Pine Tree Society

Pine Tree Society Blog

October: National Disability Employment Awareness Month

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During October, we celebrated National Disability Awareness month, dedicated to raising awareness about employment issues for disabled individuals, and celebrating the valuable contributions of workers with disabilities.

More than 29,000 Maine students, about 16% of the state’s student population, are identified as having a disability.

According to the American Community Survey, just over 15% of work-age Mainers has a disability – and yet only 38% of these people are employed and only 20% are employed full-time.

Pine Tree Society’s Career Development Services are designed to address an emerging critical need among individuals with disabilities, while meeting a growing need for employees.

Read about Robert reaching his employment goals here.

Sign Tree Camp 2018

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Last weekend, Pine Tree Society’s Interpreting Services staff traveled to Pine Tree Camp to host Sign Tree Camp.Sign Tree Camp 2018

Sign Tree Camp is a unique retreat designed for adults who are deaf and have an intellectual disability.

Many of our campers live in communication isolation as the only deaf person living in group homes scattered throughout Maine and beyond. Sign Tree Camp offers a fun, language-accessible camp experience in a barrier-free environment.

Over the weekend, campers enjoyed fall activities like pumpkin painting, nature walks, and a Halloween Sign Tree Camp 2018costume party!

“We always love to see old friends in an environment where everyone can communicate,” said Maura Nolin, Director of Interpreting Services. “Campers asked if they could come back for seven days next year.”

Learn more about Sign Tree Camp.

View more photos here.

Seeking presenters and exhibitors for the 2019 Southern Maine Autism Conference

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The 11th annual Southern Maine Autism Conference will take place on Saturday, March 16, 2019 at the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel in South Portland.  We are gearing up for what promises to be another successful conference focused on practical tools, strategies and support for families, educators and other providers.

Applications for exhibitors are now available. Applications are processed when payment is received on a first come, first service basis. Visit http://maineautismconference.org/ to download your application.

In addition to exhibitors, we are currently seeking presenters. Requests for proposals are available at http://maineautismconference.org/ as well. Proposals must be returned by December 31, 2018 for consideration. Presenters will be selected upon committee review.

The Southern Maine Autism Conference is focused on sharing evidence-based resources with families and providers.  We reserve the right to decline exhibitors who fall outside out of the conference focus.

If you have any questions, please contact Stevie Bonnevie at sbonnevie@pinetreesociety.org.

Deaf Awareness Week 2018

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For the last full week of September, we celebrated Deaf Awareness Week! We ended it with attending Deaf Culture Festival on Mackworth Island.Deaf Culture Festival

In 1958, this week was first celebrated for only one day (International Day of the Deaf) by the World Federation of the Deaf, but was later extended to an entire week.

In this video, Tim Wilbur, scheduling supervisor for Interpreting Services, is seen signing, “What is your name? My name is Tim”

The Deaf Community is a culturally and linguistically rich community, whose primary language is American Sign Language. When communication is necessary between people who use ASL and English, a professional interpreter bridges the language gap. In many situations the use of qualified interpreters is required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Learn more about Pine Tree Society’s Interpreting Services.

Cards for a cause

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Pine Tree Society’s holiday tradition begins each year in June when our Bath office is flooded with paintings depicting Maine’s beautiful winter landscape.

“In the 1960s, Pine Tree Society had the idea that a Maine-themed holiday card would be a perfect fundraiser,” said Noel Sullivan, president and CEO of Pine Tree Society. “More than fifty years later, that tradition is still going strong and, through the sales of these cards, we have raised more than $3 million dollars to supportChristmas Cards and transform the lives of Maine people with disabilities.” 

One hundred percent of proceeds from annual holiday card sales support Pine Tree Society’s programs. 

Our 2018 cards feature beautiful paintings by two celebrated Maine artists:  Richard Hasenfus of Georgetown and Marieluise Hutchinson of Cushing.

Hasenfus’s “Winter Lighthouse” and Hutchinson’s “The Perfect Snowman” capturholiday carde quintessential Maine winter scenes. These featured artists have both designed cards for Pine Tree Society before.  In fact, Richard Hasenfus’s first card design was in 1969 and that painting entitled “Peaceful Harbor” was instrumental in setting this annual fundraising tradition on a course for success.

