a monthly newsletter for families and friends of Easter Seals Wyoming November 2009

MISSION

TALES AND TIDBITS

Easter Seals Wyoming • 991 Joe Street • Sheridan, WY 82801 • (307) 672-2816 anitab@esgw.org • www.esgw-nrm.easterseals.com

At Easter Seals Wyoming we create solutions

that change lives forpeople with disabilities

and their families.

Alice places Venus in its proper spot during a solar system activity at the planetarium.

ABI travels toBear Lodge

In a galaxy far, far away...

(Top) Rachel, Fred, & Keith pose at Fallen City. ( Center) Larry stands in front of Bear

Lodge. (Bottom) Everyone gathered in the lodge dining room, waiting for lunch to beserved (left to right) Hurk, Keith, Rachel,

Ken, Lora Ann, and Frank.

On September 18, 2009 Bear Lodge resort on the top of the beau-tiful Big Horn National Forest was the destination for ABI participants and staff. The drive was filled with excitement and anticipation as the group journeyed up into the moun-tains and through the construction maze. Everyone arrived with a voracious desire for lunch and as staff and participants made their way into the dinning area they were greeted by an eager staff. They seated our group at a table near the patio window where

Easter Seals Community Access participants spent the day with their heads in the clouds on Friday Octo-ber 23rd. The entire building took the day off and rode to Gillette to visit the space planetarium located at the Sagebrush Junior High School. There was also a yummy lunch scheduled for the group at a buffet-style restaurant, but the real prize was a presentation on the solar system by the local astronomer at the school. Star gazers sat in soft, comfy recliner-style chairs that allowed star-ing toward the heavens for prolonged periods of time without the subse-quent stiff neck.

The room offered a theater-in-the-round type of viewing experience. Participants watched the illuminated white dome in the middle of the ceil-ing as movements of planets, moons, asteroids and comets were projected upon it. Several hands-on activities were mixed into the presentation. Partici-pants shared in placing the planets in the solar system in the correct order, they identified characteristics of in-dividual planets and listened intently as the actual conditions at ground level of each planet were discussed. The entire program was enhanced by the awesome sound system that provided beautiful background music.

Cindy and Shirley (up front, left to right) and Heather, Doris and Joe settle in and rock out as they

wait for the space show to begin.

everyone enjoyed the mountain view and the shimmering lake while din-ning. After eating we explored the rus-tic lodge and unique gift shop. Par-ticipants Hurk and Dan said there

was nothing better than eating in the mountains and watching all the wild life and the tourists. On our way back down the mountains participants were asked to name some of the landmarks, as a cognitive exercise and their conversa-tions gave them additional practice in developing their social skills. Staff acted as tour guides, point-ing out some of the different rock formations and wild life. The group stopped and viewed the “Fallen City” and Sibley Lake.

“Tales and Tidbits” is published monthly by Easter Seals Wyoming for the friends and families of our participants. For questions or comments please contact Anita Badgett at 672-2816 or e-mail anitab@esgw.org

NOVEMBER HAPPENINGS

3rd Tuesday Lunch Get Together at Community Access Center

9th Community Access CHAPS at the CHAPS Arena

10th Tuesday Lunch Get Together at Community Access Center

11th BINGO at ABI Center

17th ABI Center Recycling

19th Community Access CHAPS at the CHAPS Arena

20th ABI lunch at Pizza Hut

23rd ABI visits Starbucks 24th Tuesday Lunch Get Together at Community Access Center

26-27th Closed for Holiday

30th ABI Trip to Animal Shelter

(Bottom left to right) Marian, Jennifer and Shirley, and (top) Rebecca, Sam, and Mary show off the bling they brought home from the C.H.A.P.S. Horse Show

Normality flew out the window the week of October 26 at Easter Seals Community Access Center as each new day brought on an on-slaught of phantasmagorical attire. It has become an Easter Seals tradition for staff and participants to scare up Halloween spirits through-out the building the last week of October, trying to outdo each other with wild and whacky outfits the en-tire week leading up to Fright Night. The tradition of buildup until Halloween continued this year with Monday’s “Sports Day” opener. Par-ticipants proudly paraded in sports gear and their favorite team uniforms throughout the day. Tuesday dawned with everyone showing off either their finest or weirdest millinery toppers. Cindy’s three-leveled, birthday cake and candle, Dr. Seuss-style hat was by far the most creative. However, even the most generic baseball cap came in with some sort of eccentric flair that day. “PJ Day” Wednesday, the most enthusiastic day of the week, yielded only about half as many obvious pa-jama sets as was expected. The most elegant was Pat, who wore a charm-ing light violet two-piece, button up satin set with offset darker vertical stripes and a shawl. Thursday piqued the creative juices of the more adventurous participants, who donned their most daring hairstyles. The majority of participants simply changed color, but there were some wild and messy looks either intentionally designed or maybe created by a late alarm. There was a city-wide Halloween dance held at the Highland Park Elementary Gymnasium Thursday evening. The festivities kicked off at 6pm and everyone mingled and danced to the scariest songs the D.J. could come up with. The snacks and refreshments were frightfully deli-cious. Friday was the parade of costumes. The Wigwam Room provided Jack-O-Lanterns, the other three class-rooms pooled together and fixed popcorn and apple slices with cara-mel dip and the Supported Living houses sent cupcakes, rice crispy bars and cookies.

A CRAZY time wasenjoyed by all

Of course, there was more music and dancing. There were contests for the scariest monster scare, best monster mash dance and a costume strut, where participants showed off their outfit.

Easter Seals participants who ride horses in the C.H.A.P.S. program in Sheridan competed in a horse show Thursday, October 29th.

Participants show off horsemanship skills Despite blustery weather, six of the Community Access girls won medals in their classes during the competition. Sisters, Rebecca and Mary, as well as Samantha, Shirley, Jennifer and Marian braved the ele-ments and were rewarded for their efforts. The horsemanship contest was conducted inside an arena, so the wind and snow were not a factor, but the temperatures were still hovering around freezing all day. The C.H.A.P.S. program temporarily closes riding classes from December until warmer weath-er in the spring, sometimes March, so this was the last fun group activity the group will have for the year.

(Top to bottom) Shirley shows off her best witch’s cack-le, Taylor (left) and Marian were caught redhanded at the dance scheming on treats, Robert and Cindy

shared a twist at the city-wide dance at Highland Elementary.