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Upcoming Events
*Links below take you to our website! Don't forget our "Current Volunteers" page is a space where you can find out information just for YOU!
County Fair Horse Show
Friday, September 2
Tuesday, September 6
Darien Cornfest Parade
Sunday, September 11
New Volunteer Training
September 10 & 12
September 7, 14 & 15
September 9, 12, 19, 22
Saturday, September 17
Monday, September 19
September 26 - November 26
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Check out one of our new clients, Laith, as he learns about cleaning hooves with his volunteers, Katie and Joanie, and therapy horse, Bullet! |
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Fall Session
September 26-November 26
Don't forget to sign up for the Fall Session! We will need every bit of help possible!! We will have over 100 clients every week for riding, with an additional 25 HEARTS sessions!! I will send out information about classes as we get closer to the session start date.
If you have any friends who you can recruit as a volunteer, we would love to have them come for training in September! Please have your friends email volunteer@smilestherapeuticriding.org if they might be interested in volunteering!
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Summer Session Thank You!
Our Summer Session is officially complete! Thank you to everyone who spared time out of their busy schedule to volunteer! We had lots of fun outside, and we can't thank our hardworking volunteers enough!
I wanted to give a few shout outs to some awesome volunteers.
Our substitute volunteers saved us!!! We had to fill 85 substitute spots this session! That's almost 10 substitutes every single week! Thank you to the following volunteers who subbed for me (I hope I remembered everyone!!)
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Liz Boss
Alison Larkin
Heather Peterson
Gloria Reed
Beth Baroni
Cheryl Smith
Saskia Lodder
Joanie Dutton
John Bradley
Becky Dyckman
Barb Bobbe
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Grace Finet
Pat Pahmeier
Tammie Mueller
Greg Stevens
Katie VanEgeren
Maureen Doheny
Cindi Seichter
Dean Ridder
Sharon Vandenbroucke
Devon Belsley
Cindy Lapidakis
Laura Sasse
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We also had several volunteers who had perfect attendance for all nine weeks of our session! We are so grateful to these volunteers! Give a special thank you the next time you see these volunteers around the barn!
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Tammie Mueller
Santo Carfora
Joanie Dutton
Karen Schmidt
Greg Stevens
Pat Plucinski
Sara Roth
Donna Roth
Jenny Junghen
Luann Ahrens
Suzanne Peters
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Heather Peterson
Ken Monestero
Kathy Monestero
Dave Williams
Norma Jann
Maureen Doheny
Barb Bobbe
Jen Fiedler
Pat Walsh
Bill Koch
Monica Uselding
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In honor of our upcoming volunteer workshop on trotting, we thought we would update our trotting video! Hope this is helpful to you as we get back to class in Fall Session! |
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Trotting Workshop!
Monday, September 19, 5:00pm
*RSVP by Wednesday, September 14
Join us for the next continuing education workshop for our volunteers on....TROTTING! This will be a great opportunity to get hands-on practice, learn some valuable tips and tricks, and gain added confidence in trotting with our horses. Our goal is to get everyone a chance to ride one of the horses so that you can feel what trotting is like! If the weather is nice, we will split into two groups to maximize our practice time. More details to follow as we get closer! If you can attend, click the link below to sign up!
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New Volunteer Training!
If you know of anyone interested in joining us for our next round of new volunteer training, please send them my way! Here are the dates and times:
Saturday, September 10, 9am-12pm
Monday, September 12, 5pm-8pm
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Cornfest Parade!
Sunday, September 11, 1:00pm
We are excited to announce that we were invited to participate in the Darien Cornfest parade! We are looking for volunteers who are willing to walk the parade route (less than a mile) or ride in the back of the SMILES truck. We will be handing out candy and small information cards about the SMILES program. If you are interested, please email Emily at events@smilestherapeuticriding.org for more information!
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Student Horse Show!
Saturday, September 17, 9:00am
We are so excited for the Student Horse Show & Open House! If you signed up to volunteer, you will be receiving more details about the event as we get a little closer. If you haven't signed up but want to help, click the link below! Keep your fingers crossed for some great weather!
