The wait is over: WHS kicked off its annual club fair on Sept. 26. New clubs made their debuts alongside WHS classics such as Yearbook Club and SADD. Through this fair, three clubs were brought to the spotlight: Sneaker Club run by sophomores Andrew Boyer and Spencer Dines, Outdoorsman Club run by juniors Joe Tardif and Will Munroe and Fishing Club made its return this year to WHS after a three year break run by Paul Curtin and Jason Haims.

Sneaker Club was created this year by sophomore Andrew Boyer and is advised by Mandarin teacher Chang Liu. The clubs Vice President Spencer Dines is striving for inclusion of all types of people at WHS and is hoping to break the social stereotypes at Wayland.

“I hope to bring a lot of people together from all different grades,” Dines said. “Wayland tends to be a cliquey place. We’d like to break that down and sort of break those barriers.”

Dines understands that not everyone is wealthy enough to buy new, expensive, name-brand shoes. He wants everyone of every economic status to be able to feel like they belong at his club.

“Not everyone has a ton of money, so we’d like to show everybody around Wayland that you can dress fashionably and get cool shoes on lower budgets,” Dines said.

Dines’s drive and passion in Sneaker Club comes from his passion for sneakers and “hypebeast” clothes.

“I love shoes,” Dines said. “And I know a lot of other people enjoy looking at shoes and clothes as well like ‘hypebeast’ kind of clothes.”

Dines is just a sophomore, but he is already being very proactive with his passion of sneakers and clothing. He hopes to continue this club for as long as he is at WHS. 

Junior Joe Tardif is a hunting and outdoors fanatic and has brought it upon himself to create the Outdoorsman Club, which is advised by Patricia Halpin. Tardif has brought along his friend Munroe, an avid fisherman, to help run the club with him. Tardif wants to emphasize the importance of conservation and being outdoors. Hunting is certainly an aspect of the Outdoorsman Club, but it’s not everything.

“I hope to teach people about conservation, fishing, hunting, how to harvest an animal and how to be an outdoorsman most importantly,” Tardif said.

The culture of the outdoors and being an outdoorsman is something that matters a lot to Tardif, and he wants to spread this culture to anyone that he can.

“I’ve met lots of people who are introducing youth to the sport,” Tardif said. “I wanted to do my contribution and introduce people my age and keep the hunting and fishing environment and culture going.”

A club that isn’t necessarily new to WHS but more so is being revived this year is Fishing Club. Senior Paul Curtin has helped get this club back on its feet after taking a few years off. Curtin’s older brother was a founder of the old fishing club years ago. When Curtin heard that this club was back, he thought he had no other choice.

“My brother was president of the fishing club three years ago and had a great time doing it,” Curtin said. “When I heard they were making a new one, I had to be a part of it.”

Fishing Club will not be of the classic WHS club format of meeting in a classroom after school on a school day. This club is taking a more relaxed and easy approach.

“We go all around town, and it [meets] pretty much on weekends whenever people are around,” Curtin said. “[We] catch some sweet fish [and] just have a lot of fun. It’s like a relaxing environment. It’s not very competitive.”

Curtin helped re-establish this club simply because he enjoys being fishing and wants to be surrounded by people who feel the same way.

“I want to have a good time, catch some sweet fish, and just have a lot of fun,” Curtin said. “Pretty much everyone wanted to be a part of the Fishing Club. It was a pretty easy process.”

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article miscredited Sneaker Club’s founder.