Shiver delivers: Peace Bridge school fair brings families indoors

A rainy Saturday pushed Peace Bridge Public School’s market and fair inside the halls, but principal Liz Lateef told Fort Erie Radio that keeping everyone under one roof allowed incoming families to finally put faces to the people in their child’s school.

The Parent Involvement Committee organized Shiver’s Spectacular Market and Fair–a free community event held on May 23 that included several local vendor tables, games and is built largely from parent labour and parent-run small businesses participating.

The committee rebranded the long-running school fair this year around the school mascot, a polar bear named Shiver, and debuted a full-sized mascot costume for the event.

“We as staff, we’re here as hands, but it’s really the Parent Inclusion Committee who is the heart and the mind behind everything you see here today,” said Lateef.

Holly Mackinnon, a member of the Parent Involvement Committee, said the group treats events like the fair as entry points for families new to the school.

“I think it’s really important for us to connect that community with the school and the kids within it,” said Mackinnon.

One incoming parent signed up as a vendor after hearing about the event before her child’s first year at the school.

Aaron Sheridan, a Fort Erie business owner who volunteered as DJ for the event, told Fort Erie Radio he donates audio services to schools, veterans organizations and non-profits without charge.

“Anything to do with kids or veterans, anything like that, I will not charge,” said Sheridan.

COPE, the Fort Erie Fire Department, the Boys and Girls Club of Niagara and the Niagara Region chapter of PFLAG all held tables at the event.

Kim Ansell, chapter lead for the Niagara Region chapter of PFLAG, told Fort Erie Radio visibility at public events carries real weight for young people and families who have kept their experiences private.

“For a lot of folks, just seeing that there’s representation and visibility in community can be very helpful for them because so much of what a lot of people go through, they maybe keep to themselves or they don’t see reflected or the support reflected in the community,” said Ansell.

PFLAG is an all-volunteer Canadian registered charity that provides support, information and resources for members of the 2S-LGBTQIA+ community and their families.

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