Celebrating Thanksgiving near Salmon Creek

Students, teachers and parents of Hilton's K-6 Quest Elementary School celebrated an early Thanksgiving November 26 on the banks of Salmon Creek behind their school on West Avenue with cooking, games, crafts and the skills of colonists and native Americans. Erin O'Toole, left, demonstrates to Madeline Bernard, right, how to make a cornhusk doll. Among the activities were fishing with a grapevine trap; archery; grain grinding; and cooking fried dough, bread, soup and stew on tripods over an open fire pit. "All these activities were kid-generated," said Quest intermediate teacher Patrick Kruchten. "The demonstrations were kid-developed. They went into the background of each demonstration, researched the history, and presented to their peers. We are trying to be as authentic as we can." This is the twelfth year Kruchten and colleague Darrel Dupra have coordinated the event. The Quest School campus lends itself to outdoor education in the school's own outdoor classroom built for an Eagle Scout Award by Hilton High School junior Cory Gagnon.