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Exiting the Den to Candyland

Dr Baker, Dr Genovese, Mrs Stafford, Mrs Tremblay, School Board Members, Hillsboro-Deering-Washington-Windsor community members, Students and Treasured co-workers of the Hillsboro-Deering School District and beloved “almost” graduates of the Class of 2010.

First of all, I must start with the phrase most of you parents have heard from me at one time or another during my gig here at Hillsboro-Deering.  “Hi, this is Candie Garvin, the School Nurse, don’t worry, it’s NOT an emergency.”

Secondly, I must tell you that it is my honor to have been given this opportunity to speak to you this evening- paled only by the honor of being the School Nurse to most of you sitting in the audience celebrating the accomplishments of this wonderful graduating class.

We have shared so many memories- all of us assembled here.  I could get some famous quotes about accomplishments, goals, dreams, friendships, love and may slip some in, however, this really is all about you members of the Class of 2010.  As you exit the Hillcat den, you transition to your own Candyland, don’t you?

Some history about CandyLand (yes, the game):  Eleanor Abbott of San Diego, CA developed it in 1945 as she was recovering from polio.  In 1949, a Massachusetts company bought the rights to publish it.  A little company called Milton-Bradley.  There have be l lots of changes to CandyLand throughout the years so let’s see if I can tie this together to mean something to each and every one of you here tonight.

Simple and minimum rules: The youngest player goes first.  Draw a card and move forward to that colored space. Sometimes you get stuck (but only until you choose the right card to get unstuck).  Sometimes you get to slide forward. Sometimes you have to go back because of the card you have chosen.  It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Ah, to be surrounded by sweet desserts, follow simple rules and reach that last square at the Candy House and not get a stomachache, cavities or increase calorie intake AND be the winner!

So, let’s see how you’ve fared individually through your years here in the Den with those rules.

We do tend to let the younger players go first.  Remember those carefree days when you were in elementary school? Here comes an interactive part of my message.  Please raise your hand if you came to get a tooth necklace when you lost your tooth. Raise your hand if you came in for a birthday eraser or brought cupcakes to the Health Office for Mrs Powers and me. (Thanks Kyle G and family)  We saw so many of you for those boo-boos (now called abrasions and lacerations) and to help lighten those sad moments, we took your picture, bandaids and gave kisses.  (nurses could still do that)  - right Shareece, Jessie J and Zack D, and Wayne?  How about an ice pack or a cough drop? (Not one little cough, mind you- Travis S)  Splinters, dirt in your eye?  Raise your hand if you broke an arm or leg or finger or nose.  Raise your hand if I had to call our wonderful Hillsboro Fire and Rescue Squad for treatment and transport. This will get more difficult, so I ask you to pay attention. 

Raise your hand if you came in really afraid to go down the big slide… and promised never to do that again, EVER! (Tiffani C).  Raise your hand if you had a really cool injury in gym class (Zach O) or even a serious injury during the summer vacation (Maddy T) and Cody M. Mystery rashes and bellyaches filled your game days.  What if you threw up in your classroom, the bus, or worse yet, the cafeteria IN FRONT OF EVERYONE YOU KNEW!  Let’s have a show of hands now. Who ate the dinosaur in 2^nd grade math? (Bruce) Who had the chunkier cheeks? Seth or Taylor? Your teachers weren’t sure which one was which Fun times.  How many of you came in sick because you LOVED school, LOVED your teacher and friends and didn’t want to miss one single minute of being with them?  Does anyone remember saying they were sick and as mom or dad were called?  I watched you bouncing, literally bouncing from couch to couch? (Chandler P) or making smiley faces at me while waiting for your parent to rescue you. (Drew, Jessica H., Tonya, Jenny M, Brandon S, Justin S).   Sometimes we got to spend many minutes of many days together when the stress of just being a kid surrounded by adults was too much to bear.  The term “Nurse Groupie” was assigned to many of you (Ryanne, Shawn, Chloe, Amy, Ashley C, Alise, Hailey, Melissa “Cookie”).  Thanks to our recesses, bloody noses and blackened eyes, lumpy heads (Travis B, Paul B) pictures went up on the “WALL OF FAME” next to the Scrubby Bear pictures you colored in Kindergarten. The new girl from Croatia taught us that Candyland can be played in all languages, right Suzana?  Halloween parades (yes, that’s right!)  saw so many of you dressing up (I have pictures)- Heather M, Chelsy F, Symone, Emiliane, Kyle T, Renee, Hannah V,  Brittany M, Alexa L, TJ, Rebecca N, ). The times for the Candy hearts, the peppermint forest and those special Rainbow Assemblies with some wave action gave you a push towards Middle School. Thanks to Mr Swasey for ditching those assemblies so I could run around doing that wave. 

