Dear Editor,
I am the special projects coordinator for The Arc of Sedgwick County.
Every year we run over 300 programs for individuals with disabilities. All of our programs are aimed at giving our clients new experiences so they may increase their socialization skills.
One of our programs is called “Mini Tours.”
Essentially we have 27 activities that travel around the United States.
This year we traveled to Great Bend for our Holidays In Kansas Trip. I felt that it was very important to comment to you and the citizens of Great Bend. I brought 28 adults with developmental disabilities and five staff members and toured Great Bend Dec. 4 and 5. We were very impressed with the activities the citizens had for the community. We were even more impressed with the people that we met.
Our itinerary for Dec. 4 was Christmas trees at the Schaffer, Santas around the world, pictures at the Nativity at the square, ice skating, dinner at Great Wall, Trail of Lights, Jingle Bell Swing at The American Legion and concert with the Hilltop Singers. We slept at the Best Western Angus Inn and had breakfast at Perkins.
Your city had wonderful activities that everyone thoroughly enjoyed. The ice skating brought laughter because everyone kept falling, but everyone tried it which was very impressive, if only for five minutes. The lady that ran the event was very kind and was willing to help.
As I said before, everyone was extremely cordial and willing to help. The clients that I brought loved the dance. That was probably the highlight of their trip. The band and Hilltop Singers were outstanding, but even more importantly the community members were very pleasant and shared their dance floor with people that may not be the most graceful. It was definitely a learning experience for us.
The people at Great Wall went above and beyond the call of duty serving our every need.
The Christmas trees and Santas around the world were wonderful exhibits and the curators were able to answer our every question confidently.
The Best Western helped with our planning and even set up our breakfast for us.
Everyone was so pleasant, easy to talk with, and made our trip one of the most successful and enjoyable that we have had this year.
Please pass this along to whomever will read it, post it in your newspaper and tell your citizens how much we appreciate your city.
Benjamin Stauble,
special projects coordinator,
The Arc of Sedgwick County,
Wichita