Quarterly Newsletter
Wow! You do that!!?
When the holiday season hits New Horizons for Young Women, life really doesn’t change. We still head out on expeditions, hold therapy sessions, and work through the steps of our program. We don’t stop.
But we do celebrate! And each celebration is filled with learning, appreciation, remembering, and looking forward.
Thanksgiving
Two days early, we bake pies and bread in a dutch oven around the campfire. Then, on Thanksgiving, we build a huge fire and roast our famous Trashcan Turkey in a galvanized trash bucket nestled into a bed of coals. As the turkey roasts, we prepare the rest of the feast and talk about American traditions and why it’s important to appreciate the abundance of the harvest. Over dinner, the girls and staff share their own family traditions. And after dinner? Of course, there’s football!
Hanukkah
Using a menorah made by the girls, we light the first Hanukkah candle and read the three blessings that go with it. Then we enjoy a feast of latkes, matzo ball soup, and salad. We continue to light candles and celebrate Hanukkah for eight days. Usually, we’re fortunate to have someone Jewish share the Hanukkah story and explain activities like playing the dreidel game and trading gelt (chocolate coins).
Winter Solstice
December 21, the shortest day of the year, marks the beginning of winter. We celebrate by building a large fire beneath a starry sky. And since we’re always interested in new beginnings, we sit around the fire and talk about the season before us.
Christmas
To prepare for Christmas, we teach wreath making, cut our own tree, and decorate it with handmade ornaments. Many of us send a wreath we have made back home to our family. We sometimes make presents for each other as well: cedar bowls, spoons, pictures, and knitted items are popular. On Christmas Eve we hang our stockings and listen to The Night before Christmas, read by a staff member as we drift off to sleep. Then on Christmas, we have a special meal (similar to Thanksgiving), relax while listening to Christmas carols on the radio – a rare treat – and share what we like about our family Christmas traditions.
Kwanzaa
Embracing the festivals of many cultures, we at New Horizons know that learning about others makes us more tolerant. It opens our eyes and, ultimately, teaches us about ourselves. That’s why we celebrate Kwanzaa for seven days, lighting candles every night and feasting one night on such food as black-eyed peas and sweet potatoes. As we learn the seven principles of Kwanzaa – such as self- determination and collective work and responsibility – we find ways to apply our new knowledge to our own lives.
New Year’s Eve
A quiet evening around the fire with some freshly popped popcorn finds us saying goodbye to one year and looking ahead to the next. We reflect on our experience and talk about goals and what we want to accomplish.
Yum!
Cow in the Orchard Wrap
When it’s chow time at New Horizons, the girls and staff agree that this quick and easy recipe is a favorite.
Ingredients
fruit salad
cottage cheese
lettuce
wrap
Directions
1. Mix cottage cheese (the cow)
with fruit salad (the orchard).
2. Place lettuce on the wrap.
3. Spread “cow in the orchard”
mix over the lettuce.
4. Roll wrap.
5. Enjoy!
[newsletter index]
|
| Winter 2007
|
