Saturday, October 20, 2018

Sharing Our Program!

News Flash!  Oktoberfest is here!!  For the first time ever, Anheuser-Busch is sponsoring a FUNdraiser to benefit The Arc of Greater Williamsburg!  It's today, Saturday, October 20, so if you have always wanted a behind the scenes look at the brewery, AND you enjoy good food, music (live), games, and hanging out with family and friends, this is for you! 

 

This week we got to share about our Arc of Abilities program with several new folks.  Our network of friends and supporters is growing, and with it, opportunities for us!  We're always excited to talk about the Arc of Abilities!  Here's a glimpse at our week:

It was bowling and pizza on Tuesday, and a few other stops as well!  First, we made our way to the garden at Freedom Park so we could pick some pineapple sage.  We plan to make the pineapple sage pound cake we sampled with the master gardeners last week.  Since the garden is near the bowling center, and we had time before our 11:00 bowling league, we thought we would visit the garden and get the pineapple sage and some more zinnias, too.  However, about the time we unloaded the vans...it began to sprinkle and then rain a little harder.  So, we hightailed it back to the van and only got a little bit wet!


We weren't able to pick any zinnias, but we got the pineapple sage!


We had a great time at bowling, as we always do!  These three amigos, Drew, Dev, and Sam had both a friendly competition AND a great amount of encouragement and support for one another!


How's this for a fearsome foursome?  Dev, Kevin, Alexis, and Liz all ready to give it their best shot!


We are working with Drew on keeping his head up and looking toward the pins before throwing his ball.  Today, Dev personally coached Drew before every turn!


Lefty Laura in action!


Cameron and Kevin waited patiently for the pizza to arrive!


Alexis and Pat said "ta-da" before calling their friends up for pizza and a side of Fuji apples!  It was a good lunch today!  Thanks to Lisa's friend and former coworker, Gerri, for sponsoring today's lunch!  We appreciate you believing in our program!


After bowling, we had to go to the hospital!  We have some sad news to report:  our friend and custodian Heike took a tumble during the storm last Thursday night and injured her shoulder.  She required surgery and will be out for 6-8 weeks!  We sent Alexis and Nan ahead of the rest of us after bowling to pick up some balloons and a card, which they then took up to Heike in her room at the hospital.  The rest of us stopped by the hospital to pick Alexis up (and hide a few kindness rocks) and went on our way.  We wish Heike a comfortable and speedy recovery...she's in a lot of pain.  We will keep tabs on her throughout her absence. 


We were delighted that the sprinkles from the morning went away and by the time bowling was over, it was a rather nice afternoon, and perfect for a walk around town to hide our Halloween-themed rocks!


Can you spot the jack-o-lantern rock Patrick hid?


Then, imagine our surprise when we were about to cross the street and a gentleman in an SUV stopped for us AND shouted out, "Thanks for hiding the pretty rocks!"  Wonder which one he found?!

We kept on walking and ended up on campus, where we found this statue of James Blair.  We learned that he was the founder and first president (1693-1743) of the College of William and Mary...and not just some guy the new middle school is named after!


Next we ran into this friendly student named Lila.  Actually, she spotted us first, thinking "is that an Arc clan headed this way?" She's an Arc volunteer and saw some familiar faces before singling out Kevin.  She's his reading buddy during the Arc's Literacy Program which meets on campus every other Wednesday evening!
We told her all about our day support program...because we love to talk about it!  Tuesday was a great kick-off to our fun week!


On Wednesday morning we sent Sam and Patrick to represent us at Grove Christian Outreach Center to make a donation of men's clothing!  Here, they pose with Diana, who says GCOC is grateful for our donation!  Come to find out, they could also use women's and children's gently used clothing, in addition to men's, so if you're in the mood to clean out your closets, please keep GCOC in mind.  We are happy to be the drop-off location and will make sure all donations are delivered!  Thanks, everyone!


We continued to tell our AoA story when Wisteria, Lauren, and Chandler from the Mariners' Museum visited.  They plan in-house and outreach programs for the museum, and after our visit in the summer, thought our group would be a good fit for their goal of improving access to all.  We are very excited about this partnership.  Wisteria shared that beginning in mid-November, admission to the museum will be $1 for everyone, ALL the time!  That will make it very affordable for us to visit often for hands-on lessons and adventures.... and there are many, many waiting to be discovered at the Mariners' Museum.  The Mariners' team will also be able to visit us at AFCC for presentations.  We look forward to the possibilities!


We also had time to make more decorations on Wednesday.  Kate shows the jack o' lanterns she was working on.  We looked at ideas for faces and then got creative.


We added stickers, too.  We hung them on the walls in the big room and the kitchen.  Our place is looking ready for a Halloween party!


