January News
Bridges of Faith Farm Visit
Our friends from Bridges of Faith and children from their Orphan Outreach program visited Storybook earlier this month. The children were on a short visit from the Ukraine to spend a few weeks of experiencing life in the United States. While there was a slight language barrier, there was no doubt that everyone immensely enjoyed themselves. After lunch, which was kindly catered by Chick-Fil-A, the children split up into groups.
Some of the children went on a hayride with Luke, who drove them around the entire farm. One group painted horseshoes to take back with them for a souvenir, and the rest took a tour of the farm on foot with some of our workers and volunteers.
The kids darted back and forth from stall to stall, pointing out each horse and some of the braver ones reached up to pet them. They thought that Melanie, Prissy and Belle were hilarious, and a few even tried to imitate them. Before long some of them were mooing and bleating right along with them! They loved meeting Tinkerbell and took turns having their pictures made with her.
Overall we had a wonderful afternoon spending time with everyone and were sad to see them leave. We’re looking forward to another visit someday, and wish the children all our best!
Official Storybook Blog
Storybook's official blog is now up and running! We post an update every Tuesday and Friday, and you don't want to miss out on anything thatthe horses, ponies and their other friends from the Farm might have to say. We already have updates from Captain Hook and Jack and the Beanstalk so hurry over to the blog to see what they had on their minds.
Cowboy Roundup
The third annual Cowboy Roundup is Friday, February 3rd and 10th and Saturday, February 11th. The Roundup will last from 6 to 8 p.m., and dinner will be catered by Irish Bred Pub. Cowboys and cowgirls of all ages will enjoy "roping" around the Farm, meeting the animals and learning from real cowboys. To purchase tickets, please visit our website. You and your family won't want to miss out on all the wild west fun!
Vault Denim
Next month, we'll partner with Vault Denim to host a trunk show benefiting the Farm. Vault Denim is an organization that takes overstocked,current styles of designer jeans such as True Religion and sells them for a fraction of their original retail price. The trunk show will take place on Feb. 23 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. A portion of each sale will go towards Storybook.
Meet the New Spring Interns!
Tara McDevitt is one of our interns this spring, and she is majoring in human development and family studies at Auburn University. Tara first learned about Storybook from a friend who had volunteered here, who told her nothing but great things about the Farm. She emailed us right away about interning here, and the rest was history! She says she’s had a great experience so far and loves that everyone here is so willing and eager to hear her ideas. After graduation she wants to continue helping children with special needs, disabilities or going through traumatic situations. She thinks the program here is amazing, and she encourages everyone to come out and volunteer. Tara loves our laid-back atmosphere, and she’s excited to meet everyone once sessions begin!
Rae Ann Boswell is one our interns for the spring semester and is also a human development and family studies major at Auburn. She found out
about Storybook through Tara, and after hearing so many great things about the Farm, she decided to intern here as well. After graduation, Rae Ann hopes to continue working with student ministries. She enjoys building relationships with students and feels like that is where the Lord has called her to be. Rae Ann has never worked with horses before, but she’s enjoyed working with them and getting to know them more. She loves how each of them has such a distinct personality and looks forward to spending more time around them. She is so excited to meet all of our riders and their families this spring!
Courtney Smith is our journalism intern this spring and plans to graduate from Auburn University in May. She first heard about Storybook Farm from one of our previous journalism interns, who shared a photojournalism class with her. After seeing her photographs of the Farm from class and learning about our mission, Courtney realized that this was the place that God had called her to intern. She’s not sure yet what she wants to do after graduation, but she would love to continue writing and meeting new people. Courtney believes that everyone has a story to tell, and she wants to give people a voice to help them share their stories. While she doesn’t have much experience around horses, she’s had an entertaining time so far learning as she goes. She can’t wait to get started working with our riders and their families this spring!