3 Amazing Years!

This week we are celebrating 3 amazing years of the Arc of Abilities, which began on March 16, 2016.  It has gone by quickly and we have accomplished so much.  We began with a group of 11 and soon we had grown to 17!  

Then... 

Here are most of us now, including Chris and Devin, but missing Kate.  It's a challenge to get a group shot that includes everyone. 😔

With Chris having moved to Florida, and Devin about to relocate to Arizona, we will be at 15, but we know we'll grow again when the time is right.  

We have much to be thankful for, and our gratitude extends to many who help keep us going!

 We're grateful to JCC Parks & Rec for the use of the AFCC, as well as the vans, and for all the support they continue to give The Arc of Greater Williamsburg and our AoA!  In conjunction with Parks & Rec, is James River Elementary School and its fantastic staff, for whom we are also grateful. What a wonderful partnership we have with these community friends!

We are also very grateful for the support of our AoA families and friends.  Through the many donations of your time, supplies, equipment, encouragement, and experiences, we have been able to give our associates a stimulating and enriching program on a daily basis.  We cannot thank you enough!

Our volunteers are the absolute BEST!  We are incredibly blessed by our regulars, Meemaw, Becky, and Pam W., and don't take for granted the ones who come into our lives for a day here or there.  They contribute invaluable support to our program.  Thank you to our beloved volunteers!

The Arc of Abilities would not be where we are today were it not for The Arc of Greater Williamsburg and its executive director, Pam McGregor, and its fantastic board of directors.  We are thankful for their guidance and support!

We're also thankful for another wonderful week together.  Here's what we were up to during our Anniversary Week!

It was off to bowling on Tuesday and we welcomed the volunteer support of a new, but "old" friend, Melinda.  She has been supporting us behind the scenes in various ways, including helping us acquire our refrigerator, and sponsoring pizza lunches, but we had never met her in person.  Today, she was off from work, and came to meet and help us!   That's her, along with a few of her newest pals, watching Dev take a turn.  We impressed her with our bowling skills!!

Kacie and Kate found themselves bowling at the same time, and they got the same results!  They gave it a good try, but both missed picking up that one lonely pin on their next roll.  It was ok, though.  They both had a few strikes today!

Speaking of strikes, we never get tired of seeing the joy on the faces of our friends when they get one.  This time it was Liz!

Looks like our pizza lunch was a big hit!  All that was left were the empty trays!  Thank you to Kevin's family for sponsoring today's pizza.  We are very appreciative of your generosity!

Cheers to these two who have been friends since their early days at Child Development Resources back in the 90s!  Drew and Devin were today's high scorers with 124 and 125 respectively!

It was a gorgeous day for a walk.  We couldn't get to Freedom Park to check on the garden or walk there because an accident on Longhill Road had stopped traffic.  We went to the Rec Center instead and walked all the way to the baseball stadium and back!

We don't all walk at the same pace, but we all made it!  Yay, US!

We also had the playground to ourselves!

Chloe enjoyed the fresh air and the spinning tire swing.

Thanks, Dev, for giving your friends a huge push! 

Here we are with Melinda, in one of our best group pics in a while! (We're missing Bo in this one, but there's Kate in the pink jacket!)  Thanks for hanging with us, Melinda.  Your help was appreciated and we really enjoyed getting to know you!  Please come back anytime!

We had a fun Wednesday that included a big surprise!  First, we had to get a couple of things done in the morning.  We put together the April newsletter for The Arc, so be sure to check the dates!  Maybe you'll want to sign up for Arts and Crafts?  Or how about the Basketball Clinic?  Maybe the Mad Hatters Tea Party?  There are lots of fun events to choose from, so fill out your sign up sheet and return it to Bette Faye by the deadline date!

We also had to send a crew to shelve books in the JRES Library.  From the smiles on their faces, it appears Liz, Bo, and Chloe enjoy this job!

Tuesday was National Plant a Flower Day, so we decided to try growing some cosmos flowers from seed in these little pots.  Cameron carefully placed the seeds. 

We hope to either take them home or find a place around the AFCC to plant them once the risk of frost is over around the middle of April.

According to our research, cosmos are ridiculously easy to grow.

We have a beautiful sunny spot for them...

...and we're expecting great things!

Finally, it was after lunch and time for our big surprise!  (We had to cancel yoga for this, but Patti didn't mind because she knew we were going to love it.)  March 13 is National K9 Veterans Day, and earlier in the day we learned about the history of K9s in the United States.  Our guys love dogs...so they were very interested in learning about K9s.

  

But they were more interested in meeting one!  Our surprise was that the K9 Unit from the York-Poquoson Sheriff's Department was coming to give us a demonstration!  First, Deputy Schultz and Lt. Ward came in and told us all about how the York-Poquoson Sherrif's Department acquired a K9, how the training took place, and lots of other fun and interesting facts.

