2013 SBAIN Picnic

On Saturday August 24, a little earlier than in previous years, SBAIN Spina Bifida Association of Indiana held their annual picnic at Independence Park in Greenwood IN. With our usual member who represents the club, John A, being very ill two couples stepped in to take his and Dianna's place. They were John & Marge H and Bill & Erika L with three convertibles between them to give the children and parents rides in a Corvette. This continues as a part of the picnic which was started in 1989 by John & Dianna and Corvette Indy. The four members were warmly greeted by Shalon Perez, the association's Executive Director, who along with others expressed well wishes to John and a speedy recovery. She introduced us to others and also invited our group to have some lunch before starting the rides. The meal consisted of chicken, salads, and other picnic fare and was enjoyed by all. During lunch a couple of the attendees stopped by with their dogs, which are trained as comfort dogs to help in stressful situations, by the Hope Animal Assistance Crisis Response team. They were there to give the children a chance to play with the dogs and for the children to just feel good about themselves when in a large group. Once finished, and then using a few wet wipes, drivers were ready to begin giving rides to the children. This progressed well, with several getting more than one. If given a choice the children chose either the Red or Blue Corvette, with the Gray one not making as many trips allowing Bill to take more pictures. Everyone had a good time and the members headed out after giving everyone rides who wanted one. They also felt that doing it in future years would be a lot of fun and will try to enlist even more members to make the trip to Greenwood for the next SBAIN Picnic.