Went up on the mountain, to give my horn a blow...

E-mail us at KIVAinfo@gmail.com for an agenda for the year and monthly newsletter.

Such a reward this has been, to invite people out to a favorite park, to share picnic lunches, to meet new families. A simple idea has grown into a very large list, a slightly large undertaking, and something the Donahue family looks forward to all month long! Our last meeting cemented for us that we have a good thing going with KIVA. For those who could attend, the families who hunted down this little oasis of a park (Happy Hollow Gardens) we thank you.

For those of you that could not attend for various reasons, but sent notes of support (Go Windy Hill Yard Sale Day!) we thank you. For those of you that sent prizes for our talent show, over 100 prizes given away!, we thank you. To those of you who didn't run away when I destroyed a lovely rendition of my favorite banjo tune, I'm sorry for your pain. I promise not to do that again...any time soon. I spoke of how honored I was that friends would be willing to come up and play for our talent show. Not just for the cool swag, donated by area businesses, but just because I asked. Thank you all.
The Ever Incredible Mike Franke
The Golden Throated Jamie Booker - The Cat Came Back!
The Rockingest Rockers in the Land - The Wading Girl - songs about bears...oh my!
The Entertainingest and Extremely Energetic Tom Angleberger
The Easy Go Calmly Lynwood Hall
and the addition of a wonderful mandolin player (and son) and storyteller, Bill Saul - who needs to send me a recording of his tune about playing in the Blue Ridge Mountains...
and lastly, the many, many talented kids who took to the stage!

Thank you to the businesses and individuals who donated prizes - you will be noted in our next monthly newsletter... Over 100 prizes!
Holiday Inn - Roanoke at Valley View
Plan 9 Music of Roanoke
Grandin Theatre
POPS Ice Cream Parlor (for strength)
Walkabout Outfitters in Downtown Roanoke - please call them for your hiking needs!

If you get a chance, please tell all the fine businesses "thank you" the next time you stop in!

Tom Angleberger for the signed copy of Quikpick Adventure Society - a book that got KIVA stewing in our brains. A must read!
Karen Adams for a copy of her book, The Mystery of Roanoke

and the wonderful, wonderful teachers at Glen Cove Elementary who emptied their closets (and wallets) just for me!

Now keep on getting out there. Roanoke, Salem and the surrounding areas offer us so many great places for free outdoor fun. Last weekend, I had the chance to so some puddle splashing with our kids on their bikes! That kind of adventure brings you to life. That's what showers and changes of clothes are for, right? April Showers bring Virginia clay stains. Maybe we should write for a sponsorship from the maker of the bleach pen! I'll work on that. In the meantime, make some memories with your children. It won't be long until they won't want to have a thing to do with us. Unless...

KIVA for Clean Valley Day, April 5th!

Hello all. As we have mentioned, KIVA - Kids In the Valley, Adventuring! will always be free. The only thing we ask of you is to consider giving back to our lovely town by participating in a few volunteer events. Roanoke and the surrounding areas offer so many great places to play. Let's do our part to keep them beautiful!

KIVA - Play, Learn, Volunteer
Here's a chance to do all three of these things. Bring your gloves, hats, water bottles, and smiling faces. Lets make it shine!

Meet at Fishburn Park at 10 AM. Doughnuts will be provided by Krispy Kreme. Bring a picnic lunch. We will clean, eat and play throughout the day (10-2). Come pitch in when you can.

ALSO - Please be aware! April 26th is our next meeting! KIVA takes on Happy Hollow Gardens for a marvelous hike, day of adventure and our first annual talent show. Email us if you would like to be added to the ever growing list of performers! KIVAinfo@gmail.com

Thank you all so much!

WOW!
Saturday was our best turn out yet!

It could have been the beautiful weather.

It could have been the wonderful book talk given by my wife for Ryan and Jimmy: And the Well in Africa That Brought Them Together - http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Ryan-and-Jimmy/Herb-Shoveller/e/9781553379676/.

It could have been the fantastic walk for World Water Day, led by Mr. Earl Morris of the Virginia Bluebird Society - http://www.virginiabluebirds.org/

It could have been the glowing remarks about KIVA by Mr. Robbie Schaefer on his radio show for XMKIDS. Do check out more by Robbie here: http://songsforkidslikeus.littlestarrecords.com/

Mostly though, I think it was the parents and the 50 plus kids who showed up to have an adventure together. Thank you for making KIVA a success once again. Parents, we appreciate all you do for your children.

The Roanoke Times surprised us by coming along for the day. Thank you to Mr. David Harrison and Ms. Jeanna Duerscherl for coming out. Your thoughtful story and beautiful photographs added so much to our progress as a group and raised awareness about how families can get out and play, learn and volunteer to make a difference in our area. We had 20 families write in yesterday, to ask for our newsletter because of the article!

Lastly, a book was pointed out to me and I am looking forward to reading this. Written by an associate professor of English at Radford University Rick Van Noy, A Natural Sense of Wonder, Connecting Kids With Nature Through the Seasons, will certainly be a book that the Donahues will feature at one of our meetings later this year. Check out a preview at
http://www.ugapress.uga.edu/0820331031.html

Please forward our information to friends. We would love to see you out April 5th. For Clean Valley Day, KIVA is continuing to play, learn, and volunteer by cleaning up at Fishburn Park April 5th from 10 AM until ---Well I guess until the Krispy Kreme doughnuts run out.

Thanks.

Here we go again!

The weather outside is frightful...
Keep an ear on the forecast. Last call said it would clear up for us on Saturday.
I'll take that! We are really excited about meeting with you all again. Advance Auto Parts of Roanoke has donated 300 frisbees for KIVA! We will bring them along to share so that everyone gets to take something home. We will also be giving away a few Nalgene bottles donated to us by Nalgene themselves. Wal-Mart has donated hiking journals for each participant, as well. After a tour of the Disc Golf Course, we will be making hiking journals and heading out for some fun around Fishburn Park.

A special thanks to The Roanoke Times for announcing the KIVA meeting for us and chosing us again for a Hot Pick this Saturday.

Come prepared to make a memory with your child.

We'll be there!

We are excited to share our first KIVA meeting with you today at 1:00 PM, at the lovely Discovery Center atop Mill Mountain. If weather is a factor, please don't take crazy chances. Just come to our next meeting. But for those who can make it, we will be there!