By Susan Bromley

Staff Writer

Brandon Twp.- Sunshine

 and smiles were in abundance Tuesday at O.A.T.S.

Megan O’Dell grinned as she rode “George,” a draft horse cross, around the corral at the facility, which is aptly named Offering Alternative Therapy with Smiles. The non-profit organization offers classes to children and adult

s with a variety of special needs.

O’Dell, a 38-year-old Waterford resident, has been coming to the township farm located on Weidemann Drive off M-15, for the past four years, since her mother died.

“I thought it would be good to get out and do things,” said O’Dell, who has cerebral palsy, and comes here once a week to ride for an hour. “There’s no stress here. I get home and think of stuff I have to do and I forget here… I look forward to this all week. It means I don’t get depressed all the time.”

Jim Hochthanner, who

 has been a volunteer at O.A.T.S. For the past four years, drives from his Union lake home to Waterford to pick up Megan, who has no other transportation, to make sure she gets her weekly dose of happiness with horses and friends.

Hochthanner, a retired Vietnam veteran, initially began volunteering as a way to help veterans afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder who were at the facility.

“I wasn’t going to shovel po

op, I wasn’t going to do this and that, and I ended up doing whatever needed to be done,” laughs Hochthanner, who comes here twice a week for several hours and fixes fences, works with riders, feeds horses, cleans stalls and more. “I like the smiles and hugs, knowing you’re doing something to help someone else.”

He fondly speaks of a rider who is non-verbal and wheelchair bound except for the one hour per week when she is placed on a horse at O.A.T.S. She always gives a hug to Hochthanner and a thumbs up. He also like the high-fives he gets from another rider.

Beth Pellerito, executive director of O.A.T.S., notes the volunteers, and donations, are vital to support the organization and

 its mission to “provide equine-assisted therapy and a lot of smiles on a weekly basis, year-round (thanks to our heated indoor arena), to more than 100 children and adults with a wide variety of physical and emotional disabilities.”

O.A.T.S. needs approximately 10-20 volunteers per class for the riders who range from 3- to 70-years-old. There are also 19 horses to care for at the leased farm.

Riders pay a fee for classes, but donations help pay for scholarships for riders who have financial challenges as well.

“We want everybody to have this happy place and come here and breathe a sigh of relief,” said Pellerito, who began bringing her son Nicholas, who has cerebral palsy, here years ago.

She took over when the founder of O.A.T.S., Nancy Heussner, died suddenly in March 2013.

“We need support to ke

ep our programs going.”

O.A.T.S. will host their main fundraising event, “Denim & Diamonds,” 6 p.m.-10 p.m., July 23, at The Gateway, 7150 N. Main St., Clarkston. Dinner will be catered by Kruse and Muer and entertainment provided by the musical group Shotguns and Violins. Tickets are $100 per person, or $175 per couple. For more information, visit www.oatshrh.org.