A Day in the Life (Olathe)

A Day in the Life

The Black Canyon Boys & Girls Club (BCBGC) became the big 2-0 in 2019. To celebrate this momentous occasion, the Club has partnered with the Montrose Daily Press on a special project; to bring to the readers of the Press an article each week to highlight various aspects of the Club and show the impact it has had in Montrose & Olathe. The readers will get insight from current parents, former Club kids, current Club kids, past Club staff, and more. So, join us each week as we show why “Great Futures Start Here!”

Surprise! Black Canyon Boys & Girls Club (BCBGC) Executive Director, Bud Taylor, is taking a break this week from the writing helm and letting me, Amy Taylor, take over. You see, I got to do something pretty cool last week that I wanted to share with you all; I got to step into the shoes of an Olathe Unit Club kid for an afternoon. My day as Olathe Club kid started at 3:00 p.m. when Site Director, Tim, pulled out the Club van to do member pick up. While the Montrose Unit has the bus barn to pick up kids and bring them to the Montrose Unit of Club (thanks bus barn!) with the lesser number of Olathe kids, about 30 daily, the Olathe Unit can pick the kids up in its own van. Tim usually does between two to three trips daily to pick up the kids. He stops by the elementary school first and, if there are more kids than can fit on the bus, he will drop off the first load of kids before heading back to the elementary school to pick up the rest and then to the middle/high school. Around 3:30 p.m., Tim is done with pick up and the Club session can officially start.

The first order of business once all the members are there is snack time. The snack the day I was there was pizza crackers with cheese and sauce, sunflower seeds, and a Go-Go fruit squeeze provided by the Food Bank of the Rockies as part of a partnership with the Club. After a snack, there was a quick Club meeting to go over the schedule of events for the rest of the afternoon/evening. I was in luck today; the Club kids were going to hand out candy in the Olathe Parade of Lights! So, until the parade line up started at 5:00 p.m., we were going to do outside activities. So, we all donned our coats and mittens and headed outside. I will say I could not fully assimilate into my role as an Olathe Club kid as the members were excited to get to learn more about the new adult in the mix. I am pregnant and due in a couple months (my baby bump is pretty apparent) so the kids had a lot of questions on the baby! I told them it was a girl named Margaret (Maggie for short) and they told me about their siblings, if they were the oldest in the family or not, etc. It was really a neat experience to get to learn more about the Club kids in this way. They were all excited to share about themselves and learn more about me too. In between asking me about my future Club kid, the members played four-square, basketball, and tag.

After outdoor time was over, we all headed inside to get a buddy for the parade who would help us pass out candy. Everyone also got to wear a fun light up accessory, either a Christmas light necklace/bracelet or a cool Christmas light-up headband. Tim then had everyone line up with their buddy and, along with staff, walked them to the start of the parade to wait their turn to walk down Main Street. I stayed behind at this time to help serve hot cocoa and cookies to parade viewers on Main Street courtesy of the Club’s Olathe Unit and Making Olathe Better (MOB) while also taking video/pictures of the kids in the parade. If you check out the Black Canyon Boys & Girls Club Facebook page, you will see a great video of the kids trying to give me candy! After the parade, the kids themselves got to have some hot cocoa and cookies from the Club booth before heading back to the Club to be picked up by their guardians.

I had a blast getting to spend time with the Olathe kids. Thank you Tim and staff for letting me be part of it for a day. Often, in my role at the Club, I don’t get to spend much time with the kids at either Unit so it was a treat to get to know them more. It also helped to reinforce why all the staff at the BCBGC do what we do; to help great futures start here in the local community and to be a positive part of the kids’ lives.

Amy Taylor is the Executive Assistant at the Delta-Montrose Electric Association and part-time Marketing Coordinator for the Black Canyon Boys & Girls Club. Feel free to contact Amy Taylor by e-mail at ataylor@bcbgc.org or visit the Club’s website for more information, www.bcbgc.org.