On Saturday, January 15th, The Hidden Valley Club welcomed Shred Love and Anchor House. Based in Trenton, New Jersey, Anchor House is a multi-service agency for runaway, homeless, abused, and at-risk youth and their families. Best known for being “family friendly” and the place, “where family memories last a lifetime”, The Hidden Valley Club made all of us feel welcomed. When we arrived at the Rental Shop, all of our gear was laid out and waiting for us.

Shanelle & Jerrie

Following the format of our 4 day Learn to Ride program, the Anchor House group attended their first lesson…

but  it didn’t take long for the magic to start.

No, your eyes aren’t fooling you, and yes Felix landed it! I was amazed by everyone, not just by their skills, but by their determination to get it. We’ve all heard stories of people being psyched about their first day of snowboarding, only to fall once and give up. But as in life, you can’t stop the first time your knocked on your “bum”, you have to dust yourself off and try again. That very lesson is the foundation of Shred Love.

For the 2010 – 2011 winter season, our focus will be on progression, goal setting, and developing creative problem solving skills. I know some may read “creative problem solving skills” and think, huh?! But if you really think about it, there is more than one way to skin a cat. And instead of accepting ‘no’ for an answer or taking the easy route, we’re planning to teach our participants how to find the best solution. I’ll stop there, because I could go on for days about setting goals, but I will leave you with this quote:

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. – Buddha

Think big, and then think bigger!

Special thanks to The Hidden Valley Club and Marianne, our board member, Mel Young for suggesting we reach out to Anchor House, everyone at the Anchor House, Russ, & Amy, Phil, and Tom of the NJ Herald.

And finally, a big thanks to our volunteer Jerrie and our teen mentors: Khaliq, Marcel, and Shanelle for their dedication.

Shred Love & Anchor House at The Hidden Valley Club