A fundraiser is happening today to benefit the Estevan Comprehensive School`s Class of 2020 Legacy Project.
The initiative has been selected as the beneficiary for the Black Beard`s To Go Burgers for a Cause. Five dollars from the sale of every bacon cheeseburger and fires at the restaurant will be directed to the legacy project.
To order, please call 306-634-2514 or visit www.bbtogo.ca, as the Class of 2020 at the Estevan Comprehensive School has found a way to create a lasting legacy in the community.
Graduation ceremonies are one of the largest events affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many in-person events continue to be cancelled, making it difficult for people to celebrate the accomplishments of the different graduates, but this has not stopped a local committee with coming up with a unique way to do just that.
Graduating students Owen Gudmundson, Kelsey Littlejohn, Cale Adams, Marci LeBlanc and Nigel Mack, along with their parents and teacher have developed a unique plan which will see the class recognized in a very public way for years to come. Grad parent Lisa Zepick is also involved.
The group has worked closely with the City of Estevan to develop a tribute in Torgeson Park.
“We believe that it is important that all of the grads in Estevan are recognized. We did not want to become the forgotten class or the pandemic class,” said Gudmundson.
“We chose Torgeson Park because it is highly visible and close to ECS,” added Adams.
The City of Estevan has allowed the class to put a sculpture in the park that will act as a tribute to the Class of 2020. It will also include the entire graduating class list on it, but there is a lot of work to do before this happens.
“For the next couple of weeks we will be starting a community campaign to raise funds for the project. We will be reaching out to the grads, their parents and families, businesses and the community for donations,” said LeBlanc.
Mack went on to explain the steps of the project.
“Once we know how much money we have, we will be able to put a call out to the different local artists in town to submit designs for the sculpture. The class of 2020 will then be able to vote on the different designs, and the one with the most votes is the one we will choose,” Mack said.
The group hopes to have the sculpture installed by the fall.
“We are looking at something similar in size and scope as the tribute sculpture between Spruce Ridge and ECS,” Littlejohn added.
The sculpture Littlejohn referred to, As the Band Plays On, depicts five band students playing their musical instruments, and was completed in 2012. It serves as a lasting tribute to the late Colin Grunert, who was the long-time band instructor at ECS, and the sculpture has received much praise over the years.
ECS teacher Josh LeBlanc said this started as a way for the students and the Class of 2020 to be recognized and not forgotten in the community.
“Being a teacher at the high school, there’s nothing more heartbreaking than seeing the students not able to have their grad and their grad ceremony,” said LeBlanc. “I think this is a great way for us to recognize a class that’s had a lot taken away from them due to the pandemic, and it’s something that will be good for them to have moving forward into the future.”
Also serving as inspiration was the Estevan Collegiate Institute monument that’s located in southwest corner of the city.
The current focus is on fundraising. Once the committee has a better idea of their budget, they will send out the tender and seek a design from a local artist. They hope to have those designs in place by the end of July. Then the voting process will begin.
Anyone he has talked to regarding a project of this size and this scope says it usually costs around $10,000, so they hope to have donations from the community to raise that much money.
The location within the park will be determined after consultations with the artist and the city.
Donations have already come in from families and grads.
They are also reaching out to the community so that the accomplishments of these students can be recognized.
If anyone is interested in donating, they can send etransfers to [email protected]. If there are corporate donors looking to contribute to the project please contact Sherrill LeBlanc at 306-421-7293 or by email at [email protected].