Next, we went outside and lined up along the building...yes, the officers told us to get in a "line up!"  Deputy Schultz then hid a box cutter in the grass so we could watch Saber track it. Finally, it was time to see Saber.

As soon as he was out of the vehicle, Deputy Schultz gave Saber a command to track the "fresh human scent" and find the weapon (box cutter).  Saber was very alert as he sniffed around the area until he found the box cutter.

Upon finding the weapon, Saber went down in front of it.  Deputy Schultz said Saber is rewarded by getting to chew on his favorite thing, a KONG.  He also gets a lot of praise. 

The next demo was of Saber "biting" which is what he is trained to do if a suspect won't cooperate.  Lt. Ward agreed to be the suspect, and he put a protective sleeve over his arm.  When Deputy Schultz gave the command, Saber went for it!  A picture is good but...

A video clip is better!

Wow!  That was so exciting.  After Saber did his "work," he was allowed to stand down and relax.  At this point, we were able to pet him.

Saber was born in the Czech Republic (which is where some of the best K9s in the world come from), and is almost 2 years old.  He's been with the York-Poquoson Department since December.  Deputy Schultz said it took 15 weeks to train Saber, at a facility in North Carolina.  He spent 4 of those weeks in training with Saber.

Here's where Saber rides in the patrol vehicle.  It is much more spacious than it looks in this picture.

Our visit with Deputy Schultz, Lt. Ward, and Officer Saber (yes, he's a full-fledged officer in the department!), was so much fun!  We can't thank the York-Poquoson Sheriff's Department enough for sharing this time with us.  And, we're also grateful to Officer Lesa Barnett, our friend from the JCC Police Department, who connected us with Deputy Schultz.  (FYI:  Neither the Williamsburg nor the James City County Police Departments employ K9 officers at this time.)

On Thursday we had a visit from a delightful young man named Abraham, who came with his mom to learn more about our AoA day support program.  He recently moved to Williamsburg from Hampton, where he graduated from high school last year.  He's going to be back next Wednesday for a trial day.  Looks like he's already made some new friends, and they have, too!

It was Learn About Butterflies Day on Thursday, so after our lesson on these beautiful insects, we made a 3D craft that looks very pretty in our windows!

Almost as pretty a real ones...and how about the one that can fly upside down?! 

Kevin and Devin gathered supplies needed to finish a cute flying unicorn project. The pipe cleaners would become a rainbow.  Laura can be seen at the table working on a pot of gold decoration.

Drew wanted to give Cameron his pot of gold.  Our guys are generous! 😜

Here's another picture of the butterflies, and the flying unicorn with the rainbow in the background.  

Excuse this additional picture, but we worked on these for two days, so we want to show them off!

What's this?  Looks like March Madness has found it's way into the AoA!  We couldn't bring ourselves to make them turn off the UVA vs NC State quarterfinal game in the ACC Tournament.  The Cavaliers prevailed, and even those who aren't Virginia fans were pulling for them, because it's their friend Liz's team! 💛🏀

We have missed Mr. Howard since he took on a new position and isn't always around our halls.  When Devin saw him pop in to say hi, he jumped up to give him a big hug!  Mr. Howard joined us in our bittersweet sadness to be losing another one of our dear friends. 

It was after hours "work" for this crew!  Drew, Dev, Alexis, and Annmarie represented The Arc at a meeting of WAAR - Williamsburg Area Association of Realtors.  They networked with WAAR members and spoke about their love for The Arc and the AoA.  They did a great job, too!  WAAR chose The Arc to be one of their community outreach projects for this year!  Thank you to Annmarie's mom, who is an agent with Long & Foster, for her part in encouraging WAAR to choose us!

Way to go, Alexis!  You made everyone smile by telling them how much you enjoy the educational activities we do at the AoA!

Great job, Dev!  You brought the smiles with your sincere story of moving here from Pennsylvania and making lots of new friends!

When we came in on Friday morning, we were greeted by the first bulb to bloom in our containers we planted with the master gardeners back in September.  What a pretty daffodil!  There is another almost ready to bloom, and several tulips and hyacinths that are growing beautifully, too!

For our combined St. Patrick's Day and 3rd anniversary celebration, we baked Blarney Stone cookies, which we first made on the second day of our program when it began in 2016.  Alexis and Annmarie measured flour.

Kacie prepared to cream butter with the brown sugar Dev and Alexis measured. 

Drew picked up a spatula with a bit of dough

 on it and took it around so his friends could smell the goodness.  He looks so serious here, but after everyone got a whiff of the batter, Drew proceeded to toss the spatula into the trash can!

Sam, Laura, Patrick, and Devin patted the dough into little cookies and Bo arranged them on the Pizza Pizzazz cooking tray.  We mentioned last week that we used the Pizzazz when our program began and it was the only "appliance" we had!  It works for pizzas AND cookies!

