Almost the end of the year

Just in case we don't get a chance later on (time goes by so quickly and the poor blog is often neglected): have a wonderful and safe New Year! Please be sure not to overdo the celebrating and stay safe for the sake of all who love you.

Also wanted to share some silly photos of our staff at the recent holiday pot-luck luncheon.

We had fun, we had so much yummy food, we had a Yankee Swap with really nice gifts that no one wanted to give up but, that is the fun part of the Yankee Swap.

Special thanks to our LOCA committee for planning the party.

And special wishes to you for a wonderful 2013!!

Merry Christmas Everyone

It's Christmas Eve and we are of course, closed tomorrow. Wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and share a few photos of the Big Guy in the Red Suit visiting the children at New Beginnings, our childcare center. It was also official Pajama Day for the kids and the staff.

We have many, many more photos, which you can see on our Facebook page.

Santa Takes a Break

This is the last post for this week so a couple of shots from the Bookfair still and one of Santa taking a very well deserved break and drinking an iced coffee :^)

We definitely want to thank Santa Claus for coming to our Bookfair at the Holyoke Barnes and Noble and we have a few more shots to share with everyone next week.

Happy shopping everyone!

Thanks for supporting our Bookfair

As promised yesterday, here are some more photos from our December 8 Bookfair at the Holyoke Barnes and Noble. And, while we're here, many thanks to those who donated at Valley Gives yesterday.

This is the chair all ready for reading the Polar Express. Santa used the chair also to hold little ones in his lap.

The kids are just adorable and they were all so well behaved! And everyone who turned out on a Saturday to spend the day coordinating, gift wrapping, photographing, giving information about Springfield Partners, and generally helping out, thank you so very much.

And we would not have had a successful Bookfair without the help of the professional, helpful, caring and extremely busy staff at the Holyoke Barnes and Noble. Thank you!

Happy Holidays and Thanks to all who supported our Barnes and Noble Bookfair

What a week! We had a truly wonderful Bookfair at the Holyoke Barnes and Noble on Saturday, December 8. Santa visited and many children had their photo taken with him. Some of the little ones really did not want to cooperate for photos as they were a bit intimidated by the big guy in the red suit.

Our wonderful Childcare Director, Tabitha Desplaines, read the Polar Express to several groups of children who were captivated by the story.

We also gift wrapped, helped out by board members and other volunteers and we had a very nice raffle - partly donated by Barnes and Noble and partly donated by the above mentioned Tabitha Desplaines. Didn't Tabitha just go above and beyond? We are very lucky to have her in charge of New Beginnings Childcare. All the money raised at the Bookfair, btw, goes to the children at New Beginnings.

And, because the most adorable children visited with Santa, here are some cute shots that we wanted to share with you:

I will share photos of more children tomorrow. Promise! Good way to make you come back to the blog, right :^)

Happy Thanksgiving

Sending warmest wishes to all for a wonderful Thanksgiving. Here at Springfield Partners, we started celebrating at the beginning of the week. Our childcare center, New Beginnings, hosted a holiday luncheon for the children, staff and parents. The food was donated and prepared by the parents and served by the staff. Of course, the week before was busy with lessons about the meaning and the importance of this holiday.

Here are some photos of our children enjoying the meal as well as a few games beforehand.

You will agree that they are all adorable!

Happy Thanksgiving and drive safely if you must travel.

Staff Retreat: A Fun Day

Last Friday we all trooped over to Springfield Technical Community College. It was time for some training, some awards and recognition, and even some games. Organized by our very own committee who called themselves the LOCA Committee (stands for Laborer Occasional Celebration Association :D) it was a nice day away from the office.

We recognized many staff for their long service to the agency; the longest being Bob Stovall at 29 years!!!
We also awarded Cynthia (Sinde) Rivera, Employee of the Year, who gets to take a day off for winning.

Congratulations, Sinde! You really deserve it!

We played some games guaranteed to have everyone laughing. They allowed departments to interact and get to know each other better. Have you ever tried to build a tower with spaghetti and marshmallows? How about decorate a pumpkin face while wearing a blindfold? Seriously! Try it! Hysterical :D

Many thanks to the LOCAs: Heather Rose, Tabitha Desplaines, Rosa Echevarria, Cynthia Rivera, Synthia Scott-Mitchell, Carmen Santiago, Jennifer Picard, and Lina Villalongo.

And last but not least, here is a shot of our view from the 7th floor, Scibelli Building at STCC.