Fall Arrives and It Was Warm!

 

Even though it has felt like fall weather for a couple of weeks, we officially welcomed the new season this week.  But we wondered, what happened to the fall-like weather? The week began fairly comfortable on Tuesday, but the rest of the week was hot and sticky!  As always, we rolled with it, and had a great week.  On Tuesday we enjoyed time in the garden with the master gardeners and then more time outside enjoying Freedom Park.  We completed our GCOC volunteering and CSL flower service projects on Wednesday and on Thursday we welcomed two very special friends for lunch.  By Friday, it was time to work at Pet Supplies Plus and wrap up the week with our annual lesson on Johnny Appleseed, always a favorite! 

Tuesday

Our visit with the master gardeners today was all about herbs and spices.  Krafty Karen taught us that herbs generally come from the leaves and stems of plants.  Basil, parsley, oregano, and rosemary come to mind and are all herbs we grown in our raised bed garden. Spices generally come from other parts of plants such as roots, bark, stems, and seeds.  Cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg are examples.

Both herbs and spices can be used in sweet or savory dishes.  We always enjoy when the gardeners have samples for us to feel or smell.  Today we had many examples including basil, sage, and vanilla beans!

These are the herbs and spices (including dried and ground spices) that Karen brought to use in her lesson today.  Those sitting close to her table could smell many aromas.  She teased us about the spices and said she had made us a snack that used every spice she brought!  We couldn't find out what it was until after we checked the garden to see how our plants from last session were doing, and also plant more seeds.

We were happy to see that the plants were doing well!  Last week's rain was great for our cabbage, collards, Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, and kohlrabi.  We had planted carrots, radishes, and lettuce by seed last time, and they were doing well, too!  This week, Laura and Liz worked with MG Rick to plant spinach seeds and mesclun green seeds.  We see a salad harvest in our future!  Liz and Gail also cut basil for us to take back to the center so we can make more pesto!

Back at the tables we learned that Karen had used all of the spices she shared today to bake Big and Soft Ginger Cookies!  She predicted we would like them (no kidding) and said it was a new recipe for her, but an instant favorite.

She was correct about us.  Thomas and ALL of us loved them!  She challenged us to see which spices we could taste and we all agreed on ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.  We liked the softness compared to traditional ginger snap cookies, too.  Thanks for these very tasty cookies, Karen!  We know you are still in recovery from your neck surgery, and even though moving and stretching is good for you, you didn't have to bake for us!  We hope our joy as we enjoyed the ginger cookies brought you joy!!  Thank you for the recipe, too.  These will make an appearance at the Arc of Abilities again! 😉🎄

Look at the lovely flowers Karen shared from her yard!  The big pink one is called Rose of Sharon.  It's in the hibiscus family and is so pretty, just as our Annmarie! 

Getting photos at the garden was hard today with the sun casting shadows everywhere.  Looks like Carolyn had some pretty good luck, as evidenced by this beautiful journal page!

After we finished with the MGs, we ate lunch on the patio behind the Interpretive Center and then took a walk.  We were grateful for this nice day, even though it was feeling a little like summer.

It had been a while since we played bocce, so after our walk we set up a game on the freshly cut grass.  Some of our guys seemed a little rusty as they overshot their rolls, but by the time we finished, most of them had gotten their aim on track and we had competitive teams!

Back at the center, Lisa and Carol shared an update on Tessa they received over the weekend.  Her birthday was last Friday, and she loved the cards we sent!  Happy Birthday, sweet Tessa!  We hope all your wishes come true!  (We heard you got fries from Shorty's...yum!)

Tessa's mom, Michelle, gave us an update that is very uplifting!  Tessa is walking without her rollator.  She still has a few balance issues, so she feels better with someone holding her gait belt, but this is big news!  She's also getting up and down from low seats, and that includes being able to take restroom breaks on her own.  Her current goal is to get up from being on the floor, and she's exercising every day as she works toward achieving it!  We are so proud of you Tessa, and very excited about your latest update!  We cannot wait for you to be able to come back to the program, and we know that is another one of your goals!  You can do it.  Everyone is pulling for you!!

