We had a few celebrations going on this week, but we were engaged with other activities, too! On Tuesday we learned about Black History Month with Wisteria at the Mariners' Museum and on Wednesday we volunteered at GCOC. We assembled The Arc's March mailing on Friday and also worked at Pet Supplies Plus. But in between those more serious activities, we celebrated Mardi Gras, Valentine's Day, and Chinese New Year! It was a fun, and fairly balanced, week!
Tuesday, February 13
Our first visit to the Mariners' Museum this year found Wisteria full of interesting stories about Black Americans and their contributions to maritime history. We learned about lighthouse keepers, explorers, Civil War spies that were women, and men who served on ships in our military but whose service wasn't recognized until many years later...yet who performed heroic actions. Wisteria's stories kept us intrigued for almost 2 hours!
Willis Augustus Hodges was the first African-American lighthouse keeper. This Fresnel lens is from the Cape Charles Lighthouse, but Hodges manned a similar one at Cape Henry.
We thought it was interesting that these two sailors may have just had a snowball fight since their jackets were covered with snow!
She didn't have a picture of him, but Wisteria told us about Carl Brashear, who became the first African-American master diver in the U.S. Navy in 1970, even though his left leg had been amputated below the knee a few years earlier due to an onboard accident.
We also learned that the Mariners' Museum was built in 1930 and now, over 90 years later, it is undergoing a lot of renovations. Several galleries are being updated with fresh paint and improved ventilation systems, and soon, pieces from the museum's vast collection that have been in storage for years will be on display. We look forward to watching the progress as these galleries are finished. Thank you, Wisteria, for this informative tour of the museum today, and for all of the interesting stories you shared with us for Black History Month. We enjoy visiting because your stories are always so cool!
After our history lesson this morning, we were ready to party this afternoon! Today was Mardi Gras and we had gotten a great lesson from Mike at the Watermen's Museum last week about the Carnival season. Today, we watched a video about the popular events that take place in New Orleans each year, and also learned about the history of King Cakes!
Our friend Moose Patti (of WOTM Annual Golf Tournament fame!) had a King Cake sent to us all the way from Caluda's Bakery in New Orleans, thanks to her father who lives there! Patti did the same thing last year, but was also able to join our party and even cooked homemade gumbo for us. Patti wasn't able to join us this year, and we missed her!
Some of our masked friends decorated the King Cake!
One of the King Cake slices has the baby hidden inside...
Kevin had the baby in his slice! That means luck and prosperity will come to Kevin this year!!
Here's a throwback picture of Patti from last year. We know she was here with us in spirit today! 💜💛💚 Thank you for the delicious King Cake, Patti. We really appreciate you arranging for your dad to have it shipped from New Orleans to Williamsburg! If you were a cake, you would be a King (well, Queen) Cake because you are as sweet and beautiful as any King Cake there ever was! Thanks for your enduring support of the Arc of Abilities AND The Arc of Greater Williamsburg! 💜💛💚
Wednesday, February 14 💘💘💘
It was a very happy Valentine's Day at the Arc of Abilities today! We celebrated our many friendships all day long. But before we could have too much fun, we had some responsibilities!
Beka, Lexi, Laura, Kate, and Liz handled book shelving in the JRES Library.
Half of us went to Grove Christian Outreach Center to volunteer but unfortuantely, the USDA food delivery was delayed, and there wasn't too much for us to do. Ally, our sweet buddy at GCOC, gave us Valentine cookies! Yum! Thanks, Ally!
There were several rolls of toilet tissue that needed to be bagged and tied. We taught Mallory how to do it! 😉 After that, we hung around about 20 minutes but the food delivery truck still had not arrived, so we returned to our center. It's unusual for it to be delayed, but we understood!
Meanwhile, back at the center, lunch preparations were underway!
Nan and Liz gave the hot dogs a good "grilling" before passing them on to the assembly crew.
Kate, Devin, Tessa, and Emma worked with Carol to get our "Pigs in a Blanket" ready for the oven.
Laura, Bryan, and Kevin were part of our decorating crew.
Thank you, Laura and family, for these beautiful paper products!
Our bags were ready to be decorated and then filled with Valentines!
We squeezed in a Bingo game!
Tracy arrived to join us for the party, and also to share with us that she is partnering with other area Parks and Recreation Departments to sponsor a "Neon Nights" Dance Party in April. Everyone was given a flyer to bring home today!
Sounds like fun! Click on this picture for a link to the registration page.
We got a "pupdate" on Pip! She's improving by the day and is bearing more weight on her repaired leg now! Indy enjoys visiting her in the pen at Caroline's house that is designed to keep Pip from being tempted to run around and jump on the couch! We're happy to hear this good news!