Cards are available in two formats, folding and postcards, and each purchase has a very important purpose: to help Maine people with disabilities lead richer, more socially connected lives. 

Holiday cards can be ordered online or by calling 207-443-3341

Adaptive Water Sports Camp sailed into Pine Tree Camp this weekend

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The Adaptive Outdoor Education Center and Pine Tree Camp collaborated this weekend to bring all people with varying abilities a weekend full of adaptive water sports, beach fun, and a memorable camp experience.

water sportsBruce Albiston, founder of the Adaptive Outdoor Education Center and former Pine Tree Society board member, said this was their biggest group yet.

 “Three years ago was our first year and we only had 16 people,” Albiston shared. “This year we had people on a waitlist!”

Campers of this weekend’s Adaptive Water Sports Camp enjoyed paddleboards, kayaks and canoes, and pontoon boat rides. This year was the first waterskiing was available.water sports

“We never have trouble finding volunteers. We just continue to grow,” Albiston added.

There were smiles all along the shores of North Pond for the two day, three night weekend. One camper exclaimed, “It’s incredible. The volunteers lift me in and out of my wheelchair just so I can kayak. I can’t wait for next summer!”

To learn more about the Adaptive Outdoor Education Center and the programs they offer visit their website.

Pine Tree Camp offers our fully accessible facilities for retreats, meetings, conferences and special programming. Learn more here.

New art and a Maine retrospective at Pine Tree Society in Bath

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On Friday, September 21, Pine Tree Society will open its doors for the Bath Art Walk to unveil two new paintings created by Maine artists Richard Hasenfus of Georgetown and Marieluise Hutchinson of Cushing.  Hasenfus’s “Winter Lighthouse” and Hutchinson’s “The Perfect Snowman” were painted for Pine Tree Society’s 2018 holiday card series.

Also on view will be over 60 paintings representing “A Maine Retrospective: The Art of Pine Tree holiday cardSociety’s Holiday Cards.”  This extensive collection dates back to the early 1960s, covering a span of more than 50 years. 

“In the 1960s, Pine Tree Society had the idea that a Maine-themed holiday card would be a perfect fundraiser,” said Noel Sullivan, president and CEO of Pine Tree Society. “More than fifty years later, that tradition is still going strong and we have acquired an extensive collection of quintessential Maine art.”

The art featured in this show has raised more that $3 million dollars to support and trChristmas Cardsansform the lives of Maine people with disabilities. One hundred percent of proceeds from annual holiday card sales support Pine Tree Society’s programs. 

The paintings showcase a variety of mediums and styles and are a visual time capsule of Maine in the winter, from country scenes to woods and fields to the rockbound coast and iconic lighthouses.

Featured artists Richard Hasenfus and Marieluise Hutchinson have both designed cards for Pine Tree Society before.  Richard Hasenfus’s first card design was in 1969 and that painting, “Peaceful Harbor,” will be on display.

If You Go:

Friday, September 21

4:00 – 7:00pm

Pine Tree Society

149 Front St., Bath

Refreshments will be served

 

2018 holiday cards can be ordered online here.

“I’m going to big school”

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Sandbox“I’m going to big school” are words Karen McClure-Richard and her team at Pine Tree Society’s Early Learning Center work all year for a child to be able to say with confidence.

“When they say those words, they’re showing their maturity and their age and their readiness to move on,” said Karen.

In August, the Early Learning Center celebrated the end of the school year with 16 children graduating to kindergarten. 

The Early Learning Center provides educational programming for young children with special needs. The staff has a common goal for all the students: to foster a love of learning to set a strong foundation for the future.

“Kids enroll with us at age three or four so we have a year or two together before it’s time for them to transition to kindergarten.”

For Rachel, the Early Learning Center provides a structure for her five-year-old son Silas.  “He always does better when goes to class,” she said.  “They do things I don’t know how to do with him and have given me the tools I need at home to help Silas communicate.”

When Silas first came to The Early Learning Center he was three years old and non-verbal.

“When he was able to say ‘I love you momma’ that was the best thing that ever happened.”

