Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you. Dr. Seuss

“From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!” – Dr. Seuss 

We are excited to have a Dr. Seuss theme for food at our Silent Auction this year!  Don’t miss out on the fun.   Mentors and Community Members are invited to join us: 

FYI Silent Auction Party – Saturday June 12, 2010 -7:00 PM at Salida Steamplant 

Mentors and mentees, we hope you’ll consider creating something to contribute to the fundraiser . . .  

Food is Fun, Fun is Food baking for FYI is Food and Fun!

Think outside the box – creative jewelry, crafts, bird houses, monthly services, wind chimes and other fun projects mentors and mentees have completed together can be dropped off at FYI 448 E. 1st Street Salida or call for arrangements.  Retro Desserts needed – Rice Crispy Treats,  Jell-o cakes, cream pies, cookies and more that have been stirred, poured and molded together can be dropped off at Salida Steamplant on June 12th – 3:00 to 5:00 PM. 

PLEASE CALL AHEAD IF YOU’RE PLANNING ON DONATING ITEMS OR DESSERTS:     719.530.2581 (Salida) or   719.395.7006  (Buena Vista) 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS! 

Thursday May 27, 2010

5:15 PM – 6:30 PM

Salida Library

Presented by:  Planned Parenthood

Snacks will be provided

FREE for all Mentors

Reserve your spot ASAP by calling 719.530.2581 (Salida) or 719.395.7006 (Buena Vista)

We’re thrilled to welcome educator Liza Cochran from Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains out of Colorado Springs for this SPECIAL & IMPORTANT TRAINING!  Mentors, we hope you can join us.

Description of training: Sharpen your skills around talking with youth about sexuality and sexual health. Participants have the opportunity to explore their own values about sexuality in a safe and non-judgmental environment. We will also explore how to respond to difficult questions from youth about sexuality and how to plan an effective conversation with a young person.

 Saturday May 15, 2010

9:30 AM – 1:00 PM (see below for BV bus times)

 Chaffee County Mentors Group Activity

 Sponsored by Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area

 Free CCM tee shirts & Free Lunch will be provided for our mentors & mentees who join in this activity!

Chaffee County Mentors will spend a fun morning Cleaning Up and Greening Up our great outdoors.  We will start on the Chaffee County Mentors adopted trail near Frantz Lake, picking up trash and improving the trail.  This year, we’re excited to have the Southwest Conservation Corps joining us to provide guidance and tools for our trail maintenance work.  After nurturing the environment, we’ll celebrate our good work with a BBQ lunch together at Salida Steamplant Riverside Patio (NOT Riverside Park as we listed in our newsletter).

MENTORS: We are looking for some special supplies for our trail work.  Please call if you’re able to bring any of these:  pick-up truck, weed wacker, wheelbarrow, handsaw, pruning tools.

 Buena Vista Bus will depart APE:  9:00 AM  – return APE: 1:45 PM

 Salida – Please meet at Frantz Lake at 9:30 PM

(Frantz Lakes are located along the Arkansas on either side of CR 291 just west of Salida near the new hospital)

Things for everyone to bring:   Close toed shoes (please no flip flops), work gloves (if you have them), clothes you can get dirty in, water bottle, sunscreen, and raincoat.

This group activity is open to ALL.  Youth must be with an adult (mentor, parent or call us for special arrangements)  Call  719.530.2581 (Salida) or  719.395.7006  (Buena Vista) to sign up.

Chaffee County Mentors is incredibly grateful to all the mentors pictured and not pictured for the time they give every month to offer youth in Buena Vista and Salida valuable one-on-one time.  They are truly an extraordinary group of people and most have been mentoring for over two years. 

Chaffee County Mentors currently has 30 matches and plans to make 15 more by June 2010.  Help us serve our local youth by becoming a mentor!  To find out more about volunteering, click here.  With a little time, YOU could make a BIG difference – and help us celebrate National Mentoring Month!

Youth In Action celebrated our last month of 2009 with meeting artists and working with different media.

