Fall 2018

Fall Festival - Sunday October 7th

Amberations has been hosting our annual Fall Festival for over 10 years now and each year it just gets better and better.

We always have a great lineup of musicians - this year including but not limited to Harvey Nusbaum and friends, Sydney Irving, Bob Lyna and of course the magical marimbas of Kambuyu.

The music is always complimented by a delicious assortment of foods ranging from spanakopita to pumpkin ice cream and apple crisp to our own pumpkin chili and more. Vegan and gluten-free goodies are always available and numerous baked goods for those with a sweet tooth. Check out our Chili Cook-off!

Fun games and crafts are offered at our Barn area and our lovely family of farm animals is always begging for attention. All of the above plus raffles, our duck race, treasure hunt, face painting and more make this a great way to support Amberations.

Please stop by to have some fun and show your support. Come with or without your favorite batch of chili, preferably with. Sunday - October 7th at lpm to 6pm. 2223 Amber Road in Marietta (adjacent to Amberation’s barn).

Chili Cook-off 2018

Join us this year for our 2nd Annual Chili Cook-Off on Sunday Oct. 7th! You will get the chance to rate your favorite chili and help choose the winners!!

Think you have what it takes to be a contestant? Do you think your chili will be able to unseat our last year’s Chili Cook Off Winner, Thomas Cummings?

Bring a batch of your personal best chili and get ready for some competition! Cool prizes are to be awarded. Sign up today!

Below you will find the details of entering your chili to the cook off. Please note that we welcome vegetarian and gluten free chili. There is no fee for you to participate in the Chili Cook Off. Festival Participants will purchase bowls of chili. Take out containers will also be available for participants to purchase and take home.

The Chili Cook Off is part of our Amberations Fall Festival fundraiser on Sunday October 7, 2018 from 1 to 6 PM.

Amberations is a not-for-profit organization whose primary focus is to develop our 50-acre site as a natural oasis for people of all abilities to enjoy.

You can find out more information about us at www.amberations.org and www.facebook.com/amberations.

To compete in the Amberations Chili Cook Off, please contact Nancy Lee. You will need to bring:

1 crockpot of ready to eat chili (as in hot, not cold or frozen) with a complete list of ingredients used.
1 extension cord
1 Serving utensil

Chili will be judged on taste with First Place, Second Place, and Third Place Winners.

Libby Reynolds

Libby Reynolds was one of Amberations first, and possibly our most, enthusiastic fan. She loved visiting Amberations and attended almost all of our events. Libby exuded warmth and friendliness, she was the essence of pure joy. Her contagious smile lit up many faces. When Amberations hosted our name the pond contest Libby couldn’t wait to learn the results. Her entry was Lovely and we like to say that Libby put the lovely in Lovely Frog Willow Pond.

On July 20th 2018 Libby passed away. While we will miss her greatly, Libby’s abundance of positive energy will always be a part of Amberations.

We would like to thank Susan and Bill Reynolds for all they did to enable Libby to attend our events. One of our earliest memories of this family is of Libby’s Dad struggling through our then downright unfriendly terrain to get Libby’s wheelchair back to the barn so she could visit our animals. We are so happy he persisted.

Donations have been pouring in in Libby’s memory. We are hoping to have a bench installed in memory of Libby by our Fall Festival on October 7th. Please stop by and take a moment to recapture some of the beauty that Libby brought to us. Thank you Libby.

Libby M. J. Reynolds, 29, of Weedsport, passed away on July 20th, 2018 to join her dear friends Missy, Peter, and Jenn, and grandparents Stanley and Marie Young of Syracuse, NY and Robert and Anne Reynolds of Auburn, NY.

Survived by her loving parents Bill and Susan Reynolds of Weedsport, siblings: sweet sister Dr. Faith (Myron) Davis and adorable nephew Jet Davis of Arizona, and devoted big brother Graham Reynolds of Virginia.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to one of Libby’s favorite places: Amberations Inc. 2345 Amber Road, Marietta, NY 13110.

Animal Update

Animal Care at the barn is a big part of what Amberations is about. We have small animals: chickens, cats, guinea hen and 2 rabbits. We have larger animals: a donkey and 5 goats. We have a great team of about 10 people who share in the feeding and cleaning of them, that means every morning and every night 7 days a week, including holidays.

The people who visit say that they enjoy the “animal therapy”. If you’re looking for some R&R come on in and enjoy some down time. There’s a sand pile, a small creek and an outdoor kitchen for kids. Bring a book, relax and enjoy being outside! The barn is always open!

Sustaining Amberations

Sustenance...the maintaining of someone or something in life or existence.

The long term sustenance of Amberations has become one of our primary goals. While more and more people are enjoying our grounds, we depend heavily on a very small handful of volunteers to make that possible. Financially, we rely heavily on our two annual fundraisers - those fundraisers are dependent on that same small handful of volunteers. Our fundraising efforts do not quite sustain us but we are saved by the very generous donation of the same anonymous donor each year.

Looking forward, we are working at creating a strong framework for our future sustenance. Our hope is that a collaboration with the Outdoor Life Learners will be mutually beneficial and help us in this direction. We will also be seeking the services of a professional accounting firm for help in establishing an accurate budgeting system. We hope to create an indoor space in our barn area that would enable us to host events without the fear of weather interfering and also allow us to collect revenue as a venue.

The bottom line is that Amberations is a not for profit run entirely by volunteers and supported 100% by donations. In order for us to continue we need to increase both, donations and volunteers.

We are actively seeking new volunteers to support our organization. Our needs are varied and anyone with a desire to help will be matched with a task. Whether it is once a year, at an event, regularly feeding our animals, building a shed, offering legal assistance or folding newsletters...you can help. Please consider offering your support by sending us the Volunteer/Donor form in this newsletter. Thank you!

OLL Summer Nature Immersion

For two glorious weeks this summer, Outdoor Life Learners hosted a Nature Immersion Program for children ages 3-9. While the weather was superb, the star of the show was Amberations and its incredible property. Children were found happily exploring the creek and pond, caring for barn animals large and small and bravely climbing, swinging and testing their own limits in nature, with caring adults standing by.

The older kids hiked up to Marmot Village most days and continued making improvements to their “houses” while becoming deeply engaged in free, imaginative play. At some time or another, most kids found themselves enjoying peaceful moments of laying in a shaded hammock listening to the melodious burble of the creek or to the many books being read while gathered around the “reading log”.

While it might appear that these muddy, wet, sand covered children were simply enjoying a perfect summer day in beautiful surroundings, so much more was happening. The staggering number of times each child experienced “a first”, or conquered a fear, or learned to play fairly, or looked out for each other is what made this time invaluable. Add to this the concrete connections made with nature, literacy, problem solving and exposure to math and science and these children experienced what Outdoor Life Learners prides itself on providing: an engaging, fun, developmentally appropriate nature experience that will prepare them for the years ahead academically. Most importantly, OLL is fostering the creation of a forever bond with Nature and, hopefully, the next generation of land stewards.

To inspire teens to also connect with Nature, OLL concurrently launched a pilot Junior Mentor Program, where teens volunteered their time and brought with them their passions, curiosity and patience, all while learning to model the OLL mentoring style. These programs were run by the 4 women owners, all mothers, engaging and encouraging the children but allowing them to lead their own experience. The future hope is for OLL and Amberations to continue this model and influence and inspire children of all ages.