Lambs Tales Volume 3 2022

Now Is the Time to Try Something New

The men and women of Lambs Farm have choices in every aspect of their lives, including employment. Eli, a Lambs Farm Participant, hadn’t found the right fit for him just yet. That was until the winter of 2021 when he was presented with a unique opportunity.

Eli was partaking in activities in the gym when Brooke, Quest manager at Lambs Farm, asked Eli if he would be willing to help put labels on cookie and chocolate bags. The holiday season is an exceptionally busy time for all at Lambs Farm, but especially for the Sugar Maple Country Store & Bakery.

Staff and Participants work diligently to fulfill orders for hundreds of individuals and corporations across the country through our virtual catalog in just a couple of months. This requires a lot of teamwork, and staff from other departments step in to help when they are able.

Eli was reluctant at first, as it isn’t always easy to try something new. However, after taking time to think about it, he decided that he wanted to attempt the labeling project. He took on the new task with a positive attitude and was a quick learner.

Breakfast with Santa 2022

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Join us on December 10, 11, 17 & 18 to celebrate the holidays. Guests will enjoy a delicious brunch at the Magnolia Cafe & Bakery and make a visit to Santa’s workshop in the Visitors Center, where children will pick out a gift, get a festive temporary tattoo, make a sand art creation and get a goody bag full of crafts to take home.

Families will also get special time and a photo with Santa that will be cherished for years to come.

Be sure to make your reservations by calling the Magnolia Cafe & Bakery at 847.362.5050. Seatings are at 9am, 10:30am, 12pm and 2pm.

We hope you will join us for this long-standing event that has become a wonderful tradition for so many families!

From the President and CEO’s desk...

Dear Lambs Farm Friends and Families,

This issue of Lambs Tales gives me the perfect opportunity to reflect on my time as President & CEO and to thank you, as I retire, for your unfailing support for Lambs Farm and the remarkable men and women we serve.

So much has changed in the 21 years I’ve served Lambs Farm, first on the Board of Directors and then as President & CEO. True to the vision of our cofounders Bob Terese and Corinne Owen, our Participants have shown the world that almost anything is possible when adults with developmental disabilities have the support and programs that they need to grow lifelong. I am so proud of them!

I am grateful to the dedicated Lambs Farm staff who make all the difference in the lives of our Participants, to Lambs Farm families who support us in so many ways and are a vital part of the circle of love surrounding every Participant, and to the Board of Directors who demonstrate their commitment to our mission every day.

As I have often said, it is your support that makes it possible for Lambs Farm Participants to be who they are—to pursue their individual interests and create fulfilling lives, each different from the others, but all full of meaning and opportunities for happiness.

Thank you for that, and thank you for your friendship over

Sincerely,

With encouragement from Brooke and his friends, his accuracy improved more and more each day.

After seeing Eli’s progress firsthand, Brooke thought Eli was ready to expand his skills even further. His next task was to learn how to weigh, seal and package products. Eli was open-minded to these new challenges and thoroughly enjoyed the process. Before he knew it, Eli became the go-to guy for getting supplies and was willing to help out with any task.

By the end of the season, Eli realized he didn’t want to only assist the Sugar Maple Country Store & Bakery staff during the holidays, he wanted to work there full-time. Eli expressed his interest in the job and ended up being offered a position.

We are so proud of Eli for having the courage to try something new, which led him in finding a job that is a great fit for him. Eli continues to develop skills at work and invites you to support him and his fellow Participant bakers this holiday season.

Our 2022-23 virtual holiday catalog is now available and is full of wonderful gifts that are perfect for your family members, friends, coworkers and clients. There is nothing like receiving freshly baked cookies, creamy chocolates or a bountiful assortment made by the men and women of Lambs Farm.

You can shop online at www.lambsfarm.org or give us a call at 847.362.4636 Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm to place your order.

New Holiday Products!

Ja’Don helps bake lemon butter cookies

Eli, Jessica and Dale are ready for another great holiday season in the bakery

We have some new holiday cookies and assortments we think you will love!

