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Barrier-Free Blog

A Look Back on 2019... Barrier-Free's Year in Review

12/31/2019

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Looking back on 2019...
Barrier-Free's Year in Review
Pictured above left to right - Sam Silverman, Jen Shillingburg (Assistant Director Co. B), Jared Parrish, & Josh Shoop.
This year we welcomed 8 new participants to the Barrier-Free family - 4x more than our typical growth!
Pictured left to right - Jenny Laatsch, Grace Thompson (Movement Director), Nicole Hurley, & Katia Anderson.
Barrier-Free doubled our staff by bringing on 3 new incredible staff members.
Pictured Above Left to Right - Mike Eaton (Barrier-Free Promoter), Alex White, Geoffrey Wolf, Nicole Hurley, Chris Anderson
Pictured Below Left to Right - Alex White, Mike Eaton (Barrier-Free Promoter), Tyler Ellyson, Sam Silverman
We created and performed two original plays - A Spooktacular House Party and What it Means to Be Super.
Pictured Above -Summer Improv Showcase Ensemble
Gary Jolbitado, Barrier-Free Teaching Artist, led our well-loved summer improv class culminating with a hilarious improv showcase.
Pictured Above Top Left to Bottom Right - September's Ice Cream Social, October's Screamland Farms Outing, November's Greene Turtle Dinner, December's Trip to Hershey Park
We began Barrier-Free Social Clubs and had four awesome events!
Pictured Above - Lauren Burr (Director of Operations) & Britt Burr (Creative Director)
We became an official 501c(3) non-profit, created a new logo, revamped our website, increased our social media presence, and more!
Pictured Above - Gary Boyle & John Nuzzo
With your help, we raised over $1500 from 5 fundraisers!!
Pictured Above - Highlights from our Inclusive Theater Companies
Best of all, this year we shared innumerable laughs, smiles, and great times.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for an incredible 2019!
Pictured Above - December Social Club 2019 Group at Hershey Park (some participants not pictured due to riding on the roller coasters)
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Roller Coasters, Chocolate, and Christmas Lights- Oh My!

12/9/2019

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What a long, fun-filled day we had at Hershey Park on Saturday! After meeting at the Westminster Community Center, the 20 Barrier-Free social clubbers piled into staff cars and rode to Hershey Park! 
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The first stop everyone made? The Chocolate World Tour, of course! The groups divided and followed the journey of how Hershey's chocolate is made--from cocoa beans to shipping. The ride included singing cows, talking chocolate, and a small treat at the end! It was a great way to start the day, and gave everyone a chance to see, smell, and learn about the chocolate-making process!
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After Chocolate World, we made our way into Hershey Park. There was so much to do and see. Some of our more adventurous friends--led by our adventurous staff member, Britt, went immediately for the big rides! They chose to do the sooperdooperLooper, the first ever looping roller coaster on the East Coast. It’s a 57-foot tall coaster with one big vertical loop, followed by all sorts of dips, drops, and bunny hills. Other social clubbers, who love thrills, but not loops, rode the Wave Swinger, a classic ride that allows riders to fly through the air and see the park. The third group, those of us who aren’t big fans of rides all together, had some lunch while we waited.
​Our second stop was Reese’s Cupfusion-- a video game-based ride where gamers are secret agents tasked with protecting the chocolate factory to ensure that the world never goes without the Reese’s Cup. Our agents did exceptionally well, and everyone came out with a smile on their face. 
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The entire group went together to ride the Monorail. With open windows, we were able to see everything as we rode above Hershey Park, ZooAmerica, and historic downtown Hershey. We even saw the actual Hershey factory! It was a pleasant ride, and a nice midday break before going back to coasters. 
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The sun started to set when we exited the Monorail, and the holiday lights came on! There were lights everywhere! Santa’s Sleigh could be seen on top of the Comet, being pulled by all his reindeer, and all the trees lit our way as we walked to our next adventure.
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Britt led her thrill-seekers to the Sidewinder-- a coaster that goes forwards and backwards, for a total of 6 loops! The rest of us enjoyed Founder’s Way, a section of the park that holds amusement classics such as the Carrousel, the Tilt-a-Whirl, and the Scrambler. Skyview, a ski lift that brings riders over the park, was a fan-favorite. Social clubbers bought keychains, clothing, and candy for souvenirs! 

Below is a short video of some of our friends getting ready to ride!
We finished our day back at Hershey’s Chocolate World. Exhausted from such an action-packed day, we found some tables and got some dinner. We exchanged stories and heard all about roller coasters and shopping! A few people asked if we were going to come back. We certainly hope so!

After dinner, we packed up and walked back to our cars. We continued sharing stories from the day, of friendships that were created, and the fun times that were had. We met everyone’s parents/counselors back at the Westminster Community Center and bid them farewell.

We are so happy with how the day went! We were thrilled to see the fun that everyone had. We are approaching the end of the year, and can’t wait for our next social outing in January at Meltdown DiY Art Studio in Eldersburg, Maryland! 

Written by Laura Stall

​Laura serves as Barrier Free's Content Creator.  She contributes original content, event recaps, and more to the blog.

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  • Home
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