LCS Parents Spread Holiday Cheer with Festive Decor

In the spirit of spreading joy and warmth this holiday season, The Grove received a festive transformation, courtesy of LCS parent volunteers. With their creative flair and enthusiasm, LCS parents came together to deck the school halls, adorning our community spaces with vibrant holiday decorations.

Decorating The Grove at LCS has been a wonderful tradition for years. Making the hallways, foyers and chapel festive to welcome our students every day and bring cheer to the winter days of December. This year, in aligning ourselves with Lakefield's goals and honouring our student's feedback from last year's vision, this year’s theme embraces sustainability, the outdoors, and Canadian winter. 

Using downed boughs, pinecones, and birch bark from Northcote Farm, along with a little elbow grease and some imagination, Katie McCall P ’23 ’26 assembled door swags that adorn our main buildings. She also prepared a do-it-yourself kit (complete with instructions, twine, repurposed ornaments, pinecones, and other treasures found in nature) for our students to make door swags and delivered a kit to each of the houses, as well as the school store, facilities, Ms. Kee's residence (complete with red glasses) and health services. 

Continuing along the path of sustainability, we had help from some of our students' grandparents. Many thanks to Carl Oake GP ’22 ’24 ’26 for donating a gorgeous tree from his family farm for the chapel, adorned with many ornaments of wildlife creatures found in our Canadian woods. Special thanks to Poppa "Joe" McCulloch GP ’26, who made a total of 10 wooden trees out of reclaimed fence boards (you can see the coordinates of all 40 countries LCS students represent written on the trees in the chapel). Each tree can be re-used for many events in the years to come thus allowing LCS to continue their commitment to the environment. 

The creativity of our school parents and alumni parents is astounding! Thank you to Carol Culp P ’25 who designed our first-ever ‘book tree’ using library books that were destined for recycling. A huge thank you to April Taylor P ‘26, Ava ’25, Genevieve Lavallee P ’25, Sarah Bletsoe P ’22 ’25, Vanessa Hogan P ’22 ’24 ’26, Crista Bennett P ’26 ’27, Adrienne Harrop P ’26, Bella Wang P ’23, Mary Kingdon P ’27, and Chantal McCulloch P ’26. A big thank you to the students and all LCS staff who allowed us to commandeer the area below the main office as our workshop. 

The highlight of decorating The Grove was not when the final ornament was hung, or the last mason jar lantern was lit. It came at the end when Poppa Joe shared: “Being at LCS made this 80-year-old guy feel young and useful again. I have felt more alive in the past few days than I have in months. Being around all these students, hearing their laughter and seeing them smile warmed my heart and filled my bucket; thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to be here" - That is what the LCS community and holiday spirit are about, lifting each other up, sharing our stories and spreading joy!

From cheerful wreaths to shimmering garlands, the school block is now enveloped in an enchanting holiday ambiance! Thank you to our parent community for creating a warm and welcoming environment for all this holiday season!