Monday, February 25, 2008 by admin.

Let us take a little break from the wall-to-wall skating coverage here and show Luke what awaits him when he gets back home. There is pack of very keen Cubs, Scouts and Beavers who are looking forward to adding him to their number. These pictures are actually a few weeks old now and our troop has grown by four more since these were taken.

Let’s start off with our Beavers. This is Scouts Canada’s program for five to seven year olds.

And here is the Fort Smith Wolf Cub Pack, the program for eight to ten year olds.

And finally, here are our Scouts, who range from 11 to 14 years old.

As I noted, we have since enlarged our group. We have a new scout, a new cub and two new Beavers. The troop has gotten a lot of press attention lately, and I expect our memeebership will be growing even more now that skating has ended for the year. Anyway, my son Ian wanted me to the post these pictures for everyone to see, expecially Luke. Enjoy!

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Monday, February 25, 2008 by admin.

All right, folks. Here is my first foray in posting photos on this blog. I see that Vi has bravely led the way, so I figure if I can’t do it she deserves to make fun of me until the end of time. And if she doesn’t, I am sure Rick will. Anyway, here it goes.

These pics are from the Fort Smith Figure Skating Club Carnival, which took place February 23 and 24, and was a production of “Mary Poppins” this year. You have already heard a couple of viewpoints on the show, so let’s get to some images. For those non-Fort Smith friends who are wondering why this is getting such attention, I should explain the signficance of the carnival to the James Family. Alex and Luke are both regular (and keen) particpants in the show, as is Claudette as part of the Fort Smith Fury hockey club, which does a humourous little number each year. Rick is the behind-the-scenes-guy, building props, painting scenery and carrying out other elements of production design. With that quick explanation, let’s look at some pics. Apologies for quality beforehand.

At the start of the show we had the singing of O Canada and the colour guard. On day two it was Josh, David and Ian.

Here we have the full cast of the show in front of the backdrop.

In this photo, the main cast is about to do their bow at the end of the second show.

Here is, right to left, Carolyn Gill, as Mary Poppins, Jillaine Cummings as Mr. Banks, Larissa Korol as Mrs. Banks and Kathleen Gill as Jane Banks.

Here is a close up of the farm animals, with (shameless paternal plug warning!) my Gracie-girl front and centre.

Here is Kathleen leading a very tired Gracie off the ice. It was long weekend for a four-year old, but she held up well right until the end.

And now, the pic you have been waiting for: the incomparable Fort Smith Fury, playing the bankers from “Mary Poppins.”

And that’s it! My camera didn’t allow me to get any good action shots, but once I get some I will post those as well.

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Monday, February 25, 2008 by admin.

I see that Speedy McKeizer has already been on line to give you an update on the skating carnival production of “Mary Poppins.”. Yes, all went very well indeed. Michelle and Carolyn were great as Bert and Mary, and Kathleen and Megan Walsh were a very adorable Jane and Michael Banks.

Gracie was part of the farm animals group, which you may remember from the animated sequence of the film. She played one of three little pigs. As a group they were short on skill but long on extreme cuteness, which ultimately carried the day. The crowd loved them.

Because one of the parents who was in charge of the colour guard forgot to contact the RCMP, my Cubs and Scouts were asked to step in to hold the flags during the opening ceremonies and national anthem. Matthew, David and Josh Bird and Ian did their duty quite well, and they enjoyed showing off their uniforms in front of the whole town.

The backdrop looked great (we had a super crew working on it - lots of volunteers) but thank heavens the props were kept to a minimum. I was on prop duty and I couldn’t have done them without Rick.

Because of the Arctic Winter Games, we had a month less time to do the carnival this year. We also lost a week of practices because the cold was so extreme the arena was shut down. Yet looking at the final product, you would never had known it. Everything went really well.

Pictures will follow shortly.

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