This Just In!

Some of Sun 3 pictured with a few kindergartners and the principal of Long Elementary

Sun 3 was hand picked by Santa Claus himself to oversee operations while he listened to wishes at Long Elementary School.  That's right, members of Sun 3 got to work along side the man in red on Friday evening. We decorated trees, ran craft booths and passed out delicious food. 

 

This food has been known to have mysterious side effects as two of our team members, previously vegetarians, were no longer able to keep this title upon sight of the fried chicken.

 

Mr. Claus placed me in charge of craft control. I helped a Kindergartner create a Santa's eye view of the earth with green stickers on a blue paper.  We shared a heart felt smile and a broken candy cane before it was his turn to meet Kris Kringle.

 

Children came from all over Long Elementary School, yes folks, all the way from kindergarten to 5th grade to see the infamous Christmas hero. They ate, drank, and made merry for 3 solid hours but then the big guy had to split. Rudolph was in a hurry to make a light show. 

 

This will not be an event soon forgotten by the inhabitants of the now famous, Long Elementary School, or the team members of Sun 3. Jolly old St. Nick even made a point of writing down the Sun 3's names on a list marked "naughty" so he would "naught" for get them.

 

-Angie

Getting Things Done, Sun 3 Style

We’ve been staying real busy on the trails at Rock Hollow this week. Ooohhh yeeeahhh! The ten of us have continued roughin’ it through the woods, clearing and constructing the interconnecting trail through the park in St. Louis County.

Our fearless forest park leader, the legendary John Stanger has been keeping us all pointed in the right direction. This guy is seriously the bomb, lemme tell ya. He helps guide us through the hollow and teaches us correct trail building skills, concepts and tactics. We even got our first taste of chainsaw experience today! We learned proper chainsaw maintenance and got some direct hands-on experience wielding that blade of terror. Not really…safety first baby. Occasionally we work along side members of a local mountain bike club called GORC (Gateway Off-road Cyclists) to complete various tasks that directly relate to their organization. Some of our local sponsors from St. Louis County Parks came also came out to the work site yesterday to thank us for all our work and admire the things we’ve accomplished at Rock Hollow. We interact with so many genuine outdoor enthusiasts. Amazing!

Team unity is great. Days are spent working our butts off on the trail for about 8 hours, then we head to the local community center to complete our individual responsibilities which include media outreach, service learning initiatives, community outreach, program promotion, project budgeting and scheduling. We get time to do our laundry, use the internet and work out in the gym. We usually make it home pretty late but we always have time to cook bodacious food.

We’re having a blast in St Louis. We adore our sponsors and we love the trail. We’re staying healthy, having fun, and getting things done! Yeah boy.

12/2/10 - Chrisser

Sun 3’s Trip to St. Louis

On Friday, November 19^th, Sun 3 took a team trip to downtown St. Louis, which sits on the banks of the Mississippi River.  After about an hour drive from our home in Wildwood, we arrived at the Thomas Jefferson Gateway Arch Expansion Museum, more commonly known as the St. Louis Arch.

 

The team inside the arch.

The arch was magnificent.  Our team was blown away by the size of the arch, which is the tallest national monument.  Our sponsor, being as generous as they are, provided our team with VIP passes that allowed us access to the top of the arch.  The view from the top was phenomenal and our team really appreciated being able to experience such an important aspect of American history.

Our fearless leader at the City Museum

After the arch, our team had a delicious lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory.  While digesting, we did some window shopping and art gallery browsing along the downtown streets.   The store clerks were very welcoming and hospitable as our team meandered through their businesses.

Everybody in the giant ball pit.

Our last stop in downtown was the City Museum where we explored the unexpected.  The museum is far from your typical historical high school field trip museum.  It was a playground for all ages.  A few of our highlights from the museum were the 7 story slide, the ball pit, enchanted caves, and the world’s largest pencil!  Our team spent hours running around the museum like we were little kids again.  It was a great finish for our first downtown St. Louis trip! 

                                                   

-Nick Connolly

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