Ottawa - June 9, 2018Nine students chosen from the KRHF on May 10th travelled to Ottawa for the Eastern Ontario Provincial Heritage Fair Celebration.The event was a tremendous success thanks to all the work of the Ontario Heritage Fairs Association (OHFA) Board members, Wendy and Caroline, plus the work and resources provided by the Ottawa and Kingston Heritage Fairs. Wendy and the Ottawa committee did the legwork arranging for lunch and dinner plus canvassing local businesses for t-shirts, frisbees, pins, etc. The students got quite a haul. Their OHFA bags were full with gifts from Carleton University, Algonquin College and the City of Ottawa. The event was well under budget due to the free passes to the Museum of History and free access to the Ottawa City Hall for our Showcase. Caroline came in from Montreal for the day and was a tremendous help as always in making the day run smoothly. The Kingston Fair was equally supportive. They provided their bus provided by the Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston to transport all of delegates between venues in Ottawa and Gatineau. Kingston also provided the snacks and water bottles enjoyed by the students throughout the day.Ron Bernard, Councillor for the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation gave opening remarks and territory acknowledgement. He was presented with a sweet grass and tobacco tie prepared by Four Directions in Kingston to show our appreciation. The Mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson, was amongst the visitors who enjoyed the students’ presentations of their excellent and diverse stories of Canadian heritage. Our four counsellors did an incredible job. Jennine and Joh from Kingston did a super job of integrating students from Kingston, Tyendinaga First Nations and Perth. Brendan, from Ottawa, provided bilingual support for all our students and took the lead during our Scavenger Hunt in Confederation Square and on Parliament Hill. A shout out also needs to go to Brendan’s brother, Dylan, who prepared the route and information for our hunt. Caroline and Jennine did a super job of taking pictures while Brendan helped me conduct short video interviews with each of our participants. Della, the counselor for the Pikwàkaganàn First Nation students was a tremendous help to Wendy and Caroline in organizing and distributing our OHFA bags, certificates and lunches. She also led the traditional Algonquin Friendship Circle at our Closing Ceremonies. Wonderful group of counsellors! All in all, a great celebration of Canadian heritage in Canada’s national capital.Pictures of the event can be viewed on our gallery.
