We celebrated the 2012-2013 school year on Thursday, April 25. It was a wonderful evening with 80-100 people in attendance to cheer the children’s progress in school, to view the art that the children had made, to recognize the contributions of our volunteers, to watch a review of the year in photos, and to eat together.
One special part of the evening was the world premiere of a movie that was written and filmed by the children as part of our 
substance abuse prevention activities. You can find the video HERE on Patchwork’s Facebook page (you don’t need to have a Facebook account to watch it).
Thank you, again, to everyone who helped to make it such a wonderful year! Seventy-eight children participated in at least one day of Arts & Smarts activities this year, resulting in 1799 individual afternoons of enrichment.
In addition to long-time staff members Jane Vickers, Dixie Wilsbacher, and Paula Petersen, we counted ourselves lucky this year to have a committed group of new staff and interns who were students at USI and 
UE. They were Audrey Miller, Erin Sparling, Mandy Lupfer, and Kaitlin Bosomworth. In addition to these staff members, this year we had 112 teen and adult volunteers log over 2300 hours to make the Arts & Smarts program a safe and supportive place for kids.
Now we’re looking toward the summer. Our summer children’s activities start on Monday, June 3 and continue through mid-July. You can find a complete schedule and registration forms on Patchwork’s website: www.Patchwork.org.
On a separate note, May is Historic Preservation Month in Evansville, and there are several related events happening in our neighborhood. One that may be of particular interest is a free walking tour on Friday, May 17 titled “Blackford’s Grove: The Village in the City” that will depart from the Patchwork tower at 6:30 p.m. and will conclude at about 8:00 p.m. at our friend Billy Hedel’s studio. You can find out more about the tour and other activities happening nearby in May and June by visiting the Blackford’s Grove Neighborhood Association website.