Friday Blogging

DSCF4259
The No Limits Table at Brain Injury Report Out Day in Richmond!
DSCF4260
The No Limits Ambassadors – Brandon and Zel!
DSCF4261
Another shot including Rachel and Emma!
DSCF4263
The Commissioner of DARS, Jim Rothrock, came and checked out our talking brain!
DSCF4266
Mixin’ up Amy’s birthday pudding!
DSCF4270
DJ harvesting catnip with our new Productivity Coordinator, Kyle! Welcome to No Limits Kyle!
DSCF4307
Pink shirt twins!
DSCF4315
Amy with her meal from Happy Buffet! Matt says “this is the best meal you could ever eat!”
DSCF4312
Pest control patrol!
DSCF4318
Double the cookies – double the fortunes!
DSCF4322
Rachel bought us a present – a talking brain with a great sense of humor!

YouthWorks Week 6

DSCF4277
This week’s YouthWorks group came to join us from Richmond, VA and Pennsylvania!
DSCF4305
We’re so so happy with all the work y’all did! Keep on workin’ everybody!
DSCF4301
Helping to keep our kitchen cabinets organized!
DSCF4293
They helped us to organize our flower pots too!
DSCF4290
Stain on YouthWorks , stain on!
DSCF4288
Cut my man, cut! The yard looks great!
DSCF4286
Mowin’ mowin’ mowin’!
DSCF4285
Raking to improve the yard. Great job!
DSCF4284
Weed whacking around or beautifully painted boxes!
DSCF4283
Painting around the green bean forest!
DSCF4282
Keeping the green bean box looking clean and rich with a new paint job!
DSCF4280
Getting the new coop ready for the chickens!
DSCF4279
A group shot of YouthWorks week 6! Thank you all so much for your hard work! We greatly appreciate it!  We are sorry to say that this week’s YouthWorks group will be our last for the summer.  May God bless you all and we hope to see you again next summer!

YouthWorks Week 5

DSCF4180
This week’s YouthWorks group came all the way from Texas and North Carolina!
DSCF4183
Sanding the picnic table and doing a fine job!
DSCF4188
Great minds working together!
DSCF4195
The new coop looks awesome! You guys did a great job!
DSCF4197
Come on out now we need to put the roof on! It’s time to go!
DSCF4210
A good job well done!
DSCF4212
Mow on! The yard looks great!
DSCF4223
Keep on mowin’!
DSCF4228
We had fun playin’ around and pretending to be velociraptors!
DSCF4232
Chickens are really velociraptors at heart!
DSCF4233
YouthWorks love! Very sweet!

Grandmaster Elton Trower

Hearts are breaking at No Limits and across the Eastern Shore as the word travels that Grandmaster Elton Trower, of Cape Charles and Wilsonia Neck, has passed away.

Grandmaster Elton Trower and his daughter Felicia, December 2014
Grandmaster Elton Trower and his daughter Felicia, December 2014

The community of Eastern Shore survivors of brain injury and their friends and families have been blessed to have been the beneficiaries of Elton’s amazing hands and even more amazing soul and energy for over two decades. He was a friend to the brain injury survivors of the Eastern Shore when almost no one else was – as one No Limits member, Matthew, describes it, “Elton is the best friend I’ve ever had.”

If you google Elton Trower you will find countless stories and videos of his stunning martial arts achievements. What they don’t usually say is how those same hands that broke the boards and pierced the cans came every Thursday to No Limits Eastern Shore, to massage the weary shoulders of brain injury survivors and their friends, and to coax movement back into damaged nerves and muscles.

His radiant energy filled the room as soon as he entered it. He literally gave off heat. Elton Trower was at once the strongest and the gentlest man we have ever known and we can’t believe his laughter will no longer lift us up each week. This loss is simply indescribable and incomprehensible and yet we were just a small part of Grandmaster Elton Trower’s full and busy world. Our thoughts, prayers, and deepest sympathies are with his beloved family and special friends.

Sensei Trower, May 2015
Sensei Trower, May 2015

We fully understand why God would want to call Elton Trower home. We just don’t understand how we are supposed to manage without him. Rest in peace, Sensei. You will live on forever in our hearts.

Elton with a card from Matthew
Elton with a card from Matthew: The Eye of the Tiger!!
Brandon, Elton and Matthew, Christmas party 2014
Brandon, Elton and Matthew, Christmas party day 2014

Friday Blogging on Thursday!

DSCF4135
Here’s our new fridge! DJ and Zel worked very hard to get it all set up. Work on guys, work on!
DSCF4141
John and Maryann gettin’ the table cloth ready for Brain Injury Report Out Day! Iron on John!
DSCF4149
A beautiful shot of the gorgeous flowers in our pollinator garden. Thank you so much Eastern Shore Soil and Water Conservation District for awarding us the grant money to purchase these flowers!
DSCF4148
Another wonderful shot of the flowers taken by John! Thank you as well to David, Brandon, and Adrian for getting this box all ready to go!
DSCF4206
Takin’ a break from mulchin’ the garden to pose with the palm trees!
DSCF4208
Mulch on my people, mulch on! These flowers were also purchased with the grant money we received from the Eastern Shore Soil and Water Conservation District!
DSCF4225
The finished pollinator garden! Beautiful!
DSCF4167
Beth is picking some cherry tomatoes!
DSCF4169
Our first batch of catnip was harvested by DJ! Go DJ, go!
DSCF4170
Pepper pickin’ good!
DSCF4241
After a busy day outside we relaxed and answered trivia questions!

