One of this week's highlights was starting a new partnership with the women at Williamsburg United Methodist Church, who welcomed us on Thursday for the first of a series of monthly activity sessions. We enjoyed playing games with them to kick off the partnership, and we look forward to returning in February! We also visited the American Revolution Museum, volunteered at GCOC and made flower arrangements for CSL, tried a new recipe, worked at Eaton, and got a kick out of celebrating National Hat Day. Another busy week in the books!
Tuesday
We were glad to see Lisa was back after her bout with the flu last week. We're thankful, but baffled, that no one else came down with it...even Alexis, who lives with her!
First thing this morning, Gail updated our crayon boxes! We recently received a very generous donation of Amazon gift cards from Mr. Rodney, who works with Michelle's mom, Susan, at C&F Bank. It was the second time Mr. Rodney has blessed us with gift cards, and we appreciate it very much! We haven't used all of the donation yet, but we did get fresh crayons and colored pencils, and some new utensils and supplies for the kitchen, including a new hand mixer. Thank you so much, Mr. Rodney, for your support of the Arc of Abilities. We appreciate you! (We also made a thank you card, but forgot to take a photo!)
Next, we looked at the website for the American Revolution Museum and watched a video to prepare us for our visit to see the folk art exhibit called "Fresh Views of the American Revolution." It's been 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, and our country is gearing up to celebrate this year. We learned that an Italian artist named Oscar de Mejo was very interested in our war for independence, and some of his original pieces were on display at the Rev Museum. The artwork had also been in Yorktown for America's bicentennial celebration in 1776.
To our surprise, since it was not stated on the website, we learned upon our arrival at the museum that the exhibit was being "worked on" and only a few of the pieces were on display in the the main hallway. Later, we found out that by being "worked on" museum staff meant the exhibit was being moved from an exhibition room to spots on the walls! We were disappointed. We had to settle for seeing just a few of over a dozen pieces of de Mejo's work.
de Mejo's American Revolution art featured historical depictions of many events from the war, but in each, he had added whimsical, unique, or statement elements, and we were going to point them out!
Other art from the exhibit, by more contemporary artists including some local students, was also on display and we enjoyed looking at it. We pointed things out to each other and it was fun to see what our friends found interesting!
Liz noticed in this print that a group of patriots was holding a meeting at Bruton Parish Church, which she attends!
Fortunately, a docent named Mr. Sadler was volunteering today. He helped make our visit more worthwhile by telling us several cool stories about the "everyday" people in the photos on this wall. All of them had a part in the war, often having interacted with George Washington himself (though not in battle). When these photos were taken, each of them was at least 100 years old, which is amazing considering the time in which they lived! (The war had been over for decades.) Their stories were very interesting, and Mr. Sadler told us much more about them than the museum signage revealed. We always enjoy when volunteers or museum staff tell us "more of the story."
While at the museum, we also watched the "Liberty Fever" movie, and talked about how hard it was for families to be split in their decisions about the war. Some wanted to fight (Patriots) and others remained loyal to the crown (Loyalists), which meant sometimes family members fought against each other.
All in all, it was an enjoyable morning. We even got a Virginia 250 Passport for each of us, and had it stamped today. We'll hang on to them and hopefully visit a few more stops and get a few more stamps before July 4th!
Things took a turn for the silly when we returned to AFCC for lunch, Choice Time, and then a lesson for National Rubber Ducky Day! We watched a video about a professor named Charlotte at a college in Washington. She holds the Guinness record for most rubber duckies! Click on her pic for a link to the video if you'd like to see her huge collection! The video is from 2019, but we verified that Charlotte is still the world's record holder!
We colored some rubber duckies and used them to make a "duckoration" on our teal wall!
Wednesday
Our Service Work Wednesday got off to a great start when our crew of Liz, Laura, Alexis, Michelle, and Gail volunteered at the JRES Library. We're going to miss working in the library, and having a place to check out books, when we move to our new building!
We'll continue to arrange flowers for Commonwealth Senior Living once we move. Today, Drew, Erik, Michelle, Alexis, Gail, and Allison got the job done!
Thomas and Drew arranged bread slices on the baking pans so we could toast them in the Nina.
Our lunch was going to be hot pastrami sandwiches with sides of grapes, chips, and a pickle spear. We were celebrating National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day! This was a new celebration for us. Keep reading to see if we liked it!
We made a chipotle honey mustard (using chipotle peppers) to spread on our sandwiches. Some of us chose regular mustard, but most went with the spicy! We also made cole slaw, but forgot to get a picture.
Once the sandwiches were assembled with pastrami and sharp cheddar cheese, we wrapped them in foil and Tessa placed them on the oven racks. (The oven was cold.) We then heated them through so they would be hot pastrami sandwiches. Meanwhile, we watched a video and learned that pastrami is a type of deli meat (beef) that is cured and seasoned, and kind of peppery. It likely originated in Romania, and is now piled high on sandwiches in delis everywhere.
There was unanimous approval for our celebration of National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day! We may have to celebrate it again next year!
Our Grove crew was busy this morning in the food pantry with Peggy, Joel, Ursula, and Thom. When they arrived, these tables were empty. Devin, Liz, Bryan, Xavier, Laura, Annmarie, Kate, and Kevin helped unload the palette and get the assembly line set up. That's quite a workout!
