Activities taking place at Dakota Milestones: Recently, some of the people at the workshop have been busy doing woodworking projects. Michael Dowell/LSP has been assisting people with making things such as the Green Bay Packers clock to the left. Projects that are sports oriented are always a popular choice .

* Wash your hands

*Remember to keep salads cold

* Cook meats to recommended internal temperatures

*Avoid cross contamination

Summertime food Safety Tips:

In the picture to the right, Joanna is sanding a piece of wood while enjoy-ing the nice weather outside. As you can see by her smile, she is enjoying working on her project.

The items made thus far are being used either in the per-sons home or in the workshop. Crafting things out of wood gives people a sense of accomplishment and participation.

Staff Anniversaries this Quarter:

Mary Borah - 4/8/04 - 8 years Shelby Byrd - 4/15/11 - 1 year Des Gunnare - 6/7/10 - 2 years Mark Huber - 5/10/10 - 2 years Cara Jones - 4/19/00 - 12 years Jenzena McGee - 4/28/08 - 4 years Chris Pazour - 5/26/11 - 1 year Ronda Schelske - 6/9/86 - 26 years Alicia Schmitt - 4/30/07 - 5 years Patti Thayer - 6/7/11 - 1 year

Friday Fun Day:

For some time now, once a month on a Friday, people get to engage in what is known as Friday fun day. Each department atDakota Milestones takes their turn in plan-ning the events for the day. Activities have ranged from fishing, to cook outs in the park, (with pie made by the cooking class for des-sert) carnival type games, bingo, eating ba-nana splits, and pontoon boat rides Friday fun day gives people a break from their daily routine. The excitement people have can be seen days before the actual events take place.

Summer Edition: Newsletter

Editor: Mike Bravek

River City Racing: Fathers day weekend, the jet boats were in town for the annual boat races. People from

Dakota Milestones attended the races if they so chose to. The event was held at the American Creek Park again this year which provides a nice shaded area for spectators to take part in the activities. Some of the other activities taking place were: The Flat Broke Band played, Mighty MO Car Show, Family Entertainment by Kenny Ahern and a play zone for the kids. Much fun was had by all.

Approximately 300 elementary students participated. Blue tee shirts with the autism puzzle symbol were given to each person participating as well as blue colored balloons were released outdoors. April is Autism Awareness month.

Jason Vaverka, Support Coordinator of the West Cen-tral Family Support Program, attended an autism aware-ness walk in Rosebud held on April 27th. The walk had to be moved indoors to the elementary school due to rain.

Autism Awareness walk held in Rosebud:

In May, work began on the demolition of the City Hall in Chamberlain. The building sits on Main street and for several years is where the city offices including the police department were located. It was also used for plays and had a basketball court. Dakota Milestones held the annual halloween party there on occasion. The building has deteroriated so much that it was decided it would be better to demolish it instead of fixing it up. Plans are to replace it with a fine arts center. Once built, people receiving services at Dakota Mile-stones, as well as the community in general will have a nice, new, place to attend plays and other events.

Upcoming Events: * Dakota Milestones Annual Recognition Banquet September 8th, 2012 at Cedar Shore Resort

* SABE -National Self Advocacy Conference August 30th to September 2nd, 2012 in St. Paul M.N.

* Dakota Milestones Annual Golf Tournament July 7th

Have you ever wondered about the importance of having healthy teeth? Our teeth play an important role in our lives. They help us to chew our food when we eat, they are a part of our overall appearance, and they play a big role in smiling! But did you know that poor dental hygiene can contribute to bad breath and can increase your risk of heart disease? These are good reasons to make sure you maintain good oral hygiene by brushing twice daily, flossing every day…and seeing your dentist for regular cleanings. Many of us have barriers to maintaining good oral hygiene. Me….I have severe anxiety about going to the dentist, and I am not alone. There can also be physical limitations that prevent you from brushing and flossing, or maybe the toothpaste sets off your gag reflex. So how do we overcome these hurdles? Se-dated dentristry is becoming more and more popu-lar for those of us who just can’t handle the dentist’s chair, even with the laughing gas. There are adapt-ed toothbrushes, different flavors of toothpaste, and more. It’s important to figure out what works for each person, offer assistance as needed, and get-ting those teeth clean! Keep smiling everyone!

The Importance of good Dental hygene: By: Angela Oliver/RN

City Hall to be Demolished:

Fallout Art and Music in the Park: On June 13th, 2012, Art in the Park was held at the Avenue of Flags in Chamber-lain. People from the surrounding area also attended.

Karla Hegg, pictured above is working on a clay sculpture. Other activities availablewere: dancing , film festival, finger painting, etc.. Fallout is a non profit organization with a talented membership of people promoting arts in communities to everyone who wants to attend. Fallout is located in Aberdeen S.D., and will be traveling to other cities in the up-coming weeks, holding art and music activi-ties there as well. The weather was great for an afternoon in the park with canopy tents set up to provide shade. Fun was had by all.

Allen Todd Memorial : Saturday, April 28th, a one year memorial service was held in Sisseton for Allen Todd who received services at Dakota Milestones. Allen lived in Chamberlain with three of his friends. Allen enjoyed watching movies as well as participating in social activities in the community.

Pictured to the left, John RunningBear stands next to the star quilt he received during the service. John was one of Allen’s closest friends, Matt Mines/ASC of D.M. also received a beautiful star quilt during the memorial.

Saturday, May 12th, a wel-come home gathering for the 200th engineer company was held in Chamberlain. The solid-ers first had a deactivation cer-emony in Pierre before coming home to Chamberlain after a one year deployment to Afghanistan. There was a parade down main street, followed by a gathering at the Armory. One of the soldier’s mom, Molly Odens works at D.M.. Everyone at D.M. wishes to thank them for their dedicat-ed service to our country.

Rewards and challenges of Home Ownership: By: Beth Hosek/PC

Tanya Graves bought her house in September 2006. After living in an apartment for along time, she decided she would like to purchase her own home. Tanya said she looked at sev-eral homes in the community, before settling on one she liked. Pictured is Tanya standing on the front steps of her home.

Her home has 2 bedrooms and a big back yard. “ I enjoy having my own space, mowing my yard, having my friends and family over, cooking , and watching movies with them”, Tanya said. “My Dad and I even plant a small garden in back each year, in which we enjoy harvesting the fresh vegetables from”.

Home ownership has its challenges as well. There are unexpected repairs that come up and snow removal in the winter, etc.. Tanya has been doing some painting in her home too. She also has a vehicle which she must budget for. “Overall, I would have to say home ownership has been a good thing for me, despite these challenges”, Tanya stated. It’s like any of us, we all have to budget for these types of things, but it’s usually worth it in the end. Dakota Milestones has assisted other people receiving services obtain homes as well.