Goodbye to Nancy

It's hard to believe another month has almost passed us by, but May is coming to a close.  As usual, the Arc of Abilities had a busy week, and this time, it included a happy birthday for Devin, a bittersweet farewell to our sweet friend Nancy, and a festive celebration of our partnership with Eaton Corporation.  Join us on a recap of the last full week of May!

The rain didn't stop us from heading to Freedom Park on Tuesday to work with our Master Gardener friends.  We have had five sessions with them and each one has been engaging, educational, and fun!  This week we learned about butterflies.

Here, our lead MG, Linda, introduces Judith, who is an expert on many butterflies, but especially the monarch.  She taught us about the life span of butterflies and gave us some fascinating facts about the monarch in particular.  For example, they are the only insect that migrates and their trip to Mexico is over 2,500 miles.  Each year the monarchs return to the same trees in Mexico, even though each year they are a different generation...so how do they know which trees to go to?! WoW!

Our associates enjoyed looking at butterfly eggs and caterpillars using a microscope and magnifying glasses. 

Ask your associates if they remember what the little black pellets left behind by the very hungry and always eating caterpillars are called?! (Hint:  it rhymes with grass and begins with "fr.")

Tai Chi Wednesday got us off to an energetic start.  Even though Tai Chi is a gentle form of exercise, it gets our blood flowing as we reach and stretch, and when it's over we feel ready for the busy day ahead.  And Wednesday was busy...

After a morning of Eaton work and preparation of our wraps for lunch, we set up in the multipurpose room to celebrate Devin's birthday and say goodbye to Nancy.

Since our friend Devin must adhere to a soft food diet, cakes and cupcakes just won't do for his birthday.  His very favorite treat is a Frosty from Wendy's, so we sent Nan up the road to get him a surprise Frosty!  Here, he immediately threw two thumbs up as he realized Nan had a Frosty and it was for him!

Then, as we sang "Happy Birthday" to him, he clapped along and sang louder than almost anyone else!

The rest of the gang enjoyed ice cream sundaes, one of Nancy's favorite treats, as we transitioned from birthday celebration, to farewell "ceremony."  Nancy was emotional, in fact, most of us were, but our goodbye to her was more joyful than sad.

 
 
After ice cream, we played her favorite game, Bingo.  Sam had recently gifted us with a version of Food Bingo that has words and pictures (yummy looking pictures, we might add) and was a lot of fun and a refreshing change from "regular" Bingo.  Everyone enjoyed Nancy's favorite game!

We gave Nancy a photo strip and a necklace to remember us by, and our sweet volunteers Becky and Pam W. also gave her some parting gifts of puzzles, coloring books, pencils, and snacks that she can use in her new home.  Then, Soup popped in to say goodbye and he gave her a new umbrella, which he insisted on showing her how to use...but Nancy insisted on telling him to get outside for that demonstration because it's bad luck to open an umbrella indoors!  We will miss Nancy very much.  She is sweet and "wise" as our "senior" associate and we could always count on her to share her wisdom or extensive knowledge of history, current events, and old wives' tales!  We wish her the best and hope she will be able to come and visit.  Our door is always open!

By Thursday, we knew we had to get busy preparing for our Friday luncheon, so, after our volunteer duties in the school were complete, we began making decorations.  This was all hands on deck, so we didn't get pictures, but we looked like a red, white, and blue party factory with all the stars, wreaths, and pictures we created!  We also welcomed Matt, a potential new associate, who spent Thursday and Friday with us and will likely join the program later in the summer.  

Thursday was also National Tap Dance Day so we looked at some videos of famous tap dancers and then put on some music and let our guys give it a go...you'll see Matt shaking a leg in this video! 

It's been a long 3 weeks since the school began SOL Testing and we aren't allowed to be outside during the morning hours so as not to distract the students who are testing.  So we've had to revisit some of our old favorite indoor games.  On Thursday, we had a rousing game of whatever this is...pool noodles, balloons, and our bottoms kept on the chairs...haha!

There is another custodian named Mr. John who helps us a lot, but he's more behind the scenes.  He opens up our rooms each morning, unlocking all the doors and turning on the lights.  After working for 54 years (retiring from the NN Shipyard and then spending 18 years with the school system), he is retiring next week.  We tried to surprise him with "Happy Retirement" cards and a little reception, but when Soup called him down, he was not in the building.  He had gotten called away for a meeting!  

But he was able to stop by on Friday morning!  Best to Mr. John and enjoy your retirement after 54 years!

During our Friday morning Dancy Party, we played patriotic songs and discussed the solemness of the Memorial Day holiday.  We have some true, blue Americans in this group!  Here, they spontaneously join hands during "America the Beautiful" and in the video clip below, they proudly lend their voices to "God Bless the USA."

For lunch on Friday, we had Lexi's Gdad cook up some pork bbq and we invited our friends from Eaton to join us in celebration of our wonderful partnership with them.  We are so lucky to have the work they provide for us and are thrilled that recently they have entrusted us with more tasks that not only challenge us, but give us great joy and confidence as we complete the work and look back on what we've done.  Our team worked diligently to set up (and later clean up) for this huge event, and a good time was definitely had by all.

Tracy was also included in this celebration luncheon and what a surprise when she was able to bring her darling kids, Colby and Heidi, with her!  We wouldn't be in the position we are with the Arc of Abilities Day Support Program were it not for Tracy's support and advocacy!  Big thanks to you, Tracy!!

We thank our Executive Director, Pam McGregor. for joining us to recognize Eaton and Tracy, and give her credit for this photo of all of us!  We don't get many of these!

We're looking forward to enjoying the Memorial Day weekend with family and friends.  But before we go, here's a look at what's coming up next week:

Tuesday:  Bowling and pizza lunch!  Please wear your Arc shirts!  Weather permitting, we will take a hike at a trail that we haven't visited before!

Wednesday:  Eaton brought us a lot of new work to do, so this will be a big vocational day, but we will also address taking care of our hearing, as it is National Save Your Hearing Day!  Lunch on your own.

Thursday:  We will welcome June with National Olive Day.  We'll do a study of this healthy fruit. Lunch on your own, but olive samples will be offered! After lunch we will head to the CW Art Museum for another visit/lesson.  This time the topic is "Tales of George Washington."  Please try to wear Arc shirts (2nd time this week)!

Friday: Oh, the temptation...It's National Doughnut Day and the associates have been anticipating this one ever since the folks at nationaldaycalendar.com sent us the big calendar!  So, we will have doughnut samples in the morning (skip or eat a light breakfast) followed by a lighter lunch of chicken salad and fruit...we'll celebrate Rotisserie Chicken Day by making our lunch with rotisserie chicken!

Enjoy the long weekend!

Lisa, Carol, and Nan