By Pat Jenkins The Dispatch The sunny afternoon matched the warmth of togetherness during Eatonville's 102nd annual observance of Community Day last Friday. Starting in 1926 and every year since then, the event has symbolized community bonding and everything that's good among the area's schools and residents. "It's an honor to participate in what Eatonville's pioneers created,GÇ¥ said John Paul Colgan, principal of Eatonville High School, where the ceremonies were staged. As part of the overall proceedings, school and community organizations sponsored booths to raise awareness and funds for their activities. The spring ritual's traditional centerpiece, this year and in others, was a standing-room only crowd packed into the gymnasium for the introduction of the festival's royal court, followed by dancing and musical performances. The king and queen for 2016 are Masin Schmidt and Jessica Thormodsgard, students at Eatonville High School. They were greeted by a standing ovation and admiring screams, followed by cheers as they placed crowns on each other's head for the final touches of the 90th coronation. Royalty wasn't part of the first 12 events, which in the early years were called May Day. The rest of this year's court includes, as always, students from every school in the Eatonville district: " From the high school, seniors Ali Batay, Kenneth Van Buskirk, Shelby Wise, Ryley Bruun, Taylor Wood and Andrew Garcia, juniors Rose Bowman, Jakob Wolfe, Allie Workman, Chase Bernard-Gaustard, Emily Padgett and Michael Hisdahl, sophomores Samantha Nunley, Nic Vancour, Melanie Oberst and Rulon Enwiller, and freshmen Kelsey Doll, Dylan Antonson, Chelsea Hermsen-McAninch and Andres Lovato. " From Eatonville Middle School, Rylie Rahier, Alex Mitchell, Emily David and Tyrese McElyea. " From Columbia Crest A-STEM Academy, Layne Fry and Colton Powell. " And from elementary schools, Olivia Toulouse and Jacob Kempf (Eatonville), Emory Simpson and Connor Wright (Columbia Crest), and Emma Adams and Jacob Golding (Weyerhaeuser). The ceremony also included a salute to a past Eatonville student. Dr. Linda Rasmussen, an orthopedic surgeon in Hawaii and a 1980 graduate of Eatonville High, received the school's Award of Distinction. The award is for accomplishments that inspire current and future students.
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