May the Best Taste Buds win! on Cascade Hall

Headmistress Kijewski

January 18, 2012 9:35 PM

Sign Up for Fair Events! by Headmistress Kijewski

A couple of weeks after the returning feast, a parchment could be found hanging on the bulletin board just outside of Cascade Hall. The parchment wasn’t flashy or noticeably distinguishable between the others, but the information on it was important and the parchment needed the attention. Here in neat handwriting was the list of events where the students could join for the Fair.

Below are the lists of events that students can participate in through the course of the year to take part in the Fair that will be hosted by Tumbleweed. Please write your name neatly beneath the event/category that you wish to partake in. Remember that your craft must be appropriate for all viewers. You are representing the school and we want to show Tumbleweed that we are willing to engage with them in order to make the Fair successful. We look forward to your completed works of art. If you have questions or concerns or if you are in need of assistance, please seek out a Staff member and they will do their best to assist you in any way that you may need.

Crafts

Hippogriff Raising

Chili Cook Off

P.S. Students who participate in the Fair events will be given extra credit points!

Subthreads:

I'm fair game! by Waverly Canterbury

Let's give this a go by Sullivan Quincy

Can I submit anonymously? by Nic Sawyer

Figuring out my time availability by Jose Hernandez

Signing up for lame events by Jade Owen

Queen of Crafts by Josephine Owen

May the Best Taste Buds win! by Regina Parker

So this is what participating feels like by Jethro Smythe

Crafting Roommates by Thad Pierce

0 Headmistress Kijewski Sign Up for Fair Events! 0 Headmistress Kijewski 1 5

Waverly Canterbury

January 18, 2012 11:40 PM

I'm fair game! by Waverly Canterbury

Waverly had been thinking of what to make for the fair for the couple of weeks since the announcement. She knew for certain that she wanted to sign up, but she didn't know what she wanted to make. Waverly felt most comfortable in the kitchen, and she liked to throw things together and bake. It had been like magic to her before coming to Sonora. She would pop in a wet, gross-looking thing into the oven and it would come out a cake, or like bread, or something. She wasn't a talented cook, a reason why she didn't really excel in potions.

The chili cook off sounded like fun, but she didn't know how to make chili. She didn't even know if her mom had a chili recipe at all, so Waverly cast that idea aside. Hippogriff racing was definitely out of the question. After looking it up, Waverly knew that she probably would not be able to get along with a hippogriff, much less get on one and race another person on it.

So crafts it was. When the sign-up sheet went up, she went and stood in front of the parchment. Her mind wandered for a moment, and the idea that had been roaming around in her mind came to full force. She would build a house. A miniature one, of course, but a doll house! She could imagine it; she could fill tiny glass balls with light like she had learned how to do in charms class, and then she could draw little pictures and put them in, make little rooms and toilets...she'd need a lot of cardboard first, and it would be a lot of work, but Waverly was excited for this plan.

She whipped out her pen and scribbled down her name under Crafts. There. Now it was official. She just had to find a place to get all of the supplies and build it. Smiling to herself, Waverly skipped off, ideas rushing through her head.

19 Waverly Canterbury I'm fair game! 218 Waverly Canterbury 0 5

Sullivan Quincy

January 20, 2012 6:21 PM

Let's give this a go by Sullivan Quincy

Sullivan had been trying to figure out what he could do at the fair since the return feast. He was not crafty and the last time he'd tried to use scissors and glue in close succession to one another, he'd managed to break the scissors, destroy his t-shirt, clump the carpet bad enough Mom had to buy a rug to cover it, and he still hadn't managed to successfully make a construction paper turkey.

So crafting was out.

Cooking was worse. He was allowed to decorate Christmas cookies but that as much as Mom would allow him to do in the kitchen. She said she didn't have good enough home and life insurance to let him use the oven. His performance in potions gave him no reason to doubt her assessment.