Happy 25th Birthday to Tessa!

Wednesday

Since it wasn't therapy dog Wednesday, we resumed our volunteer work at the school library and GCOC.  We made flower arrangements for CSL, too.  We also welcomed Marisol and the corgis for a visit and did some food prep for tomorrow's luncheon.  It was a busy day. 

Thanks Library Ladies!  We're so proud of the work you (and others who didn't go today) do each week at the JRES Library!

The flowers donated by Trader Joe's this week were very colorful.  We appreciate our crew that helped create the arrangements!

Our GCOC group did a great job today working alongside our favorite volunteers Joel, Peggy, Ursula, and Tom to bag canned goods for the food pantry.  We even got to work with a junior volunteer, Coulson, who was on Fall Break from school.  He's the son of Lauren, who is GCOC's Operations Director.  We enjoyed getting to know him, and he's an outstanding worker!  Even though we were there to serve, in the end, we got a treat.  Ursula made delicious soft and chocolatey brownies!  💖 

We are blessed by the friendship and love from Ursula, Peggy, Joel, and Tom.  Thank you all for supporting and loving us!

Marisol, Tucker, Nellie, and Louie spent time with us again today!  We missed them when the therapy dogs visited last week, and we were happy that Marisol had time to visit this week.  She and Nan were twinning in their pretty flowered tops!

We very much enjoyed sitting around and chatting with Marisol, who is filled with fun stories about the corgis' adventures.  She brings great books too, and today, Lisa read one to us about a dog and a duck who become friends...it was so sweet when the duck had 9 duckling babies and the dog joined her in caring for them!  Thanks for visiting, Marisol.  Our guys truly love chit-chatting, and you've always got so many cool stories to share!  

We were busy this morning at Grove, arranging flowers, and preparing some of the dishes for tomorrow's lunch.  But once Marisol and the pups arrived, Allison stepped in to finish up the cookies.  Thanks, Allison, for making sure we have a dessert for tomorrow!! 😘

We used fresh basil from the garden to make more pesto this afternoon.  Gail, Erik, and Michelle went through the washed basil and picked out the best leaves.  We made two batches and froze it for future use!  😋🪴

By the end of the day we had time for an indoor workout.  Thanks, GoNoodle, for your silly, catchy, upbeat videos!  We had just finished making birthday cards for a couple of long-distance friends, and decided it was too muggy for kickball outside.  What happened to fall?!  Kickball will be rescheduled when it decides to come back!

Thursday

We had a wonderful time visiting with Randy and Sally today!  Some of you may remember our friend, Nancy, who was in the Arc of Abilities from the beginning until she relocated to Kentucky. 

 Her brother Randy, and sister-in-law, Sally, chose to remain friends with us, and ever since Nancy moved in 2021, they have stayed in touch and brought us a number of treats...just because!

Before our guests arrived, we had some preparing to do.  Our fall tree was missing something with just the colorful leaves, so we made a cute little squirrel craft using a toilet paper roll.  We colored and cut out parts, as Kate and Patrick were doing here, and then glued them strategically to the TP rolls.  They really came to life once we added googly eyes.

The squirrels look good in the tree!

We also had to finish preparing today's lunch.  Shoutouts to Kevin, Gail, Drew, Carol, and Nan for getting our pasta/veggie salad and cole slaw ready.  Gail got a kick out of adding a little sugar, which is the secret ingredient in Nan's cole slaw!

We tidied the room and fancied up all of our tables since it was our first time hosting Randy and Sally.  We wanted it to be extra special. 

