member
connection
COURTESY OF LITTLE BIT THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER
Horsepower
healing
FOR CENTURIES, people have found solace in Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center helps
horseback riding. But for the last 30 years, staff hundreds of children with disabilities.
members and volunteers at Little Bit Therapeutic
Puppy love
ELIZABE TH LINABERRY
For years, Todd and Elizabeth Linaberry,
Costco members in Modesto, California,
have been big fans of Kirkland Signature™
products. Sergeant Pepper, their
miniature schnauzer puppy, who
proudly posed for this photo,
is especially fond of Kirkland
Signature bath tissue.
We want to hear from you
IF YOU HAVE a note, photo or story to share (it should be about Costco or
Costco members in some way), you can send it to “The Member
Connection,” The Costco Connection, P.O. Box 34088, Seattle, WA 98124-
1088, or e-mail to connection@costco.com with “The Member Connection”
in the subject line. Submissions cannot be acknowledged or returned.
Costco member
Bob Palmer
Clownin’
around
BOB PALMER, a longtime Costco
member who lives in Red Deer,
Alberta, juggles a busy schedule.
He performs as many as 400
shows annually, at which he walks
the tight rope, does unicycle tricks,
walks on stilts and, yes, juggles.
Under the stage name Flyin’ Bob
( www.flybob.com), Palmer has
been combining comedy and variety arts professionally for 15 years.
He performs for corporations, in
schools, for festivals, in theaters
and at many other venues.
Palmer, who often teams up
with Miyako, his wife, a face
painter, has taken his show all
over Canada and to Europe and
parts of Asia.
“It all started when, at the
age of 21, I saw a juggler performing on TV,” explains Palmer.
“I thought it looked like fun, so
I got a book from the library on
juggling and taught myself to
juggle over a weekend. After
that I was hooked.”
Palmer says leaving his day
job as department manager for
a book and magazine wholesaler,
at the age of 28, was the best
career decision he’s ever made.
“I’m having a fantastic time per-
forming as Flyin’ Bob,” says
Palmer. “I’m a big believer in taking
something you love and turning it
into a lifestyle. That way you are
not going to work, you are just
living your life.—Will Fifield
MIYAKO PALMER
Riding Center in Woodinville, Washington, have to strengthen riders’ trunk and leg muscles,
seen its riders enjoy much more than mental increase concentration and communication skills
and emotional therapy. The 4.5-acre equestrian and address other disabilities. Currently there are
center, located about 20 minutes outside Seattle, about 700 hippotherapy organizations similar to
uses therapeutic horse riding programs to help Little Bit in the United States.
children with disabilities of all kinds gain physical Little Bit was established in 1975 with five
and mental victories. riders, one instructor and two horses in a
The concept of using horses in formal thera- rented stable. Today the organization is a
peutic applications, called hippotherapy (the well-equipped riding facility, has a $1 million
Greek word hippos means horse), was first devel- annual budget, 15 therapy horses, 14 full-
oped in Western Europe in the early 1950s. time staff, about 250 volunteers—and about
Therapists at these 200 riders on a waiting list. To learn more
facilities use the nat- about hippotherapy o r donate time
ural rhythm and or money to Little Bit, visit www.
movement of a littlebit.org or call (425)
horse’s gait as a tool 882-1554.—Will Fifield