That left hippogriff raising. He'd never had a pet and he thought this might be a good opportunity to try taking care of an animal. So when the sign-up sheet went up, Sully put his name down under the hippogriff raising.

Sullivan Quincy

The instructions had specifically said to write neatly, and Sullivan tried his very best to do so. He just hoped his best was good enough because he wasn't sure he'd call it 'neat'.

1 Sullivan Quincy Let's give this a go 207 Sullivan Quincy 0 5

Nic Sawyer

January 21, 2012 5:56 PM

Can I submit anonymously? by Nic Sawyer

Nic had already begun working on his drawing. Well, in perfect truth, he had been drawing Rachel since he first noticed her so he probably would have been drawing her again anyway. This particular drawing, however, might not just spend its entire existence folded into his potions notebook so he'd begun it on nice paper instead of just in the margins of his class notes.

It was also going to need to be perfect if he was going to reveal it for public consumption. Since it featured Rachel's face, perfection was nearly guaranteed as long as he managed to capture her beauty correctly. If he didn't manage perfection, however, it would be entirely his own failing, and that was what made him hesitate in front of the sign-up sheet.

Well, the potential public humiliation was the larger part, of course, but the fact that his section was called 'crafts' was also cause for concern. 'Crafts', by Nic's reckoning, did not properly convey the dignity of fine artwork and he was reluctant to put his name under a word that was most often used by groups of young children at summer camp.

Still, he'd already started it and it seemed a shame to not let everyone else appreciate how pretty Rachel was, too, so he added his name beneath the ones already there and hoped it wouldn't be noticed too much.

Nic Sawyer

1 Nic Sawyer Can I submit anonymously? 165 Nic Sawyer 0 5

Jose Hernandez

January 23, 2012 8:25 PM

Figuring out my time availability by Jose Hernandez

Jose had been kind of looking forward to raising a hippogriff, but a honest assessment of his time availability - especially if Pecari won the upcoming game - revealed he just didn't have the amount of time necessary to properly look after a young animal of any kind, and especially not one with the prickly nature of a hippogriff. So reluctantly, he left that list alone.

The other two could probably be fit into a couple of hours, so they were both options. He was moderately skilled at drawing Quidditch related doodles and animating them after five years of making the sign-up sheet, but he wasn't sure that was going to stand up to some of the other craft ideas he'd heard about. Andrew, he knew, was trying to figure out if he even had time to create . . . something. By comparison, a doodle that Jose could be done with in a couple minutes seemed like he wasn't taking the competition seriously.

Which left the California Pierce family chili recipe. That one he could get behind without any reservations. So he took out his quill and put his name under the one heading he thought he should definitely enter.

Chili Cook Off
Jose Herndandez

Maybe, if it looked like his schedule was going to open up and they hadn't taken down the sheet by then, he might put his name under one of the others, but for now, he was at least signed up for something.

1 Jose Hernandez Figuring out my time availability 149 Jose Hernandez 0 5

Jade Owen

January 24, 2012 11:09 AM

Signing up for lame events by Jade Owen

When they'd been told about the fair at the feast after midterm, Jade had been all excited and enthusiastic about the prospect of hippogriff racing. That had to be even better than being a Seeker! Imagine her disappointment when she discovered that she'd misheard: it was hippogriff raising, not racing, and how lame was that in comparison? She hadn't been going to both participating at all when she'd understood that actual requirements, but then even just raising a hippogriff would mean more contact with one than not taking part at all. They were pretty awesome creatures, and so eventually Jade decided that maybe she would take part after all.

However, when she saw that students were given extra credit for taking part, she almost turned tail and walked right back off again in the opposite direction. She didn't need anyone to think she was doing this for extra credit, thank you very much. Maybe she could decline the extra credit? Though that actually might be taking it too far - if she went around declining credit where she could earn it easily (animals had always been her main passion in life) then she might wind up actually having to do her transfiguration homework or something equally as abhorrent. Much better to bite the bullet and get credit for playing with hippogriffs, that was certain.

