Square Peg Foundation

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Our scheduling system is now fully automated!  Check it out!

Last Tuesday afternoon, rain (in May?!?!) forced me to my desk to catch up on scheduling; scheduling we’ve done manually for six years, I might add. But this time, it was different.  I knew our custom scheduling system would go live later this week and I saw an unfamiliar light at the end of this tunnel. I looked at the bright orange post-it notes strewn about my monitor with notes like: “reschedule XXXX for 3:30 on Thursday” and “No IIII for this Tuesday, reschedule for Wednesday of next week” and thought: “Soon this will be off my plate.”

My monitor has a fun screen saver that randomly displays a word and its meaning.  ABDICATE had just flashed by, which I felt particularly prescient, and then the usual chimes rang that indicated an email had just come in. I shook my mouse to wake up the monitor. I was cc’d on a confirmation to one of my students:

“You are confirmed for Summer Camp on June 6^th in the afternoon…

What?? I thought? How can this magic be? Right away, an email came in from our developer: “Are you testing the system Joell?”

“Not me. Was that you?”

“Nuh-uh” the developer wrote back.

We both did some scrambling and checking and within minutes we both knew that one of our families had gone to the SquarePeg site and logged in, registered, confirmed and paid for summer camp.

“It’s happening!” I wrote to the developer.

This developer has been a friend of Square Peg since day one.  She sat on the floor  of our San Francisco apartment organizing and taking notes eight years ago as we dreamed up this thing we now know as Square Peg.  This developer has watched and advised, laughed and cried with us every step of the way.  So it was a moment savored in every layer of it’s deliciousness.

Room to grow.  Less time for me in the office trying to return calls, texts, emails and Facebook postings about when we might be available for lessons and less waiting for our families for me to get back to them.

Technology at it’s best enables us to spend more time together, doing what we do.

So do log in to the new system, browse around, book a lesson (or four) and know that while you are doing that, we are out turning “I wish” into “I can.”

By the way, Square Peg will be CLOSED on Saturday, May 28 because:

Our dear Sigourney Jellins will be competing her horses Maggie and Theo at the Spring Horse Trials at the HorsePark at Woodside – coached by our own Rainey Sealey

– and Farris Scott and I will be competing on Hank, Kir and Beetle at the WCT Ladies Invitational Polo Tournament at the Menlo Circus Club – coached by Greg Crosta.

We would love for you to come by either competition and cheer us on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been four days now since our event.  I still have a stack of thank you notes to get out and, amazingly, donations keep coming in the mail.  I knew that I really needed to post something about the event to show how special, how magical it was.

But instead, I’m going to let the kids speak for themselves.

Today’s entry is the transcript of the speech by Max Freiberger.  Warning – you may need tissues:

My name is Max Freiberger. I am 16-years-old. I have been going to Square Pegs since before the organization even started. The Square Peg Foundation is a very meaningful organization for me and for many other people and lots of animals, too. Square Pegs Rescues the vast majority of their animals. Many of these animals would have been killed if not for Square Peg because they had no home. Square Pegs is now their home. The vast majority of the horses have been rescued from being slaughtered. Most of them have been retrained and rehabilitated in order to help give lessons to children and adults of all ages and abilities. This is a special place where everyone is accepted and appreciated for who they are.

I started off as a summer camper. I vaguely remember my first camp. I was 5 years old and so excited. I was nervous and scared when I got on the horse for the first time. Joelle was there for me, each and every step of the way to make sure I was safe, learned, and had a good time. When I became older I progressed into volunteering with the chores as well. Now, I volunteer frequently, and I even help teach the summer camps.

I hope you had a chance to spend some time with Joelle Dunlap. She is the co-founder and Director of Square Peg.  Joelle is a remarkable human being.  She is unconditionally kind and caring.  She is so intelligent and hard working beyond belief.  And she doesn’t stop until every job is done.  For an example, no matter how many times I incorrectly bridle my horse — Polo tack is tricky you know — she would calmly explain again and again, then help me fix the problem, no matter how many times she had to repeat herself.   Never has she lost her patience, temper or hope that I would eventually get it. On top of that she is a darn good polo player and an amazing equestrian.

My volunteering with the summer camp was originally Greg Crosta’s idea. Greg is my polo instructor, teacher and friend. He is a character who has always treated me with kindness and respect. He is somehow able to push me to my limits without pushing me past them. Greg recognizes my abilities better than I do.  I think he gets this from his mother, Joelle because she is the same way. They believe in me more than I often do and they help me believe in myself. When I first started volunteering to help teach in the summer camps it made me feel really good about myself because those kids that I am helping to teach are in the place I was not so many years ago.

This place has helped me overcome many struggles. I have ADHD, chronic asthma and Tourettes syndrome, just to name a few. Tourettes Syndrome is a neurological condition that makes me have ticks. For example one of my ticks is to kick out my leg. Another one is to exhale very fast. When I was younger other students would tease me and exclude me and it made me feel terrible. I often would feel down or depressed. I would ask myself why I had to have all these problems when others didn’t. Sometimes I still wonder that.

