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St. Helena Club News
Introducing Ellie...
The St. Helena Club has experienced a burst of creativity in the past few weeks with the art room as ground zero for the current inspired frenzy.
Delightful holiday packages emerged out of vibrant papers and glue, wild and wonderful sculptures materialized from scrapes of wood and a bounty of found objects. The most amazing creation however, is the beautiful, new, life size, paper mache baby elephant, Ellie.
Ellie's entrance into the world was not a simple one as any elephant mom could tell you. Club Members did in a miraculous two weeks what an expectant elephant does in 22 months of gestation. Each phase of Ellie's development required the gentle care, focus, thoughtfulness and cooperation of many young hands. Starting from 5 cardboard boxes for the body and legs, and a huge rolled ball of craft paper for the head and trunk, Club Member's lined up in teams of 3's and 4's to wrap the cardboard with wire mesh to create the elephant's basic form, her bones and muscles. Teams continued to work together applying the slurry for the paper mache, her skin. Once this was dry Members began the process of painting her grey, the pigment of her hide. Lastly Ellie's features were painted in. She has lovely brown eyes and the most fanciful assortment of colored spots adorn her body. Finally,one day last week, to the ooos and ahhs of Club Members, Ellie was ready to make her entrance into the world.
Ellie is currently center stage in the art room and should you stop by one of her proud creators will take you in to see her. |
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Calistoga Club News
 Leave it to a Child...
The high winds that ushered out the end of November, rattling windows and nerves, left great, towering piles of leaves in its wake. While home owners and businesses got down to some serious raking Calistoga Club Members took advantage of their good fortune and spent an afternoon in the joyful bliss of nature's bounty.
Members rolled in leaves, hid under piles of leaves, made leafy mountains and ready, set, jumped in. Leaves were gathered and scattered. The search was on for the most colorful, the biggest and the crunchiest leaf. Always looking for the teachable moment Club Staff began asking questions. How many colors, shapes and textures of leaves were there to find? What do veins in leaves do? Why do they turn color and fall from the trees? What do dry leaves smell like? Why do they come back in the spring? What would the world be like without any leaves? So many question and time enough to answer those questions makes the Club experience so important for so many Members.
Playing and learning can be one and the same. Club Members are guided to explore, question and discover the world around them, even in a heap of golden leaves. |
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Calistoga Teen Center
 Getting Ready...Nineteen teens from the Boys & Girls Club of Calistoga participated in the Career Launch program. A similar program was held in St. Helena. In collaboration with Bank of America and Junior Achievement, the teens took part in workshops involving budgeting, resume writing, and career exploration. The teens also were given a tour of the bank and its "vault". Career Launch helps young people explore a variety of careers, learn how to make sound financial decisions and prepare them for the world of work," said Frank Sottile, Boys & Girls Club Executive Director. "Central to the success of helping young people find and keep a job is identifying a career that fits their interests and talents. We're thankful to Bank of America for providing us with a grant, for their employees who volunteered to teach the workshops, and to Junior Achievement for their curriculum support. This collaboration has been a great experience for our teens." |
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The Holidays are Coming!
The energy level of many of our Club Members has turned up a notch or two since Thanksgiving. There is a palpable sense of anticipation and excitement in the air. Big or small, we give and share what we can and celebrate in ways familiar to us. Truly, there is a magic to the holidays that no other time of year contains, the magic of gifts and blessings, endings and beginnings, finding the light that shines in the dark.
Last year I came across the website "Portable North Pole". I delighted in sending a free personalized video message from Santa to my nieces and nephews. Santa even sent messages to my wife and several friends. To share a bit of the Holiday spirit, click
PORTABLE NORTH POLE
to send your own personalized Santa video to those who relish the spirit of magic.
There is no symbol more concrete of the spirit of this season than our children. They are the gift, the blessing, and the light of life. As adults we nurture our children and teach them about what it means to become kind and caring human beings. In return they place their faith in us and give us their hearts. These are the priceless gifts...gifts available to anyone willing to take the time to let one child know they matter.
So at this Holiday time, from the Board and Staff of the Boys & Girls Clubs of St. Helena and Calistoga...May you and your family delight in one another, share with one another, and find peace, joy and magic.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
Frank Sottile
Executive Director
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