2011 Thanksgiving Luncheon

Representative Renee Schulte of Cedar Rapids is presented with the 2011 Voice for Children Award by Brock Wolff.  The award is given annually to honor an individual whose public service has best enabled Orchard Place to serve the children who come through its doors for help. Representative Schulte has played a major role in children’s health issues, and is now playing a leadership role in the bipartisan effort to redesign Iowa’s adult and children’s mental health treatment system.

Brock Wolff presents Jeffrey Taylor, a manager of information technology at Principal Financial Group, with the 2011 Margaret Swanson Volunteer of the Year Award. Jeffrey founded the PACE Tutoring Program several years ago and continues to serve as a tutor in the program which has helped dozens of kids achieve academic success.  The Award is named for the late Margaret Swanson, a former Orchard Place board member who played a key role in developing the volunteer program at Orchard Place.

Presenting Sponsors of Orchard Place’s 125th Anniversary year were recognized for providing significant funding for the special events and activities of Orchard Place’s milestone year.  Brock Wolf acknowledged the generous support of Bankers Trust, Nationwide, Principal Financial Group and Ruan.  Accepting awards were: Tara Meier, Ruan; John Schmidt and Andrew Allen, Principal Financial Group; Brock Wolff; Kris Schechinger and Katie Albrecht, Nationwide and Suku Radia and Joe DeJong, Bankers Trust.

Several Des Moines companies stepped forward in 2011 to provide major support of Orchard Place’s 125th Anniversary year and events.  Representatives of several corporate bronze sponsors were in attendance and recognized for their support.  Pictured left to right: Julie Stewart, Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino, Mic Jurgens, Hy-Vee, Neil Berns, Sammons Financial Group, Brock Wolff, Nick Gerhart and Ron Markway, Sammons Financial Group.  Not pictured:  American Equity Investment Life Insurance Company, Aviva USA and Lou and Wendy Waugaman.

9th Annual Spelling Bee

   


Save the Date

9th Annual Spelling Bee
Thursday, March 8th
Peoples Music on Court Ave.
5:30-8:30 PM

Questions? Contact Lindsey at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or (515) 287-9605.

Fun with the Laurie Berkner Band!

Laurie Berkner is a former preschool music teacher who started selling her music over ten years ago out of her living room.  She was the first artist to appear in music videos on Nick Jr.  She’s been lauded by The Wall Street Journal as “one of the most popular children’s performers in America”.  The Laurie Berkner Band has performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center and for the White House Easter Egg Roll.

Lucy, 7, and Zoey Gross, 5, of Des Moines enjoy the attention of Laurie Berkner and band members prior to the concert.  The girls were invited to a pre-concert photo and autograph session with the band.

Rose Miller of Westside, Iowa treated her nieces and nephew of Des Moines to the concert.  Pictured are Jaiden Bobo, 5, Rose Miller, Mariah Dickerson, 4, and Ryan Bobo, 4, enjoying the concert.

Andrew Allen and his family enjoy refreshments from the Children’s Reception on the lawn of Hoyt Sherman Place after the concert.  Pictured left to right: Darcy, 5, Hollie, Drew, 5, Andrew, and Ashton, 7, of Huxley.  Andrew is employed by Principal Financial group, one of the presenting sponsors of the event.

Ride, Walk ‘n Roll A Success!


Winners of the Big Wheel Races give a thumbs up upon being presented with their championship prize, a new Big Wheel.  Left to right:  Nate Berns, 5 year-old division; McKenzie Crowdis, 4 year-old division; and Olivia Webb, 3 year-old division.

Current and former staff from Kenyon House, an Orchard Place residential facility, came out for the event.  Pictured left to right:  Lori Straight, Betty Turley, Sandy Brokow, Amy Payne-Johnson, Amy Stauffacher and Lydia Roven.

Representing Sammons Financial, a major sponsor of the event were, left to right:  Scott Greenwood, Ingrid Guttin, Sean McAvoy, Chris McAvoy, Ryan Stowe, Crystal Stowe and Neil Berns.

Ride Walk ‘n Roll Sponsors

A BIG thank you to our Ride, Walk ‘n Roll Sponsors!

