Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

ACHO DENE KOE/FORT LIARD
The community's response to an annual fundraising event at Echo Dene School was the icing on the cake, said its organizer.

Fort Liard Aurora College students Dianne Sassie, left, Stacey Buckley and Elsie Marcellais display the cakes they decorated and donated to Echo Dene School's Valentine's Day cake walk. A record-breaking 66 cakes were donated to the fundraising event. - photo courtesy of Christine Abela

"This year I'm just awestruck," said Ken Nowoselski.

A record-breaking 66 cakes were donated to the Fort Liard school's cake walk held on Valentine's Day. The event raised $654.34, which will be used to support student activities such as sending a team to the territorial track and field meet, said Nowoselski, a program support teacher.

Cake walks have a long history at the school. They've been held for more than 20 years, said Nowoselski.

The Valentine's Day cake walk has evolved to become more than just a fundraiser. For students, it's the first break since returning to school after Christmas and it's also a way to celebrate the coming of spring and longer hours of daylight, Nowoselski said.

"It's just a celebration in our town," he said. "Everybody comes and it's a great time."

All of the students at the school were allowed to participate in the cake walk, which was held during the afternoon on Valentine's Day, and approximately 35 parents and community members also came out to the event.

For $1, contestants could enter one of the cake walk rounds. During each round, participants walked in a circle following cut-outs of feet with numbers on them until the music is turned off. The person standing on the number that is drawn wins a cake for that round.

With 66 cakes, five numbers were drawn for each round instead of the normal one or two. The winners could choose from any of the cakes.

"The kids are just so happy," Nowoselski said.

The students weren't the only ones to take advantage of the chance to win a cake. A round was held just for adults.

"It's really just a lot of fun," he said.

The number of cakes donated shows that parents see the importance of this event and believe in supporting it, Nowoselski said. Some high school students also baked and decorated cakes as part of their community service hours.

Three students at Aurora College also got into the spirit. Dianne Sassie, Stacey Buckley and Elsie Marcellais decorated seven cakes, a set of cupcakes and a set of small cakes shaped like vintage cars.

The students decorated the cakes as part of their Aurora College Week celebration, which promotes community involvement. The students were excited to help and worked hard to come up with nice designs, said Christine Abela, a community adult educator with the college.

"They cared about it and they wanted them to look good," she said.

On the day of the cake walk the three students helped prepare for the event and put the cakes into boxes. It was amazing to see how many cakes were donated, Abela said.

"I think every kind of cake you could imagine was there," she said.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.