Our Beloved Meemaw
We begin this week's story with the sad news that Drew's grandmother, and our beloved and dedicated volunteer, Meemaw, passed away peacefully on Thursday evening, surrounded by her loving family. She was Drew's (and Alex's and Kyle's) Meemaw first, and she was fiercely devoted to them, but when she came into our lives at the Arc of Abilities, she graciously became everyone's "Meemaw" each time she visited. Some of us didn't even know she had a regular name, Nancy.
As soon as we began doing work for Eaton in April of 2016, Meemaw began volunteering, coming to the center regularly to help us stay on top of the gasketing work. Her favorite place to set up her station was in the foyer, so as not to "disturb" us. (But in reality, she didn't want us disturbing her!) Meemaw was retired from the manufacturing industry, and helping us with assembly was right up her alley!
When we transitioned to working onsite at Eaton, Meemaw was right there with us, rarely missing a work day, and even cutting breakfast gatherings with her friends a bit short if it was an Eaton day! If there was work left over at the end of the day, and it was transportable, she insisted on taking it home. Meemaw liked to stay busy, and we were happy to help!
Meemaw had a stellar work ethic, and never met a pallet jack or power tool she didn't love!
She set an inspiring example for our "youngsters" and we loved working alongside of her. There was no slacking with Meemaw, but we didn't mind stepping up at all. We like to think we made her proud! 👍👍
Thank you for the love, support, and memories, Meemaw. Not just with the Eaton work, but for all the times you slipped us money for pizzas at bowling or Frosties from Wendy's. Thank you for your sense of humor and for how much you loved your grandson, Drew. He was extra happy whenever you came around! We know you are at peace now, but probably not resting. We bet you are already organizing a work crew in Heaven! We adored you, Meemaw. 💜💛💚
We set a record this week! Our schedule found us traveling not one or two, but all four days this week! In the past, Tuesdays have been our usual travel day, but over the years, as we've added Eaton work days and experiences with amazing new partners, we find ourselves on the road more often. This week, dates with destiny fell into place we were out and about all four days. Here's how it went down during a very engaging week!
Tuesday
First of all, we welcomed Carol back from her fabulous trip to Mexico! We thanked her for sharing many beautiful pictures with us while she was gone. We really enjoyed traveling vicariously with her! She told us about her trip and then let everyone choose a seashell from a collection she had gathered at the Sea of Cortez. She also gave us a couple of photos taken on her trip, and told us to imagine we were enjoying the sights on the beautiful Baja Peninsula. Thank you, Carol, for thinking of us and for the special mementos! We are glad you had a wonderful time. Welcome back!
We cranked out The Arc's May mailing before leaving this morning. This is an important one as it contains your Annual Membership and Donation Form. Make sure you update your membership status, and please consider making an additional donation to support our dedicated Arc of Greater Williamsburg. We are proud to serve adults living with the challenges of developmental disabilities, and we have been doing so since 1976! Thank you for your support!
Next, it was off to the Williamsburg Botanical Garden (WBG) at Freedom Park to kick off our spring sessions with the stellar master gardeners! We look forward to our sessions with them each spring and fall, as we have become good friends over the years. It was drizzling when we arrived, but not long after, Karen, Barb, Carolyn, Joanne, Rick, Rich, Jay, Angela, and Vickie had channeled the sunshine and we were rolling!
We harvested green onions with Rick!
Drew pulled up some beautiful carrots...just in time for the Easter Bunny! (If we save him any after we snack on them this week!)
With Joanne looking on, Elizabeth and Erik assisted Jay in planting radishes.
We had great mini- lessons today. Here, Angela gave us interesting information about the Herb of the Day, chives. She showed us garlic chives, which have thicker leaves, produce white flowers, and taste very savory, according to Angela. She also showed us common chives, which have thinner leaves and will produce lovely purple flowers. Angela gave us several recipes we can use after future visits to the garden when we can harvest chives, and she gave us chive dip and crackers which we will have for a snack at Eaton tomorrow! YUM, and thank you, Angela!
Jay, our MG friend who also interprets at Jamestown Settlement (and gave us our tour back in January), shared information about radishes and said they will grow pretty quickly. He also showed us a type of white radish which was grown over 400 years ago in Jamestown, and told us about a black radish they used to grow there, too!