So, evenutally, Jade added her own details to the sign-up sheet: Jade Owen, first year Pecari, written in legible scrawl underneath the title of Hippogriff raising. She paused to read the other sign-ups so far and to raise a sardonic eyebrow at some of the other students' ideas of fun, before she wandered off again, all thoughts and memories of the sign-up sheet falling despondently to the far reaches of the back of her mind.

0 Jade Owen Signing up for lame events 221 Jade Owen 0 5

Josephine Owen

January 24, 2012 11:37 AM

Queen of Crafts by Josephine Owen

There weren't many distinctions in Josephine's life: she was smart, but she didn't work hard enough to be the smartest. She was pretty, in her own kind of way, but she wasn't ever like to be called beautiful. She definitely wasn't rich, and while she was more patient than any other person she knew, she still had very little time for people who didn't treat her with the respect she was sure she deserved. however, she had always considered herself to be pretty good at crafts. She'd been making her own birthday and Christmas cards for as long as she could remember, and since she was nine years old they'd been good enough that her family and their friends had commissioned her to make them for small payments. She hadn't stopped there, of course - she now made jewelry, scraping together second hand pieces and making them up better, or making her own beads from nuts, shells or seeds, and other readily-available products. She adapted her clothes with bows and ribbons to turn her plainer outfits into something more fashionable. Yes, Josephine Owen was a crafter.

The opportunity to display her work to other students and staff was not only a way for people to make to know her better but also - and far ore importantly - a way for Josephine to show off. She didn't like this particular quality in herself, and tried to play down being the center of attention whenever it seemed imprudent to draw the focus onto herself, but she couldn't deny that she liked being in the limelight as much as the next self-obsessed drama queen.

By the time the sign-up sheet had arrived, Josephine wasn't sure yet what craft(s) she wanted to display. Luckily, the sheet didn't actually require such detailed information just yet. While she was grateful of this for her own sign-up, it would have interested the Pecari to see who else had signed up, and for what particular craft. the word itself was, after all, one that encompassed a vast array of potential talent. Perhaps there would be another sheet later on, to register more particular skills? In either case, Josphine knew she needed to sign on this one now. She scanned the existing names briefly, was not at all surprised by Jade's intention to mess around with hippogriffs, and added her own detail to the list under the craft heading.

It was now her intetnion to go to the dormitory she shared with Demtra and Ayita, and discover exactly which spullies she had brought with her from home. More could be sent for if needed, and others could be obtained by scouring the school grounds for things that could be turned into other thing, but having a look through her existing tools would potentially make selecting her craft an easier decision. She was already leaning towards the jewlery making idea, and decided that the sooner she got started, the better - that left more time for her to change her mind.

0 Josephine Owen Queen of Crafts 196 Josephine Owen 0 5

Regina Parker

January 24, 2012 10:05 PM

May the Best Taste Buds win! by Regina Parker

Reggie had taken the extra weeks to figure out if she really wanted to sign up for any of the events or not, but then she realized that it wasn’t like she had anything else pressing that she had to do anyway. Things might have been different if she were in her fifth year, but since that wasn’t the case, and she had no plans to ever join the Quidditch team, Reggie was free. So, since she had decided to actually join the events of the Fair, she then had to figure out which event to be a part of.

Hippogriff raising was definitely out.

Crafting was not really her thing. Sure she enjoyed scrapbooking, but that wasn’t something she would parade around at a Fair.

So that left the Chili Cook Off. Reggie had never really made any sort of food, per se. She had helped her Grandma make cookies and decorate them as much as she helped with baking cakes. Sometimes her Grandma would let her help with dinner, but it was never anything too important and Reggie couldn’t remember if Chili was ever one of them. Not that it mattered; her grandmother wasn’t here to assist her with it.