OK, now let’s slide ahead to and through HDMS. New friends joined you from Washington, NH and beyond. (Megan E, Kelly E, Sara F, Caitlyn Borey, Kaitlyn Benishin, Holly T, Sarah C, Joe S, Kayla M, Buddy, and Stephanie T) Some of your friends from elementary went onto other schools.  With Mrs. Powers as your nurse in the NEW BUILDING, you experienced a few more rules and everyone had that stuck in the gooey gumdrops feeling sometimes, (right parents?) just like in Candyland.  It seemed to be a little more serious place, right?  You were encouraged to be your own gingerbread character and experienced Washington, DC (oh no, that was the NEXT year), real dances, sports, extracurricular activities and so many changes. 

Moving forward on the game board, you found yourself on the doorway of Hillsboro-Deering HS.  It was time for us to get reacquainted you as you began life in the older version of Candyland. 

Many of you looked familiar to me!  Oh, yes, you are the not so mini versions of parents who had played in Candyland before – many years ago. Josh Bumford, Troy BG, Amber G, Caitlyn M, Zach P, Amanda Shedenhelm (got it right, right?), mini Jane-Erin T, and Greg Wood. We were joined by others who came from other games.  Some players who entered the Den, had only heard about Candyland from you HDMS players.  I met Michael G (who can forget), Brittney H, Bryan K, Kressa, Maranda, Lorissa, Dillon, Aleesha and even had a few conversations with Ashley Zubrickey, who, for those of you who don’t know, she trained her dogs to recognize colors.  There’s only one of you in this Class of 2010 with whom I’ve not had contact, Kaleigh Berg.  My loss, I feel, but you were certainly part of this game! We had more new players: Josh Belanger, Patrick T, Krista E, Charlotte G, Shane R who have joined us at different spaces on our board and have played successfully so far!  Some of you have experienced quite a few challenges while waiting your turn.  Beloved family members left before the game was complete.  I hope that you know that we love you and that you still feel the love and support of your moms, Ben, Sydney and Tim and your grandmothers, Tucker and Ciaira.

How patient you were when I wanted a turn to tell you about yourselves.  About the phone call from your mom within an hour of your birth- she was (and is) so proud of you Connor!  Reminiscing about how Matt Lewis used to dress up in shirt, tie and jacket in elementary school and let me take his picture.  And the fun Keagan and Lindsay had at the Police Cadet Academy (couldn’t get away from me- I brought Candyland there too).  Cody C bringing a hockey trophy in that was bigger than him!  Laughing with Kaitlyn Boilard so many days after school about the day her mom fell back to sleep and forgot that I called her.  Singing about Jeremiah (was a bullfrog- he’s never heard THAT one!) Beating Russell to Mr McCandless’ room for my Statistics credit. The road towards this game’s end was finished, academically, in January for a few of you! Matt Butler, Brenden D, Rebecca G, Jessica P, Audra, David, Ashley S, Kayleen and Jeremy.  We’re so glad that you are here tonight to exit the Den with your classmates.  Quiet conversations with Evie F and Gary L were important to this player.  Listening to Katie Delacey making her point in Mrs Prentiss’ English class (who killed that cat?) The singing and acting presented along the way through Candyland was scrumptiously performed by Marina, Kassie, Brit Birk, Kaci, Andrew, Troy E, Kyra, Ciaira, Larry and Natalia. We will NEVER forget the duet by Curtis and Sam because “our Hearts will go on”.  Our athletes here at HDHS played by the rules and accomplished so much for our Den. Congrats to Miles, Gabbie G, Hunter, Skyler, Alex B and Eve (who still, by the way can knock me down).  Then we are in the mad rush towards this day.  At a beautiful, meaningful, Baccalaurate services, I sat next to Liz Geiger’s mom- She is so very proud of your accomplishments so far!  The Seniors and five brave chaperones evacuated the building early on Saturday morning to travel together to the Big Apple.  Bonding before the end of our game here with Branden B, Julianne, Rob Bruno, Chris Croatti, Chelsea Donohue, Kristin (green face) D, Becky H, Alicia , Chelsy S and Jillian was so much fun.  All I can say is “She had it comin’”, stay away from that albino snake and “Shake it on baby!”

So, we’ve taken our turns, we’ve used the slides up and the slides down, we’ve gotten stuck and now we are unstuck.  Not a simple game, but onto the next version of Candyland for us all.

We will certainly miss the everyday playtime, as we miss our friends and colleagues who, for whatever reason, were not able to see us to this day.  But let’s smile and be happy for the time we have had together!  Only happy tears,ok?  Love you my friends!

I would like to end by singing a song of thanks to you all for supporting this amazing class, and me for many years. If you weren’t crying before, I hope my singing doesn’t set you off.

Sometimes, not often enough
We reflect upon the good things
And those thoughts always center
Around those we love.

And I think about those people
Who mean so much to me
And for so many years have made me
So very happy.

And I count the times
I have forgotten to say
Thank you, and just how
much I love them.

Bless This Class!