Boo Will Be Here Soon!!

October 15th is the 2022 date for Boo at the Barn. This will be our 5th year of holding an in-person event and it promises to be better than ever!  As in the past the first hour (noon until 1:00) will be for those with sensory sensibilities. The general public is welcome from 1:00 – 3:30 at the Miracle’s farm, 2049 120th Street NW, Swisher, IA. There will be parking in the hay field along the driveway. Our “Gravely Shuttle” will be available for those that need a ride to the welcome table or arena. Dancers from Studio 360 will be on hand to entertain before and after the horse parade. The horses will be dressed for the occasion and “parading” around Aspen’s Arena. No one will go away hungry with Maggie’s Farm Wood Fired Pizza providing pizzas for a crowd (gluten-free and dairy-free available); Freddies will be providing their wonderful frozen custard, a perfect pairing with the cookies from Big Grove Brewery and Taproom!

 
As in the past, we will have inflatables, craft tables, decorated stalls, photo booths, indoor and outdoor games. Lucky, Mr Sea, and Little Guy, our minis, will be sporting their Halloween costumes for all to enjoy.  Thanks to our generous sponsors, the event is free, although donations are always welcome! Hope to see you there.  

Horse Shelters

This April and May, Rinderknecht Construction came to build two new horse shelters. Miracles needed additional shelter space so that the herd can be moved into different pastures as the grass grows and gets grazed. The construction crew worked quickly and through some very hot days. Thank you.

Spring Gardening

The Cedar Rapids Garden Club, at Miracles President Lauren Crippes's request, came to clean up the flowers by the farm house. And what a job they did. If you come to Miracles now, you will see that the plantings are thriving. Members of the club come to Miracles from time to time to deadhead flowers and remove a few more weeds. 

Growing at Miracles

You helped Miracles grow! Thanks to all who donated a tree and/or attended our Grow with Miracles event on April 30.

Despite a cold and windy day, attendees came to say “hi” to our three miniature horses, Lucky, Little Guy, and Mr. Sea; planted a few seeds (in line with our “grow with miracles” theme), and took home manure tea bags. Tree sales exceeded our expectations! At least 13 were sold, with promises of a few more. And more than 20 kids and adults participated in a scavenger hunt for horse-related items. 

Miracles Began Its 35th Year

At the beginning of April, Miracles began it’s 35th season of providing adaptive (therapeutic) riding lessons to those with challenges!  At last year’s Upmier Arena dedication long-time volunteer, Jackie Wallace, shared  the story of how Miracles came to be.

Thoughts from Incoming President

I’m so delighted (and a bit nervous) to take over as President of the Miracle’s board for 2022. Having started out as a volunteer, then board member, and now incoming president, I’ve been so impressed with the depth of community support for our organization. Just this week (early December), our Director of Operations, Deb Leichsenring, and I attended three events where we were presented with checks to help with the property, horse care, and mission. The Greater Cedar Rapids Housing & Building Association is helping to fund new shelters for our horses through their Building Our Community Program. (And it is possible through connections at their banquet, that they will help with the actual building of the shelters!) The PGI Riders/Paternal Guardians of Iowa donated to support our mission and American Legion Riders Post #166 from Shellsburg will be sponsoring one of our therapy horses in 2022 [see photo below]. It was a great week (with the exception of both Deb and I coming up with flat tires in all our travels!)