Volunteer of the Year, Christine Schilling, and "Volunteen" of the Year, Seth Grube, pose with their awards at Horses & Horizons’ Year End Celebration.
Horses & Horizons Therapeutic Learning Center, Inc.’s Executive Director, Harvey Smith, Volunteer of the Year, Christine Schilling, Program Director, Elaine Smith, and “Volunteen” of the Year, Seth Grube, are shown at the organization’s recent year end celebration.
Horses & Horizons Thereapeutic Learning Center Honors Volunteers And Riders Submitted by ELAINE SMITH
At its recent Year End Celebration, Horses & Horizons Therapeutic Learning Center, Inc. named Christine Schilling the organization’s Volunteer of the Year for 2016. Seth Grube received the honor of “Volunteen” of the Year. This was Schilling’s second year of volunteering since her return to the non-profit therapeutic horseback riding program for the disabled. She was a lesson volunteer all during high school and business school in the late 1990s. After she married, Schilling left the program for more than a decade to raise her two sons. Now she once again serves as a horse leader during lessons. Earlier this year, she accepted a position on the organization’s board of directors and took on the position of acting treasurer when the post became vacated. She has since been elected to treasurer of the board. Schilling is employed full-time by Effective Controls in Snyders. For the past three years, Grube has volunteered as a side aide in lessons during all three sessions of lessons from April through October. This year, he volunteered on Monday nights along with his mom. Grube then returned on Wednesdays to sidewalk with a physically challenged rider who needed his height and strength to help provide her with a safe lesson on the horse. According to H.H.T.L.C.’s Executive Director, Harvey Smith, “Volunteers generally love assisting riders in the lessons, but it sometimes is not as easy to get people to help with the other chores. We could always count on Seth to also lead horses back to the barn from the pasture and to put away equipment when the lessons were finished for the evening. ” 4
Grube also won the “Volunteen” of the Year Award in 2014. He is a senior at Blue Mountain High School. He recently enlisted in the U.S. Airforce, and will begin his military service after he graduates next year. H.H.T.L.C.’s Year End Celebration was held on Sunday, November 6 at the Zion’s Stone Church of West Penn Township. The purpose of the event was to show appreciation of the organization’s many volunteers, and also to recognize the achievements of its riders. The highlight of the event was the premiere showing of the documentary film, “Horses & Horizons: A Journey of Hope and Resiliency” by Michael C. Rock of Fredericksburg, VA. The 33 minute film featured three of H.H.T.L.C.’s riders: Sydney Marko of Mountain Top, Cory Heckman of Tamaqua, and Hannah Tervo of Orwigsburg. The documentary was Rock’s thesis project for his P.H.D. in film making at American University in Washington, D.C. He spent many hours filming both during lessons and in the riders’ homes. Rock plans to complete a longer version of the documentary sometime next year with remaining unused footage. In addition to the film, Smith and his wife, Elaine, H.H.T.L.C.’s Program Director, awarded the organization’s more than fifty volunteers with certificates of appreciation and its twenty-five riders with certificates of achievement. The event also featured a potluck dinner, and fun and games. Horses & Horizons is a registered non-profit organization. Since its founding in 1993, it has Continued on page 6 News@TownAndCountryGazette.com || DECEMBER 1, 2016