The Beat Goes On

It was another fun and busy week at the Arc of Abilities!  We marched to our usual beat...bowling, Eaton work, volunteering in the school, Tai Chi.  But we also had a blast keeping the beat at our  DrumSTRONG drum-a-thon as we raised funds and drummed for cures!  Here's a look at our week:

Drew had a directive from Meemaw to "bowl 100" before we left Tuesday morning.  (Meemaw was staying behind at the center to work on the Eaton job!)  Well, he didn't disappoint!

We were lucky it was a beautiful day so after bowling we got in a good walk along the path at the JCC Rec Center.

It was an unusual day Tuesday in that five of our friends were absent.  Some weren't feeling well and a couple were traveling.  So our time at the playground seemed quieter than usual.  It was relaxing and peaceful as we enjoyed each other's company and the comfortable temperatures. 

Wednesday began in typical fashion with an hour of Tai Chi.  Look how attentive everyone is to Michael's instruction.  We worked on posture and confidence this week. 

   

Wednesday quickly became an atypical day when we had to go into lockdown about 10:20.  We knew it must be real since the students at the school were in the midst of SOL testing, so we were a little nervous when we got the word to move to the locker room.  However, we were soon put at "ease" when staff informed us that the incident requiring the lockdown was off-campus and the school was reacting in an "abundance of caution."  

By now, you may know that there was a homicide in the neighborhood across the street and the suspect was at-large for a period of time.  He was apprehended without incident at a nearby store, and the lockdown was lifted shortly after noon.  We remained calm and felt fortunate that we were safe in the locker room AND we had toilets and running water!  There was enough room for us to stretch out and ultimately, walk around a bit (remaining very quiet), so it wasn't too uncomfortable.  Some of our friends even dozed off!  We are grateful for their maturity in following directions and maintaining their composure.

After a late lunch and some extended choice time, we rallied our troops for a short afternoon work session.  Here, some of them work on assembling a mailing for Walsingham Academy.  Devin A., who is Walsingham's Director of Advancement, has recently joined The Arc's Board of Directors and visited us a couple of weeks ago.  When he discovered our abilities, he immediately enlisted our help for this task!  Thank you, Devin! (You'll see a picture of him later as he also joined our drum-a-thon on Friday!)

Meanwhile, back in the big room we were busy assembling Eaton parts...here, Josie is attaching a small window to the opening in a larger part called a powerslide door.

Just as we were about to begin working, we saw a friendly face approaching our back door.  We were delighted to see our favorite Moose Lodge friend, Patti!  It had been a while since we hooked up with her, and after our anxious morning, it was great to have an old friend hang out and even help us with the work!  In this picture, Patti and Nan are affixing a series of 4 labels to the powerslide doors, a task that most of our associates have difficulty with and one on which we count on our volunteers (and staff) for completion.

 

Our associates are better at the "nuts and bolts" (literally) assembly, and boy, do they rock and roll when we set this up! Here are some shots from our Thursday work session.

Sometimes, though, you just have to turn trash duty into a little fun!  Go for a 3 point shot next time, Devin!

It's never all work and no play at the AoA, and Thursday we celebrated the birthday of our newest associate, Xavier!  This was a wonderful opportunity for us to show him how we honor each other with our "birthday board" (cards and balloons) as well as an opportunity for him to share with us a taste of gluten-free cupcakes...which were delicious!

Probably the biggest highlight of this week was Friday's drum-a-thon as we drummed up support for those affected by cancer.  We were excited to put to use the square box drums we had made last week.  Aren't they cool?!  The very talented Sandy Layman and her equally talented children, Cole and Logan, led us in a "blissfully successful" (to quote Sandy) drum circle.  We raised over $200 for drumSTRONG!  Thank you for the generous donations! We drummed and played other rhythm instruments and were joined by Arc Board members Devin A., (from Walsingham), Erin J., (from Chesapeake Bank), and Latara (from James City County government), a potential Arc Board member.  What a fun and energizing morning!  Pictures are worth a thousand words!

In this photo, you can see Devin A., and Erin J., Arc Board members, and to the left of Patrick is Latara, potential Arc Board member!  We welcome their support...and participation!  (That's Josie with the wild hair...she was getting her dance on during a very rhythmic part of the drum-a-thon!)

We can't thank Sandy enough for introducing us to this fun activity and for also helping us understand the importance of doing our little part to help others.  We drummed with "intention" yesterday and it felt great!  For those of you on Facebook, if you don't follow The Arc of Greater Williamsburg's page, now would be a great time to start!  Sandy put up a beautiful post about the drum-a-thon and there are lots more pictures capturing our magical day!

Friday was also National Pizza Party Day and Devin and Erin treated us to pizza and lemonade for lunch!  Unfortunately, we were all so hungry after drumming that we failed to take pictures of ourselves downing the pizza!  But it was pizza...so you know it was yummy and we enjoyed it immensely!  Many thanks to Devin and Erin for a great lunch time treat!

For dessert, we had deferred "celebrating" Cherry Cobbler Day which was on Wednesday, so we could make it for the Pizza Party.  We used a simple One Cup Cobbler recipe and just dumped everything into the baking pan before popping it into our oven.

We topped it with a dab of vanilla ice cream...and voila!  It was yummy!  (And we thought to get a picture...)

Thus ends another fabulous week at the Arc of Abilities!  Thanks for joining us on our journey!

Here's what's coming up next week:

Tuesday:  Bring a bag lunch as it's Master Gardening Day at Freedom Park.  Weather permitting, we will take a hike on a new trail and enjoy lunch on the patio at the Interpretive Center.

Wednesday:  This will be a bittersweet day for us.  It's Devin's birthday (yay!) and we will celebrate with ice cream sundaes and a surprise Frosty for him (Shh...it's a secret!).  It's also Nancy's last day with us (sad!), so we will have a special lunch of ham and turkey wraps and play her favorite game, Bingo.  We will miss our Nancy, but wish her well as she moves to a new home and makes new friends in Newport News.

Thursday:  Lunch on your own and hopefully a "typical" day of volunteering in the school, completing some vocational tasks, socializing and getting movement time with friends, and hitting the "books" for a little continuing education!

Friday:  We celebrate our amazing partnership with Eaton Corporation by welcoming Jorie and her peeps for a bbq lunch provided by Lexi's Gdad!

Happy Weekend to All,

Lisa, Carol, and Nan