Upcoming Special Events:
Sunrise Music Night: Too Much Fun! Rock and Roll, R&B, Soul and more! We are celebrating all the Spring birthdays! Do you or someone you know have a birthday in March, April or May? Come party with us! Great music to dance to or just enjoy. Bring your friends and/or family for a relaxing and fun evening! Free admission. Refreshments will be available. Great for all ages! Saturday April 16, 2024 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Sunday Sunrise Yoga: every Sunday morning at 10 am, free! Come join us for a community yoga class, open to all! Our cats even joined in the last class and helped us with our balance and stretching.
Touch a Truck: Sunday April 14, 2024 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm. We are proud sponsors of Touch A Truck, a fundraiser for NC Children's Hospital! Help us support the healthcare of the children in North Carolina by attending this awesome event! There will be all sorts of cool vehicles like fire engines, police cars, tractors, construction vehicles etc. We will be bringing a tractor and some of our animals! If you would like to volunteer to help us at our booth, please email us at admin@sunrisecfc.com.
Storytime with Animals: We will read a book, meet and interact with real farm animals, and do a simple craft! Parents/adults are free to this event. Kid participants $8 each, which includes a farm visit for them and their adult(s). Tuesday, April 16 10:30 am - 11:30 am you are welcome to come in as early as 10 am and stay until 12:30 to explore the farm.
Wine and Ride: A special class for adults who love horses and want to spend time socializing and riding with other adults who love horses. Ages 21 and up. (bringing your own wine is optional) Friday April 19, 2024 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Recent off-site visits:
Guy B Phillips Middle School Staff Wellness Day: We brought some of our loving animals to staff wellness day on March 19, 2024. Baby bunnies, chicks, Dan the pony, and one of our big beautiful bronze turkeys stole their hearts and brightened their day!
Hollow Rock Country Club Easter Egg Hunt: March 24, 2024. Our baby bunnies and chicks attracted a lot of attention and generated a lot of smiles from kids and adults alike as they awaited their turn to hunt eggs at the annual Hollow Rock Egg Hunt!
*If you are interested in scheduling an off-site farm visit for your event, please email us at admin@sunrisecfc.com
News from our areas:
The Horses:
Welcome Tiramisu, our newest horse! She is 15 hands, 4 years old, and a registered Paint. Her coloring looks like a lovely dessert and she is super sweet -- hence her name. We are calling her Misu for short.
Biography of a Horse: Hearth's Spring
Spring was born on March 17, 2002. Her mother was Shirley (Saralin's Endearment) and her father was Knox (Meadow's Fort Knox). Her name comes from the season in which she was born. Spring had 3 full siblings: Mayday, August Moon and Bailey. She also had 2 half-siblings on her mom's side: Ranger (Hearth's Star Ranger) and Mercury (Hearth's Mercury Rising). Ranger is our current stallion and father of many of our younger horses. Mercury is a well loved member of our barn who has taught many riders and now, in his leisure days, gives pony rides and beginner rides to our smaller kids. Spring has about 8 half-siblings by her father! Knox was the breeding stallion for our farm for almost 20 years. Spring had one baby, her name is M&M and she is now also one of our core lesson horses. Spring was born in the same year as 3 other horses on the farm and they used to run around together and play games just like human children! Her friends eventually found homes on other farms, but Spring remains at the farm as one of our most talented and dedicated horses. She is always eager and ready to help her human partners learn to ride or hone their riding skills in the arena or on the trail! Spring is also known for her leadership among the horses at the farm. She is officially our "dominant mare," which means that all the other horses listen to what she tells them to do or not to do. She is gentle and loving with people, and is always happy to go out and have a good time with them.
We have horse lessons for ages 2-100!
Little Rascals is for our 2-5 year olds
Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced lessons are for anyone age 6 and up (or approved by the instructor)
Adult Lessons and Wine & Ride are our adult offerings
From The Wood Barn and Small Animals:
Our bunnies have shown their talent at "breeding like bunnies!" Our bunnies are all handled frequently and carefully with a lot of love by adults and children alike. They are easy to hold and pet, and they see people as their friends. These babies have already made public appearances at both the Phillips Middle School Staff Wellness Day and the Hollow Rock Easter Egg Hunt! They were easily held and snuggled by kids and adults alike. Experience the peace and warmth of holding a bunny for yourself. Better yet, adopt one (or two)! They are 50% off the usual price right now. They make great pets.
From The Garden:
The greens are thriving, the radishes are growing, and we have some beautiful purple mustard greens growing in our grow tunnel! Beets and carrots have been seeded as have lettuce and more greens and snap peas. We have been and will be starting more seedlings for our summer crops this month including tomatoes, peppers, basil, parsley, dill and other herbs.
From Our Kid's Programs:
This upcoming week is Spring Break and Intersession Minicamp! We still have some spots left, so sign up now for farm fun!
Summer Camp and Summer Enrichment Classes are just around the corner! We still have space in most of our summer camp weeks, check our website for availability, and register to hold your spot! Our summer enrichment classes are scheduled after our regular camp hours during the extended care hours in the afternoon. These classes include Horse lessons, Woodshop, Farm to Table, and Fishing. Our Farm to Table classes will be taught on Wednesdays at 3:30 pm by Ray Kaizen. In this class, children will take produce and farm products from our farm and use them to create food for meals, desserts, snacks, preserves, pickles and more! The Chapel Hill Magazine wrote an article last year highlighting outdoor education camps. Our own Hope Blanchard (Program Director) and Ray Kaizen (Mentor) were interviewed about our summer camp.
Join our Team:
Are you looking for summer employment, weekend work or just interested in doing some volunteer work with something you love? Come join us. Our job opportunities are listed on our website. We are currently looking for a small animals caretaker and camp mentor, as well as some summer camp staff.
We love having volunteers help us in the various areas of the farm including horses, small animals, garden and grounds maintenance. Other opportunities include teaching a special interest class (for adults or children), giving educational talks, helping out with our children's programs. If you would like to be one of our volunteers please contact us at admin@sunrisecfc.com or call us at 919-968-8581. For those of you already known to us, here is the link to the volunteer form and emergency form:
Recipe from Sunrise: Sunrise Quick Muffins
