Big Brothers Big Sisters on Summersville Pond

 

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In April, Farlin and Eric went for a paddle with the Hartford Chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters on Summersville Pond in Summers Connecticut.

Farlin and Eric took them out during their first warm weather experience of the year. This particular crew was the core team of folks who have shown up to all big brothers big sisters programs we’ve done. There was a feeling of comradery and closeness that had been developing over the many months that we’ve been doing these programs with them.

Farlin and Eric have seen this particular group of kids really coming out of their shells and developing both confidence and competence in areas all across the board. During this program they put emphasis on taking on more of a leadership role by having the kids start off in the stern with the adults in the bow, where they had control over the direction of the boat. The kids were able to make decisions about where the group went and where they explored, and they all had a chance to get out of the boats into the water.

 There was a lot of wildlife coming out of the winter fog. Specifically, they saw a ton of turtles… Like hundreds of turtles sunning themselves on logs on the side of the pond.

There was some sweet sadness and a feeling of parting because this string of programs with Big Brothers Big Sisters would be coming to an end soon, but they were talking about going to “yard goats” games together, outside of this their programming with AIAO.