Fall 2009
About Amberations
At Amberations we constantly hear from people that are interested in our mission but “just don’t get it.” It seems what always baffles people is the “why.” The Brittenhams and Wileys are the two founding forces behind Amberations. Together our dream has been to create a space where people can enjoy the outdoors, appreciate the beauty of our 50 acres, get to know some farm animals and interact socially with a variety of groups and peers of all abilities.
The concept that seems most baffling 1s why two families would work so hard to make this a reality with no payback. The true answer lies in defining payback. Too often, we think of financial gain. Our joy comes in watching as senior citizens lounge with our animals, neighborhood children play in our creek and visitors from group homes marvel that they are roughing it in the great outdoors. We watch our rescued donkey run freely and graze untethered while our sheep and our ducks amble to the safety of their pen each night. Realizing that more and more visitors are enjoying our grounds and that none of this would be if we hadn’t acted on a dream...all of this is our payback. Sometimes giving is the greatest gift of all and that has been the driving force behind Amberations.
If you have not yet visited, call for a tour. We have no staff, we all have jobs, but we will do anything we can to share our dreams. After your initial visit, we hope you will come back often and share your discovery with others.
Animal Update
Our animals love visitors! The donkey and sheep like it when guests bring carrots and apples. The kitties, Shadow and Happy, just love to be petted.
We now have 15 chickens including 10 chicks that hatched in May. There are also four ducks, three white and one brown, that love to splash in our stream and put on quite a show.
As we prepare to print this newsletter the high bid for naming our donkey is at $200.00 for Big Swifty. Please call or e-mail if you have any questions. Our auction should be on eBay for the week ending September 27th.
Give Back America
In July Amberations received our first check for $17.00 from Give Back America. This is the on line shopping mall that was created to raise money for charities.
It is a painless way you can have a portion of the money you spend shopping on line help to support Amberations. It doesn’t cost anything. Please check it out.
BonTon Community Days
This Fall we will once again be participating in Bon-Ton Community Day. This is a fun way Bon-Ton has developed to support groups like ours. They supply us with coupon books to sell for $5.00 each and Amberations gets to keep the proceeds from each sale.
On November 14th, Bon-Ton is having a huge sale and will honor the coupons in the books. Our favorite coupon gives you $10.00 off; if you are shopping savvy you can really find some great buys.
It’s a little known fact you can use the coupons on the Friday evening before the sale. Amberations has started a tradition of having a table in the Camillus store from 6-8 p.m. on that night. We provide refreshments, conversation and insight into the best deals.
You can use as many coupons as you like. Coupons may be purchased at our Fall Festival or by stopping by our table in Camillus on Friday November, 13th.
Bike Race
On Sunday, June 7th Amberations held their annual bike race. We were fortunate to have beautiful weather and a nice turn out.
Congratulations to Jamie Strong, our first place winner. Awards were also made for last place, middle, most colorful, etc. In the spirit of fun, all racers received a prize package including tokens for Gannon’s ice cream and miniature golf at our favorite course — Fairmount Glen. Thank you to our donors for making this possible. Our first duck race was held and it was lots of fun.
Chloe Brittenham unveiled her beautiful painting which is on permanent display in our barn. If you’ve not yet seen it be sure to stop by. Thank you so much Chloe.
Be sure to join us next year for this event; it’s fun for all!
Fall Festival
This year’s 5th annual Fall Festival is quickly approaching. Our event will be held on October 4th from 1-5. We will have our regular favorites...music including The Salt Potatoes, The Kambuyu Marimba Band, Diamond Someday, great food, games, face painting, animals, crafts, raffles and more. This year we are adding a treasure hunt and duck race (not real ducks) to our festivities. The Fall Festival is our organization’s largest fund raiser and one of our most fun events. Please plan on joining us (rain or shine).
Volunteers Always Needed
Amberations is intended to be an interactive outdoor experience. If you would like to get involved developing trails, gardening, caring for our animals, hosting a campfire, networking or just plain brainstorming, please contact us.
Our next major goal is to develop the trail from our barn to our upper field area. Our dreams still include a pavilion in our upper fields and wheelchair friendly paths and gardens.
Individuals or groups are welcome. Remember, every little bit helps!
Congratulations and Thank You, Keith!
There are seven major ranks within Boy Scouts. One of the hardest to reach is Eagle Scout. It focuses on leadership, troop experience and community involvement.
Under 5% of all Boy Scouts ever make it to and complete the Eagle Scout Rank. Not only do you have to complete all the previous ranks, but the other requirements for Eagle Scout include 21 merit badges, six months in an active leadership position in the troop and a major community service project.
This spring, Keith Pickering, of Marcellus, chose Amberations as the recipient of his community service project. Keith, and his crew of volunteers, installed almost 500 feet of fencing to create a new pasture for our donkey and sheep. Keith’s group ran into a much larger project then anticipated as springs created the need for a lot of stone and drainage work.
Keith took every obstacle in stride and coolly and professionally persevered. In July, Keith officially received the rank of Eagle Scout. We know first hand it was well deserved. Thank you and congratulations Keith.
