Holiday Extravaganza

Every year, our Elementary school does a big fund raiser the first Saturday of December. Each class is in charge of making a theme basket. Here are some of the themes to get an idea.

American Girl doll basket

I pod and accessories

A Wii with games and accessories

Nintendo DS with games

Digital cameras with printers and nice photo paper

Outdoor fireplace with goodies to roast

date night basket with lots of restaurant gift cards

you get the idea

There are lots and lots of these baskets because like I said every class is in charge of making one and the parents are in charge of purchasing things or donating money so the class mom in charge of the basket can purchase the things. The biggest basket is the Atlanta Braves basket with lots of autographed things like balls, bats, shirts, baseball cards etc. It is always donated by the class with Chipper Jones son in it. Last year Payton was in the same class as Chipper Jones so we didn't even have to donate anything because he did it all. Chipper Jones is probably one of the most known Braves player right now. I think he is the 3rd baseman. Anyhow, the baskets are displayed in the media center and you buy raffle tickets and put your name and phone number on the back of the tickets and put your ticket in what ever box that goes to the basket you hope to win. They also have tables set up in the Gym for people who want to sell their crafts, organic stuff. These vendors purchase a table for I think $10 and that money goes to the school. They also sell donated baked goods, popcorn, and they had 2 restaurants selling food (I'm not sure if the school got a portion of the money from the restaurants sales or not). They have a huge turn out at these things that they had shuttle (school bus) people from the nearby Super Target shopping center parking lot. For the entertainment, they had the orchestra, band and chorus playing and singing throughout the day. Since Payton is in chorus, we went (Kennedy, Talmage, Jon and I) and cheered her on. They sing lots of Santa, Kwanzaa, and Hanuka, but not one song about the true meaning of Christmas. This school hasn't sung about Jesus since before my sisters Morgan and Taylor went to this school. Which they are now 20 and 17. I don't get it and it makes me mad when I think about it. They can sing about any other religion but the one this country was founded on. She did a great job.

Payton

Then 5 days later I had to do it all again. Just the chorus part. Payton had her chorus concert. This time it was held in the Middle school gym. Their gym has bleachers and a stage. Kennedy and I just went. And to sum it up it sucked. First off, the 4th and 5th grade band and orchestra were playing as well as the chorus singing (the 4th and 5th grade chorus sing together). They started at 7 pm and that gym was so crowded with parents, siblings, grandparents and friends that they had to add more chairs and some people had to stand. Kennedy and I sat on the first row of the bleachers and there were rows of chairs in front of us. We could barely see Payton. Luckily, I took pictures at the Holiday Extravaganza because there would be no way. The best part of the night was right after Payton sung her last song (which by the way they same the exact same songs as the other event). The bands and orchestras still had one more song to go. I waved down Payton who was sitting on the floor and we were out of there. I don't know how long it would have taken me to get out of that parking lot since I was parked behind the school almost as far as you could get. That time was just after 8:30 pm. I think they should combine the 2 and just have them perform at the Holiday Extravaganza. They had them perform at different times during the Holiday Extravaganza so there wasn't a big huge crowd. If they don't change things next year I think we will be skipping the concert and doing just the Extravaganza.