At the end of every school year, Stettler Middle School students enjoy a hotdog barbecue and a chance to win the honour of being the grade to cram the most students into the RCMP van.
This year, with the van being in use by another constable on a training course, Const. Bill Lewadniuk and new-to-Stettler Const. Jacob Carr had to improvise, bringing along a police cruiser and the police pick-up truck.
In the end, students crammed into the front and back seats of the pick-up truck, and only when not another student could be shoved into the cab did they spill over to the rear bed of the truck.
As students on one side tried to cram in, students would tumble out the other side, shoved free of the vehicle by the efforts.
Some creative students tried to fit into the foot space of both the front and back seats, and accidental honks were quite frequent as elbows, knees, feet and rumps graced the steering wheel.
The winners, the Grade 6 girls, managed to jam 36 students into the police truck.
Students enjoyed a few free hot dogs and a pop on the sunny, warm afternoon, celebrating out at the back of the school this year instead of in the front courtyard as usual.
The event was organized by Mrs. Warford, SMS Family School Wellness Worker and the Y-CAT leadership group. Canalta supplied the hotdog lunch for all of the Middle School students at the event.