Of course we have to shine the spotlight on our delicious lunch!  Lisa prepared the pulled pork by cooking it overnight at her house.  The orange gelatin salad and pumpkin cookies were made yesterday.  There's that beautiful pasta salad, and our apologies for leaving out Nan's famous cole slaw!  Also shown is a tray of sweets Sally brought for us.  What a wonderful lunch with our dear friends!

Randy and Sally brought some other goodies, too.  We each got a small bottle of hand-sanitizer, and the group got a bag of "gourmet" taffy to share.  Sally says it's guaranteed to not stick to our teeth!  Thanks for all the treats, Randy and Sally, and for joining us for lunch today.  It was great to catch up with you, and to introduce you to a few of our friends you had not met before.  We really enjoyed your visit!

After our visit with Randy and Sally, Patrick shared the postcards he brought from his trip out west.  He just returned today after almost 3 weeks of traveling that took him to many national parks, including Yellowstone, Zion, Bryce, and Arches, to name a few!

Patrick got to see other interesting places too, like the Buffalo Bill Museum of the West where he could get up close to these bison.   He told us he saw a lot of live bison, too!  We are glad you're back, Pat, but so happy you had a wonderful trip.  Thanks for sharing your photos and postcards with us!!

We ended our day with an activity for National One-Hit Wonder Day.  There are so many of them that we recognize, but of course, we have no idea who the artist is!  In this picture, we had turned our backs from the screen while Lisa played snippets from a few one-hit wonders like "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin and one of our favorite dance warm up songs, "Dance Monkey," by Tones and I.  (Who's that?!)  We not only guessed most of them, but sang along too!

We were most surprised to find out that "We Don't Talk About Bruno" made Billboard's Top 25 One Hit Wonders of the 21st Century, landing at #16!  

Friday

We began winding down the week with a morning of work.  Our Pet Supplies Plus group was all over the store as they completed a number of tasks!

The boys were busy stocking shelves.  Xavier helped Scott lift big jugs of kitty litter (great workout!) and then moved on to help Erik stock products for dogs.  Scott mentioned that he had shelved a lot of those kitty litter jugs yesterday, so he also enlisted Devin's help to do it today so he could catch a break!  Meanwhile, Bryan was busy stocking products on the bird aisle.

The girls were working hard, too!  Alexis and Kate removed "sale" stickers carefully so the regular (non-sale) price of each item would be visible.  Gail did a great job folding and rolling towels for the grooming and pet-bath areas.

Speaking of a "sale," PSP is having a 20% off All Products sale this weekend only!  Better hurry while supplies last.  Your favorite pets will thank you!  Kate picked up a Halloween costume for her dog, Lucy.  Thanks, Roxanne, for taking the photo so we could see our fearless leader Carol for once.  She's always behind the scenes (and camera) when the PSP gang works!

Close up!  We are happy to give PSP a shoutout.  They are a great vocational partner for us!!

Meanwhile, the AFCC crew was involved in a sticky mess this morning!  For Johnny Appleseed Day, we wanted to make a "healthy" version of apple turnovers.  The batter consisted of cream cheese, butter, and flour, but it was so sticky (even after chilling), we couldn't roll it out to make turnovers.  Someone suggested we make cookies with it, but Lisa pointed out that the ingredients would probably taste more like biscuit dough.  Sooo, we threw in some leftover shredded cheese we had on hand, and turned our turnover dough into drop biscuit dough.  They had a good taste but were dense on the inside.  Still, our gang gave them a thumbs up!

We doubled the recipe for the turnover dough, and our hand mixer just couldn't handle it.  Patrick and Liz scraped and mixed as best they could.  At one point, we had dough flying everywhere!

Those who weren't making a mess with the dough helped tidy up and create more colorful creations for our room.

Thomas and Michelle removed decorations we had put up for yesterday's luncheon.

Thomas, Laura, Kevin, and Michelle used fall colors to make more things to add to the wall where our tree is.

So, what did we do about our Johnny Appleseed Day treat?  We ended up making a simple cobbler.  We topped it with vanilla ice cream, and it hit the spot!  (Note:  We didn't eat all the biscuits!)