In Buena Vista, Evelyn Baker, owner of The Trailhead and an accomplished stained glass artist joined us at the pre-school and taught the kids how to make a tile mosaic. The first week everyone designed a trivet with mini colored tiles glued onto larger tiles (donated by Beth MacNab with High Valley Furniture). We finished the project the last Monday we met in December when Evelyn taught us how to grout. Parents joining us for our End of Month Parent Showcase, helped seal the trivets so they would last at home for many holiday meals. Buena Vista matches also made a visit to Alf’s Blacksmith Shop where they learned about the age-old art of metal working. After watching a demonstration of heating and shaping metal into a hoof pick, we learned how to bend wire into shapes. Then, pre-schoolers tried their hand at shaping cold clay by pounding it against an anvil. Meanwhile, middle schoolers tried the same with soft pewter.

In Salida, our December started with a visit from painter Sally Mather. Sally’s beautiful landscapes decorate the Family & Youth Initiative office at 124 East 2nd Street, so we were excited to hear some of her artistic wisdom. She taught YIA about line and had us practice making different line shapes with our bodies. Then, pre-schoolers and middle schoolers mimicked the use of pastels using chalk, water, and black paper. Sally played music and encouraged us to make one continuous line. All the kids created masterpieces. The next week, we got an art show from our own high school staff, Katie Pugh, who was recently elected student of the month by her art teacher. Then Jenny Spiller, one of our pre-school teachers, showed charcoal portraits to the youth. Matches used charcoal and colored pencils to make portraits of their buddies. We wrapped up the month with a visit from Maverick Potter owner, Mark Rittman. After a demonstration of the kinds of things he makes out of clay, the kids went to work with their own clay, making cut-out ornaments and more! After Mark showed one of our pre-schoolershow to make a pinch pot, Kellen proceeded to make 9 more pots.

We are incredibly grateful to the generosity of Evelyn Baker, Alf the Blacksmith, Sally Mather, Jenny Spiller, and Mark Rittman for sharing their talents, their materials, their love for art, and their time with Youth In Action.

Lawton and Jelissa at last year's party!

Everyone in the community is invited Saturday, October 24th, to the 5th Annual Family Halloween Party & Dance sponsored by Family & Youth Initiatives in collaboration with Salida Recreation, Arkansas Valley Music and Dance, and the Salida Circus! 

This fun event will include a haunted house for the little ones (ages 10 and under) created by the older ones (ages 14 and up), a dessert potluck, live old-time music by Millcreek (Megan, Amanda, and Jacob Smith), dances taught and called by Eleanor Fahrney, and, of course, a costume contest.  The party is FREE, so put on a costume and bring your friends and family members of all ages to the Salida Scout Hut on Saturday, October 24th, from 6:30-9:00pm. 

This is the October group activity for Chaffee County Mentors, so mentors are encouraged to bring their mentee to the festivities.  Perhaps you’ll want to carve a pumpkin before hand and bring that to help decorate or bake some cookies together to bring to the dessert potluck.  Teens and their mentors may want to help with the haunted house.  You must sign up to help by calling Kelly at 530-9955.  We also need some teens and mentors to take photos.  Call Eleanor at 395-7006 if you’re interested.

A bus from Buena Vista will be provided and is meeting at 6:00pm at Avery-Parson’s Elementary.

Buena Vista Youth In Action

Youth In Action (YIA), a branch program of Chaffee County Mentors, enrolls middle school youth and pre-school children each September to participate in cross-age peer mentoring. Meeting weekly after-school, Youth In Action focuses on supporting the social-emotional and literacy development of the pre-schoolers while also providing a unique opportunity for middle-school aged youth to take on responsibility and use leadership skills in a fun and supportive environment. Middle schoolers volunteer their time, participate in six hours of training, and are rewarded with fun field trips a couple times during the year.

The budding mentors could barely contain their excitement last week when we went to the pre-school – they were going to meet the little ones for the first time. The first two weeks of YIA involve meet-and-greet activities in which mentors and mentees get to know one another and then name the people with whom they particularly connected. Next week, the youth will be “matched” based on their choices. The Match Day is a special time when the youth plant the seed for friendships to build through the rest of the school year.

