Fete Thankyous 1
What can we say about the woman who pulled the whole fete together? Catherine Doggett you are a marvel! Our first fete back after the COVID years had such a great vibe and energy. Punters even commented it was more like a festival than a school fete. And the wonderful results reflected the great day had by all. So thank you Catherine for your tireless effort as the lynchpin of the event.
Our two magnificent logistics women were also incredible. Annabel Barker and Alice Knowles gave all they had, and then some, to making sure we had a well laid out map and all the equipment we needed in the right place at the right time. It was their first and last go around and they will have some wise and well structured thoughts for whoever takes on logistics next fete.
From everyone!
From Catherine Doggett
There were so many small triumphs that led to our huge collective success. Well done team. We did it!
What a wonderful day that made all those hours spent, totally worth it. There are many great stories to share; like the team of aunties who spent all day shredding cabbage by hand, or the grandparents that sewed bunting and made hundreds of jams, or the 5.30am arrival (with head torches) to fill up the dunk tank, or the ex CNPS kids who came back to make and run the lemonade stand. Fete is about the power of community and CNPS sure does have a great one. Each and every person pulled their weight and gave it their all. There were a few that made it almost a full time job. I'd like to thank the following people:
Alice and Annabel- Cool as cucumbers, these ladies never stopped and ensured everyone had the equipment they needed. They also became experts in electrical loading, floor plan layout and container organisation. Thank you Alice and Annabel for chasing down every issue.
Jess, Louisa and Kylie- what a combo! so systematic and organised, this team supported all the stalls holders,recruited the volunteers and printed 1 million signs. Total legends and kept everyone's stress levels at a manageable level. Special mention to Kylie for her inclusive initiatives- she proved that being inclusive makes it better for everyone.
Mietta- Mietta brought the sizzle through the power of social media. If you want people to take notice, ask Mietta. Thank you for representing the CNPS voice so well and for being so flexible with last minute requests.
Bess and Ray- What a hustle! Such an exciting Silent Auction. There was lots of competition for tins of biscuits, massages, holidays, scooters, artwork and footy jumpers. The Silent Auction created such a buzz and these two gave it their absolute all. What a knockout! Thank you
Kathleen and Marcus- thanks for helping in the food bubble. These two saved me when I wasn't sure "Food" would happen. Behind the scenes they helped count tongs, order napkins, ask for donated ingredients and helped to bring some order to the chaos. Kathleen also provided a huge sense of relief when she took over food safety ensuring our curry was hot and our hands were washed.
Kate Silvagni- A silent hero, Kate washed dishes all day long as the dishwasher stopped working mid morning. Kate spent so much time working out the logistics of the wash station and buying crockery and cutlery from Op shops. Hours and hours of work went into the Wash Station and we only sent 4 small bins to landfill for an event that attracted over 1500 people. Kate, you did such a great job for our community.
Then the stall holders:
Ride: Rachael Matthews- such patience and persistence with the Rides people. Not an easy task and required lots and lots of follow up. Thank you Rachael for making the Rides happen- best day of the year for the kids . Rides, face paint and hair are huge draw cards and money earners.
Kids Zone: Clare Burrows- How good was the kids alley? Clare asked me "will we need more than 6000 tokens at $2 a pop" Me: "No way, that's sooo many". Of course she knew best and we ran out about 1pm. The kids alley was so well thought out and so much fun. I am thoroughly enjoying the chocolate from the kid's stashes whilst they are at school! Thank you.
Drinks, Fairy Floss. Popcorn, Snow cone, Icy Poles- This was the place to be and a real highlight of the day for so many kids. Thank you, Marika (captain of the Tweens), Thank you Olivia (who was covered in F.Floss from head to toe), Thank you Jane (all day snow cones that didn't stop until 4.30pm!) and Popcorn.... everyone had a go here... Tash, Brett, Olivia S, Daniel and many more. Thank you.
Ponies- Georgie Lewis- How special to have those ponies in attendance. One of the highlights, especially for the little kids. Thank you for sharing Harry, Honey and Bullseye with the kids of Carlton North.
Box Maze: Sarah and Kathryne. The best box maze we've ever had, complete with a slide! Thanks for providing so much joy on the day and making some great money for the school. Clever team.
Plants, jams, toys, cakes, craft- Thank you Sarah, Sian, Angela, Marianne and Tiff. There are weeks and weeks of prep work that go into making items for a stall. Each stall was full to the brim and a hive of activity throughout the day. You all worked, without a break, right to the very end. Thank you very very much.