But, that had given her an idea. She didn’t want to work on this alone and she wanted to perfect the chili long before they had to go to the challenge. This challenge would mean that Reggie would need a partner. Someone to help her test out the taste and flavors of the chili. Reggie had the perfect person in mind. Not because she felt he had any idea on how to make Chili (and really, Reggie was completely missing Google now since she couldn’t look up any recipes), but because the end of his midterm had left him down and she wanted to keep him as busy as possible.

So, after getting the okay from him, Reggie was now signing both signatures on the parchment just outside of the Cascade Hall. Below Chili Cook Off and Jose’s name, Reggie signed:

Regina Parker and Derry Pierce the Fourth

She hoped partners were acceptable…

6 Regina Parker May the Best Taste Buds win! 187 Regina Parker 0 5

Jethro Smythe

January 28, 2012 3:06 PM

So this is what participating feels like by Jethro Smythe

Since beginning Sonora almost seven years ago, Jethro hadn't been especially quick to participate in any extra-curricular activites. He wasn't especially sporting, and the thought of flying - considering his less than commendable grace on the ground - had never been appealing to the Crotalus student. Neither was he particularly musically inclined, nor sufficiently eloquent to contribute to debates or journalism of any kind. He'd avoided academic clubs, reluctant to struggle in his spare time as well as in classes, and didn't really even have a friendship group to speak of. In short, participation wasn't something with which Jethro was familiar.

Yet at the return to Sonora, Headmistress Kijewski had explained that there would be a craft display at the Midsummer fair, and that students were encouraged to submit crafts, including paintings. In his whole life, Jethro had never felt he was good at anything - he didn't consider himself to be adequate at most things - but when he painted, he experienced an alien feeling of proficiency. He didn't know whether anyone else would appreciate his artwork, but he didn't really mind; nobody had ever praised him on anything before, and this might be the last chance he ever had to take part in a group event.

When the sign-up sheet arrived outside the Hall, Jethro found himself signing his name to a list other other students' names for the first time. Having added his details under the craft section of the sheet, he thought he ought to begin working on something to submit. He had RATS at the end of the year, and his free time would be limited if he wanted to stand a chance of passing either of his exams. His grades so far this year were not promising.

0 Jethro Smythe So this is what participating feels like 146 Jethro Smythe 0 5

Thad Pierce

February 09, 2012 6:08 PM

Crafting Roommates by Thad Pierce

They had not specifically discussed who would add their names to the list hanging in the Cascade Hall, but Thaddeus had already appointed Evan as the Creative Genius half of their partnership, so therefore he should probably handle the more routine and administrative functions of their participation in the fair. The first and most obvious of those would be the act of actually joining the competition.

It required little in the way of time, effort, or preparation. The only required component was a quill with enough ink in its nub to scratch out four names and the ampersand symbol. This was something Thad carried with him at all times, since he could never be sure when he might need to write something down, so it was a bit of a non-issue. Therefore, there was nothing to stop him from fulfilling this self-appointed task the next time he came to the Cascade Hall.

It took only about eight seconds and twenty-seven characters beneath the designation of CRAFTS.

Evan Brockert & Thaddeus Pierce

He gave Evan top billing because the other boy was, as previously stated, the creative genius while Thad was just helping. Therefore, it was only right that Evan's name should go first, even if it hadn't been alphabetically appropriate. Since Evan's name did alphabetically preceed Thad's (both by first name and by last name, as well as by the later of Evan's names compared to the earlier of Thaddeus's), there was no conceivable reason at all for Thad's to come first. Thad was okay with that. He was comfortable being second; he had, after all, been called Thad Two for most of his life.

Besides which, he wasn't doing this to steal or even share in Evan's glory. He was doing this because he wanted to be involved, to do something fun with his friend and roommate, and maybe provide enough assistance that they could make something better together than either of them could do alone.

1 Thad Pierce Crafting Roommates 213 Thad Pierce 0 5