But somehow on days that I was going to Square Peg I felt better. I knew that when I went to Square Pegs, I would have a place with friends and animals that cared about me. No matter what! Even today I look forward all week long to the days I go riding at Square Pegs. No matter what is going on, I still feel great when I go to this special place.

One of the first Square Peg camps I ever went to was an introduction to polo. I could barely hold a mallet, let alone swing it while riding on a horse at a fast speed. This didn’t matter. All that mattered to Joelle was that I was safe, and I learned about the animals and how to take care of them and very importantly to have fun.

I now ride in the Square Peg polo program and we go to the Woodside horse park and play real polo. I remember the first time we went to play polo at the horse park. I almost didn’t bring my polo stuff because I wasn’t going to even play. Joelle was going to play Monty, our new horse, before any of the students played him; but she surprised me by letting me play.

Again, she believed in me more than I did.  In that first game I even scored a goal. I knew then I had the polo bug.

When I was younger and went to the early Square Peg camps I never imagined I would be able to someday play polo and hit a ball at a high speed like I can now. Not only have I learned to play polo but I also have learned to play the game safely and respectfully.

Now I am in High School, at Mid-Peninsula High, another special place where people can be themselves and feel safe and respected.  At Mid-Pen we have two community service days per year, where groups of students go out to volunteer for the day at organizations in the community.  I feel very lucky because now the Square Peg Foundation is one of those organizations.

When I first started at Mid-Pen I felt like I was just a squirrelly freshman that didn’t fit in. Then, at my suggestion, my high school visited Square Pegs on its community service day. When I was at Square Pegs that day I felt very special. People would ask me for help during the service day. And I felt proud to be able to. The next day when I went back to school I felt much more comfortable. Square Pegs has that impact on people.

If I were to say only one thing tonight I would say the Square Peg foundation definitely lives up to its motto. EVERYONE FITS.

 

 

CNN did a story today “15 Reasons Mr. Rogers was the Best Neighbor Ever” http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/07/28/mf.mrrogers.neighbor/index.html

It’s not just a charming article, it’s the story of a gentle man who loved children, family, music and people.  He stood up quietly but fiercely for what he believed in and he practiced what he preached. What may have seemed like meekness was supplanted by his unwavering “Walking the Line.”

Ladies and Gentlemen – here’s the good news you have been waiting for: The antidote to Charlie Sheen.

Now, for some much-needed sunshine.

j

There’s an old Spanish saying that states; “When I am on my horse, only God is taller than I.”

I thought about the saying on my rainy drive home tonight. It’s one of those things that sinks through in layers.

Yesterday, before the rain and after a busy day of teaching, I managed to take one of our project horses out for a training ride. I had my trusty cadre of teenage girls saddle up as well. The jumps were up in the arena and we set out with a plan to tackle the course.

I should add that it’s been a heck of a month. Short days and bad weather and a nasty cold that keeps kids in bed for over a week have wreaked havoc on our lesson income. There are two major fundraisers looming and hundreds of hours of work to be done with volunteers counting on me to deliver information and projects to them correctly and on time. There’s 16 horses needing care and new and eager volunteers to train. I feel like I’m pulled in many, many directions and I’m still letting people down – this is a feeling not conducive to restful sleep by the way.

But for just that 45 minutes after the last lesson was over and before evening chores needed to get started and hatches battened down for yet another rain storm, I got to ride.

Within minutes, the sagging budget is forgotten, the backlog of bills and phone messages from parents canceling yet another lesson are locked in my office. At least for now. As this young horse and I start to warm up, I can feel that he’s keen to play and rather than force him into some kind of a working frame, I’m game to play with him. In no time I’m squealing with delight. Our young and famously independent OTTB Stanley is taking me to the base of the jump and then leaping not just gracefully but happily over small fences. By the end we are both misted with sweat and I’m draped over his shapely shoulders hugging and patting him.

My “A” team is in the ring with me. Two teens with lovely seats and hands are also riding and sharing in the excitement of a young horse learning and enjoying a new skill. These girls have left behind their teenage lives with college applications, scary doctor appointments, grades, boys and family issues and for this moment we are living and breathing that which is the best of what life can offer.

That old Spaniard, whoever he was, said a mouthful when he said “When I am on my horse, only God is taller than I.“

401 Main Street

Half Moon Bay, CA 94019

650-726-4444

Celebrity Bartender Night

Thursday March 31 FROM 5-9 PM

Featuring your “celebrity” bartender – Joell Dunlap

Executive Director and co-Founder, Square Peg Foundation

Supporting

The Square Peg Foundation

“Where we  turn “I wish” into “I can.“

…Changing the world, one horse, and one child at a time.

Featuring the “Square Peg Julip” a special preview of

Square Peg’s upcoming “Run for the Roses” Gala April 28!

Come in for an evening of fun and community  support!

Learn more about the Square Peg Foundation!

www.squarepegfoundation.org

I want you to take a look at: Square Peg Foundation – where Everyone Fits – The “Challenge Yourself” Campaign for 2011