Books- Isabel, so many books to carry and organise. We are renowned for our book stall and this year was pumping. Thank you for all the hard work, especially as you took this responsibility on with a baby at home.
Plants- Sarah Morgan, you made plants so fun and so great that we again had the most beautiful flower crowns. Thank you for making this stall so fantastic.
Chillout Zone- Kylie and the Library team. At one point I think we had about 1500 people in the school. The Chill out zone was such a considerate and cool place to be. Thanks for bringing this vision to life. Appreciated by so many.
Food- Laura, Anthony, Yuki, Gia and Bari, Pip and Bec, Conrad, Marlene and Dani, Michael, Krissy and Co. What a supreme effort. Making and selling our own food is a huge drawcard that sets us apart from so many other Fetes. There is so much planning, effort and love that goes into the food stalls. Thanks to all your family members who helped too. Including the BBQ, the food team sold over 2400 savoury meals plus hundreds of crepes and scones. Such a success.
Coffee - Ollie and Chrissie. A huge line, all day long for Assembly coffee. Delicious coffee that never stopped. Thanks for donating all the supplies and cart. A big effort that was highly appreciated and profitable.
Bar-Thank you Steve and Annelise for creating the place to be. I think we could have stayed and drank all night long if we didn't have to pack up. you looked great, the drinks were great and you made lots of money for the school. Thank you for taking on the bar.
The entertainment: thank you Rachael Corben for bringing the good vibes and entertainment for the day. And Brendon for his witty MC role. The whole entertainment package was perfect.... how talented is our CNPS community?
Lemonade - Ella Harbinson and team. Thank you, you’ve definitely got your mum’s entrepreneurial spirit. What a huge success and so wonderful to see you back helping the school. Thanks for the hours and hours of juicing. Great job.
CNPS teachers and staff- thanks teachers, Jane and Rachel for all your help in the lead up and on the day. Plus your kids too! And the biggest thank you is saved for Gaby and Trish. They were always so encouraging, helpful and supportive. And funny... They are very funny and made the Fete prep that much better. Thank you so very much.
And last one.... thanks to all our donors and sponsors. I think every shop in the village gave us something. It really felt like a Fete for Carlton North, not just our school. What a great community we belong to. Please think of supporting those businesses that helped us.
Thanks legends..... until next year!
Logistics
A huge thank you to the legendary Logistics team! Much like the shoemakers elves, the logistics crew weave their magic in the early hours and late evenings, away from the eyes of the school community, but make no mistake - the logistics for an event with so many moving parts like The Great Lee Street Fete is no easy feat. Luckily the following awesome parents provided many hours of physical labour over fete weekend to set up and pack down the marquees and umbrellas, move and clean tables, hang signage, connect gas and water, locate or fix equipment, pack the Tetris puzzle known as ’the container’, and clean up the school ready for Monday. Thank you all so much for your positive, can-do attitude and creative problem solving skills. We couldn’t have done it without you all!
Bronwen Berlage, Martin Leary, Ellen Giblett, Matthew Lewis, Niranjan, Sally Abbott, Tristan Cooke, Ange Morgan, Adam Vogel, Toby Cummings, Lucy Marshall, James Goulding, Benjamin Testa, Henry Tinsley, John Krbaleski, Josh Lumicisi, Michael Wheelahan, Aimee Goodwin, Louis Gadd, Tony Sun, Justin Avery, Kylie Hansen, Donna, Louisa Emslie, Elle Cusack, Christina Apostolidis, Kathleen Lang. An extra big thanks to Norm, to Shannon Fry who fixed so many plumbing issues, and to our electrician Jeremy West.
Annabel & Alice
Wash Station
To all the rockstar volunteers and helpers at the wash station..you guys were amazing! Thanks to all my helpers Karina, Pauline,Mia,Chloe,
Christina, Sally, Jane, Angus, Sawson, Kylie, Jamie, Michael, Oliver, Stephen ,Mary,T ony, Ryan, Donna, Shannon and the
5/6 student volunteers. There were so many of you that saw the pressure we were under and just jumped in with a tea towel or offered to help for many hours. We washed, dried, sorted and ferried back to stalls, while seriously under pressure, and managed to do it all with smiles on our faces. We couldn't have created a plastic-free event without you! I cannot thank you enough.
Kate
Inclusive Initiatives
Thank you for everyone who helped us try to make our 2023 fete as inclusive as possible.
