Volume 1, Issue 19 OCTOBER 6, 2023
An Autumn Aerial
The leaves are almost at peak color across Oceana County. The above photo was taken just outside of downtown Mears by The Oceana Echo’s newly acquired camera-equipped drone. Look for more aerial shots in upcoming editions of our paper. • Brendan Samuels/Echo
Stony Lake Therapeutic Riding Center becomes ‘Thriving Tides Therapy’ By Sharon Hallack The Oceana Echo Community Contributor
PERMIT NO 62
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RESIDENTIAL POSTAL CUSTOMER PAID ECRWSS BIG RAPIDS, MI 49307
The Stony Lake Therapeutic Riding Center, in operation at the Stony Lake Stables since April of 2020, unveiled a new name at its 3rd annual Silent Auction & Line Dance at the ranch on Saturday. The new name, “Thriving Tides Therapy,” came about due to a number of factors. The program, which started as a horseback riding therapy program only, has grown by leaps and bounds over the
past three years and has since branched out to offer other therapy-related programs. “First, the name change came about because we aren’t just doing equine-assisted therapy riding anymore. We’d like to eventually hire recreational therapists and be able to offer other types of therapies, such as adapted sports or aquatic therapy, not just horseback riding. Second, we wanted a name that would allow us to move locations within Oceana County and keep the name recognition. Thirdly, we wanted the name to reflect that what we’re doing is true recreational therapy, with goals and evaluations for every client,” said Certified Ther-
• Contributed Photos
apeutic Riding Specialist and PATH International Certified Riding Instructor Aubrey Boerma. Besides therapeutic riding, the center offers an equine-assisted learning program with local special education
classes and hosts local Future Farmers of America clubs that focus on animal care, therapy job skills and how nonprofits work. They’ve also partnered with the West Michigan S.A.I.L. (Servicemembers Adapting Interacting Living) program and assisted at a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder program this past spring. “We’re finding that funding is the biggest struggle. We started in 2020 only charging $30 per hour, per client. Technically, the value is $145 per hour. We are looking for more monthly donors and corporate sponsors. We’ve received and are extremely grateful for several grants. But they don’t cover everything. We are serving clients
in six counties, five of which are in the 10 lowest-income counties in the state. It’s sad we don’t have all the resources we need, but there’s a lot of people who are trying to change that,” Boerma said. “We had a pretty small turnout at this year’s annual fundraiser, but still raised almost as much as last year - just over $6,500! We announced our name change and that we will be taking one therapy session off for November and December to focus solely on building up our corporate and monthly sponsor lists. We want to try and keep our fees low for clients. The most fun
event of the evening was having me in the dunk tank! It was a big hit, especially for our younger clients,” she said. Monthly donors, corporate sponsors and volunteers from all walks of life giving whatever they can will make a huge difference, Boerma added. Normal programming takes place Monday through Thursday from 3-7 p.m. School programming for foster youth is offered when requested on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor or volunteering at the center is asked to email Boerma directly at aubrey@stonylakestables.com.
Lauryn Greiner and Tyler VanderZanden were crowned the 2023 Hart Homecoming Queen and King at halftime of last Friday’s varsity football game. The Pirates defeated the MCC Spartans 30-8.
• Brendan Samuels/Echo