National Ice Cream Sandwich Day
Who knew they made small ice cream sandwiches? It was a perfect treat to celebrate National Ice Cream Sandwich Day. “When passing these treats out at lunch time, all were excited, were very thankful and already looking forward to ‘Chocolate Cookie Day,’” said Shakopee Senior Program Manager Ali Brown.
Painting with Lotta
For all of our Van Gogh’s out there DSP Lotta Facente’s class is a favorite. She uses YouTube videos for guided painting, and examples collected from books. “Lotta says it’s amazing how they can follow along and love creating their own pieces. Showing them off, of course, is a favorite as well.”
Inner pirates? Patches and ‘walking the plank’
Arg Matey! Shakopee staff and participants celebrated International Pirate Month in 
August, a day to bring out their “inner pirate.” Most created their own pirate name and there were lots of laughs. ProAct’s “Tattoo Parlor” opened up to apply favorite pirate tattoos, and people loved showing them off. And, the group had hats, bandanas and eye patches. “It was a fun day, and some escaped the plank and others had to walk it!”
Fun-sized chocolates donation appreciated for bingo
Once per month people in Shakopee designate a day for favorite games, and bingo it was. There are always small prizes and this time, a variety of fun sized chocolates were donated. Thanks to Dawn Smith-Wright and her connection to Devin the chocolate master. This was an unexpected donation and very much appreciated, said Brown.
Gathering more input via suggestion box
Shakopee’s recent suggestion box theme was “Community Outing Suggestions.” People asked to go to Disneyland, Dairy Queen, various parks and Mall of America. “Participant suggestions are always important to us and we will continue to keep our suggestions box open,” said Brown.