Family & Youth Initiatives Director, Arden Trewartha (l), spearheads the For Kids Sake fundraiser. FYI is supported by great donors including Kathie Younghans (r), owner of Amicas Pizza & Brewery. This photo was taken at last year's silent auction.

Mentors, volunteers, community members, and those just interested in a good time are invited to our 6th annual FOR KIDS SAKE Silent Auction party on Saturday, June 13th at 7pm at the Salida Steam Plant Ballroom.  You can bid on incredible items including a trip to Belize, tickets to Planet Bluegrass’ Folks Festival, golf packages, handmade jewelry, massages, and more – all while knowing that your purchases support important Family & Youth Initiatives programming.  Invite your friends and come out the best silent auction of the year!

Then, on Sunday, June 14th, join in the FOR KIDS SAKE GOLF TOURNAMENT.  The shotgun start is at 8:30am.  Two-person teams sign at the Salida Golf Club by calling 539-1060.  Fee is $50 / person.

If you’re interested in becoming a sponsor or donating to the silent auction, please contact Arden at 539-1060.  Click here to see the event poster, including our Tournament-level sponsors.

Mentor, Steve Phillips, with mentee, Josh, served as "fore caddies" at last year's tournament. We're looking for volunteers to help at this year's event.

Buena Vista mentors and mentees in Youth In Action celebrate the year

Youth In Action, middle school youth mentoring pre-school children, culminated last week with a potluck dinner celebration for youth and their families.  Youth In Action is held Mondays after school in Buena Vista and Wednesdays after school in Salida and includes reading, crafts, field trips, and guest speakers.  This year, our theme was “Around the World” and each month focused on a story from a different culture.  In addition to stories from our home country, we also “visited” Guatemala, China, the region of West Africa, and Afghanistan.  Activities included making a pinata, learning Tai Chi, making masks, doing African drumming and dancing, making friendship bracelets and photo frames, and visiting a local farm.

At each celebration, we honored our matches, especially noting our matches of the month, our peer leaders, and those who had awesome attendance (missing no more than one meeting the entire year).  All pre-schoolers received a special book from their mentor, including a personalized note written on the inside.  We are incredibly proud of our 12 Buena Vista matches and our 11 Salida matches and the connections they have made with each other, with reading, and with their community this year.

The response from our parents has affirmed these connections:  One parent of a pre-schooler said, “My daughter used to say she never wanted to grow up.  Now she wants to be just like her teenage mentor.”  Another pre-school parent notes about her daughter that, “she learned to love reading and sits and reads her books independently and to her sister.”  A parent of a middle schooler said, “My child learned. . . how he can better himself to help other people.”  Finally, another pre-school parent said, “the activities are well rounded and provide opportunities to the children to experience things they wouldn’t be able to otherwise.”

We are grateful to all our parents for their support and the delicious dishes they brought to the potlucks.  Over 60 family members attended the celebration at the BV Community Center on Monday and over 40 came to the Salida Middle School on Wednesday.  Thanks also to Punky’s Diner in Buena Vista for their yummy BBQ pork, to the Salida Middle School for helping make the dinner happen so easily, and to Salida Tool and Equipment Rental for their support.

The celebration and thank you to our middle school mentors continued last Saturday with a trip to Elitch Gardens in Denver.  The eighteen youth who attended this mentor appreciation activity enjoyed the rides and getting to know the mentors from the other town.

Mentors & Youth at Monarch last January

Mentors and youth enrolled in Chaffee County Mentors should sign up now for our annual Monarch Mountain days!  Matches can choose to attend either Sunday, January 11th or Saturday, January 31st.  Lift tickets will be provided for all youth and mentors (who do not already have a season pass) and a limited number of lessons will be available to those who are skiing or snowboarding for the first or second time.  Volunteers are needed to ski/board with youth during the day.    Youth who are renting gear must complete the  Mountain Sports Haus Gear Rental Info and Release and those taking lessons must complete the Monarch Mountain Lesson Release.  Don’t forget your parent/guardian signatures!  See the newsletter (page 2) for more details and call us at 719-395-7006 to sign up!