I tell you, today I had the most embarrassing and the most exciting thing happen to me all at once. Mr. Toby Barrett, my local MPP, has been so amazing to me this week here at Queen's Park, always saying "hi" and giving me a smile and wave...and yet I continue to stay non-partisan!!! Today, however, was so incredible it was like a dream! Mr. Barrett came in before the Statements session this afternoon and told me he was going to say something about me during the "Statements" portion of the session. A few seconds later he gets out of his chair and comes over to me and says when there is about 10 seconds left in his time I was to come over and stand by him to take the statement to Hansard! I'm non-partisan and I'm really not to do things like that! I did as he said and Ms. Telford, our teacher here at Queen's Park, said he really put me in a bad spot, but that I handled it wonderfully! Whew! I was afraid I would get fired! I'm not crazy about doing this, but rather than tell you what he said, I'll just include the statement from Hansard (the record of debates in the Legislature). So here it is:
ANNALEISE CARR
Mr. Toby Barrett:
You know, we’re blessed with special young people who donate their time as
legislative pages. One young person hopes to set a world record as the youngest
to swim across Lake Ontario, and I speak of Annaleise Rebekah Carr, the page
standing by the entrance door, a grade 8 student at Walsh Public School.
Fourteen-year-old Annaleise is a proud member of the Norfolk Hammerheads in Simcoe and the North Shore
Runners/Swimmers in Port Dover. Ms. Carr became involved with our local Camp
Trillium–Rainbow Lake last summer when she and nine others completed the
10-kilometre open-water swim from Pottahawk Point to Turkey Point, followed by a
10-kilometre run. They raised $15,000. As she states on her website, “You see,
the camp exists for children with cancer and their families—a sort of haven away
from what they are going through.”
Annaleise then set her sights for this Labour Day weekend and a Lake Ontario crossing following the
traditional Marilyn Bell route from Niagara-on-the-Lake to the CNE. She says,
“I’ve been blessed to be able to swim a long way and I want to use that gift to
help the kids and their families at Camp Trillium.”
Speaker, please join me in recognizing a future world record holder, Annaleise Carr. Congratulations. All
the best.
Applause.
The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. We do have some very
wonderful young people here today.
Yea, so there it is! It was exciting to have all three parties in the Legislature all stand up and give me a long standing ovation. Hard to believe all the cool stuff that keeps happening! It's neat to see how Mr. Barrett is so proud of me! He keeps telling everyone about me! Other than that it was another great day at the Legislature!!! We're having so much fun and us Pages have even set up a Facebook page of our own!! Best Friends Forever! Seriously!!!
From there I rushed to the U of T pool for practice! I got out of the Legislature a little late so I was about a half hour late for practice, but Coach Bob was so nice and understanding and introduced me to all the other kids! We had a very good work out and of course it is always great to get in the water!!! I am missing the lake though!!!
So, I'm in Toronto for the legislative Page Program at Queen's Park!!! We're staying at U of T which is pretty cool and I'm taking in the "dorm lfe"! Our room is very big and very nice. I woke up yesterday at 4:50 am and went to the U of T pool to practice with the Toronto Swim Club from 5:30 to 7:30. It was awesome and we had a very hard workout! I can't wait to get back in on Wednesday after "work"! At 7:30 we rushed to pick up my lunch and stuff for the Page Program and we were off to Queen's Park! I was right on time! Even a bit early!
At the legislative page program we got to actually go on the floor of the chamber and deliver messages and water and other stuff to all the MPPs. It was awsome! Question period is a SUPER busy part of the day! But I have to admit, it's definitely my favourite and all the other pages favourite too! All the MPPs are SO nice to us pages and they love to talk to us!!! The other pages are amazing!!! There's 22 of us and it is SO much fun!!! They are all incredibly smart people and can have lots of fun!!!! They are SO nice! We are already all bestfriends!!! It's going to be an AMAZING two weeks! I can tell all ready!
After "work" at 4:30 pm, mom and dad picked me up and we went back to the dorm to have a quick supper. Dad and I then took mom on the subway to Union Station because she was heading back by GO Train to get picked up by my Great Grandpa Hayward in Burlington. dad and I then went to watch the Blue Jays Beat the Baltimore Orioles!!! Yes, a bit of a long day...but WOW was it FUN!!!!!
