We order all our silk screened T-shirts from ooShirts, a growing startup company. Check out their website at www.ooshirts.com for fabulous shirts and deals.

At the beginning of this season, with the help of Bart Chapman from Forcesmith, Xenophon launched a new on-line sign-up system for our volunteers. Each volunteer has their own link through which they can log onto Xenophon’s calendar system. With the click of a button they can quickly and easily sign up for the days in each session that they would like to work. Emails are automatically sent to remind the volunteers of their committed work days, and a report is available to our Volunteer Coordinators, showing all the people who have signed up for each day.  This has made their job much easier.  Despite a few launching glitches, the system worked well for Session 1. Current volunteers, please get ready, starting March 24, 2014, to sign up for Session 2!

Thank you, Bart for your help in getting us up and running with this great tool.

Lessons began again at the center on Tuesday, February 18, 2014. The center was buzzing with activity as friends greeted each other, new volunteers were oriented and instructors saw to final details for lessons.  Students arrived with smiles on their faces, greeted by new and returning volunteers alike. The horses seemed to be enjoying the activity and attention after the 2 month-break, and stepped right back into the job of carrying their special passengers. While many things were going on at the center during the break (cleaning, work days, volunteer training sessions, preparations for the gala), what all of the staff was most looking forward to was the start of lessons. That is what we are all about.  The center is not the same without our riders and all they bring to the center.  Welcome back to all the members of the Xenophon family. It is going to be a great year.

Come join Xenophon for what promises to be an exciting and fun filled evening. Our annual gala is our biggest fundraising event of the year. It is a great way for you support the valuable work we do.

Tickets are on sale now, go to the 2014 Gala tab to purchase your tickets.

View many more pictures here.

If the link above is not working for you, or if you just prefer the older Flash photo albums over Google+, click here.

Our center workday on February 2nd proved yet again that many hands make for light work. With staff having set out an ambitious 2-page list of chores to be done, it was looking as if a 2nd work day would need to be scheduled. True to form, many of our wonderful volunteers turned out and set themselves right to work. Not only was a second work day not needed, but the afternoon was not needed! By 10:30 in the morning nearly the entire 2 pages of chores were checked off. Thanks to Justin Neville and his handy chain saw, trees were trimmed, power lines cleared, and drainage slots made. Sam Parino and Bruce Presser, with help from Ellen Marienthal and Annette Barter, emptied an entire compost bin. Then, there was the transformation of our mounting ramps thanks to sanders Nigel Hearne and Mark Caron, along with the help of numerous painters. Fence railings were painted, our mailbox was reset in concrete and moved to a better location. The list of accomplishments goes on and on as does the list of helpers. Thank you to everyone who came and participated and put our center in tip top shape for the start of the 2013 season.

View the rest of the pictures.

We made it!  After a wet spring, with many delays and a summer full of construction, we are officially open and running lessons in our brand new facility.  Our covered arena is beautiful and is it is at least 10 degrees cooler due to the shade and a light breeze that blows through the structure.  The horses seem happy in their new surroundings and they surely must appreciate the shade as well.  Our new office and sitting area is homey and welcoming and the new deck has provided a lovely place for parents to sit and watch their child ride.  We are still finishing up some important pieces.  The electrical is still being installed and should be finished the end of this week, and the plumbing is going in, but all in all we couldn’t have asked for a better result.   A big thank you goes to Neil Howry, Chuck Harris, Clark Construction, McGuire and Hester, Contra Costa Electrical, The Lescure Company, ISEC company who built our deck, Garden Lights, and of course, PG&E who allowed all this to happen.

Our latest newsletter is ready for download here.