by Thomas Hobson
Child Life Director

As our week long celebration of the Grand Opening of Le Bonheur Children's begins to wind down, I thought I would share one more surprise with you.  One Tuesday, we had several celebrities meet all in one area.  Roscoe Orman and Sonia Manzano, who play Gordon and Maria on Sesame Street, were our emcees during the grand opening parade.  Well, Memphis' own, Deidra Shores, winner of the Today Show's Kid Reporter Contest, sat down to interview Roscoe and Sonia in Studio 8.

Just because there was terrible weather on Friday doesn't mean it stop the excitement at the Le Bonheur Children's.  Melissa Conroy came in for her visit, and it was a great success with patients and families in the hospital.  Since her visit was only open to patients and families in the hospital, I thought that I would share some of the pictures from the event.

Melissa Conroy braved the weather, and came in to lead everyone in some creativity.  Using woOberry dolls for an artistic spark, patients and families got to express their imaginations in lots of different ways.  Some people drew pictures, some people wrote poems, and others did there own artistic expression.  The most important thing is that they used their imaginations! 

The event was held in Le Bonheur Children's Creative Arts room, and as you can see from the photos, it was a great time.  I'd also like to thank Dianne Papasan for all of her help with making Melissa Conroy's visit to Le Bonheur Children's a reality.

We are excited about a special guest who will be joining us on Friday.  Melissa Conroy will be coming to Le Bonheur Children's, while she is in town.  We're excited to have her spend time with our patients and families.

If you are not familiar with Melissa Conroy, you are missing out.  She recently publish the children's book pOppy's pants, however, there is an interesting story that brought her to this point.  Ms. Conroy is a visual artist that has been working in a variety of mediums.  Check out her website to see her examples of her work.  Ms. Conroy's current project is woOberry, which is inspired by her daughter's artwork.  She created dolls from the drawings of her daughter, and they have sprung into a life of their own.  Each doll has a name and personality traits.  According to the woOberry website, the first dolls became the inspiration for pOppy's pants.

Ms. Conroy will have a busy trip to Memphis, with stops on Live@9, a book signing, and several public appearances.  While at Le Bonheur Children's, she'll host a creativity workshop that will focus on writing and an art.  Her woOberry dolls will help to spark some of the creativity!

I'll take pictures and share them next week in a post.  We can't wait to see what the kids create!

Since everyone else uses the end of the year as chance to look back, we thought that we would too.  Now, I realize that this blog is only 12 days old, but Child Life Services has been all kinds of great things during 2009.  So, please enjoy our photomontage of events through out the hospital during this past year.

1. Game-apalooza 2009:  This is a week long hospital celebration of all things games.  This is a picture of "Le Bonheur Idol."
2. Teddy Bear Clinic:  What better way to learn about the hospital than by bringing your Teddy Bear for a visit!  The "patient" above is working with Rehab Services.
3. Creative Arts:  It wouldn't be a complete year without all of the fun in the creative arts room!
4. Make a Splash Mid-South:  The events of the group, headed up by Le Bonheur Children's own Susan Helms, focused on teaching swimming and water safety and was a huge success.
5. Topping Out Party:  It was definitely an exciting day when Skanska place the final beam in place for the new building!
6. Ballet Memphis visited, spreading dance and cheer to patients, families, and staff.
7. The Grizzlies came in Decemeber, and made sure that our patients were in the holiday spirit.
8. Camp Wezbegon did a fantastic job having fun and teaching children with asthma about how to manage their condition.
9. Go Jim Go!  News Channel 3 meteorologist Jim Jaggers hit to road biking 333 miles, raising money for Le Bonheur Children's along the way.  He is pictured here with a check presentation at St. Agnes Academy.
10. Miss America stopped by to visit the patients.  She is pictured here with Le Bonheur Children's president Meri Armour.
11. Cardica Kids Camp 2009!  This camp aims to give chidren with heart conditions the typical camp experience while providing the necessary medical care and education.  This picture was taken during one of their more "serious" moments.
12. 2nd Annual Wacky Tacky Prom:  Pictured here are members of the Le Bonheur Chidlren's Teen Advisory Council, who threw the wackiest (and tackiest) prom ever for patients and families.
13. The FedExFamilyHouse Groundbreaking was an exciting event for both the FedEx and Le Bonheur families.  Pictured above is Susan and Alan Graf and two of the official "groudbreaking team."

On Saturday, we had a special episode of Good Morning Le Bonheur.  The best part was that our guest host was Deidra Shores, winner of the Today's Show Kid Reporter Contest.  As a special treat, we brought in Ashley Williams, a member of Le Bonheur Children's Teen Advisory Council, to interview her.  So, as a special treat to all of you reading the blog, I thought I would share a copy of the interview.