We're three quarters through April and I'm just getting around to posting. I think that speaks to how busy this spring has been. Quite a few things have happening as we're gearing up for summer:
- The Y hosted the annual Easter Egg hunt. We filled over 1100 eggs and had over 80 kids show up. Needless to say, the hunt lasted a max of two minutes. We also had egg dying, an egg toss, and a lunch, served by the Dupree Community Board.
- My friends since kindergarten, Jennifer and Heidi, came to visit me for a week. We spent Easter and the next few days in the hills, hitting up Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, Harney Peak, and the Badlands, before making it back to Dupree, where they volunteered with the Y for a few days. It was great to have them and was a nice "break" for me.
- I have been starting and cultivating seeds indoors at the YMCA as well as a compost for our learning garden. We are partnering with the South Dakota State University Extension office. They will use our site as a demonstration site for their adult horticulture class and in return we will be getting a some raised beds, a hoop house, and a drip irrigation system. I will be hired through their office as Demonstration Site Manager as well, so I'll be able to make a few extra bucks this summer--yippee!
- I've been furiously writing grants for our garden/healthy cooking-pickling-canning classes project. I've finished upwards of five, and have three more on my plate. We're currently in the Seeds of Change Grant contest. Please vote for the "Sioux YMCA Learning Garden" or search zip code 57623 at seedsofchangegrant.com every day from every device until April 27th. The gardens with the top votes move on to the judging phase.
- I "hired" my first long term volunteer through the Long Term Volunteer Program that I developed for the Y. She will be coming out from the end of May until the end of June. I'm feeling accomplished!