Here are the posters we were recruited to create for Sam's neighborhood Halloween Party.  We think they look great, especially since we choose a "scary" font for the writing!  Thank you, Coach Teri, for the privilege of making these for your neighborhood association.  We appreciate the donation to our pizza lunch fund, too! 


Practice for "Thriller" Yoga continued with Patti on Wednesday.  We worked on our "goonie" and werewolf moves.


"Goonies" are what Patti calls the extra dancers in the Michael Jackson video.  Looks like we have these moves in the bag!


"Thriller" Yoga involves plenty of stretches, lunges, and balance work, too.


We can't wait to try it to the music on Halloween!


We finished Wednesday with a Mystery Doug video lesson that helped us understand why leaves change color in the fall.


We had a number of things to get done on Thursday morning as we prepared to welcome visitors from Anheuser-Busch at lunch time.  They were coming for a "meet and greet" with us ahead of the Oktoberfest fundraiser.  First up, Sam and Chris gave The Nina a good cleaning.  


Cameron and Kevin were tasked with browning some ground beef.  They were actually preparing it to go in the freezer.  We will use it next week for lunch on Wednesday, but we're so busy before then, we needed to get a jump on it! 


Our guests from Anheuser-Busch were treating us to pizza for lunch, but we got to treat them to dessert.  It was an easy choice of what to make...Thursday was National Chocolate Cupcake Day!  Alexis and Kacie enjoyed working with Dev to bake the cupcakes.


This group worked on coloring and decorating individual letters that we would put on the board to welcome our visitors from Anheuser-Busch.


We work and then we play.  It was a little chilly outside on Thursday morning, but sunny, too, and the air was fresh!  Cameron enjoyed making baskets.



So did Devin and a few others.


Look at Sam's form!


Kevin and Annmarie bounced the ball back and forth.


Kacie was walking around the blacktop when she spotted a Kindness Rock! She was very excited!  By the way, we noticed when we checked Williamsburg VA ROCKS on Facebook that some of the rocks we hid earlier this week have been found!  Fun!


We were delighted to welcome Drew's dad, Andy (our Arc board president) and four of his coworkers from Anheuser-Busch for lunch on Thursday...of course, Andy provided the pizzas, but we would have been delighted to see them anyway!  They were visiting ahead of Saturday's Oktoberfest just to meet some fabulous Arc clients and get to know us a little better.  Here, we pose with Sam, Kristin, Lesley, Lacey, and Andy.


Thanks for lunch, Andy!  We loved it.  Dev, Patrick, and Alexis said reading about the NFL teams on the boxes was a bonus!


We squeezed in some time to use the pineapple sage we picked at the garden earlier this week for making Pineapple Sage Bread. We got the recipe from the master gardeners, and we think we nailed it!  Laura and Liz were on this baking team.  We enjoyed a small slice of the bread on Friday morning before our trip to New Kent.


We were pretty excited on Friday morning to make the drive up to beautiful New Kent County to visit Rock Steady Boxing /APEX PT.  Lexi's cousins Kelly and Scott, along with their partner, Kristin, are the owners of this recently opened clinic, and wanted the Arc of Abilities to be the first participants in their community outreach and education program.  


Rock Steady Boxing is a fitness class/program designed to help those living with Parkinson's disease improve and maintain balance and muscle movement and strength, among other benefits.  Coach Scott specializes in neurological rehab, but for our guys, he was just a FUN fitness coach who let us try some things we've never tried before.  First, he led us in warm up exercises.


After our warm up, Coach Scott told us we would be visiting six stations, each designed to help us with things like coordination, fine-motor skills/dexterity, balance, aerobic endurance, and focus.  Here, Cameron and Annmarie put on the gloves and punched until their hearts were pumping.


Becky, Dev, and Kacie listened to Coach Scott's directions on using the free weights.  (Drew is in there, too.)


Kevin persevered, but bopping this bag was quite a challenge!


We have done this type of eye-hand coordination activity before at AFCC, but the challenge today was controlling the balloon in a smaller area of space.  Xavier, Chloe, and Liz did a good job!


Patrick and Devin also gave it all they had when they tried the gloves!


Look at the concentration on Drew's face as Carol helps him with a balance activity.


Here's a video of us working at each station! 


Coach Scott even found out that Alexis and Kevin have birthdays coming up!  We got to sing to them!  Thanks, Coach Scott, for a fun, high-energy class!  We love your enthusiasm and ability to motivate!


After our class, we walked over to the Colonial Kitchen & Market, where Kelly and Kristin joined us for lunch.  The staff at the restaurant was ready for us, and set us up in this charming room.  They got all of our orders correct and the food was excellent, as were our manners!



