Village Mela at Woodstock

The enthusiasm and vibrancy of an Indian village in celebration was captured as the theme for this year's Mela. This year mela was held outside on a gloriously sunny day at the Hanifl Centre. Food vendors, craft merchants, roasted corn hawkers and candy floss sellers traded their wares at the packed event. Student food vendors did a bristling business selling favourite items such as Japanese fruit slush drinks to Thai baikrapao chicken. Tibetan carpets from the Moravian Institute, handwoven shawls from the Himalayan Weavers and fun beaded jewelry were a few of the craft items for sale. High school classes followed tradition by having the grade 9 class sell hotdogs, grade 10's host a carnival with creative face painting and mehndi, grade 11's managed the ice cream stall and the grade 12's helped oversee the whole event.

The mela was opened by the Woodstock Employee drummers led by Pyare Lal. After welcoming addresses by both the Director of Development, Stephen Alter, and the Principal, Dr. David Laurenson, Sue Hanifl, visiting Woodstock with her daughter's family, addressed the staff, students, alumni and other guests. After these brief speeches, entertainment followed. Dancers from Woodstock's elementary, Khas Godan School entertained the crowds gathered on Burgoyne campground. Skits and performances by local groups kept the crowds gathered and interested throughout the morning and afternoon.

It was a change having the Mela at the Hanifl centre; Mela has always been in Woodstock's Quad. The new location was intended to give a new look and feel for Mela, especially with this year's theme of rural India. It was only after planning was under way that Sue Hanifl, whose gift helped fund the building of the Hanifl Centre, informed staff at the Alumni office that she would be visiting during Mela. This made the locational change, along with the new organizational twists and turns, even more special.

The mela was successful with an enormous amount of work put in by Monica Roberts, Rachna Peters and Anne Lind along with their committee. The logistics and planning were handled efficiently and creatively. We thank them for their attention to the details, as the day was filled with fun, food and friendship. Please see Anne Lind's blog entry about the Mela, "The Big Day", at http://anne-india.blogspot.com/