Krafty Karen showed us how to make a plant pot out of newspaper! We didn't have time for everyone to make them today, so she had made one for each of us ahead of time. We planted marigold seeds in them and will watch them germinate and grow back at the center. Thank you, Karen! What a fun idea! We really appreciate the things you do ahead of time, at home, to make our lessons more enjoyable.
Karen also brought several items for us to place in the fairy garden. It is such a pretty presence in the garden, and with spring weather, the succulents are starting to fill in nicely. We highly recommend a trip to the WBG, and especially the therapy and fairy garden areas, which is where we work!
We ate lunch at the park, not thinking ahead that pollen on the tables could be an issue! Luckily, the little shower we had washed enough away that we were able to eat, but we will bring lots of wipes for our picnic in Yorktown on Thursday!
From the park, we made our way to a shopping trip! Thank you, AoA families, for your generous donations toward our purchase of items for the car show auction baskets!
We were able to provide items for 4 auction baskets! It was fun doing the shopping, too!
Wednesday
We're so proud of the work we accomplish at Eaton Corporation!
Today mainly consisted of unpacking parts and putting them in storage bins, but with our friends by our side and the music playing in the background, we find it quite enjoyable. Laura, Michelle, and kiss-blowing Annmarie made sure the parts they removed from the packages didn't get mixed into the wrong bins!
Kate and Abraham worked together to remove just one piece out of their bags, and discard the rest. It didn't take them long to fill this small bin!
Teammates Liz and Erik clipped the small part off of these larger plates today. They are smiling big because that large bin is almost empty, thanks to their efficient work! (This was a job Erik started with Cameron last week.)
This merry foursome of Devin T., Drew, Alexis, and Nan were unpacking electric receptacles today. At first, they packed 40 into each bin, but later, they had to pack only 10 into boxes. Couldn't trick them!
Oh no! Here are Kevin and Sam doing a 3 man sorting job! Where's Devin B.? We didn't realize he wasn't in our working picture, but he was as on task today as anyone. Maybe he was assisting Carol at the moment this photo was taken. Meanwhile, great job on the sorting, Kevin and Sam!
Thursday
We welcomed Adia to visit with us today. Turns out, she loves museums, so this was a great day for her to join us! When she first arrived, Alexis was applying gaskets on Eaton parts, and we decided to let Adia try it. She nailed it!
Mike had an interesting lesson for us today. He taught us about the importance of rope in sailing, and we got to try our hands at making it! It was a beautiful day to be outside at The Watermen's Museum.
Mike said rope in Colonial times was often made from flax, as was linen. We already knew from our visit to Jamestown that twisting plant fibers together would make them stronger. Mike said fibers have a "memory" that enables them to stay twisted, and strong. Abraham and Alexis were twisting two strands in one direction while Mike twisted in the other, and they made a strong piece of rope!
Mike showed us this "machine" that made twisting longer pieces of fibers easier. He said using this type of machine dated back to medieval times. There is a crank that is turned by hand to twist the fibers once they are set up, as Mike is doing here.
Several of the guys took turns at the crank, and once we got it going it went pretty fast. Here, Adia was using a piece of wood to keep the fibers spaced apart so they wouldn't tangle, while Michelle turned the crank. We ended up with a piece of rope about 8 feet long!
Next, we went to the carriage house for the crafty part of today's fun with Mike. Last month we made pop art with popsicle wrappers. This month, he had an idea to make a pizza mobile pop art piece. Annmarie and Kevin got busy decorating their "slices" of pizza.
There were lots of laughs and applause when Mike pretended to be the delivery guy who dropped the pizza! Our master"pieces" fell only so far out of the box, and didn't hit the ground! Mike froze in this position and it was very cool to imagine he was part of the sculpture. Thanks, Mike! We always have such a fun time with you!
Despite the pollen, we braved the outside again today and enjoyed our picnic lunch on the banks of the York River. Perhaps because it's breezier here than at Freedom Park, or maybe because we came armed with Clorox wipes, but the pollen wasn't too bad on these tables!
We recently received a donation from a generous supporter, who wishes to remain anonymous, but wanted us to enjoy a fun treat. While still at Yorktown, we stopped at Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop, only to find out that a single scoop of ice cream in a cup would be $8.01 after tax! While we're certain their ice cream is tasty, we couldn't bring ourselves to splurge quite that much, so everyone agreed to a Frosty stop at Wendy's instead! NO ONE complained! We just love these guys and their easy-going nature...and common sense!