Chocolate Covered Raspberry Cookies

Season’s Sprinkles

Tasting Tin

Happy Hanukkah Cookies

Lauren and Brooke package cookie bark

Participant Happenings

It always goes by quick, but the men and women of Lambs Farm had another great summer.

Participants involved in our Quest program attended all kinds of fun classes. Some favorite activities included socializing the adoptable puppies at our Dogwood Garden & Pet Center, visiting museums, fishing and learning about a wide range of topics from dinosaurs and the Ice Age to famous musicians and Greek mythology.

Our campus businesses also had a busy season. The Farmyard hosted a new event, After Hours with the Animals, which gave guests the fun opportunity for interactive animal encounters with their favorite Farmyard friends.

Meanwhile, Participants in the Sugar Maple Country Store learned how to make ice cream and had fun mixing ingredients to make unique flavors including a Famous Butter Cookie ice cream. Our Magnolia Cafe & Bakery staff hosted many birthday parties and banquets and relaunched their line of FIT meals. The Dogwood Garden & Pet Center helped lots of puppies and kittens find the perfect forever homes and our Cedar Chest Thrift Shop had special sales all summer long.

We also had the pleasure of hosting a number of groups this summer. Marc, a Lambs Farm Participant and Visitors Center employee, loves speaking to visitors. He takes great pride in sharing his own personal story and experiences with them, as well as the history of Lambs Farm.

The summertime always brings lots of fun, but we are excited to watch the men and women of Lambs Farm do even greater things this winter.

Sarah enjoys a beautiful summer day!

Here’s a look at some more fun highlights from summertime at Lambs Farm.

Daniel loves puppies

Julie with her catch

Jon and the rest of the Grounds Crew team work so hard year round, especially in the summer, to make the Farm look extra nice

The Lambs Farm Golf team headed to ThunderHawk Golf Club to participate in the 37th Annual Lambs Farm Golf Day

Ann and friends made some beautiful artwork in the Enrichment Center

Marianne making ice cream

Lambs Industries Project

Lambs Industries, one of the businesses on campus, is a place where Participants have the opportunity to gain important skills by working on subcontract jobs such as packaging and assembly.

Our dedicated staff partner with several large companies and work extremely hard on each and every project. Their latest project was a big one — assembling over 4,000 HunkaChunka cheese gift boxes. Participants completed the project from start to finish in a matter of just a couple of weeks.

Lambs Industries offers a wide range of services such as hand assembly, packaging, collating, sealing, bagging and more. No matter the task, Lambs Industries offers high-quality, full-service production at a competitive price. If you are interested in working with Lambs Industries, please contact Toni Castillo at tmr@lambsfarm.org.

Summertime Craft Fest

On August 13 and August 14, staff attended the first Summertime Craft Fest at Camp Big Timber in Elgin.

This inaugural event featured handmade crafts, food trucks, DJ, and a beer & wine garden. By the end of the weekend, 3,000 guests shopped at over 125 booths.

A wide variety of Lambs Farm favorites were available for purchase including famous butter cookies, lemon butter cookies, jams, dog bones, chocolates and our new line of apparel.

We had a great time at this new event and are already looking forward to it again next year. We hope to see you there on August 12 and 13 at Camp Big Timber!

A

Dale sorting the cheeses for packaging

Robert assembling boxes

A look at the booths

Staff & volunteers

Ruth filling boxes with cheese

Ann posing with her favorite, tomato basil

Enrichment Center

Participants who are happily retired spend time in our Enrichment Center, an entertaining place where they continue to grow and learn.

They work on all kinds of fun activities including virtual field trips, games, science experiments, daily exercises, puzzles and beading to name a few.

Another popular activity is karaoke. They all have their favorite songs they look forward to singing each week.

Thank you, Thrift Shop Volunteers!

If you have been to Lambs Farm, chances are you have visited our Cedar Chest Thrift Shop. This charming little store, full of treasures and bargains, was started in 1980 by the Women’s Board. It is a rich part of our history and the shop continues to flourish thanks to our wonderful staff and dedicated volunteers.