The Early Learning Center team has helped Silas discover ways he can communicate his emotions instead of getting frustrated when he’s trying to share what he wants.

“Two things have worked out amazingly well at home,” continued Rachel.  “If it gets too complicated for him to say what he wants, we have created a way for him to point to images that convey things like happy, sad or hungry.  The other thing I’ve learned to do is to break my communication down in a way that’s simple for him to understand which makesSilas it much less likely for him to get frustrated.”

Silas has one more year before he’ll transition to kindergarten. 

“We work really hard to help each child understand that they’ve earned their rights to move on,” said Karen. “And we help their parents to do everything needed to help their child get ready for school.”

The Early Learning Center team creates visual storyboards unique to each student to show them what their new classroom and library will look and where they are going to play outside at their new school. The kids also learn what it’s like to ride a real school bus.

“We do a lot of prep work with the kids around behavior and emotion around change.  We’ve been their constant and now everything is changing.  Their case manager at Pine Tree Society helps them too and supports the family through this transition and will remain with many of these families for as long as the need is there.”

“I do all the things others do, I just do them differently.”

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When John W. Conner passed away in 2017 at the age of 86, there were two things really important in his life that his family wanted to pay tribute to:  the Shriners Hospitals for Children and Pine Tree Camp. 

“A lot of what he wanted to do, was able to do, and did do was because of Pine Tree Camp and Shriners Hospital,” his son John D. Conner recalled.

John W. Conner grew up on a farm in central Maine and was diagnosed with polio in 1935 during the Great Depression.  He spent much of his childhood away from his family at the Shriners Hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts, only coming home for six weeks in the summer and two weeks at Christmas.  At Christmastime in 1944, he came home for good to be with his five brothers and sisters.

A year later, Pine Tree Camp was founded and became a place his doctors recommended he go each summer.  It was during one of those summers that he designed the iconic Pine Tree CampCamp Logo logo.  Since that time, John’s emblem has been a positive symbol for the thousands of campers who drive down the camp road each summer and have their lives forever changed.

“Pine Tree Camp is family for so many people,” John D. continued. “My father was away from home so much as a child that his family truly became those he spent so much of his life with at the Shriners Hospital and Pine Tree Camp.”

John W. spent many years travelling back and forth from Maine to Springfield for continued treatment for polio including three spinal fusions and extensive physical therapy.  Over time, he regained the use of his limbs and was able to lead a very active and full life.  He often said, “I do all the things others do, I just do them differently.”

John W. was an avid sportsman who loved the Maine outdoors.

“We never mastered being a Mainer quite like he did,” his son John D. fondly remembered.  “Dad loved to fish, especially fly fishing.  I can still hear him grumbling about any type of fishing except fly fishing.  He often carried me in to Kokadjo to fish the Roach Ponds for trout, the only fish that existed to him.”

“I imagine he first learned how to fish at Pine Tree Camp,” John’s sister Victoria said.  “The spirit our father had for fly fishing was undeniable.  Passing that along to his children and grandchildren brought him much joy.”

John D.’s three children spent many summers with their grandfather learning the art of fly fishing and how to be a Mainer.

“And Dad learning to duck as their flies tended to catch him more than the fish.  He never hesitated to hunt and be as much of an outdoorsman as he could. He trekked many of the Baxter State Park trails and climbed Mount Katahdin, something I hope to do with my children and sister in the future, in honor, memory, and for him.”

Victoria recalls how their father didn’t talk about his struggles with polio. 

“I remember going for walks with him, witnessing his limp, helping take his boots off in the winter — little things like that to help; but the disability never became a topic of conversation, because my Dad never viewed it as a disability.  I think his years at Pine Tree Camp contributed to that mentality of breaking through barriers and adopting a mentality of inclusiveness.”

When John W. was in his early 80s, Victoria brought him back to Pine Tree Camp so they could walk the grounds together, see what had changed and reminisce about the early days.  He was using crutches and it brought to mind an old photo of him when he was 10 years old standing with crutches on that very same lawn.  It is a memory that will stay with her forever.

“My Dad was very proud of his years at Pine Tree Camp.  My visits with him to the camp over various stages of our lives really demonstrated how much the camp did for him as a young man and the great impact it had on him his whole life.”