Friday
Before heading to Pet Supplies Plus, Devin wanted to make sure everyone saw where we hung our pizza mobile that we made with Mike at The Watermen's Museum yesterday. It looks great hanging from the ceiling near the puzzle shelf!
Next thing he knew, Devin, along with Erik, was stocking the shelves at Pet Supplies Plus! It had been a couple of weeks since we last had a work day there, and the team was stoked to help.
Looks like Kate was determined to get that bag of cat food on the shelf. Kate - 1; Cat Food - 0.
Great job getting the cat treats on the high shelf, Kevin!
Our team was happy to see that Roxanne (Devin's mom) was able to join them at PSP today. She is often at the other store, located in Chesapeake. We hear she approved of our work! Of course, it was great to work with Scott (Devin's dad), as usual, and thanks to Tracy and interns Madison and Karryna for pitching in, too!
There was plenty of work getting done back at the AFCC! This team filled the bird feeders. We're cautiously optimistic that the birds are coming back...they gobbled up a good amount of food this week!
Several of our friends were absent today, and once the PSP Crew left, we were down to a Cooking Crew of just 6. We got busy preparing chicken casseroles and peach cobblers for us and Becky's family. Both of our recipes called for melted butter, so Devin and Drew had their hands full running the microwave!
Liz and Annmarie worked together to double the peach cobbler recipe. By the way, our Annmarie has a lovely smile, but was so focused on her task that this picture highlights her lovely haircut. 💁
After lunch we went to visit Becky, our volunteer who recently fell and broke her leg. Becky has volunteered with us since 2016, but the Covid pandemic put a stop to that, and we miss her! Knowing a visit and home-cooked meal would brighten her day, we showed up with a "Happy Birthday" message, too. Her special day was Wednesday!
Everyone was all smiles as we introduced her to Erik, re-introduced her to Devin T., and filled her in on everything that's been going on in our lives. She was saddened when we shared the news of Meemaw's passing, as she, Meemaw, and Nan loved being the "senior staff" when working with us at Eaton. Becky joins us in sending our heartfelt condolences to Meemaw's family.
It was comforting for us all to visit with Becky and share memories of our time with her, as well as our time with Meemaw. We love the common bonds we've all shared through the years.
Here is what next week looks like for the AoA:
Tuesday: We'll be hanging around the center this morning for the first time in a while! Our lesson will center on backyard birds to help prep us for our visit with Christina at The Art Museums of CW, where we will head after lunch. Adia will join us for her second "trial" day. Please wear Arc shirts, and lunch will be on your own. JRES Cafeteria is available and offering Burrito w/ Salsa or Pizza. 😋
Wednesday: We are going to Eaton for a work day and to celebrate Jorie's birthday, which is April 17th. We planned to celebrate her last week, but she had to be away, so we rescheduled! Please wear your Eaton shirts and bring a bagged lunch...birthday cupcakes for dessert!
Thursday: We're in for a fun treat today! National Pretzel Day is April 26th but with our busy schedule, we need to celebrate today. Laura's parents, Lisa and Tom, are joining us as "Homemade Pretzel Consultants" and will teach us how to make our own! Thanks, Lisa and Tom! We can't wait! 🥨🥨🥨 We'll also finally have time to "celebrate" Unicorn Day, which kept getting postponed, but is popular and needs to be observed! We're going to prepare Chicken Caesar Salad to accompany our pretzels for lunch, too!
Friday: It's Kate's birthday today and we're in for another special event! Her friend, Sandra, who is a native of Colombia, is preparing Colombian food for us! Lunch will consist of fried plantains, empanadas, pork, and rice with garlic and onions. Sounds scrumptious! Thank you, Sandra. We look forward to this experience! Prior to lunch, we'll have a lesson about the country of Colombia so we will be able to impress Sandra with our knowledge! It's also Friday, so dress to stretch for yoga.
Saturday, April 23: Join us between 9-2 for the British Car Show, benefitting The Arc of Greater Williamsburg, at High Street. You can check out the wonderful Mother's Day and Father's Day auction baskets we created with YOUR generous support, as well as a pet-themed goody bag donated by Pet Supplies Plus! You could even bid on them...
We hope you enjoy the weekend.
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
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