We have many amazing volunteers who come in throughout the week to help with various tasks. They sort through donations with our Participants, price items, help customers and organize displays. We are grateful to have volunteers who devote so much of their time — some have been with us for over 40 years and don’t plan on stopping any time soon.

The Cedar Chest Thrift Shop would not be the special place it is without our volunteers and their helping hands. They have seen the store grow and change throughout the years and invite you to stop in for a fun day of shopping! The Cedar Chest Thrift Shop is open Tuesday-Sunday from 10am to 5pm. For an inside look at some of the current deals, visit our Cedar Chest Thrift Shop Facebook group.

Thrift Shop volunteer Linda with Participants Nicki & Ruth

Barb loves using her blue microphone

Tim singing Beatles’ classics

Akiko loves the Frozen soundtrack

Volunteers Dorris, Trudy & Donna

Donor Salute

Lambs Farm is grateful for the support we receive from our many friends. Listed below are the names of those especially generous individuals, foundations and corporations whose gifts of $1,000 or more were received from May 2022 - August 2022.

$25,000 to $49,999

Mr. & Mrs. Warren Aldridge Anonymous

$10,000 to $24,999

Anonymous Mr. & Mrs. Glenn Harer Ms. Joan Lancaster

The John and Kathleen Schreiber Foundation

Charles & M.R. Shapiro Foundation, Inc. Mr. David Shorr The W. Clement & Jessie V. Stone Foundation

$5,000 to $9,999

Abbott Laboratories

Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Gruebnau MedScript Long Term Care Pharmacy New Trier Township

The Reichert Foundation

Ms. Janet Scarf

Mr. & Mrs. Willard T. Walker Mr. & Mrs. Philip Wernick

$2,500 to $4,999

Ms. Renate Ade

Aon

Apex Wood Floors

Mr. & Mrs. Walt Bazarnik

Carol Lavin Bernick Family Foundation Craft Productions, Inc.

Mr. & Mrs. Frank Czaja

Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Krupp

Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC

Mr. & Mrs. Peter Levy

Maron Electric Company

Northwestern Memorial Healthcare

Mr. & Mrs. Dennis Riley Ms. Susan Siebers

Ms. Eiko Terao

Mr. John Tithof

Uline

Mr. & Mrs. Richard Willix Mr. Sheldon O. Zisook

$1,000 to $2,499

Abt Electronics

Mrs. Laurie Asbeck-Hickman Mrs. Martha M. Boudewyns Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Breck Mrs. Electra Carlson

Jay & Karen Case

Castle Automotive Group

Mr. & Mrs. Edward F. Curran

Dahl & Bonadies

Daily Herald Media Group Dutt Family Fund

Exclusive Woodworking Mrs. Rona Farber

Mr. & Mrs. Richard A. Fick Mrs. Joan Fuller

The Galley, LLC

Golder Family Foundation Harty Realty Group

John G. Harty Ltd.

Michael & Diane Hettinger Mrs. Virginia C. Horsch

International Decorators, Inc.

JMD Builders, Inc.

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Karpek Dr. Melvin P. Katz Mr. & Mrs. Kennen H. Kim Mr. & Mrs. Gideon Kishony Mr. & Mrs. Richard Koehler

Tributes and Memorials

Launch - Gurnee

Ms. Beth Lewis

Mr. Paul M. Mandell

Mariani Landscape

Marsh & McLennan Companies

Medline Foundation Fund at the Chicago Community Foundation Meltzer Purtill & Stelle LLC

Mesirow Financial Milburn Demolition

Mr. & Mrs. Bryan Mork

Mr. Chaitanya Patel Peak Properties, LLC Ms. Rosalie Piazza

Mr. & Mrs. Michael J. Reilly Mr. & Mrs. Earl Roloff Roof Management LLC Mr. Kerry Rudy Cari and Michael J. Sacks