Presenting Sponsors

   

 

 

 

 

 


Anniversary Sponsors

                                 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 


Major Sponsors

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Gold Sponsors

 

 

 

 

 

 

Silver Sponsors

Flying Mango
Mic and Kerry Jurgens

Community Celebration


In celebration of Orchard Place’s milestone year, the children of Orchard Place constructed a display of 1,000 colorful origami cranes as a gift to Blank Children’s Hospital.  The piece is modeled after the Japanese legend of the thousand-crane bouquet that brings peace, hope and healing to its recipient.  Pictured:  Brock Wolff, CEO Orchard Place;  Dr. Ken Cheyne, Medical Director, Blank Children’s Hospital; David Stark, President, Blank Children’s Hospital;and Cecilia Kirvin, Director of Nursing, Blank Children’s Hospital.


Orchard Place’s staff Dave Stout, VP of Orchard Place Child Guidance Center; Chris Walters, Director of Information Technology; and Val Saltsgaver, CFO are all smiles as they grill 1,000 hot dogs at the Orchard Place celebration.  Staff from all three branches of Orchard Place assisted in planning and implementing of the event.


Board members, friends and sponsors of Orchard Place’s 125th Anniversary led the crowd in singing Happy Birthday to Orchard Place.  Pictured: Bryan and LuVern Shiffler (in wheelchair), past Orchard Place Board Presidents; Brock Wolff, Orchard Place; Jeff Nelson, Prairie Meadows; Jana Rieker, Bankers Trust; Joe Sheridan and Andrew Allen, Principal Financial Group; Aileen Crawford, Nationwide; Keith Harris, Merchants Bonding; and Matt Patrick Nationwide.


Orchard Place staff Michaela Tamisiea, Director of Volunteers; Andrea Johnson, Office Manager; Lindsey Qualley, Director of Annual Giving and Special Events; Carolyn Nehls, Administrative Assistant; and Sandi Tuttle, Director of Planned Giving prepare to celebrate at Orchard Place’s 125th Anniversary Community Celebration.


A colorful sign made by Orchard Place staff welcomed the community to the event.  Activities celebrating Orchard Place’s 125th Anniversary will continue throughout 2011.  The next event is the Orchard Place Ride, Walk and Roll event, a family bike ride, walk and big wheel race planned for Septemter 24th.  Visit http://www.orchardplace.org for more information.

Laurie Berkner Concert Announced!

CHILDREN’S FAVORITE THE LAURIE BERKNER BAND
DES MOINES PERFORMANCE ANNOUNCED!

Presale tickets to the October 16th performance to benefit Orchard Place will be available July 7th, with a public onsale date of July 14th

Orchard Place, Iowa’s leading provider of services to children and youth with emotional and behavioral challenges, is continuing the celebration of their 125 years of service by announcing that Laurie Berkner and her band, hailed by People Magazine as “the queen of children’s music” will be performing in Des Moines for the very first time in the band’s history. 

EVENT DATE Sunday, October 16, 2011
SHOW TIME 3:00 PM
VENUE Hoyt Sherman Place, 1501 Woodland Ave., Des Moines
TICKETS Tickets are $28.50. Children under one (on laps) are free.
Presale tickets will be available beginning Thursday, July 7 at 10am for fan club members using the presale code PARTYDAY.
Tickets will go on sale to the public at 10AM on Thursday, July 14.
Tickets will be available at the Hoyt Sherman Place Box Office, by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000 or online at http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/060046DD9BB5AE5C?artistid=713140&majorcatid=10003&minorcatid=23 

ABOUT THE LAURIE BERKNER BAND
The Laurie Berkner Band has received tremendous critical acclaim.  Time Magazine lauded Laurie as “a kind of sippy-cup Sheryl Crow…Berkner inhabits a kid’s curious perspective in her lyrics and pens folk-pop melodies that bear repeated – very repeated – listenings.”  The Wall Street Journal called Laurie “one of the most popular children’s performers in America … Her music is distinctive because it speaks to kids without talking down to them, charming youngsters without boring grown-ups.” 
A former preschool music teacher by day and indie rocker by night, Laurie Berkner started selling her music over ten years ago out of her living room on her own label, Two Tomatoes Records.  Laurie was the first artist to ever appear in music videos on Nick Jr., Nickelodeon’s 24-hour educational, commercial-free preschool network, and is featured in nearly all of the episodes of the channel’s “Jack’s Big Music Show.”  Visit http://www.twotomatoes.com