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Miles for SMILES 5K!
Saturday, October 22
Come enjoy some fun fall activities with the SMILES horses.
Games, food, costume contests, the 5K and more!
Interested in signing up for our 5K?
Do you want to be a sponsor for the event?
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September Volunteer Opportunities |
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Trophy Building
Tuesday, September 6
Join us on Tuesday, September 6 at 9am to help assemble beloved trophies for our Student Horse Show! We will provide all of the tools- we just need some extra hands to assemble all of the pieces!
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September Stable Squad
We hope you can join us for our September Stable Squad days! This month, we are focusing on deep cleaning the facility in preparation for the Student Horse Show & Open House. We definitely need some help for some special projects around the barn!
For dates/times, click HERE
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Fall Clean Up Days!
Please help us clean up around the facility! We have two days dedicated to clearing brush from the fence lines and a day dedicated to cleaning up around the barn/arena for the Student Horse Show & Open House! Click the link below to sign up if you can help!
Wednesday, September 7 & 14, 8:30-1:00
Clearing brush from fence lines (lunch will be provided)
Thursday, September 15, 9:00-2:00
Facility/Barn Clean Up (lunch will be provided)
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Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped with the three rec rides we had in August! You all were WONDERFUL!!! We took some pictures and put them together in a link for you. Help us thank all of these volunteers!
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*Pat Walsh*
*Heather Peterson*
Lynn Peterson
Cindi Seichter
Norma Jann
Katie VanEgeren
Amanda Harder
Jen Fiedler
Maureen Doheny
*Helped with all three rec rides!
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Jean Firn
Tammie Mueller
Grace Finet
Tiffany Howell
Mark VanLaeys
Alison Larkin
Gail Magnuson
Santo Carfora
Shara Storandt
Sharon Vandenbroucke
Paula Smieszkal
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September Volunteer Spotlight |
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September Spotlight is on....Becky Dyckman!!
How did you become involved with SMILES, and how long have you been volunteering?
My husband and I retired in 2019 and moved back to the area from Chicago. My hope was to find a Therapeutic Riding facility at which to volunteer. As luck would have it, a friend knew about SMILES from a corporate event and mentioned it to me. I emailed Katie, had my volunteer training in January of 2020, was all set to start volunteering in the spring session....and then COVID! But all worked out since SMILES was able to start classes for the summer session.
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Where did you grow up?
I grew up on a dairy farm near Durand, Illinois.
Who is your favorite horse at SMILES and why?
That's a really tough question. I've had such great experiences with so many of them. Sport and Freckles have been great. Faith was my first horse to work with so she is special to me. I love Chili. But I also have grown to love Rose. While she can be a bit of a challenge for her leader at times, she always gives her students such a good ride. She's done yeoman service for SMILES over the years! To sum it up, I love them all!
If you were gifted a million dollars, what would you do with it?
Take my husband on a golf trip to Scotland and my girlfriends on a trip to Tuscany. And also help SMILES with a "wish list" project.
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What is something you like to do in September?
I have an annual "pool closing party" to say goodbye to summer and welcome in the fall. While I'm sad to have summer end, I enjoy the fall!
What do you enjoy about volunteering at SMILES?
Working with the horses and students is such a rewarding experience. No matter how challenging my day has been, volunteering at SMILES is therapy for me too! And I am so happy to have met so many wonderful people through SMILES. It is such a fun and inviting place to spend a few hours each week.
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September Birthdays at SMILES! |
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Happy Birthday!
Kylie Smith, September 2
Sonja Bangert, September 2
Jen Fiedler, September 3
Frank Longenecker, September 14
Abby Baker, September 20
Santo Carfora, September 21
Luann Ahrens, September 25
Maria Chadha, September 24
Mark VanLaeys, September 26
Monica Uselding, September 27
Saskia Lodder, September 28
Christine Gensler, September 30
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SMILES transcends traditional therapeutic methods by offering individuals with special needs the joy of participating in an equine-assisted program which provides social, emotional, physical and personal rewards. |
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