Fathers Day Weekend Starts with BBQ on Kawehno:ke

On Friday, June 15th the Akwesasne Child and Family Services alongside Wholistc Health and Wellness organized a community BBQ, in honor of all the fathers in Akwesasne. The event took place in the common space, at the four corners in Kawehnoke.

Brandon David from Akwesasne Child and Family Services stated, "We wanted to have the Fathers Day BBQ here, at the tennis courts, to let the island residents know that we can do stuff here, too. There are always events on the south side of the Akwesasne, we just wanted to include the community members on Kawehnoke. We do plan on doing it again next year, it will be even bigger and better."

The event began at 4 pm, with tents set up, food barbecuing, live music playing and a station set up for the children to make their special guy something for Fathers Day. There was also a raffle set up and however many family members came with their father, an entry could put in for him. There were a total of 7 prizes raffled off, they included; two engraved lacrosse sticks, four Home Depot gift cards and a basket raffled off. All fathers who attended were given a special embroidered red shirt.

This is the first time Akwesasne Child and Family Services worked with Wholistic Health and Wellness to host a Fathers Day BBQ free to the community, but it won't be the last.

Organizer Brandon David stated "I would like thank the Saint Regis Mohawk Police and PJ Burns for helping out and bringing the music equipment and cooking, Joe Francis for playing some music for everyone, Lok Design for making the shirts, Evan Cree for making the lacrosse sticks, Darry White for donating the food, Katie Cook and Rohahiio Jacobs from Wholistic Health and Wellness for helping to host the event."

Everyone had a good time, celebrating all the fathers in their lives.