La Kermesse - 2 July, 2022

Normal pre-school to elementary school years usually have an end-of-the-year party called a kermesse where the parents and grandparents are invited. The last one for Django’s school was in 2019 when Daphné was only 4.

According to definitions.net, “Kermesse, or kermis, is a Dutch language term derived from 'kerk' and 'mis' that became borrowed in English and French, originally denoting the mass said on the anniversary of the foundation of a church and in honour of the patron. Such celebrations were regularly held in the Low Countries and also in northern France, and were accompanied by feasting, dancing and sports of all kinds.”

This year, as the president of the parent association, I only found out at the end of April that we had permission to organize one. I had an incredible team of 8 mamas, and we whipped up a pretty fun kermesse, if I do say so myself. It was A LOT of work, but I’m so thankful it came together.

Everyone had such great teamwork. You can see me with my Mickey Mouse backpack on - in it, I had tape, string, markers, post-it notes, water, etc… Thankfully, we had everything we needed.

The mayor’s office delivered this stage earlier in the week.

We rented a bounce house, which was a hit! Paw Patrol is also a favorite here in France, but a few of their names are different. Rubble is Ruben. Marshall is Marcus. Skye is Stella. The rest are the same.

Fishing for ducks.

I don’t even know what this is called in English. In French, it is chamboule-tout. Mikael was a champ working this all day long.

Ring toss.

Face painting.

Food stand.

The place to exchange “points” into prizes!

I was really pleased with the turn-out. For many parents, it was their first kermesse, since the pandemic halted the 2020 and 2021 kermesses.

In retrospect, it’s a miracle that this came together. I know God was helping me. So many of you were praying for me. Thank you!

So fun to transform the kids’ playground into a huge party.

And this sums up the kermesse for our family. I’m having a blast. Django is just going along with the flow, and Daphné was over it almost immediately. She was exhausted from the week away in the mountains, so I can’t blame her. And it was hot.

Here’s me giving a speech… in French.

The cotton candy gal, the gal who ran the cash register and her friend who ran the sales table.

Here is our team, all nine of us in one picture. I love these ladies. They all made this year a great success!

The new director (who was Daphné’s first teacher when she was 3), Spiderman and the old director of the school (who was Django’s first teacher when he was 3). We have been so blessed with such great education for our kids.

Clean-up crew. Thankful it’s all over. Haha!!!

And a few more drop-ins.

And this is me waiting for the bounce house guy to come pick it up. I was exhausted.

Here’s a little thank you I asked the director to put in the front of the school. It says, “Thank you to everyone for a beautiful year 2021-2022!!! Have a great vacation! -Your parent association”

Thanks for following along with our blog. This post comes with much gratitude. I learned that I am super capable and courageous in situations that are pretty complicated. I give God the glory for these things. He shined brightly through me. The goal of the kermesse was that the kids, parents and grandparents had a blast, along with bringing in a little money to have a reserve to start off the next school year well. Mission accomplished.

Love Linz

ps - we even had a visit from some guys from the mayor’s office, and they took pictures with us… I made it on a twitter post and a facebook post of theirs. Haha.