Quinn Elementary School was crowded with kids of all ages on Saturday, May 21 for a spring block party featuring bouncy castles, face painting, and demonstrations from a variety of extracurricular programs.

“We just wanted to do a big community event and have everyone out to the school,” said PTO President Linda Hamilton. “We haven’t been able to do that in the last few years.”

Hamilton explained that the event was not a fundraiser but simply a “fun way for people to come together.”

Present at the fair were members of the Dartmouth Police, Fire, and EMS teams, a selection of local vendors, and a book fair.

“We had the book fair here all week and now we brought it out here for more fun,” said volunteer Michelle Gagne who ran the book sale with her daughter Kylie.

Gagne said that half of the proceeds of the book fair would come back to the school and that books were buy-one-get-one-free for the day.

“If they don’t have an even number [of books] I make them go back and get something for free,” said Gagne with a laugh.

In one section of the Quinn School fields, an assortment of kid-focused organizations and classes set up booths and did demonstrations.

One such demonstration was held by Dan D’Onfro’s World Class Kendo Karate, a Dartmouth-based martial arts school.

The students of the karate school showed off their skills with a choreographed routine and by breaking boards with kicks and elbow strikes.

Kallen Rousseau, 7, who attends classes at the school and broke a board at the event, said it felt “amazing” to kick one in half.

A major highlight of the event was the inflatable bouncy castles, which included not only obstacle courses, but inflatable booths where kids could hit baseballs, shoot basketballs, and throw footballs through hoops.

Hamilton said that the fair could not have been realized without the help of hard-working volunteers.

“We have a dedicated community of parents and volunteers that put this together,” she said. “They worked really hard.”