So lucky are we! This week Peggy baked brownies for us! She and Ursula really do spoil us with their home-baked goodies. Thanks, Peggy. The brownies were deee-licious after our pastrami sandwiches!
That's it for pics from today. After lunch we had Choice Time and then welcomed visitors who came to see what the program is all about. We played games on the computer after that and then it was time to go home!
Thursday
It was a joyful morning as we headed to Williamsburg United Methodist Church to begin a new collaboration with their women's circle group, Sisters in Grace. We have worked with these sweet ladies before at our center, where they have volunteered a few times over the years to work on craft projects with us. Today, we joined them at the church for what will be a monthly activity. The theme this morning was Fun and Games, and playing games with them was definitely fun!
From left to right, our WUMC friends are Barbara, Gayle, Nella, Jeannie, and Linda. They gave us a warm welcome!
There were several games for us to choose from, so we had a couple of rotations. It was great to see many conversations taking place as community was built between the WUMC women and our AoA members. There was a lot of laughter, too!
Tessa, Michelle, Erik, and Jeannie played Candyland.
Rita led a game of Concentration with Thomas, Alexis, Patrick, and Drew.
Kate, Xavier, and Gayle played Connect Four with Linda.
Nella was learning to play Trouble with Devin, Liz, and Kevin. Gayle joined them, too.
Nan joined with Barbara to play Go Fish with Annmarie, Bryan, and Laura.
Our last game of the morning was a favorite of ours, Bingo! Today, we played a version called Friendship Bingo to celebrate making new friends with the WUMC women's group. We couldn't believe our eyes when we saw the prize table. The group was very generous and the prizes they selected suited our guys perfectly!
Thank you Gayle, Jeannie, Nella, Barbara, Linda, and Rita (who joined a bit later) for a wonderful Fun and Games morning! We enjoyed getting to know you and playing games, too. Your generous selection of Bingo prizes made our day! We're already talking about next month's visit and really looking forward to the theme of Music! We love to sing and dance, so it will be another amazing time, we're sure!
We returned to AFCC for lunch, Choice Time, and a follow up history lesson after our trip to the Revolution Museum on Tuesday. We watched a short video from a series called "Historically Correct," in which a teacher from New Jersey explains, in accurate but also fun and funny ways, about history. We watched the episode about the surrender at Yorktown, and we aced the pop quiz! Click on the pic if you'd like to watch the video and give it a try!
Oh, yeah...National Hat Day was fun! We shared the stories of the hats and caps we chose to wear, and had extras for those who needed one. Sports, nature, movies, the Wild West, and even jesters were represented!
Thanks to a snow day back in December, we had not been to Eaton in over a month, so we were ready to head for a work day this morning. Luckily, we haven't lost our skills' touch!
Our PowerSlide Door Crew consisted of Kate, Devin, Nan, Alexis, Liz, Bryan, Xavier, Kevin, Erik, and Carol. In a little over two hours, they assembled 156 doors this morning!
Our Sorting/Packing Crew consisted of Gail, Patrick, Abraham, Drew, Thomas, Michelle, Tessa, Laura, Annmarie, and Lisa. We are estimating that they unloaded, sorted, and consolidated/packed over 8,000 small parts we call lids and rectangles!
Everyone was sooo busy, and the time passed quickly!
We even had a surprise visit from Jorie! It had been almost a year since we last saw her. She told us she will be working back at this Eaton site a few days a month, so we might get to see her more often. It was great to catch up with her!
What a workout we got at Eaton this morning! After we returned to the center for lunch and Choice Time, we ended the day making and getting birthday cards in the mail for Cameron, and having a lesson about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We enjoy history, and especially biographies about famous people. After our video, we did a scavenger hunt activity to learn more facts about Dr. King's life. We were surprised to learn that he was arrested 29 times!
Next thing we knew, it was time for the weekend! It was a jam-packed week but we can't complain. It's good to stay busy!
Here are our plans for next week:
Wednesday: Today we'll welcome the therapy dogs and handlers for a new year's session of reading and games! We'll also arrange flowers for CSL. After lunch, we've been invited to take a walk-through with Pam and Arc staff of our soon to be new home at McLaws Circle! Lunch on your own. JRES Cafeteria is serving Asian Chicken with Veggies and Rice or Flatbread Sandwich.
Thursday: We're going to have fun celebrating National Popcorn Day (Jan. 19) and National Popeye the Sailor Man Day (Jan. 17) by snacking on popcorn and watching videos from Popeye's You Tube channel! We will also make preparations for tomorrow's party. Lunch on your own. JRES Cafeteria lists Domino's Pizza and Assorted Wraps for today's selections.
Friday: It's Pet Supplies Plus Day, so please wear PSP shirts. We're also welcoming Heike back for a delayed Farewell Party and an early Birthday Celebration! While the PSP Crew works at the store, the Cooking Crew will prepare a lunch of Quinoa Salad with Chicken and Spinach, Garlic Bread, Fruit Cup, and German Sweet Chocolate Pie for dessert. We'll end the week with a new episode of yoga with Jaime, so dress to stretch, too!
Have a wonderful weekend,
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
