T'was the meeting before Christmas
Teddy bear usurps Yk1 vice-chair
Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Thursday, December 10, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A large teddy bear spent Tuesday evening cuddling up with the public district's board of trustees. Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (Yk1) vice-chair Duff Spence was ill and could not attend the last regular board meeting, but Superintendent Metro Huculak - in a mischievous mood for the last meeting before the holidays - proposed a replacement.
Yellowknife Education District No. 1 superintendent Metro Huculak, left, and board chairperson John Stephenson were all smiles when Huculak put this over-sized teddy bear in the seat reserved for vice-chair Duff Spence - who was absent from Tuesday's board meeting due to illness. - Evan Kiyoshi French/NNSL photo
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"I've got something," he said with a grin before disappearing to a corner at Yk1 headquarters.
Sitting at tables decorated with tiny Christmas trees, trustees and guests finished scraping the last morsels from plates filled with fare from Huculak's final boardroom buffet of the year - a spread of ribs, perogies, salad, salmon and mashed potatoes.
The superintendent had already circulated the room delivering prosciutto-wrapped asparagus.
When Huculak returned, he placed a huge bear in Spence's seat - next to chairperson John Stephenson. The room filled with giggles as trustees asked 'is that Duff?'
With childish glee, Huculak fussed about looking for his blazer, complaining to former trustee Mira Dunn - attending the meeting as a guest - that he felt "naked" without it. Blazer located, Huculak returned to the room for the photo op.
He and Stephenson posed with the substitute vice-chair, shaking hands and patting him on his furry shoulders.
Business did resume as usual. Spence's plush stand-in appeared to be listening intently as trustees and delegations read their submissions. Near the end of the meeting trustee Terry Brookes said he was a fan of the stoic, no-nonsense approach displayed by Spence's replacement.
"It's nothing but the bare facts from this guy," he said.