Our Johnny Appleseed lesson after lunch included a very interesting Mystery Science episode explaining why some apples are red and others are green.  It has to do with something called "selection" and how apple growers over the years have chosen which seeds to continue planting (from new growth) and which ones to ignore.  Well, something like that!  

Our tradition on Johnny Appleseed Day is to watch Disney's 1948 film about him, which we always find very entertaining, especially the catchy song!  Click our photo for a link to the film if you've got about 17 minutes to chill.  Might want to bake your apple cobbler first, though!

Finally, in case you were wondering, here are some of our movement activities from today.  First, it was too warm and muggy to walk outside, so we took a jammin' hallway walk.  Thanks, Liz, for setting up our little speaker with a good beat!  Lisa decided to film a full lap, which takes about 1 minute.  We usually walk for 10-15 minutes.

At the end of each day we stack our chairs and put tables away, too.  It's a quick burst of weightlifting!

Once those tables were put away, we were ready to head home and start our weekend!  It looks like it might be rainy, but hopefully everyone will have a great one.  Here are our plans for next week:

Tuesday:  We have our eyes on the forecast as some tropical "stuff" is brewing in the Atlantic, but if it's not raining, we are going to visit a new place for us, the Air Power Park in Hampton.  We may end up switching today with Thursday, but we'll have to wait and see.  We'll also visit Gosnold's Hope Park for lunch and a walk.  Bring a bagged lunch unless Lisa sends an email on Monday saying otherwise.

Wednesday:  We will do our service projects for Grove and Commonwealth Senior Living, so please wear Arc shirts today.  We'll also update our calendar for October and do a fun craft to celebrate National Pumpkin Seed Day.  Welcome, October!  Lunch on your own.  JRES Cafeteria is serving Asian Chicken w/ Veggies and Rice or Flatbread Sandwich.

Thursday:  We're going to celebrate two national days:  Smarties Day (the candy!) and a new one for us, Produce Misting Day!  We will tie these into our cooking for this week as we prepare (by popular demand) Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad for lunch, along with a fresh veggie tray and Smarties cookies.  We'll learn some fun facts about both Smarties and veggies, and have some brain work, too!

Friday:  Today is National Manufacturing Day, and it just so happens that we are going to our manufacturing job at Eaton!  We are hoping for some nice fall weather so we can eat lunch and play games at the park after we finish our work.  Please wear Eaton shirts and bring a bagged lunch.

ONLY 1 WEEK AWAY!  It's not to late to sign up, and remember, if you can't come in person you can register to walk virtually so you can still support The Arc!

Coming soon...this is a really fun morning for all ages, so get your costume ready and plan to stop by for Halloween fun!

Have a great weekend,

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang

Good Luck, Emma!

What began as a very rainy week, ended on a sunny note, thank goodness!  We rescheduled Tuesday's trip to Yorktown Battlefield to Thursday, where it was still wet, but we had a good time anyway.  Our therapy dog friends visited on Wednesday morning, and in the afternoon, we celebrated our friendship with Emma, who is leaving our program.  By Friday, we were "all over the place" as some did Eaton work, some represented the Arc at a fundraiser, and some did both!  Oh, we also managed a trip to Endview on Friday afternoon for a really cool experience. Check out our rainy to sunny week!

Tuesday

Our plans to visit the Yorktown Battlefield Visitor Center got washed away when we realized by midmorning that the rain was not letting up, but getting heavier.  We decided to try for a visit on Thursday, and spent the day on some odds and ends instead.

We fit in more movement than usual, which was good because during our "sit down" time on this rainy morning it was hard to stay awake while learning about history stuff!  LOL!  During our dance warm up, we turned on the disco ball.  That's always fun on "dark" mornings!

Before lunch, we found a fun GoNoodle indoor recess video that was Nickelodeon themed, including a SpongeBob SquarePants segment that Xavier really liked!