Mr. & Mrs. John B. Salstone Mr. & Mrs. Gary Schuh Mrs. Olivia Shapiro

Sub-Zero Group Midwest, LLC Mr. Ben Syler

Mr. & Mrs. Thomas A. Thill

Mr. & Mrs. Brad Vogan

Susan Vondrak-Mark Tark Foundation

Samuel Weinstein Family Foundation

Ms. Ruth Wittenberg

Mrs. Lita Zemel

Mr. & Mrs. James P. Zils

Bequests

Alan Barsumian Trust

Benesh Marital Trust Ms. Daisy D. Patt Charitable Trust Robert D. Tice Trust

Facebook Fundraisers

Robin Baker

Lisa Garner

Dan Kummer

Gina Petrancosta Sullivan

Richard Willix

We are always especially honored by the decision to honor and remember friends and loved ones with a gift to Lambs Farm. Below, we list the names of those individuals who have been honored or remembered with a gift received from May 2022 - August 2022.

In Honor Of All Veterans & First Responders

Robin Baker

Owen Birnholz and Family

Dick Brean

Christopher Breck

Larry Clay

Tracy Clay

Deuce Riders M.C. Doug Durbin

John Durbin

Thomas Durbin

Nikki Feola

Lisa Garner

Brian T. Grady

Tony Green

Joshua Johnson

Peggy Kimble

Karyn Krupp

Chris Leporini

Tiffany Leporini Elizabeth Lewis Virginia A. Lyall

Michael J. McMeins

Michael Merel Liam Moorthy Greg Moyer Ruth I. Moyer Halle Marie Peace Tim Polacci Linda Schuh David B. Schwartz Stephanie Scialabba Jeffrey Sears Barbara Sheahan Eli Spector Sarita Still Gina Sullivan Erin Thill Abbey Van Lake Rich Willix Jon Zils

In Memory Of

Jimmy Braun

Frances Cahill Mike Corn

Julie Durbin

Robert Durbin

Frank Froncek

Irene Froncek

Janie Froncek

Shirley Harms

R. Shawn Heaviland

Daniel High

Tommy Howe III Barry Isaacson

Dee Jucius

Jack Kail

Howard Kane

Myron Katz

Chang Hwan Kim

Janine Kipley

Phillip A. Kurschner

Don Lange Kathy Larsen William Leavitt

Walter Lessenberry

John Levy

Dolores Lewandowski

Norbert Lewandowski

John R. Lindquist

Virginia A. Lyall

Tera L. Matthies

Roy “Toby” Miller

Marilyn D. Mints

Thomas M. Mints, Jr. Katherine Mitzenmacher Dorothy Murphy

John “Jay” B. Murphy

John B. Murphy

Katherine M. Murphy Michael F. Murphy

Paula O’Connor

Brian O’Malley

Charles Panzer

Jerry Riordan Shadow Rosenmutter Rose Ross Sam Ross

Douglas Rostron

Nancy Sauseda

Vincent Scialabba

Frank Sears

Phyllis Sears

William Siebers

Yeun Sook

Holly G. Stephenson

Pamela A. Sully

David Sundheim

James M. Syler

Bob Terese

Mary Ruth Terese

Maureen Vecchio

Robert Waddick

Martha Zanotti

Lita Zemel

Non-Profit Organization

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Upcoming Events

Antiques Appraisal

Tuesday, November 15 | 9:30am - 11:30am

Magnolia Cafe & Bakery

Bring one of your favorite treasures to be evaluated by antique appraisers Debbie & Jim McArdie of Iron Horse Antiques & Appraisals.

Breakfast with Santa Saturday, December 10 Sunday, December 11 Saturday, December 17 Sunday, December 18

Magnolia Cafe/Visitors Center

Ho Ho Ho! Despite his very busy schedule, Santa is making his annual trek to Lambs Farm to celebrate the holidays. Enjoy a delicious brunch, visit with Santa and participate in several crafts and activities. Call 847.362.5050 for reservations.

The Magnolia Cafe & Bakery is open Tuesday through Sunday. Be sure to stop by for a homemade meal. Our menu has something for everyone, including soups, salads, sandwiches, wraps, burgers and more!