Monday morning arrived and so did we! Thanksgiving week finds us "trading" Wednesday for Monday so we have a two day week, and enjoy Wednesday-Friday for the holiday. It's the only Monday of the year for us, and it's always fun to "feel funny" about coming on a day we are usually closed! It didn't take long to get into our groove, though, and we enjoyed a delightful fall day outside in the cool sunshine. On Tuesday, our second day this week, we stayed at the center and started preparing our room for December, which will be here when we return next week! Here's a short, but sweet, highlight of our two-day week.
Tuesday
We welcomed Carol back from her trip to Utah last week where she got to do a bit of sightseeing and also attend her older brother's wedding. She had a wonderful time in the Salt Lake City area, and we enjoyed hearing about it and looking at her photos. Besides the wedding, a highlight was visiting the Utah Olympic Park, which hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics and will host again in 2034. Thanks for sharing, Carol. We are glad you had a great time visiting a beautiful state and spending time with lots of family members!
The Christopher Wren building is undergoing renovations, so we couldn't get up close, but behind it, we found ourselves at the entrance to the Sunken Garden. It's the sight of many fond memories of Arc Spring Carnivals for our guys!
W&M students were missing from campus as they were on Thanksgiving Break, so we walked across an empty and quiet Sunken Garden.
Soon we came across this guy who was looking toward a building named for himself. It's James Blair, who was the founder and first president of the college from 1693 until his death in 1743. Next, we headed to the other side of James Blair Hall to check out a "secret spot" on campus.
On the west side of the building is the Tyler Family Garden which was dedicated in 2004 to recognize the legacy of the Tyler family, which included our 10th president, John Tyler. That was interesting, but the fun part of this spot was standing in front of the Tyler family busts and shouting at the building wall. It's called the "Echo Wall" and if you stand at just the right spot and say something loudly enough, you will get an unexpected echo!
One the way to the Crim Dell Meadow, we noticed a ginkgo tree, an ancient tree species and the only one in the world with leaves in the shape of a fan. At the Crim Dell Bridge we learned that campus lore says if you hold hands walking across, you will be lifelong friends...and if you kiss the person you are holding hands with, you will be lifelong loves! Then we noticed lots of locks attached to the bridge railing, many engraved with the names of what we hope are lifelong loves! 💕 By now, our tummies were growling so we headed back to the vans, having enjoyed our campus walk!
Our lunch spot was Freedom Park.
After eating, we walked to the garden where we saw that our fall plants are thriving. We were excited to see small amounts of broccoli, so we left it in hopes that it will get bigger by the next time we check. We also harvested lettuce, mesclun greens, and Swiss chard so we can make salad for tomorrow's lunch!
Our final stop on this fun day was at APEX-PT and Movement Center to collect donations for the food drive! Kelly, Scott, Bret, and the entire APEX team, along with patients and Rock Steady boxers, collected another 161 pounds of nonperishable foods that we delivered to Grove Christian Outreach Center, for a grand total collected by Arc of Abilities of 626 pounds since early November! Thank you, APEX-PT, for designating your collections to The Arc's Fall Food Drive! We are thankful for your support!
As we loaded the APEX donations, we got to say "hi" to Bret, one of the physical therapists, who is also Devin's uncle. Scott was working with a patient, so we didn't get a picture, but he gave us a quick "hello" when we arrived.
We got this shot with Kelly once the van was loaded. Thanks for coordinating another successful collection, Kelly! What a great day that ended with such a generous donation for the food drive!
Tuesday
After our dance warm up this morning, we played a couple of Thanksgiving themed games. In the first one, we tried to avoid selecting the hiding place of Tom Turkey, and in the second one, we answered random questions like "Are you wearing anything orange?" and "Have you thanked someone today?" in order to see who would be first to color in all the turkey feathers on their game card. Lots of laughter ensued!
We spent the rest of the morning preparing our lunch!
Laura and Annmarie were on it from start to finish to prepare the spaghetti squash!
Our side dishes of salad (with greens harvested from the garden), grapes, and garlic bread were prepared by Michelle, Alexis, Erik, Kevin, Abraham, Devin, Kate, and Gail.
Thomas and Bryan marinated and then sauteed the chicken pieces.
Thanks to Patrick, Xavier, and Liz we had brownies for dessert!
Lunch came together nicely! We had red sauce and basil pesto to add to the spaghetti squash and most of the guys chose both. We added a little bit of chicken for protein, and grapes for a burst of refreshing fruit The fresh salad with lettuce, Swiss chard, and mesclun that we picked at the garden yesterday and crisp garlic bread rounded out our meal. 😋
After Choice Time we selected our names for the Secret Santa gift exchange. It is Gail's first Christmas with us and she's excited to participate! Remember, keep your selection a secret until our party on December 19th! Happy Shopping! 🎅
Our final activity of the day was to remove all of the fall decorations, update our calendar for December, and begin coloring some decorative pictures in holiday colors.
Updating the calendar each month is a fun job, as everyone has a specialty, but they also crossover to do other tasks. This month, Bryan joined the computer team, having honed his copy/paste/print skills recently! Yay, Bryan!
There were lots of decorations to remove after our fall season of reds, oranges, browns, and yellows! We hated to remove the tree with its branches filled with colorful leaves and critters, but soon that wall will be filled with this year's Christmas tree project.
By dismissal time, the walls were bare, tables and chairs were put away, and it was time to call it a (short) week! When we return from Thanksgiving Break next week, we'll begin to transform our space for the Christmas season.
Time for a Tessa update! We are grateful for her progress toward a fully recovery that has taken place over the past year and a half. She is ever so close to returning, and we cannot wait for that special day! Tessa recently visited the Winter Lantern Festival at Jamestown Settlement, and attended a craft workshop where she made a resin tree. She's made many strides with both her fine and gross motor skills. You look great, Tessa! Keep up the great work! Your resin tree is so pretty!
As we depart to spend Thanksgiving with our families, we want to express our gratitude and appreciation for the many blessings we receive at the day program. We're so thankful for our community and vocational partners who keep us productively engaged throughout each month, our wonderful families who support our endeavors, and our "mothership," the awesome Arc of Greater Williamsburg, whose dedication to the Arc of Abilities has enabled us to become such a thriving and vibrant program. We are THRILLED that The Arc is now the proud owners of an amazing new home on McLaws Circle into which we will move in early 2026! Thank you to ALL who have supported our Capital Campaign to help us come this far, and with your continued support of it, we will be able to create within the building a permanent home for The Arc of our dreams that will serve each and every deserving Arc client and their families for years to come.
Image from Freepik
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
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