Even though we had an active class with Coach Scott, we couldn't let this beautiful day get away from us without a walk.  We explored the area around New Kent Courthouse.  In this picture, Chloe, Dev, and Sam checked out a room in the very small New Kent Historical Society.


We walked a long loop past several county buildings, including the courthouse, and ended at this small house that dates back to the mid-1800s.  It sits behind the restaurant and inside, it's like a museum.  We read about life in New Kent many years ago.  


Our trip to New Kent rounded out a busy week that found us meeting many new friends and sharing our story with them.  We look forward to the opportunities our friendships will bring!

Here's what's coming up next week:

Tuesday:  We will head to Freedom Park for our final session with the master gardeners for this year.  It's been a great fall and we look forward to seeing what they have planned for us today!  After lunch at the park, we will travel to Studio South for a yoga session with our friends Katy and Kylie!  Please wear Arc shirts, comfy pants/shorts (you can change before yoga), and BRING A BAG LUNCH!

Wednesday:  We're going to have a belated Pasta Day celebration today with a fun pasta craft and spaghetti and salad for lunch.  It's also our last day to practice "Thriller" Yoga with Patti, so dress to stretch!

Thursday:  We're celebrating Pumpkin Day a day early, and we have a lot of fun activities and educational lessons planned, including learning about the history of the jack o' lantern!  Lunch on your own!

Friday:  It's birthday time!  We will celebrate Kevin today and are lucky to be treated to Chick fil-A sandwiches for lunch!  We will end the week fun activities and games. 

Note #1:  Lisa will be out this week, Wednesday-Friday, and Becky will "sub" for her!  There will not be a blog post for this week, but families will receive an email on Monday (Oct. 29) with a few details for the week of October 30.  For now, keep in mind that Tuesday, October 30 will be a bowling and pizza day, and we will be celebrating Alexis's birthday! 😊

Also, we will have a Halloween Party on Wednesday, October 31, and associates are welcome to wear costumes.  Patti will be here for "Thriller" Yoga after lunch, so plan to bring a change of clothes if it would make yoga more comfortable! ðŸŽƒðŸŽƒðŸŽƒ


Note #2:  The Family Meeting previously scheduled for Thursday, November 1 has been postponed until further notice.  We overlooked the fact that The Arc's Costume Ball is on the night of November 1, so we don't want any families to have to choose...hehe!  We will let you know when we figure out a new date!  

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Lisa, Carol, and Nan

Friday, October 12, 2018

Weather Got Us Again

The weather threw us for a loop again this week when we had to close on Friday.  We hope all of our families and friends fared well during the storm and winds on Thursday evening.  It was an unnerving night, for sure.   At least by Friday it sort of feels like Fall outside.  We are really looking forward to being able to spend more time outside in the next couple of months.  Hopefully it won't get too cold too soon.  Here's what we were up to for the three days we were in session this week!

Tuesday was Master Gardener Day so we headed to Freedom Park to see what was going on at the Botanical Garden.  Our usual "lead" gardeners, Linda, Karen, and Barb were all out of town, so Pat, Carolyn, Marcella, Diana, Joanne, and Valerie took the reins and gave us an exceptional experience!

We told the MGs that we were taking care of our succulent gardens, keeping them in sunny spots and not over-watering.  They were proud of us.  Pat showed us a succulent from her home garden called Autumn Joy.  It blooms!

 

Next, they informed us that we had planting to do.  We looked at seeds for mustard greens, spinach, and fava beans before planting them.  


Here, Diana taught Laura to make shallow rows for planting spinach seeds.


 Valerie helped Patrick and Kacie plant garlic, too!  Yum...we look forward to harvesting and cooking with that!


The zinnias are nearing the end of the season, but it's been so warm and they are hanging in there.  With MG Marcella and Alexis helping, Devin cut some for us to bring back!


Back at the tables, we planted bulbs in our two large pots.  We did this last year and when Spring rolled around, we had daffodils and tulips in bloom!  This year, we layered several bulbs in hopes of having a lush, colorful pot in Spring, 2019.  After the guys in this group planted daffodil, tulip, and hyacinth bulbs, Xavier took a turn and placed anemone bulbs.


This group planted the same bulbs, and then topped the planter with pansies, which will provide color throughout the Fall and Winter, before the bulbs pop up in Spring.


Doesn't this look good?  Our "herb of the day" was sage, and our snack was pound cake made with a variety called pineapple sage.  It was as tasty as it looks, and we got the recipe!


It was warm, but overcast skies made it bearable for us to eat at the park.  We walked over to a sheltered area adjacent to a playground.  There were no little ones on the playground, so we got to play!