Do we look like a bunch of SpongeBobs?!

September 16 is Mayflower Day, marking the date the Pilgrims departed from Plymouth, England heading to the New World in 1620.  Since we had time, we had a lesson comparing the Plymouth Colony to the already established Jamestown Colony (1607).  We learned that the Jamestown settlers came looking for economic success, while the Pilgrims came for religious freedom.  We also learned that the Pilgrims were originally planning to land in Virginia, but storms and approaching winter weather threw them off course!

The morning seemed realllly long since we weren't on an outing, so we cut the history lesson and had lunch a few minutes earlier than usual!  Those gathered at this table enjoyed watching Scooby Doo on Liz's laptop!

Christina gave us some puzzles that she picked up while bargain hunting.  Thanks for thinking of us, Christina!  Today, Xavier started working on the 150 piece Shrek one.  It challenged him so he didn't finish, but we'll see if he can get it done tomorrow!

Devin joined Drew to listen to a few tunes on Drew's iPad during Choice Time.

After Choice Time we listened to our read aloud, The Wild Robot Protects.  We hadn't read in a while since so many friends were absent a couple of weeks ago and last week.   We really need to finish it soon so we can start another book!  😃

Our last activity today was getting ready for tomorrow's celebration of Emma's time with us.  We got farewell cards and a few decorations ready so we can make the room look special for her!

We want to share this collage of photos from last Saturday's re-dedication ceremony for the Rob Till Community Garden.  It was a beautiful day to kick off a fresh restart to the garden, and we know Rob, who worked with us when our day program began, would be so happy.  Our friends at Grove Christian Outreach Center (GCOC) have taken over stewardship of the garden, which is located behind the school, and have plans to get it going again so they can raise fresh vegetables for their Gathering Place food market.  The Gathering Place offers those in the community who are living with food insecurity a place to select food items at no cost.  We plan to help raise some of the fresh veggies and also donate some of our fresh herbs to the Gathering Place in the future.

Wednesday

The rain let up a little today, but we still couldn't be outside.  It was a wonderful day, nonetheless, as we enjoyed a visit from our therapy dog friends, and had a heartwarming good-bye party for Emma.

Thanks to our early birds who went to shelve books in the library today!

We welcomed a smaller than usual number AoA friends and therapy dog friends today, but that didn't hinder us from a great time...and some unexpected excitement!  First, we greeted each other. 

Next, we began our reading groups.  Michelle and some stuffed pups led one group, since we had 13 of us and only 3 dog handlers.  We didn't want our groups to be too big.  Thomas, Emma, and Xavier were in Michelle's first group!

Kent's first group consisted of Devin, Annmarie, and Gail.  Leo and Tavish were good listeners! Our theme today was careers and Kent was helping Annmarie read a book about farmers.  He also shared with us that he had career stops that included teaching music, working in educational administration, and being an "entertainer" at Shields Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg!  🎵🎵

Drew, Liz, and Laura read with Caroline, Pip, and Indy.  They learned that one of Caroline's most important careers was homeschooling her 3 kids...even through high school!  WOW!

It was exciting to learn that Carol, Darby's mom, went into the computer science field back a "few" years ago...when it wasn't a popular field for women.  Kevin, Bryan, and Alexis were reading with a trailblazer today!

Speaking of Carol (Darby's mom), she is also the co-chair of Williamsburg's Night to Shine committee.  Many of our friends attended Night to Shine this past February, and are looking forward to next February's event.  Carol brought this "save the date" info for us...it will be on February 13 in 2026!  Carol also said preregistration will likely take place soon, like October 1st, so keep an eye on your inbox!  We'll keep you posted, too.  Carol and her team did a FANTASTIC job this year, and we know it will be another wonderful event in 2026!

Many thanks to our therapy dogs and handlers for joining us today for reading and career chatting!  We always enjoy our time with you!  🐶🐕🐶🐕

Thanks also to Nan and Carol who got the CSL flower arrangements finished while we spent time with the therapy dogs!

