Despite 10 days of rain, the sun came out on Saturday for the annual Lafayette Spring Fair hosted this year for the first time on the beautiful grounds of the Episcopal Center for Children. Thank you to Dodd White, President of the ECC and his amazing staff and Board,  for their warm hospitality and incredible support and Vince Frillici, our incredible Spring Fair Chair and his wonderful team of parent volunteers who made the whole day possible.  

Although the ground was too wet for the traditional Spring Fair rides, the children and families of the community enjoyed an amazing afternoon of delicious food, exciting activities and old fashioned fun running around the grounds of the ECC.   Our theme this year was Hands Across Chevy Chase and the beautiful artwork of hands coming together, created by the students of Lafayette's own art teacher Laurie McClaughlin and Adele Stuckey, the art therapist at the ECC,  displayed along the fences and doorways of the ECC really set the tone for the whole event

The Spring Fair is one of the signature fundraising events that the HSA runs each year and it is only possible thanks to the generosity of our parents, our great Lafayette staff and all our Lafayette community members who come out each year to support the Fair and volunteer their time baking, making salads, painting faces, hauling tables and books and staffing our signature events.  Thanks to all of you, we raised thousands of dollars for Lafayette this year and we helped forge a partnership with the Episcopal Center that we look forward to continuing well into the future.  

We want to especially thank Doctor Broquard and all the teachers and staff who came out on a Saturday to show their school support. We also salute Becky Maydak our ANC Commissioner for Lafayette who helped us staff the yard sale and Ward 4 Council member Brandon Todd for coming out to support Lafayette time and time again. And all the Lafayette alumni and parents who work at the ECC and serve on their board, especially Lafayette mom Cate Robinson Tafur who helped open the door of the ECC for Lafayette.

Special HSA Thanks and shout-outs go to Vince's Spring Fair Committee and all the parent and student volunteers who supported them.  Ellen Shurman led our face painting efforts and never took a break all day. Lydia Weiss and her incredible Yard Sale team allowed many of us to clear out our attics and garages and make some $ for Lafayette. Elizabeth Shreve and Donna Oetzel and their volunteer food brigade brought us a cornucopia of baked goods, salads, and delicious food and drink, Adam Crain and Jonathan Lenzer led our set-up and clean up efforts and made it fun even in the pouring rain. and Robin Chait worked her man and woman power magic and made sure our volunteer operation ran smoothly. Bethann Siegel broke the record for the number of community organizations and small businesses who came our to meet the Lafayette Community, Rebecca Gordon, and Josh Calder along with an awesome crew from Wilson High School and the School Without Walls  moved, organized and sold hundreds of books at the Annual Book Sale. Libbey Sheldon got us all in the spirit at the Grizzly Gear table and Chris Merriam and Stephen Burwell kept things rolling all day at the Bike Swap. Laura Grimm made sure we had the permits and permissions we needed. 

Many members of the HSA also stepped up to take leadership roles for the Spring Fair including Stacy Beck who led our communications efforts and created our beautiful Fair logo and signs. Jen Lanoff who managed our ticket and wrist bands sales masterfully and handled every wrinkle we threw at her.  Josh Gordon and Tonya Oliver who ran the Spring Fair Finance operation like pros, Kristin Nicholson who made some real green for the school at the Plant Sale, Chris Lisi who designed and ordered our Grizzly Gear, Gayle Moseley and Jenny Backus who helped on the Book Sale, the absolutely incredible Eileen Dombo who worked tirelessly to find us parent volunteers and our great HSA co-presidents Shannon Behm and Janine Finck Boyle who did everything we asked of them from early AM Kinko's runs to helping us make the tough calls when the weather got bad. Thank you all for believing in the Spring Fair and allowing us to try something new this year. And thanks again to the incredible Vince Frillici who has volunteered to help on the 2017 Spring Fair as well. We are so lucky to have you Vince!

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