If we had told our guys we were going to take a walk, they would have complained it was "too hot."  But turn them loose on a playground and they run around like Energizer Bunnies!  LOL!  


Lots of climbing and good exercise today!


Dev's long legs had no trouble climbing this equipment!


Kacie and Kate enjoyed swinging.  The playground was a nice ending to our busy morning with the MGs.


Wednesday morning was busy, too.  Pam came with flowers from Trader Joe's and we got busy making several pretty arrangements.  Here, Pam taught Sam how to cut stems at an angle.


Devin pulled wilted leaves off the stems of these flowers.


Down in the kitchen, this crew assembled the Arc's November newsletter.  As usual, there are lots of fun events coming up, including a costume ball and a night of Disney "madness!"  Be sure to mark your selections and return the sign up sheet to Bette Faye by October 22nd!


Chris and Xavier worked on inventory for some Eaton parts that Meemaw had finished putting gaskets on.


We love how this photo shows our "busyness."  Once the newsletter assembly was finished, the guys that were working on it joined the others in the big room to help with flowers and Eaton work.


We had enough flowers to make five arrangements this week.  


Meemaw, who works on Eaton tasks for us at both AFCC and the Eaton facility, was the recipient of this lovely arrangement.  Her grandson Drew was proud to present it to her!


Liz and Alexis were happy to present a bright arrangement to Mr. Nonnemacher, the librarian.  He said we could begin shelving books again any day!  We enjoy helping him in the library!


Patti came and told us we had three weeks to prepare for "Thriller Yoga" that we will do on Halloween!  We will learn a series of moves that we'll do to the music of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" when we have yoga on October 31.  Our gang requested this and Patti is making it happen!


During this session, we were learning to be yoga zombies...


We practice many poses designed to improve our flexibility.  As you can see here, Devin pretty much has flexibility mastered!


We're working on another Halloween project:  making posters for Coach Teri's neighborhood Halloween party.  On Thursday morning we began coloring pictures to use on the posters.  We made summer cookout posters for her neighborhood earlier this year and did such a good job, we were recruited to make more.  We will put pictures of the finished products in next week's blog!


Thursday was also National Sausage Pizza Day.  We made a healthier version using pita bread for crust and turkey sausage/ lowfat cheese for toppings.  Kacie and Dev were in charge of browning the sausage.  


Liz and Alexis assembled these beautiful salads to accompany our pizza!


Yummo!  We couldn't tell that they weren't from Domino's!  Our guys said they loved them!


We did brain work after lunch.  Our topic was Native Americans.  This busy group was learning about types of homes the Native Americans had.


This group used map skills in their lesson about where different tribes lived.


This group thought the names of some of the tribes were very interesting.  They were surprised to learn of a tribe named Miami, that lived in Ohio!


We spent the end of the day on Thursday learning about Parkinson's disease as a prep for our visit to APEX Physical Therapy on Friday.  Lexi's cousin Scott specializes in treating those who are living with Parkinson's through a fitness program called Rock Steady Boxing.  We were going to participate in a sample class with him.  But the storm and winds came Thursday night, forcing us to cancel AoA on Friday.  We are going to reschedule our visit with Scott for next Friday.  😃
  
Here's what you need to know for next week:

Tuesday:  It's bowling day!  We will also have pizza for lunch, sponsored this week by a friend of Lisa's who loves what we do at the AoA.  We would also like to hide our Halloween themed rocks so if it's not raining, we will stop in CW and explore.  Wear your Arc shirts!

Wednesday:  We have visitors today from the Mariners' Museum.  They enjoyed working with us when we visited so they want to see if there is some kind of programming they could bring to us at the center.  We also have a couple of crafts to work on that we didn't get to last week.  And, it's Yoga w/ Patti day, so dress to stretch!  Lunch on your own.

Thursday:  More visitors today!  This time, Drew's dad, Andy, is bringing friends from Anheuser-Busch to meet and greet with us.  They will be volunteering at the Octoberfest on Saturday, so we're going to schmooze with them ahead of that.  Lunch will be provided by our visitors...probably pizza.  (We told them it's fine by us to have pizza twice in one week!)  Since it's also Chocolate Cupcake Day, we will prepare dessert!  

Friday:  We're planning to take our road trip to New Kent if the weather doesn't throw us any more surprises!  Wear your Arc shirts and comfy pants or shorts, and bring $10 for lunch.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20:  Join us at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery for Octoberfest!  It's going to be a lot of fun!!!  Proceeds benefite The Arc of Greater Williamsburg!  Thanks, Anheuser-Busch!



👪 Families, we are planning a Family Meeting for Thursday, November 1st.  Details are still being worked out for location, but we'll let you know very soon.   Thank you!

Enjoy the weekend,
Lisa, Carol, and Nan