Garden News

Horses got to sleep in this cold wintry day while the rest of us played in the Great Room at the farm! We were welcomed by wreaths in the bay window and beautifully decorated tables overflowing with food – ham, delicious home-made soups, Seth’s magic mac, to name a few – and all kinds of sweet things! The traditional mulled wine totally disappeared (have to make more next year) along with other libations! All the young-at-hearts decorated the horsehead sugar cookies (have to make more next year). Our first-ever White Elephant Gift Exchange with everybody in a huge circle was a resounding success. The three most swapped items were the leopard bench, the socks, and the Darth Vader toaster – such lucky people who got those prizes!

This year, at the annual BBQ, we decided to add a little Carnival and Silent Auction to help raise funds for Academy programs. The games were mostly for the kids, although there were painted faces of all ages, and the Silent Auction was definitely for adults!

As always, the BBQ is a great opportunity to catch up with old friends!

This year, the coveted Golden Fork Award for outstanding volunteer work for the Academy was presented – with great ceremony – to Taryn Zarrillo, see below. Taryn was instrumental in gathering donations for our silent auction this year and writing the many thank you notes. She was also a driving force behind the Ride of the Valkyries, this year’s BBQ entertainment. See the video. Thanks Taryn, and keep the fork polished!