing House type cheque, for the amount of
$103.07, since that is what I reported to be, what I thought was our final total, the previous day. The real cheque has been requisitioned from the school division Board Office and should be mailed directly to you, Tracy.
After the graduation, we all proceeded to St. Vital Park for a family picnic and to enjoy some fun in the sun. As I drove out to the park, I happened to turn on my car radio just in time to catch a CBC interview with a wildlife rehab person who was in Riding Mountain National Park and was about to release an injury-recovered Bald Eagle back into the wild at that very moment!
And to top it all off, as I turned to enter St. Vital Park, I happened to notice that the name of the street across from the entrance to the park was called "Falconer Bay"!
It is indeed, a wonderful world!
