Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Here in Colorado Springs Colorado, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has the Electric Safari during this time of year. It is a light event and very beautiful.

This year, they set aside one evening for The Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind and their families. The zoo had volunteers from the Access 2 Sign Language and a zookeeper who signs. Santa was there signing also :)

It was a beautiful and touching nite that the zoo did for these children.  I am so thankful to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo for giving such a wonderful gift to these children during the holiday season.

It gives me hope that there are still people here with loving and giving hearts.  People who still care about children that cannot hear or see because children, no matter what, love Christmas.  This made Christmas special for them this year!

Thank You, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo!

Surprise!

picture courtesy of Disney

We got another small job, so we are in the office for a day till a bigger one comes :)

We are thankful for the small and large jobs :)

We spent our off time cleaning up the leaves from the front yard, six bags worth. Our ash tree has a lot of leaves, its beautiful but cleaning up the leaves makes a busy day for us :)

I've been reading Bambi Venatucci's book "Take my Hand". It transported me back to the time I spent at The Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind. Good and bad things, as always with memories.

I leave you with a magical picture of Snow White and we can say together "don't eat the apple" :)

take care

Bambi Venetucci

picture courtesy of Fountain Valley News


Yesterday, I re-posted the story of Nick Venetucci, the Pumpkin Man. Today, I thought I would share about Bambi, his wife.

Since birth Bambi has been blind. She attended the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind as a student, then became a teacher for the school as an adult and before marrying Nick.

She still lives in Fountain, Colorado. She was the guest speaker at the senior fellowship group of Faith Lutheran Church in Feb 2011. She had her audience rolling with laughter as she shared the funny parts of her life story.

Bambi wrote her life story and it was published in 1996. It's called "Dammi La Mano - Give Me Your Hand" by Bambina Marcantino Venetucci. And yes, it is in English.

Her life was not an easy one but she faced it with courage. Her book is a good read :)

Bambi and Nick were famous here in Colorado Springs and beyond because of their pumpkin give away each year in October. Bambi's beautiful and giving heart matched her husbands. And just as Nick is remembered in October, so is she.

Full Moon Tonite

Tonite there will be a full moon. Most people think of werewolves with the full moon or the Twilight sagas or Lon Chaney Jr who played Wolf Man.

I think of Lon Chaney Sr, the man of a 1,000 faces who never played a werewolf but he did play a hunchback.

Lon Chaney Sr was born in good ole Colorado Springs in 1883. His grandfather started the Colo. School for the Education of Mutes, now known as The Colo School for the Deaf & Blind. And as you all know, I have a deep love for the Colo. School for the Deaf & Blind :)

Lon's parents met at this school, they were deaf. He would pantomime for his parents, this was the ground work for his acting. He became a great actor.

Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind

Picture courtesy of PPLD- Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind - 1900's


I have always had a love for this school, it was built in 1874, William Jackson Palmer (founder of Colorado Springs) donated over 300 arces to this school. It still stands and operates today though most of the land has been sold. I had the rare chance to spend a few days there. This is my story.

One Christmas morning, in the late 1950's, I was playing with my presents (a tea set was among them). My father was sitting in his favorite chair watching me.. I looked up and my dad's head slumped to the side, I walked up and gently touched him and told him to wake up, he didn't. My mother and cook (who was my favorite) came in and I told them daddy was sleeping. They called the doctor, who still made house calls


My father had a heart attack, he recovered but the doctor thought it would be better if my parents moved to a better climate. My father loved Colorado Springs, this runs in the Penrose blood-we find a city and its like a comfortable old shoe. For my Uncle Boies it was Philly, Uncle Richard it was New York, for Uncle Francis it was Ireland, for my dad it was Colorado Springs.


So, plans were made, my mother started letting the staff go. She would take them into the kitchen and I would never see them again. I thought that my mother was making them disappear and if I went into that kitchen, she would make me disappear. One day, she asked me to go into the kitchen to say good by to cook. I ignored her and I kept on ignoring her.


She thought something was wrong with me, the doctor was called in. He looked at my ears and noticed my ear canals were much smaller then normal. He thought I might be going deaf, he suggested that my parents take me to the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind. They had more experiance then he and they could help me.


So, a little bag was packed with my new tea set and my dad took my to the school. My room was very bleak but I had a room mate. She was about 8 and her job was to find out if I could hear or not and how much. I had a great time at this school, there were kids my age and we played. It was so much fun and one night I confessed to my roomie why I had been ignoring my mother.


She went to the heads of the school and reported to them, my father came and they told him. He laughed and took me home. When he told my mother, she was pissed. She only got madder when my dad said we were not going to leave Colorado Springs. My father explained to me about the disappearing staff.


So, the staff had to be hired back, some came, some didn't. Cook did and I was very happy. I missed my friends at the Deaf School, so I asked my father if I could go visit my roomie. He came up with a plan to have my roomie come live with us but when he went to the school, he was told she had died. It bummed me out and my dad said it wasn't a good idea for me to ever go back there and I never have.


My mother made me pay for a long time but it was still the best few days I had and I still love that school and the people in it.