Today was a late day! I was at the Legislature from 8 am to 6:30pm. I am tired and ready for bed! I'm having such a great time I just can't believe it!! Good night for now!! I'll see if I have time to write tomorrow night, but I do have practice from 4:30pm to 6:30pm after "work", so we'll see:)
Today I swam with my 4th(?) cousin Lisa Neidrauer in Lake Ontario with L.O.S.T. (Lake Ontario Swim Team)! The group includes Lake Ontario crossers and English Channel crossers and lots more marathon swims!!! In fact two of them will be swimming Lake Ontario this summer too!! I started by the pier in Oakville and swam toward Toronto and then back. I swam with my wetsuit for a while, but then Lisa and I went back out with just our swimsuit for another 21 minute swim in the 58 degree water! Nice start for cold water training! It wasn't too bad actually! Of course I was a little chilly, but by no means was I unable to swim! I'm getting used to the colder water a lot easier than I thought I would! I'm sure I will go back and swim with them again!
Tomorrow we go to Toronto! My Page term starts Monday and I'm the Page Captain the very first day! I'm a little nervous about it, but it does mean I get to walk in with the Lieutenant Governor on the very first day! Pretty cool eh? I'll have some pictures on as soon as I can! Pretty exciting stuff!
Tomorrow I'm up early again to swim in Lake Erie at Port Dover. Then on Monday at 5:15 am I have to be on deck at U of T for my first workout with TSC. Pretty awesome way to wake up for my first day of being a Page! Going to be cool to get to workout in a 50 metre pool for a couple of weeks too! Should get a lot of metres in!!!
This afternoon my sister, Larissa and I went kayaking with Lirum!!! It was AWESOME!!! I've never kayaked before, but I can't wait to do it again!! We also went skinboarding and swimming!! We had sucha great time!!!! Thanks Dave, Monica & Lirum for having us over!!!
Tonight was my first night in the lake without a wetsuit! The water was about 65 and I trained a little over an hour. A nice start! Also tonight I did another two ads for McKiee & Farrar with Adam and Robin at CD 98.9! I am really liking doing them! Adam really makes them fun! There's another "shout out" just for you Adam (he'll know what I'm talkin' 'bout:)) I'm getting ready for next week in Toronto! I'm really looking forward to it! I'm going to keep this short for tonight, but thank you all for keeping an eye on my website!! It's up to around 250 hits a day!!! WOW!! I just can't believe it! I really don't think I'm that interesting! Have a great night everyone!!!!!
First of all a special thanks to my Aunt Lisa (it was her birthday Saturday) for taking me to the U.S. Monday shopping for a new graduation dress! Got one, and I love it!!!! Also thanks to her and Gramma Carr for helping me at some of my fundraising events lately! It was nice this weekend to get a chance to stay at Sierra's for a couple of nights! Now we did find out some bad news/good news last week. Our doctor, Dr. Robin, can't help me out on my quest now:( I REALLY wanted her to come! Her brother is getting married... in Hawaii!!!! So, yea, she can't miss that! But thanks to Roddy, we had Dr. Mark lined up the next day, so we are good, but we will miss Dr. Robin! Thanks so much for agreeing to come anyhow Dr. Robin, and Dr. Mark!!!! We are getting prizes in for the silent auction in August at Simcoe's Rotary Friendship Festival already!! You can see them on the events page! Only 5 more days until I go to Toronto for the Legislative Page Program!!! I am so excited to go, and having dad go and stay with me makes me feel very safe!!! I can't wait to work out with the Toronto Swim Club at U of T! I now have BOTH my boats and the zodiacs, and kayak plus all my crew! Wow!! Thank you all for stepping up!!! We swam in the lake on Sunday morning a little longer this week. If it continues like this weatherwise, I`m hoping to go wetsuitless tomorrow night and begin getting used to the cold with only a bathingsuit! Lake Erie warms up way too fast, so I`m hoping somewhere down the line to workout in Lake Ontario a bit! We had track & field last Friday too! I almost forgot! I won the 1500 metre race and set a new school senior girls record! Problem is, the County meet is June 8th and I am still in Toronto:( I really wanted to compete again this year! My sister Larissa came in a very close second in the Intermediate girls 1500, so she gets to go to County at least! Go 'Ris!!! i know sh'e
I really wanted to be able to tell you about my weekend tonight, but yesterday morning I got news that made me so sad that I decided to dedicate this blog to him and his family. I won't say much, but Steven Saltzberry who died in a motorcycle accident early yesterday morning at 21 was a former swim teammate of mine, along with his brother Tyler. My family and I are torn apart by this tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his entire family. I have a real cool video my dad took when I was 5 years old of 12 year old Steven holding my had to take me to the block for a race at the Woodstock pool. He and Tyler have always been special guys to me! Thanks Steven! I'll talk more tomorrow, but that's it for tonight:(
Let me tell you, this week has been anything but ordinary for me! There is no way I can ever come close to doing a good job of blogging about the past few days is a single blog!! I've had once in a lifetime experiences already and some of the stories I will tell you will show you why everything that is happening to me is so humbling...especially the story of Zack Dickson who I will tell you about in a minute! I first want to make sure I thank Kelley for last Sunday at Camp Trillium. I wasn't sure if I had specifically mentioned her or not.
