There was a good turn out at the Bitterroot Spring Fair held on March 6th. At the Summit booth there was a slide show of famous people with disabilities, various information regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and handy little pocket guides on disability etiquette, all in celebration of the upcoming 20th Anniversary of the ADA. The peers did a great job, and they all seemed to enjoy the day.
The peer advocates have given panel presentations on disability awareness over the past couple of months to students at Hamilton High and Darby High. At both of these presentations they showed the PowerPoint presentation on famous people with disabilities, which the students really enjoyed and it really drove home the message that disability is a natural part of the human experience.
The Bitterroot People First Aktion Club stay very active, and recently have had three new members join the group. Aktion Club Advisor, Mary Millin, and the two newly elected Senators, Randy Cook and Anthony Hoilien, attended the People First of Montana Senate in Helena on March 14-16th. Subsequently, Mary received an email from Rebecca Hargis, People First of Montana Coordinator, commending the Ravalli County Senators, as they were the only two she observed taking notes. The Senate conference was great, including a question and answer session with staff from the Developmental Disability Program (DDP) to see if People First groups could be in committees with DDP, and an introduction to the People First of Montana newly created website www.peoplefirstmt.org. On February 10th the Missoula County People First Aktion Club joined the Ravalli County People First Aktion Club for a Valentine’s dinner at BJ’s Restaurant in Hamilton. The two groups really mingled with each other, sharing good conversation and laughs, with a fabulous time had by all. The Bitterroot People First Aktion Club cooking classes are continuing, but they now are meeting at Hamilton High School where they have access to a real kitchen, as well as developing closer ties with high school students transitioning from school to community.
Office staff and peers have been so busy these past few months, we haven’t organized the next consumer activity, but we’ll let you know when we get something scheduled. So are you interested in becoming an activity coordinator? If so, just give us a call here at the office, 363-5242.
Now that spring has sprung, I hope this finds you all enjoying the “new life” spring has to offer.
Joanne Verwolf
Ravalli County Coordinator