Kevin was great at cleaning up spilled flour!  Look at him using his whole hand to move the wipe across the table.  He didn't wipe any flour on the floor either! 

Our Blarney Stone cookies tasted great, and will always be one of our favorites.  We didn't eat them today, because we ended up having Shamrock Shakes (more on that later).  So we sent everyone home with a bag of cookies to enjoy later.  Happy Anniversary to us!  

By the time we danced, had a lesson on St. Patrick's Day, made some special cards for an upcoming birthday, and baked our cookies, the morning was getting away from us.  We had to hustle to get our Swedish meatballs and green beans ready for lunch, and we didn't get pictures of our cooking in progress.  In the end, all that mattered is that we had lunch on the table by 12:15!  Here, a couple of hungry Irishmen (for a day) were very happy with our final product!  Happy Meatball Day, one week late!

This week we were given another electric skillet, which we could really use.  Liz's family wanted to honor us with an anniversary gift, and we are extremely grateful.  Our numbers have grown in the past year, so along with the skillet Lexi's Gdad recently gave us, we can now prepare hot meals more conveniently.  Thank you, Kline family, for this timely gift.  It will be used often and we're sure it will yield some tasty results! 

After using this skillet just once, we would already give it  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐!  It's a perfect size, the handles fold away to make for easy storage, and it has a built-in spout which makes for easy pouring from the pan!  We had a few leftovers so this feature came in handy!

We had lots of leftover meatballs because we were being treated to Shamrock Shakes for dessert by Dev B.'s family, and we wanted to save room!  This was a fun and yummy surprise and we wish to thank Dev's dad, Scott, pictured here with us, for the special delivery!  It sure was our lucky day!

With temps in the 70s, we definitely had to get moving outside.  We took a walk to the JRES outdoor classroom after enjoying the milkshakes.  When we got to the wooded trail, we discovered that the winter weather had caused lots of branches, mostly small but some big, to have fallen all over the place.  Here, Alexis helps Devin navigate over a large branch.

It felt good to stretch our legs.

We hung out in the outdoor classroom for a while and played a game we called Memory A-Z.  We thought of as many things as we could that began with each letter of the alphabet and reminded us of fun times we've had in our 3 years together.

When we got to the letter "E," the first thing everyone shouted was "Elizabeth!"  She was one of our charter AoA members, but was not able to be with us for our celebration day because she lost her beloved grandfather this week.  Please keep Liz and her family in your thoughts as they come together this weekend to remember him. 💙

We're going to continue in celebration mode next week!  Here's what we'll be up to:

Tuesday:  We're still celebrating our 3 years of the AoA with a special trip to the Virginia Air and Space Museum in Hampton!  We applied for a scholarship, so our admission is covered (including the IMAX film), but please bring $10 for lunch.  We have pre-ordered box lunches so everything will be ready for us.  Don't forget to wear your Arc shirt!  ***NOTE:  This trip is a little farther than we typically travel, and there is a lot to see and do once we arrive.  Therefore, we plan to depart from AFCC at 8:45!  Nearly everyone is usually here by then, so it shouldn't be a problem, but please make a point to arrive "early" on Tuesday!  THANK YOU!***

Wednesday:  It's Computer Lab Day, so we'll welcome a Rotary volunteer to work with us on technology.  We'll welcome our new friend, Abraham, for a day-long visit, as he's a potential new member of our team.  It's also the first day of SPRING, so we will have activities to celebrate its arrival!  Patti will be here for yoga, too, so dress to stretch.  Lunch on your own.

Thursday: 🎂🎈 Happy Birthday to our volunteer, Meemaw, aka, Nancy, who helps us every Tuesday!  Her favorite thing to do is work at Eaton, especially when she can use the power tools!  We probably won't see her today, but we wish her a wonderful day!! 🎂 🎈 Today is Countdown Day, so we will countdown to some upcoming fun events, and use this as a day to practice calendar skills.  It's also World Down Syndrome Day, so we will incorporate that into our educational activities.  Lunch on your own.

Thursday Evening:  We're looking forward to our Family Dinner Meeting at Legacy Hall in New Town at 6 p.m.  We'll enjoy lasagna, ziti, and salad, plus desserts homemade by our very own associates!  The address is 4301 New Town Avenue.  Parking is available on the street and should be plentiful, but the lot across the street (behind Regal Theater) is also available.  

Friday:  It's finally here, Goof Off Day 2019!  We can't say for sure what we'll be doing the whole day, as we're going to seek input from the associates themselves as the week progresses... But one thing we know for sure is it's Devin T.'s last day with us 😥, so we will highlight him and give him the send-off he deserves!  (Shall we mention he will LOVE Goof Off Day?!  Just sayin' 😜!  Lunch on your own, but Frosties from Wendy's for dessert, in honor of our Mr. Happy, Devin!  We're going to miss his jolly spirit.

Enjoy the weekend,

Lisa, Carol, and Nan