It is with great pleasure that I am here before you to congradulate the class of 2009 on behalf of the town of High Prairie, Mayor Rick Dumount and the rest of town council.

When I was asked to make this speech I knew that I had to have this picture you see on screen here as part of it. Of course as I thought about it I realized that most of this class might not have any idea as to who Calvin and Hobbes are, so please bare with me a moment.

The Calvin and Hobbes comic strip depicted the adventures of a six year old boy and his stuffed tiger Hobbes. Of course to Calvin, Hobbes was a living breathing tiger with whom he had many debates and adventures. To everyone else Hobbes was simply Calvin's stuffed tiger. No one else could see Hobbes as Calvin could, and as such missed out on a great deal. When the strip ended in 1995 the last thing Calvin says is " It's a magical world Hobbes ol' buddy.... Let's go exploring." With those words the two friends walked away through the snow to find those adventures. If we take this poster to be a look 20 years into the future it certainly looks like Calvin did find those adventures. Here we see him as a man who has passed down his most cherished possesion to his daughter.

Here is the lesson in all of this. When we are children we see the world differently. We see endless possibilities and adventures. Nothing is impossible when we are kids. As we get older though we seem to see the world in a different light. Our stuffed tigers no longer talk or go on adventures with us. Calvin has obviously grown up, but has not lost sight of who he was.

We all grow up at some point (I'm actually looking forward to it myself) and have to take on the responsibilities of an adult. What we don't have to do is lose our sense of wonder, our joy of discovery, our belief in ourselves or the ability to talk to our stuffed tigers.

Don't put away your childish things. Your tigers , your posters , your keepsakes. Save them and treasure them and when it is time give them to YOUR children and tell them about these things and why they were important to you. These things symbolish who you are in the here and now. Never forget who you are. Tell your children about yourself, because trust me if YOU don't do it your parents certainly will and you don't want some exagerated story about you to be told to your children do you?

Believe in yourself, believe in each other and encourage each other throughout life. Be a positive influence for the world to see.

Again, congratulations to you all, thank you for having me here. It has been an honour to be allowed to address you today.