ABOUT ORCHARD PLACE AND ITS 125th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Orchard Place kicked off its 125th anniversary celebration with an all-staff anniversary event in January. In April, Orchard Place hosted a special evening with Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy — the couple who inspired the movie The Blind Side.  Presenting Sponsors for Orchard Place’s 125th Anniversary year include:  Bankers Trust, Nationwide, Principal and Ruan.
Orchard Place was originally founded in 1886 as an organization caring for orphans. Today, with a budget of nearly $18 million and 325 dedicated staff, Orchard Place provides mental health care and behavioral services to nearly 10,000 children and youth each year. It operates three distinct branches: Orchard Place Campus, Orchard Place/PACE Juvenile Center and Orchard Place/Child Guidance Center, and serves children from throughout the state of Iowa and beyond. The organization holds the distinction of being the second oldest non-profit organization in Des Moines.
For more information, visit http://www.orchardplace.org.

2011 Spelling Bee Winners

Congratulations to our 2011 Spelling Bee Winners!



The Best Spellers, Most Money Raised & Best Cheering Section- The BFF’s (Best Friends Forever). Sponsored by Nationwide, members of this team were: Stephanie Kempf, Deborah Shaffer, Aileen Crawford & Brent Hayes. The final word “Lackadaisical” was mispelled by both finalist teams, the BFF’s and the Legal BEE-Gals from Ahlers & Cooney Law Firm. Because only the BFF’s had sufficient bribe money- $500 -only they could go onto the next round and won the competition by spelling the word “cat”!


Best Costumes- Beauty and the BEEst. These fine ladies and gent were sponsored by Doug and Val Saltsgaver of Orchard Place and include Linda Joynes, Danielle Ebel, Michelle Lamb, Aaron Fehr & Karen Lindquist. They were dressed in full character from the original Disney movie of “Beauty and the Beast” for their five person team including; Belle, the Beast, Lumiere, Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts!

 

 


The Most Creative Team Name- BEEber Fever. This team was sponsored by Grefe & Sidney, P.L.C. The team consisted of Christine Polson, Stephanie Brown & Laura Martino. They were even decked out in clothing of the teeny-bopper sensation, Justin Bieber!

Spelling Bee Sponsors

A BIG thank you to our Spelling Bee sponsors this year!

Bee Keeper Sponsors:


                                 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

Queen Bee Sponsors:

   


 

 

 

 

 

 


Honey Bee Sponsor:

 

 

 

 

 

 


Bumble Bee Sponsors:
UPS
Beattie Law Firm
Brenda and Bernie Mouw
Cyclone Rent Properties
Grefe & Sidney, P.L.C.
Holmes Murphy
John Schmidt and Deb Wiley
Roxanne Conlin & Associates
The Graham Group

Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy Presentation April 7


Orchard Place’s recent 125th anniversary fundraising event featured Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, the real couple behind “The Blind Side”, a 2009 film starring Sandra Bullock.  Nationwide, Pricipal Financial Group, Bankers Trust and Ruan were presenting sponsors.  More than 700 individuals attended the event.  Here, Leigh Anne Tuohy poses with Brock Wolff, chief executive officer of Orchard Place.  The Tuohys delivered a message aimed at inspiring attendees to help underserved youth.

125th Anniversary Staff Breakfast


Kris Schechinger, Director of Corporate Citizenship at Nationwide, thanks the staff of Orchard Place for their commitment for improving the lives of thousands of children each year.  Nationwide is a long-standing partner with Orchard Place and one of the Presenting Sponsors of its 125th Anniversary Year.

Orchard Place Foundation Board member, Joe DeJong, Vice President of Commercial Banking Services, Bankers Trust; Brock Wolff, CEO of Orchard Place; and Andrew Allen, Senior Community Investment Consultant, Principal Financial Group pose in front of a banner highlighting the organization’s 125th year.  Bankers Trust, Ruan Foundation, Principal, and Nationwide were recognized as Presenting Sponsors of Orchard Place’s 125th Anniversary Year projects and special events.

Andrew Allen, Principal, presents Dianne Burns Coleman, Milieu Treatment Counselor at Orchard Place, with two tickets to Orchard Place’s premier community anniversary event, “An Evening with Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy”, which will be held at Hoyt Sherman on April 7, 2011.  The Tuohys are the real life couple that inspired the award-winning movie, The Blind Side.  Tickets are now on sale at Hoyt Sherman and Ticketmaster for the event.

13 CARES: LuVern Shiffler

13 CARES: A family’s dedication to children with special needs spans several generations
Erin Kiernan, WHO-TV 13
September 30, 2009