While we're thanking others, let's give Liz and Drew a shoutout for their friendly faces as they delivered the flowers to CSL this afternoon!!

Our friend Emma will be leaving Arc of Abilities after this week.  She's pursuing new opportunities and we will miss her sweet and caring self.  We spent the rest of today having a farewell celebration for her.  Since Emma loves drawing and creating characters, we thought it would be fun to do a creative drawing activity.  Everyone got a sheet of random squiggles which they were encouraged to "complete" by adding on to the squiggles.  

Emma really enjoyed sitting with those who wanted to share, and we were proud of everyone's imaginative creations!

Friday is Emma's last day, but since her dad, Bob, is off on Wednesdays, we had a pizza luncheon today.  We were thrilled when he treated us to stuffed crust pizza!  It was delicious!  😋🍕😋🍕😋

Thank you, Bob, for treating us to lunch today and for spending time with us as we celebrated our friendship with Emma.  While her time with us was relatively short (1 1/2 years), our memories with her will last forever.  We are happy to hear she will continue to attend Arc events, and we look forward to seeing her at them!

Emma wrote a beautiful poem as a gift for Lisa and Carol, who were moved by her kind and heartfelt words.  You could have heard a pin drop as she read it, and everyone felt the love she put into it.  Thank you, Emma, from Lisa and Carol, for honoring us with this touching tribute.  We will treasure this always. 💗💗💗  We hope you like the photo collage we put together for you, too.

Several of Emma's friends shared sweet comments about their memories and friendship, and then we lightened things up with a corn hole game, which is another activity Emma really likes.  We recruited Bob to play on Emma's team since they needed another player to even the sides.  He was such a good sport, and a good player!  In fact, he was almost as good as Emma, who sank a 2 pointer right into the hole on her first turn!  

Unfortunately, Emma and Bob and the rest of their team came in second today, as the other team came in first!  But as we like to say, we were all winners because it was so much fun!  Thanks again, Bob, for hanging out with us today and treating us to the yummy stuffed crust pizza!  What a treat!

Wednesday Evening

What a thrill it was to join Moose Patti and the Women of the Moose (WOTM) at the Lodge tonight as they presented The Arc with the proceeds from the 10th Annual Charity Golf Tournament!  Patti had hinted that it would be more than last year, and that she was so excited, but we had no idea it would be nearly double last year's proceeds!

WOW!  Pam and all of us at The Arc of Greater Williamsburg are grateful for Patti and the WOTM ladies.  Through Patti's advocacy, they have embraced us, especially the Arc of Abilities, and have become dear friends as well as a major donor.  

Thank you, Patti and WOTM. We are blessed by your support.  Thanks also to Bryan, Alexis, Drew, Liz, (and their families) for joining us at the presentation.  They are the faces of The Arc, and we're so proud of their representation!!!

Thursday

It was still a little wet outside, but it wasn't raining, so we headed to Yorktown this morning for a visit to the Battlefield Visitor Center.

As soon as we arrived, we asked if we could get National Park Access Passes for those who didn't have one, and the park ranger was happy to oblige.  We didn't get a photo with her, but here is a pic of some of the passes.  The ones with the eagle are the passes we got today.  These will come in handy as we visit this battlefield site as well as Historic Jamestowne.

As we made our way around the visitor center, we found many of our guys reading the history and pointing out things of interest.  We love to see them being curious, asking questions, and helping each other understand better!

We enjoyed walking through the replica of the HMS Charon, which was in service with the English Royal Navy until it was taken out during the Siege of Yorktown in 1781.  Its wreck lies at the bottom of the York River.  We also watched the orientation film, which helped us remember things like the French military officer, Lafayette, who helped the Continental Army, was only 23 years old!  That always surprises us!