So, where to start? I guess the first thing is to mention my new nutritionist as she is helping me with my diet and the food for on the swim. She's also come on as a sponsor which is exciting too. Her name is Sheila Paddon-Schwarz and she is so nice! Once again there have been so many new sponsors and I want to thank them all and all the people and businesses giving to Camp Trillium!
Thursday evening I was at Lynndale Heights Public School in Simcoe and the reception I got from this school I had never been in almost made me cry! They are so incredible!!! From every class having a jar they are filling with money to the beautiful display that they have in their entrance way when I entered the front doors, I was just overwhelmed! To see these kids and teachers so into what I was doing was so humbling and very difficult to react to, but what a wonderful evening as I think every kid made sure they brought their parents to meet me! They made me feel so good and so welcome and that what I'm trying to accomplish really matters A LOT!!!! This is where Zack Dickson comes in! Zack, I hope I spelt your name right and if I didn't please forgive me! Zack is MY hero! His grandma recently had a knee surgery and he offered to help her around the house as she got better! His grandma would give him an allowance for all the hard work he had done and Zack would save it up! He went to his grandma and told her that he had to have all his allowance and when they asked why, Zack said to give toward my cause!! To give to the kids and their families at Camp Trillium! Even now it makes me start to tear up!!! This the reason why I'm doing this!! Most people care so much about others and Zack really shows the best in people!!! Always stay like this Zack!! Never change your wonderful heart!!!! I'd tell you how much we raised, but some of the wristband money was ending up in the huge water bottle bank they have set up or me!!! I know for sure it was over $200! Thanks again to everyone at Lynndale Heights for inviting and welcoming me!!! I appreciate it so much!
The next morning we were off to Toronto and Queen's Park for my Legislative Page orientation and training workshop!! We had to be there for 8am so you know we hit Toronto traffic! We were on time though! I still can't get my head around this!! It seems that most of the kids are from the Toronto area or from cities like London and Kitchener! Then there is little me! Country girl from little old Norfolk County! By the way, if you are from this area and want to let people know where exactly you live, I think everyone knows about Port Dover and the Friday the 13th biker bashes:) Anyway, the day was incredible and the rest of the pages and I became best friends immediately!!!! I especially amazed them with my piano playing talents after they had all taken their turns--all the pages know exactly what I mean and no, I do not play piano--but they didn't know that until I had stroked some keys:) We had a great lunch with the current pages in the Page Quarters--yes, we have our own like wing!!!! We got fitted for our awesome uniforms, had pictures taken for our pass cards, had a tour of the legislature, and in the afternoon we were on the "House Floor" for training and role playing!!! As mom and dad said after they had watched from the public gallery, it was just so amazing because so few people ever get this opportunity!! I am so thankful that I was chosen for this honour!!! I can' wait for my first day on Monday, May 28th!!!! I still have a lot of studying to do though, but I knew quite a bit! WHAT AN EXPERIENCE!!!!!!
