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DHR Takes to the Skies

Several Down Home Ranch residents recently flew with Challenge Air, an organization that gives adults with intellectual disabilities a chance to take controls of a real airplane while aloft. The Down Home crew left one early Saturday morning in June to drive to McKinney, where 20 planes and their pilots awaited the chance to make a dream come true! All of the residents enjoyed the trip, and the opportunity to see our beautiful Hill Country from a completely new perspective. Many thanks to the staff of Challenge Air, who made the day a rewarding experience for everyone.

If you're looking for a volunteer project for your group, click here to give us a holler.

DHR Thanks the Community Outreach Program at St. Matthews

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Once again Down Home Ranch was blessed with a visit from the men of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Austin. Tony Hathaway helped organize the volunteer day for the 18 men who showed up on Sat. June 13, 2009, arriving at 8:00 am and laboring in the hot sun as the temperature climbed to 100o. The men of St. Andrew's worked on landscaping projects for Gabriel House, home to four men, and Martha House, home to four women. They raked, dug, levelled, laid ground cover and then gravel, prior to planting a variety of beautiful but low maintenance, Xeriscape plants. Our thanks to these good men who once again helped improve our community.

Dud Morris, WWII Veteran, Presented
Film on Iwo Jima: May 24, 2009

Our neighbor, Dud Morris, and his wife Melba visited Down Home Ranch and showed his short film on Iwo Jima. Dud was in the Navy in WW II and is a wonderful man and quite a character. He enlisted with two friends the day after Pearl Harbor, walking out in the middle of his high school history class. He officially graduated from Elgin High School in 2003 after the Legislature passed a law permitting WWII veterans who left high school to enlist to receive their diplomas. He said it really was a SENIOR prom for him and Melba, coming as it did 59 years after leaving Elgin High.

After the movie, we all enjoyed a short reception and presented Dud with a token of appreciation. Then, in honor of Memorial Day, we all sang a few patriotic songs, led by the DHR singers. It was a pleasure to honor one of our Greatest generation. Dud just met with his original group, which at one time was 200 men. Now there are six.

Ranch Featured on Fox News Houston: Feb. 4, 2009

Greg Groogen, popular TV personality on Channel 26, Fox News, Houston, aired a three-minute piece on Down Home Ranch. You can watch the piece here. Although Down Home Ranch is three hours from Houston we enjoy a lot of interest and support from Houstonians. (We actually started Ranch Camp in 1995 with 13 campers from Houston sleeping in tents and cots.) Greg's Fox News report will be made available to other markets - Austin, Washington, D.C., New York and others - so we hope people will let us know when it airs.

New Research Directions:
Down Syndrome in the 21st Century

October 23, 2008

We were honored to host Dr. William C. Mobley of the Stanford Center for Research and Treatment of Down Syndrome. He came all the way to Austin to tell us about amazing developments in the effort to discover effective treatments for to help people with Down Syndrome live long and healthy lives.

In particular, Dr. Mobley's team is researching ways to prevent the development of Alzheimer's disease in older adults with Downs, in whom the rates are far higher than in the typical population. Dr. Mobley and his team are at the forefront of neurological and genetic research in the world. It was an honor to host more than 200 of our friends to hear him talk about their progress.

You can read all about Dr. Mobley and this wonderful evening here, or visit our Resources page for links to Dr. Mobley and his research.

Note: External links open in a separate window.

MyFox Houston (Fox 26 News) 2/4/09: Down Home Ranch Services Special Needs Adults

High Plains Observer, 10/16/08: DHR Earns National Recognition for Wildfire Preparedness

News 8 Austin, 6/16/08: Historic Log Cabin Finds a New Home