Thank you to all volunteers for another scary and wildly fun Monsterbash!

A great time was had by all at Monsterbash 2017, held on Saturday, October 28th from 4-7 pm at the school. Highlights include our most popular attraction, the Haunted House – which (I say this every year, but it’s true!) may have been THE scariest haunted house yet judging from the long lineup and multiple screams throughout the event, scaly but lovable critters from Reptilia, feathery and furry critters from Pawsitively Pets, and the Spooky Science Lab lead once again by mad scientist Richard Dela Calzada. Other activities included an awesome colouring contest hosted by our favourite local bookstore, Ella Minnow (thanks Dawn Clarkson for organizing!), fun games on the main floor, loot bags, popcorn, pizza, a wide variety of bake table donations, pumpkin painting, the Main Street fire truck and more! Kids showed off their dancing abilities during Ms. Smith’s annual Monsterbash dance.

The classroom pumpkin decorating contest elicited some of the most amazing pumpkins we’ve ever had! From the Adam Beck Bear, to unicorns, and beyond, the turn out was truly inspiring! Thanks once again to Mike Whittamore from Whittamore’s farm for donating all the pumpkins to the school. The winning class, Mrs. Butler’s Grade 1/2 class gets a ‘free’ gym class where they get to choose their activity. Thanks Ms. Smith, and Madame Zorzit for offering this great prize!

Attracting over 600 parents, students and community members (no wonder it’s crowded!) our Monsterbash fundraising event encompasses a large part of our school council’s fundraising efforts. These efforts support programs within our school such as the Visiting Artist program, our physical education programs, our library and many eco-school initiatives. Please consider volunteering for this important event in future years!

A HUGE thank you to our caretakers, Greg, Nick and Ken, who support us while we make a big, fun mess of the school for a day. And it was so great to have Mr. Yee and Ms. Scenna at the event. Thanks for attending and for helping with accounting. To Margie and Michelle in the office, thanks for the ongoing smiles and support! And to the teachers, for getting into the Halloween spirit along with us!

To everyone who donated chili, cornbread, mac and cheese, and items for the bake sale – thank you so very much – we had a hungry crew this year, and sold out the bake table again this year (one day, I’ll get a cupcake, cookie, or at least a crumb.)

Volunteers, Staff, and Donors:

Endless thanks to all of the volunteers who helped make Monsterbash a HUGE success this year! You did a fantastic job, bringing enthusiasm and a great sense of fun to the set up, the main event, and of course, clean up!

The Monsterbash committee would like to thank the following donors and volunteers:

• Whittamore’s Farm – donation of pumpkins for the class pumpkin carving contest and craft table. We’re sad to see Whittamore’s close this year, they’ve been a huge supporter
• Fox Theatre – donation of two huge bags of popcorn
• Ella Minnow bookstore – Dawn Clarkson, Yvette and Heather at the store – hosting of the colouring contest, and prizing
• Toronto Fire Department, Main Street station – fire truck
• Ellissa Glad – poster design
• Michelle Grahlman – candy kabobs, game set up and running, and the tremendous job of cleaning it all up
• Lisa Telio – planning, set up of games, signage, volunteer table, logistics – we’ll miss you next year!
• Alisa Arbuckle – Signup.com management
• Julie Middleton – accounting
• Bake Table management – Patti Walsh, Christina Strait
• Cristina Toporas – Haunted House Stylist Volunteers: Corin Toporas, Gwen Schwartz, Jeny Nussey, Kristen Gregson, Aaron Bradley, David Joice – set up of Haunted House, and/or tear down (the scariest job of them all!)
• Barbeque Duty – Oliver Walters and Steve Hall
• Food Table management – Jennifer Hamilton, Lisa Flood, Kathleen Robson, Kristine Holder and Ann Ryan
• Set Up – Sofia Strantzas, Claire Demmings, Mikaleigh Cairns, Kai Urabe, Hannah Macleod Kerr, Meghan Long, Katie Daly, Adelaide McIntyre
• Volunteer Table – Emmy Strantzas, Sonya Hourihan
• Food Donation – Kristen Gregson, Justine Purcell, Ann Ryan, Stephanie Van Bruggen, Alisa Arbuckle, Heather McInnes, Sonya Hourihan, Francesca Rea, Karen McMullin, Helen Katz, Maren Hayward, Lisa Flood, Erin Hann, Julie Oudit
• Ticket Table -Ellen Leesti, Julian Irassar-Set, Elizabeth Harvey, Lorrie Lombardi, Alexis Moutafis, Kristina Kalonomos
• Halloween Games -Sofia Strantzas, Claire Demmings, Mikaleigh Cairns, Jack Chavasse
• Haunted House (ghosts, ghouls and guides) – Amelia Zidner, Olivia Stuchbury, Dominic Pisone, Emmy Strantzas, Eloise Mill, Sophie Larkin, Qais Alkhatib, Gabriella HooperLavoie,Belle-Maren Schwartz, Olier Woolfe,
• Craft Table – Kierstyn Herman, Tyler Chui, Anne-Marie Williams, Winnie Falkenstein
• Spooky Science Lab Scientist – Richard Dela Calzada Volunteers: Oliver Wolfe, Kierstyn Herman, Tyler Chui
• Kindie Zone – Dianne Wong, Jeny Nussey, Linette DeGraaf, Henna Patel, Belle-Maren Schwartz
• Popcorn and Loot Bags – Majda Lojpur, Oliver Wolfe
• Pumpkin Wrangling – Thanks to Vibe, Ethan, and Graydon Rosemin, Wendy Cole, and Steve and Lindsay Hall
• Clean up Crew!!!! – Steve Hall, Cristina Toporas, Michelle Grahlman, Jeny Nussey, Gwen Schwartz, Karen McMullin, Mr Yee and Ms Scenna (and the amazing dad who popped in to help at the last moment)

A huge thank you to all the High School Volunteers who helped out this year, from Malvern, and elsewhere. We couldn’t do it without you! To the various Adam Beck students who assisted with various tasks, thank you for your amazing help! Everyone had such a good time! And to the Parents who were able to find the time to come out and assist, whether it was setting up on Friday night, throughout the day, or at the event on Saturday night, your assistance and enthusiasm made all the difference. It was a pleasure getting to know you all.

The Monsterbash Committee:

Finally, a tremendous thank you to the incredible Monsterbash committee this year – Lisa Telio (Games, Volunteers, Table, Set up, Sanity Preserver), Michelle Grahlman (Candy Kabobs, games, tireless dedication), Cristina Toporas (Haunted House Stylist, Blue Sky visionary, and sounding board), and Gwen Schwartz (Volunteer extraordinaire and go-getter).

Additional thanks to Jackie Wilson (who continues to be my Munchalunch guardian angel), and my husband, Steve Hall, who is volun-told every year, and who supports me during the month leading up to the event, and my kid, Lindsay, who tirelessly ran the Prize Wheel for three hours until the final moments of the event.

They are a talented and dedicated group, and keep this fun and popular event running each year. (There are so many people who contribute to this event, my ongoing thanks if I’ve missed you!) We need fresh blood next year as many of us on the Monsterbash committee are moving on as our kids graduate, or just moving on to other committees, or activities (like me). Think about joining the crew next year – it’s the most fun you’ll have at school!

Karen McMullin, Head Monster

Monsterbash 2017

Co-Chair, Parent Council