Before leaving the visitor center, we noticed there was a student art show on display.  The works by York County students celebrated both historic and modern day Yorktown.

After our history lesson, we went to one of our favorite lunch spots, the shelter near the York River.  It was a little bit breezy, but we didn't mind.  At least it wasn't raining!

We thought about taking a walk in Yorktown, or maybe waiting for a trolley ride.  But then we spotted the Coleman Bridge, and when Lisa and Carol remembered there are no tolls on it now, we decided to take a little ride over to Gloucester!

Lisa Googled a couple of parks for us to check out.  The first one was very small with only 2 parking spots, so we went a little further up Rt. 17 to Woodville Park, where we enjoyed checking out the Free Little Library and the Gloucester Master Gardeners' area.  We also took a stroll around a small pond.  It was a nice park, and we enjoyed everything about it except it doesn't have "regular" bathrooms, if you know what we mean!  All in all, we had a good day!

Friday

Wow!  We packed a lot into today, and rocked it!  Eaton work, Tidal Wave Auto Spa for a fundraiser, and a visit to the VA250 Mobile Museum at Endview kept us on our toes with all the logistics.  Here's how we did it!

  Eaton had a last minute change and needed us to "work from home" again, so that enabled us to switch up our Eaton and car wash teams more than we had planned, and more were able to work at Tidal Wave.  Some of us will be in photos from both places...it was like magic!

Xavier and Kevin sorted mixed parts.

Alexis applied gaskets to what we call "rectangle" parts. 

By mid-morning, Lisa had left to take a second group to the car wash, and Laura, Emma, Michelle, and Annmarie helped load all the Eaton parts we had onto the van.  

Even though we weren't working onsite, Bernie, Kim, and Ethan welcomed us to bring our completed work to the warehouse.  Eaton is doing a physical inventory next week.  By this point in the morning, Liz, Drew, and Thomas had completed a car wash shift and had joined up with Carol and the Eaton crew.  Lisa was back on the road taking the 3rd group to Tidal Wave!

Today was Tidal Wave Auto Spa's Annual Charity Day, and The Arc of Greater Williamsburg is the Charity Day Partner for the Williamsburg location, earning proceeds from each car wash sold.  Arc of Abilities members were proud to represent the Arc.  They spent all morning greeting customers, spreading the good news about The Arc and what we do, and politely asking for additional donations.  They charmed the customers, and donations were generous!  GREAT JOB ARC OF ABILITIES!!!

Our early bird crew arrived (via parents dropping them off) at 8:30 and got the ball rolling with bright smiles!  Thank you, Drew, Liz, Thomas, and our honorary AoA member, Coco, whose mom Caroline is The Arc's Communications and Development Coordinator.

Throughout the morning, others, including Kevin, Gail, Bryan, Michelle, Kate, Alexis, Devin, and Emma also helped.  It was fun to watch their personalities shine as they interacted with customers!

The first customer Kevin and Gail met turned out to be a friend of Kevin's family!

Our guys enjoyed working the crowd with The Arc's Programs and Vocational Training Assistant, Kasey.  She coached them on being persuasive, yet professional!

Our guys are such good team players!

We were thrilled to be working when Laura's family stopped by with 2 vehicles to wash!  Here, mom Lisa and Laura's sweet nieces Eloise and Olivia posed with some of us.  They had a school holiday today!

Hi from Laura's dad, Tom, and her aunt, Heidi!  Thanks for coming today!

Big thanks to Liz's dad, our friend, and Arc board member Greg for helping with the first shift.  He is always fun to hang out with, and keeps us laughing with his quick wit!