This year we trialled a suite of inclusive initiatives:
1) Low sensory hour (10-11am)
2) The Paddock chill out space (in collaboration with Bargoonga Nganjin North Fitzroy Library)
3) A social story to prepare everyone for what to expect on fete day
4) Priority passes for families with children with additional needs
Massive shout outs to everyone who helped us enable families with additional needs to be seen, included and celebrated.
Special thanks to:
CNPS’ Support Group for Parents and Carers of children with Additional Needs and Bargoonga Nganjin North Fitzroy Library, as well as: Megan Quinlan, Alice Knowles, Marnie Pascoe, David Hansen, Annelise Tiller, Imi Oliver, Kristen Derricott, Jane Bilby, Gaby Shortis, Maddi Davis, Millie Holden, Billy Candy, Louisa Emslie, Jess Adam, Mietta Walsh, Annabel Barker, Cath Doggett, Rachel Matthews, Zoe Billings, and John Milne and other logistics helpers.
Thanks also to school staff for reading the social story with their classes; and all our stall holders and broader fete committee for embracing what we were trying to achieve to enable our whole community to take part in fete day.
This really was a collaborative effort. Grazie mille!!!
Kylie
Stall Co ordination
Catherine: Our leader!
Alice and Annabel - Logistic legends!
Kylie Lee - stall coordinator extraordinaire! No job too big or too small. She did it all. Especially: Inclusion initiatives, Chill Zone, Social story, Priority pass, Low sensory hour. Carted dirty dishes for hours when dishwasher broke down. So great at comms with everyone, so encouraging
Louisa Emslie - calm and competent! Stall coordinator who was so organised with tech side of things: spreadsheets, google docs, sign templates as well as running the huge clothes stall.
Jess Adam - Thank you to Jess Adam for all her behind-the-scenes work in coordinating the stalls! Her patience and listening were so appreciated and helped us get through the stressful times. She was also so helpful with the Kids' Zone in working through the pricing and ticket systems. And she was a superstar support person on the day of the fete, providing help where it was needed.
Kathleen: lots and lots of great work: hanging clothes, first aid, food health and safety. And her mum Joy was at school for weeks sorting books etc.
Stall Co ordination team
Clare Burrows -Queen of the Kid’s Zone! So many tickets sold, great games, so much fun for kids.
Kid zone games and ticket sales: Grigor, DJ, Gautam, Lizzie, Sally Abbott
Dunk tank dudes: Grigor, Jas and Campbell
Dunkees: Gaby, Ben, Mary, Chris, Anand, Adesh, Hugh Matthews ….
Kids snacks: Marika, Olivia W, Olivia S, Elle Cusak, Brett Knowles, Jane Galvin, Hamish Masterton, Gabby and Daniel Rodgers,Charlie Killen, Archer Killen and troupe of exCNPS students including: Lola, Harry, Hugo, Tom B, Hugh M, Violet, Monet, Anand, Mollie, Tristan, Tom R, Victor, Finn, Mia, Josie, Eliza, Alice…
Lucy Marshall for ducking home to get more paper bags for popcorn. And James Goulding and Lucy for so much setting up and packing up
Aimee Goodwin and Louis Gadd for pack up and Aimee for pack up on Monday
Ash Barker - so much setting up and packing up including scrubbing the greasy BBQ area
Bri Wood-Ingram and Ben Testa - set up and pack down
Nick and Tom - (Catherine’s Doggetts family) for picking up bread and lending us Catherine!
Quinn and Renn drying dishes
Vito, Jimmy, Claude and Christian helped the farmer spread out the hay for the animals
Georgie, Andrew, Magnus, Otto, Gaye and Henry Lewis for lending us their gorgeous ponies!
Julie and Ed John - Jules all day on plants, Ed securing the Cakes sign, both packing up until the very end
Tom Romeo and other man for helping Jess empty overflowing wheelie bin into the skip.
Erin Tibbetts and another mum and some kids moved all the books on Friday afternoon. Erin also worked on nearly every stall!
Michelle (CNPS mum) heaps of laminating and jam making
Kate Silvagni - wash station
Sawsan - washing up
Ticket Sales/Rides
Thank you to the wonderful ticket sales team, Kris Dearicott, Olivia Simon, Joan Perryman, Sara McFarlane, James Barker, Luke Phillips, Rachel Hawkins and Marcella Wells. We are all awesome at our two & three times table now!
A big thank you to Louisa, Alice, Annabel and Catherine for all your support and for wrangling rides, dunk tanks, face painters and animals so that they fit into our inner city school.
We are happy the Great Lee Street fete is back, bigger and greater than before
Rachel M