Valentine's Day lunch! 😋
After lunch we had a blast exchanging Valentines with our friends! Many thanks to our AwEsOmE families for sending in so many fun treats. Our gang was very happy this afternoon, and it was a joy to experience their friendship love! 💓💖💗💘💞💝
We 💖 our custodians Sevarina, Heike, and Luis!
We're putting this photo in again, even though it's at the top of the blog, because we love it so much and our guys just look so fabulous! Happy Valentine's Day to one and all! 💕💕💕
Thursday, February 15
Today we celebrated the Chinese/Lunar New Year with another one of our favorite traditions: Chinese take out for lunch. The Lunar New Year began on February 10 and lasts for about 15 days, so we're good! We began our day with a showing of Disney's Mulan. What a great movie! Thanks, Michelle, for letting us borrow your copy of the DVD!
This is our version of a movie theater! Popcorn was served shortly after this photo was snapped! 🍿🎥
After movie movement...maybe a video would have shown it better!
2024 is the Year of the Dragon!
Lunch was great! A number of us took leftovers home, too. We ordered 20 take out meals from Hong Kong on Merrimac Trail and every order was correct. We recommend them!
Fortune cookies are tasty, and they came with our meals. But we were reminded that they are not a Chinese product, and are not served in restaurants in China. They were created in America and based loosely on a Japanese thing called a "Fortune Cracker."
Fortune cookies are fun, no matter where they come from, and we enjoyed reading our fortunes to each other!
We worked on preparing books for discard from the school library after lunch.
There was some Eaton work to do, too.
The last thing we did today was make birthday cards for our favorite custodian, Heike! Her birthday is Saturday. She said she always looks forward to our cards each year!
Friday, February 16
We had more work to do today! One crew went to Pet Supplies Plus, where Bryan and Emma had their first experience working with us there. We also had Intern Mallory with us today. They all did a great job!
When they first arrived, Emma, Bryan, and Mallory headed to the back of the store to check out the animals. They were so excited but knew we also had to get some work done!
Sam helped show Bryan how we stock the shelves with products. It takes an eye for detail!
Alexis did the same thing with Emma! Bryan is helping here, too!
Our crew wants to let everyone know there are some adorable kittens looking for a new home!
It was great to see Brittany, Roxanne, and Scott in the store today! For our new readers, Roxanne and Scott are Devin's parents, and they are the store owners. Many thanks to them, as well as Brittany and the other PSP team members, for welcoming us and working with us at PSP. It's a great vocational experience!
Meanwhile, the crew that remained at the center was busy preparing The Arc's March mailing (be sure to sign up before the deadline), and helping to organize some of our supplies.
We also had an unannounced lockdown drill and we did a great job!
Mallory filled in for a couple of friends who were absent. She said it was her first time ever playing corn hole, and she SWISHED her second toss right into the hole! Turns out, she used to play softball so she knows a thing or two about underhand pitching!
The Jamestown Guard were victorious today, 13-9! Congrats to them!
Yoga is a quiet and relaxing way to end the week, although with Jaime, it can be more active than typical yoga. Today's segment on the Lunar New Year had us moving up and down in lots of animal poses as she told the story of how the Chinese Zodiac came to be.
This is not an animal pose, but it's one of our favorites. Drew was answering the telephone!
After yoga, our week was a wrap! Now, on to what's up for next week:
Tuesday: It's time to visit Christina at The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg. We will be at the center in the morning for a Presidents Day lesson and to catch up on some tasks from last week that we didn't finish. We'll head to see Christina after lunch. Please wear Arc shirts (if you have one). Lunch on your own. JRES Cafeteria is available for Taco Tuesday or Pizza.
Wednesday: Our therapy dog friends visit today! We hear there will be a guest joining them and it's someone from our past?!?! Sounds exciting! We'll also do preparations for tomorrow's luncheon. Lunch on your own. JRES Cafeteria is available for Cheesy Pasta Supreme or Sub of the Day.
Thursday: Today we are celebrating our partnership with the master gardeners. They are giving us a gift in the form of a raised bed that we will place in the Grove Community Garden. We will work with the MGs and the community garden coordinator, Terrilynn, to grow herbs in our raised bed! We're welcoming our MG friends and Terrilynn for a planning session and lunch today! Turkey Chili with Sweet Potato Biscuits for lunch.
Friday: It's time for an Eaton Work Day, so please wear Eaton shirts (if you have one) and bring a bagged lunch. We will plan to take a walk after our work day if the weather is nice!
Have a great weekend,
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
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