Cheers to our Tidal Wave Team...and also to those who stayed with Carol and Nan today to not only finish Eaton work, but to also begin getting decorations ready for a party we're having next week.  We are remiss in not getting additional photos of Laura, Annmarie, and Xavier...but trust us, they were making contributions that we will be very grateful for next week.  💙💚💛

🙌🙌🙌

Any other day, we would have had lunch, Choice Time, and maybe a game of corn hole to end the day after such a busy morning.  But not today!  We headed to see the VA250 Mobile Museum Experience after lunch!  This "museum on wheels" is traveling throughout Virginia to bring the story of Virginia's role in our American Revolution to the masses in the lead up to America's 250th anniversary next year.  This weekend it will be at Endview Plantation for an event called "The Peoples Revolution."  Get more info by clicking here:

Upon our arrival shortly before 1:30, we were greeted by Gabrielle Pressley, who is the Museum Education Coordinator for the City of Newport News - Historic Services.  She sent us an invitation to attend this preview of the weekend's event after hearing from another museum colleague that "The Arc's day program is a great group and would be a good one to invite!"  There were limited invitations for tours this afternoon, so we feel pretty humbled to be included!

This is Gerald, one of our guides who is part of the mobile museum's staff.  He had a few good stories to tell!

Before we entered, we were each given a souvenir booklet.

Even though the museum is mobile, and it is packed up and moved frequently, there were many hands-on and interactive displays, including a visit with Patrick Henry in holographic form!

Some of the displays we found most interesting included ones about the role women played in the Revolution, an interactive display showing the various uniforms worn by soldiers from all sides, and, at the end, some photos that tell the story of how our country continued to evolve after the war.

Another guide, Zachary, answered lots of questions and then invited us to take the Citizenship Test before we left!  Challenge accepted!

There were questions on many topics, including the structure of our government, presidents, the flag, and America's geography.  We scored 9/10, only missing the one that asked how many amendments there are in the Constitution.  (FYI - 27!)  Zachary said we did better than most visitors!  👏👏👏

We thoroughly enjoyed our first ever visit to a mobile museum!  The VA250 Mobile Museum Experience is great.  We are so glad we were able to squeeze it in this afternoon.  It was a great brain workout, and a great way to end a stellar week!

Today was Emma's official last day with us.  We didn't enjoy saying goodbye to her all that much, but we hope to keep in touch and to see her at other Arc events!  Best wishes, Emma!

We'll be back on Tuesday for another busy week.  Here are our plans:

Tuesday:  It's back to the garden for a lesson with the MGs, as we welcome the first full day of fall!  Today we will learn the differences between herbs and spices, and also do more planting.  The weather forecast looks good for a day outside, so bring a bagged lunch and we'll plan to enjoy Freedom Park before returning to the center.

Wednesday:  We'll do our service projects in the morning, so please wear Arc shirts today.  After that, Marisol and the corgis are stopping by for another visit!  After lunch we will observe National Punctuation Day as we work on special cards for special people (we know so many).  We'll also head outside for a kickball game in the big field, which some of you have been requesting!  Lunch on your own.  JRES Cafeteria is serving Asian Chicken w/ Rice and Veggies or Flatbread Sandwich.  If you've heard from Carol that your account funds are running low, be sure to bring a check.  😉

Thursday:  This morning we will prepare to welcome special guests, Randy and Sally, for lunch.  They are our former member Nancy's brother and sister-in-law, who have remained in touch through friendship and treat-giving with us even after Nancy relocated to Kentucky.  It's our turn to treat them!  We'll have pulled pork sandwiches, pasta salad, and fruity Jell-O for lunch.  In the afternoon, we'll celebrate One-Hit Wonder Day by combining music with brain work and games.

Friday:  Today is a PSP work day, so please wear Pet Supplies Plus shirts.  The group that stays at the center will prepare an apple treat for this afternoon since we're going to celebrate one of our favorite days, Johnny Appleseed Day!  We'll have a Mystery Science lesson about the color differences in apples, and of course, we'll watch the classic Disney film about Johnny Appleseed.  Lunch on your own.  JRES Cafeteria is available for Corn Dog Nuggets or "Manager's Choice."  Yum!

REMINDERS!!!

Have a Wonderful Weekend,

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang