Reverend Dr. Michael Kwiatkowski, pastor of Holy Eucharist Parish opened the Tea

The Annual School Tea, which is always scheduled for the first Sunday in February, has been a tradition at IHMS for decades. It’s the largest event on the school calendar, and attracts a wide range of visitors beyond the families currently attending the school. This year, the Tea took place on Sunday, February 7, 2010 from 1:30 to 4:00 pm.

Back row (l-r): Tea Opener, Reverend Dr. Michael Kwiatkowski, pastor of Holy Eucharist Parish; Most Reverend Lawrence Huculak, OSBM, Metropolitan of Ukrainian Catholics in Canada; Mr. Ron Sanders, vice president of the IHMS Parent's Guild; Dr. Mark Karpa, chairman of the IHMS board of trustees; and Mr. Rod Picklyk, principal of IHMS. Front row (l-r): Sr. Anne Pidskalny, SSMI, school director and Provincial Superior Sister Terry Anne Slota, SSMI

A poster advertising the Annual Schhol Tea

Although the Annual School Tea officially began at 1:30 p.m., most people arrived well in advance to get a good seat in the gym for the opening speeches. People also came early to view the displays and to visit the Bake Room before it was sold out. Parent volunteers seen throughout the school (with dozens more working behind the scenes) kept things running smoothly to accommodate all the visitors to the school. In addition to being a fund-raiser, the camaraderie the Tea creates among the volunteer workers make it one of the biggest community-building events of the year. The theme for the 2010 Annual School Tea was “Year For Priests”.

Lettering on the gym wall for the School Tea

As Mrs. Stanowych, the school's Music and Ukrainian teacher enters the gym, she and her family are greeted by the school's director, Sr. Anne Pidskalny, SSMI and the school's principal, Mr. Rod Picklyk

Over the years, it’s been customary for the school to showcase examples of student artwork on the theme of the Annual School Tea. For the fourth year in a row, that artwork was on hundreds of placemats arranged on the tables throughout the gym. Every student in the school created at least 2 colourful placemats based on the topic “Year of Priests”.

Examples of placemats made by students from Sadochok to grade 8

Mr. Picklyk, the school’s principal, was Master of Ceremonies for the event. After welcoming everyone to the Tea, he introduced Most Reverend Lawrence Huculak, OSBM, Metropolitan of Ukrainian Catholics in Canada. Most Reverend Lawrence Huculak lead everyone in the opening prayer.

Mr. Picklyk, the school's principal, was MC for the Annual Tea (top photo); Most Reverend Lawrence Huculak, OSBM, Metropolitan of Ukrainian Catholics in Canada gave the opening prayer (bottom photo)

After the prayer, Mr. Picklyk introduced the vice-president of the IHMS Parent’s Guild, Mr. Ron Sanders. Mr. Sanders spoke of the many areas where the Parent’s Guild work to provide for the school. He also thanked all the parents, students, and staff who helped to make the Tea such a success.

Mr. Ron Sanders, vice-president of the IHMS Parent’s Guild

Next, Mr. Picklyk introduced Provincial Superior Sister Terry Anne Slota, SSMI, to speak as a representative of the order of Sisters that own and operate the school. Sister Terry Anne Slota spoke of the generosity of all priests who have helped IHMS over the years. She encouraged vocations to the priesthood, and thanked everyone for supporting the school.

Provincial Superior Sister Terry Anne Slota, SSMI

Next, Dr. Mark Karpa, chairman of the IHMS board of trustees, gave a brief update about the school’s relocation plans. After overcoming many of the initial obstacles in the project, the School Relocation Committee is ready to unveil the conceptual designs for the new school in a presentation at the school on March 11.

Dr. Mark Karpa, chairman of the IHMS board of trustees

Finally, Mr. Picklyk introduced the Tea Opener, Reverend Dr. Michael Kwiatkowski, pastor of Holy Eucharist Parish. After greeting all the guests, he touched on the theme “Year For Priests” by giving 3 examples of how the Lord calls upon His priests to help people. Reverend Dr. Michael Kwiatkowski thanked everyone for their continued support for priests. He concluded by asking everyone to support of IHMS because of the way the school instills the ministry of vocations in its students.

Reverend Dr. Michael Kwiatkowski, pastor of Holy Eucharist Parish

After lighting the centerpiece candles, Reverend Dr. Michael Kwiatkowski declared the Tea to be officially opened.

The school's director, Sr. Anne Pidskalny, SSMI watches as Reverend Dr. Michael Kwiatkowski lights the centerpiece candles

The Annual School Tea is such a huge event that it can only happen through the hard work and dedication of a lot of people. Although everyone involved with the school played an important role in the Tea’s success, the majority of the work was done by parent volunteers. A lot of these parents dedicated most of their weekend preparing for the event, while others worked tirelessly with the cleanup and reorganization of the downstairs classrooms after the event. A large group of parents also kept everything running smoothly by working anonymously behind the scenes during the Tea.

This is the fourth year that Mrs. Norma Fraser and Mrs. Lydia Kandia have organized the Tea, and once again they’ve done a spectacular job! Both convenors spent countless hours co-ordinating the dozens of volunteers necessary to run the event.

Tea convenors Mrs. Norma Fraser (left) and Mrs. Lydia Kandia (right)

Some of the volunteer co-ordinators and their areas of responsibility:

• Tea Server Coordinator - Hannya Klimenko
• Front Door Reception - Diana Semchyshyn
• Main Raffle - Barb Pichlyk and Leslie Stewart
• Basket Raffle - Shelley Karpa and Julie Skromeda
• Setup - Lydia Kandia
• Back Room - Violet Zbaraszewski
• Bake Room - Dorota Barczak
• Food Services - Norma Fraser and Fialka Fosty
• Boutique - Christina Sikorsky
• Kitchen Duty - Debbie Hanson
• Clean Up - Darrin Lysack
• Tea Treasurer - Diane Harik

During the Tea, each classroom on the first floor of the school was used for a special purpose.

The grade 3 classroom was the “Bake Room”

The Bake Room has always been one of the more popular attractions at the Tea. Pastries, pies, and other goodies that were generously donated by the families at IHMS were sold here. Every family contributed 3-4 items for the Tea, and while some were used in the Tea room, the rest were sold in the Bake Room. With well over 100 families in the school, there was an incredible selection to choose from!

Three grade 8 girls posing in the Bake Room

The grade 1 and 2 classrooms were “Boutique / Craft Rooms”

Vendors rented out tables in this room to sell various home made Ukrainian crafts. There were three vendors in the grade 2 room this year:

1) David Wasylyshen

2) Sylvia Picklyk

3) Nadia Kowalyshyn

Most of the grade 1 room was set up as a pysanka display.

Top photo: girls selling pysanka books in the grade 1 room. Bottom photo: Mrs. Natalka Hutsulak demonstrates how to make a pysanka.

The Kindergarten classroom was the "Basket Raffle" room

In the “Basket Raffle”, families donate items that are wrapped, itemized, and then raffled off.

Tickets were:
1 card of 25 for $10
2 cards of 50 for $20
3 cards of 75 for $25

Tea guests entering tickets to win a prize in the raffle room

 In addition to the basket raffle, the Tea Raffle is one of the most important fund-raising components of the Tea. Tickets for the Raffle are printed and distributed to every family in the school to sell. As an incentive, there were 2 ticket draws for the sellers - one on January 15 and the other on February 2.

The winners of the first seller’s draw were:

• The Karabin family (won an iPod Touch)
• The Station family (won an iPod Touch)

The winners of the second seller’s draw were:

• The Fosty family (won a Sony PSP game system)
• The McCarvill family (won a Picnic Cooler Package)

Weather is always important for an event like this, and Sunday, February 7th was a blustery day with a winter storm watch in effect during the earlier part of the afternoon. Temperatures were colder than the previous few days, and a lot of new snow fell on Saturday night. Although it was well received, turnout at the Annual Tea was lower than expected because of the poor weather.

The school playground during the Annual Tea

By the end of the day, hundreds of visitors passed through the school’s front doors, making the 2010 version of the Annual Tea a complete success. The hard work of everyone involved in the undertaking of an event this large is a testament to the strong community spirit and sense of volunteerism that has held Immaculate Heart of Mary School together for so many years. Thanks to everyone who helped to make the Tea such a success, and see you again next year!