News & Features
April 2005

NEWS FROM ELM HILL
Is it spring yet?
By Michele Connor

We have just about survived the winter of all winters and are looking forward to March going out like a lamb—she sure came in like a lion!

Our activity group for adults has begun meeting three days a week with a craft/garden activity on Wednesdays ($8), horse-related activity at the barn on Thursdays ($6), and our cooking and social group, “Dinner and…” on Fridays ($8). We meet from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. To assure adequate staffing and materials, advance registration is required for the Wednesday and Friday activities, but drop-ins are welcome on Thursdays.

Community Gardens, our horticulture therapy program, will host its third annual “Daffodil Walk” on Saturday, May 7. This event will feature a guided birding tour of the farm, which is surrounded by the Audubon Sanctuary, the “Birdwalk Café,” where you can have a cup of tea or coffee and a snack, guided tours of the daffodils and other plantings (including “pick your own” daffodils at three for $1), Mother’s Day card and gift-making activities, and a Community Tag/Craft Sale. Spaces will be available for a $10 donation, and we need your donations of good quality items to sell as well. Watch for the flyer in the May issue of the Citizen!

We have hosted several events for people here at the farm including, a sleigh-ride birthday party for a lucky little girl! Birthday parties, baby showers, retreats and group meetings are just a few of the ways we can offer the use of our beautiful home. Call us if you’d like to know about having a party or event here.

The end of June will mark the beginning of our Summer Youth Challenge Program. This will be the fourth season of our partnership with the Center of Hope in Southbridge to provide this exciting vocational/recreational summer program for young people with developmental disabilities. We will be looking for volunteer opportunities in the community—we welcome your ideas! We would also welcome donations of items to help us to create a “rec” room so that our summer program participants will have some choices on those too frequent rainy days of summer! We will gladly pick up items of use.

Some items that we could really use are:

Please call for more information about coming events and volunteer opportunities, and THINK SPRING! Thanks for your ongoing support.

Michele Connor, OTR/L, is service director for The Blanchard Means Foundation, Inc. at 26 East Main St. Brookfield. For information, call 508-867-4407.