Friday Blogging

DSCF4074
Argh! Zel says “These new, memory/matching cards are good for concentration and organizational skills!” Ay ay Zel!
DSCF4106
Chopping lettuce for lunch making! Chop on with your bad selves!
DSCF4123
We made our own subs this month! Beth says “It was a really nice meal and a good idea!”
DSCF4122
Brandon with his sub. They were scrumptious! (Those are veggie straws on his plate not french fries!)
DSCF4132
What a good harvest we had this week from the No Limits Community Garden!
DSCF4103
Look everybody it’s Vanna White! Just kidding, it’s Zel! Hahahahaha.

Youth Works Week 4

DSCF4079
This week’s YouthWorks group came all the way from Minnesota! Here’s the group joining us for a gross motor activity.
DSCF4081
Y’all must have played this game before because you played so well!
DSCF4084
Jason making the group feel right at home!
DSCF4114
Thanks for helping cut down the vines!
DSCF4112
Havin’ a good time cuttin’ down the vines!
DSCF4110
John says “Zel it’s not dry yet! You’ll ruin your clothes!”
DSCF4107
Keep on painting y’all it looks great!
DSCF4102
Thanks for cutting the grass! Mow on awesome lady!
DSCF4101
Detailing the drawers!
DSCF4097
Weed whacking with precision!
DSCF4095
Organize on my friend! The closet looks marvelous!
DSCF4092
DJ came out to supervise the painting process.
DSCF4088
Before!
DSCF4113
After! Beautiful job!
DSCF4089
Before!
DSCF4117
After!  It’s like day and night – it looks great!  Thank you all so very much for coming!  We greatly appreciate it!

Youth Works Week 3

DSCF4059
Group shot of YouthWorks Week 3!  This week’s group came from New Jersey and Colorado!
DSCF4057
Workin’ hard!
DSCF4001
YouthWorks and No Limits teamed up and played a gross motor game! Move it or lose it!
DSCF4053
Working hard with a big smile! Thanks for helping us to build a new filing cabinet!
DSCF4052
The yard looks great! Great job!
DSCF4051
Mowin’ with a smile!
DSCF4048
Weed eating the weeds around the tomatoes!
DSCF4041
No Limits collaborates with the Kiwanis Club of Accomack to create EMS dolls for local medical providers to hand out to children in our community who may be sick or injured. This paper further explains this project.
DSCF4040
Ready to go!
DSCF4039
Another hard worker!
DSCF4033
The group working on the EMS dolls!
DSCF4032
Two dedicated YouthWorks workers built this filing cabinet in 2 hours. It would have taken us 2 weeks!
DSCF4030
YouthWorks helped us clean our windows! John says “they look so clean I thought they were broken out!”
DSCF4028
Window cleaning!
DSCF4027
Thank you for coming from Colorado to help us out!
DSCF4021
DJ working quality control on doll making!
DSCF4019
Amy helping YouthWorks stuff the EMS dolls.
DSCF4016
All the doll makers in action!
DSCF4015
Last year YouthWorks helped us make a new No Limits sign. Here’s the sign with one of this year’s volunteers!
DSCF4011
We wait all year for your help with the lawn! Thanks again!
DSCF4004
Another group shot of doll making!
DSCF4003
All these ladies are hard at work!
DSCF4002
Thank you again for helping us with this filing cabinet and everything else y’all did to help us! We appreciate all of your hard work and dedication so, so much!

Friday Blogging

DSCF4017
This week we made dolls to be given to our local medical services providers in order for them to be given to children who may be hurt or injured in or community. This project is a collaboration between ourselves and the Kiwanis Club of Accomack and we love to help out!
DSCF4033
We were lucky enough to have YouthWorks helping us to create the dolls this week!
DSCF4055
John finished his first EMT doll John says “I enjoyed this project and I know that these dolls are going to go to good homes!”
DSCF4022
John showing us how to create and use your own window cleaner. Vinegar + newspapers = cleaner (who knew?!)
DSCF4047
The chickens are guarding Brandon’s palm trees while he is on a vacation this week!
DSCF4065
For this month’s Health Advocacy Lesson we made healthy, fruit smoothies! Smoothie Selfie!
DSCF4066
The rest of the group enjoying their smoothies. What a great lesson in healthy eating!

Youthworks Week 2

Youthworks came from Wisconsin and Massachusetts this week. Here they are learning about brain injury prevention from us.
Youthworks came from Wisconsin and Massachusetts this week. Here they are learning about brain injury prevention from us.
We had lots of fun showing them one of our gross motor activities.
We had lots of fun showing them one of our gross motor activities.
These were some hard working workers! We really do appreciate it.
These were some hard working workers! We really do appreciate it.
Getting ready to build a shed before it rains!
Getting ready to build a shed before it rains!
They were all so dedicated and doing it from the heart.
They were all so dedicated and doing it from the heart.
DJ giving Youthworks a big thumbs up!
DJ giving Youthworks a big thumbs up!
Don't close yourselves in, we're leaving for the weekend!!
Don’t close yourselves in, we’re leaving for the weekend!!
What an amazing bunch. Thanks for coming!!
What an amazing bunch. Thanks for coming!!