So after a long day in Toronto we made it back to Simcoe and our swim team end of year banquet (the smaller kids finished at the beginning of May) just in time for it to end! I got the O'possum Award--there is a reason behind that! On Saturday morning I was up early again and off to Eisings Greenhouses for a Mother's Day fundraiser! My friend Sierra came with me and I thank her because she was sooooo much help as we were so busy!!!! The local radio station continually played Eisings advertisement that I would be there and many people came and said they had come to meet me! I have to thank CD 98.9 in Simcoe for being so behind this quest!! They have been incredible to me and my family and I enjoy going to see them every two weeks to record another commercial for McKiee & Farrar! So back to Eisings!!! That place is incredibly busy!!!! We didn't stop talking to people all day!!! Henry is such an amazing guy, and by the way Henry, thanks for teaching me how to go up to people!!!! Henry also had $2 from the sale of a particular flower being donated! Teresa and Tony were also there with their popcorn for my cause, and at the end of the day, we had made over $800 for Camp Trillium! Thanks to everyone who donated and thanks to Henry for doing all he's done for me!!! I saved this story to close out my time at Eisings. Toby Barrett our MPP here in Haldimand-Norfolk came by and bought some kettle corn and a bracelet because he heard I was there on the radio! Of course we said to him that we had been at Queen's Park the day before!! I think he knew I was going to be a Provincial Page! One thing they do for the Pages at Queens Park is set up a meal in this beautiful dining room they have for the members with our local MPP! It was neat to meet him like this beforehand and he said he's looking forward to our meal together as he hardly ever eats there! He also said he's going to ask me to get him water, but I have to warn him, as a Page in the Legislature of the Province of Ontario, i am completely non-partisan!!!!!:)
After being at Eisings until after 5pm, Saturday evening I was invited to the "and the Bands Played On...8!" concert at Simcoe Composite School hosted by the United Alumni Senior Drum & Bugle Corp in Simcoe! My Great Grandpa Hayward is a member of the band and they wanted to introduce me to the sellout crowd and make a sponsorship presentation to me!! I have to admit that those bands were pretty amazing!!! I really enjoyed listening to the music... even if it was a little loud at times! It was neat to walk up the aisle with me Great Grandpa, but it was also embarassing a bit too! Thank you so much for the sponsorship and the wonderful evening!
So Sunday morning we started in the lake down at Port Dover for the first time this year. It was cold, but last year when we started on May 1st it was freezing so this didn't feel so bad. We'll be back in the lake Wednesday evening! I can't wait:)
Well that finally brings me to tonight! I was invited to the Simcoe Fire Hall by the Simcoe Firefighters as they have decided to support me too! WOW have they ever!!!! You will see they are a GOLD sponsor!!! I gave a speech and they asked lots of questions and we had a great time! Then they presented me with this huge cheque!!! There is so much more to come! Giant Tiger will be running a fundraiser for my lake crossing for Camp Trillium in the near future too!!!
I know this is LONG, but there has been so much, so fast, and yes, I am a bit tired! Thanks so much to everyone out there! Your kindness to this cause is overwhelming! I'll try and not let things pile up like this again, but I hope you enjoyed this blog anyhow!!!:)
Tonight we had our open house at Walsh Public School and I sold $258 worth of wristbands for Camp Trillium and lots of other people said they will be sending money for me tomorrow! I would like to thank everyone who bought a bracelet... you are donating to a great camp! It was really fun with my friends selling bracelets! I definitely enjoy selling them with my friends! They're SO funny!! We're closing in on that $1000 from Bachmann's! Yesterday my banner came in the mail and it is so cool!! A bit embarassing, but really nice! It is so huge! Now I have it for all my things I have to go to so people know what I'm doing and who I'm doing it for! Next up is Lynndale Public School on Thursday! Little nervous about going into a different school, but it will be neat to meet more new people! Maybe with Friday's kettle corn day at Holy Trinity we'll have the $1000 from the schools! Also, the Toronto Maple Leafs are donating some signed stuff for the silent auction we are having at the Simcoe Rotary Friendship Festival Civic holiday weekend!!! Also, I'm going to Camp Trillium in a couple weeks to talk to the Masons about my swim. Hopefully they will give a little bit of money!!! Actually, some of the groups already have!! I'm REALLY excited but a bit nervous! Friday I'm going to Toronto for my Legislative Page orientation day!! I am really nervous about this!!! I hope I remember all those names!! Wish me luck!! ;) Thats all for tonight! I'll have more Thursday night about how I did at Lynndale!! byee!!
Hey everyone!!! Yesterday I went to the Aqua '7' Championships swim meet and we sold some bracelets there! It was pretty awsome and we sold a lot of bracelets!! I got a best time in my 50 backstroke and I was about the same in everything else! My little brother and sisters did really really good I'm soo proud of them!!!! Actually, Larissa was completely amazing! Today we went to Camp Trillium for lunch and I got to meet some of the families that go there during the summer and some of the counsellors and people who help! My family and I got to stay for lunch and McKenna and Ayden had lots of fun playing with all the kids on the playground!! Big week this week as I go to some schools and then on Friday I have my orientation day for the Legislative Page Program at Queen's Park! I'm excited about it, but I really need to keep working on all the names! Sooo I'd better go study! I'll talk to you a
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