Celebrating the 10th Colorado Ear Community microtia and atresia picnic with Congressman Neguse

The Parcher Family, The Tumblin Family (Ear Community) and Congressman Joe Neguse (Saturday, July 25, 2026)

Thank you to everyone who attended our special community day last Saturday at our Colorado Ear Community picnic! Even an incredibly hot day of 101 degrees couldn’t keep our community from coming together! We had close to 175 people attend with families coming from all over Colorado, including Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Missouri, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Nebraska, Texas, Kansas, the Philippines and Japan! This was our 10th picnic we have hosted here in Colorado as home to our Ear Community Organization and it was an amazing day!

We were overjoyed to see so many familiar faces and also meeting so many new families on Saturday! A special thank you to our beautiful picnic host family – The Parcher Family (Tiffany, Daniel, Lucy, Courtney and Jenna)! Tiffany and Lucy hosted a beautiful day with their family for all of us! Tiffany shared her family’s journey with Lucy, who was born with bilateral microtia and atresia – from adoption to Lucy excelling in school today and her love of music. Tiffany’s reminder to all of us was that our children can do anything! Tiffany made a beautiful speech that included tips for Deaf and Hard of Hearing services, finding a great support system in school for our kids along with how to navigate your way with helpful services! A special thank you to Lucy for shopping for and putting together all of the goody bags for everyone too! Tiffany and Lucy have become incredible advocates in our community over the years! In fact, Tiffany has become one of Ear Community’s biggest advocates as our organization’s attorney! ❤️ I am grateful for all of the help that Tiffany and Lucy and their family is providing for our community and to our Ear Community! Tiffany and Lucy, your family is like family to me and I am grateful for YOU! Love you guys! ❤️👂

What an incredible honor it was to have Congressman Joe Neguse and Max Cocker join us on our special day! Congressman Neguse took the time to be with us and share about when he met Ally Tumblin seven years ago, and after hearing her story, how he wanted to help her advocate to help our community hear better when it comes to hearing devices being denied by insurance. Rep Neguse explained how he wanted to honor Ally and all of the children just like her with Ally’s Act – a Federal piece of legislation that would help close the loophole for private insurers to deny coverage for bone anchored hearing devices and cochlear implants. It was amazing to have Congressman Neguse with us! Thank you so much for speaking with our families! We appreciate you sharing an update on Ally’s Act, H.R. 4606/S. 3400 and sharing why this bill matters! I know so many at our picnic enjoyed getting the chance to meet you, Congressman Neguse! Thank you so much for making our day extra special! As the family behind Ally’s Act (The Tumblin Family), Melissa also shared with everyone on how to best advocate for Ally’s Act, by asking everyone to call and write to their Congressmen and Senators, asking them to pass Ally’s Act, H.R. 4606 and S. 3400! For more information on how to advocate for Ally’s Act, please visit the following link on Ear Community’s website here.

We also had the honor of having Dr. Sheryl Lewin join us at our picnic! Dr. Lewin took the time to mingle with families during our picnic, after coming from the Earicles Conference she hosted here in Colorado! What an amazing opportunity for everyone have the chance to ask her questions and find the answers they are looking for when it comes to surgery! Many of the families who attended the Earicles conference also shared their experience with surgery with everyone at our picnic. Thank you, Dr. Lewin, for being with our microtia and atresia families! I know it meant the world to so many of us to have you with us! This was such an incredible chance for families! Sheryl, you are incredible and we are grateful for your beautiful ears! Thank you for coming to our Ear Community picnics since 2012 and for stopping in whenever you could to be a part of our special community days! *** Thank you, Sheryl, for sponsoring our face painter and balloon artist for our special day and for helping give back to our Ear Community! ❤️👂

Thank you to our amazing Sponsors!

Platinum Sponsors
– MED-EL USA (ADHEAR and BONEBRIDGE System)
– Oticon Medical (Ponto and Sentio)

I hope everyone enjoyed learning all about the benefits of being aided with a bone anchored hearing system!
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– Su-Por ear frameworks for outer ear reconstruction

We had Robert Gulock, the President of Oticon Medical, join us along with Dina Panopoulos (who has been to lots of Ear Community picnics over the years)! We also had Brian Dedeian join from MED-EL (who is a repeat Ear Community attendee and BONEBRIDGE user) and Virgi Mills (who is an amazing Teacher of the D/HH)! We also had Josie Cross join us from Poriferous, educating on Su-Por ear frameworks for outer ear reconstruction! We had James Hermsen of Suh Hermsen Adaptive Eyewear Solutions, along with his sister, Michelle, educating us on microtia eyewear for kids (and adults). Thanks to Pax’s Eyewear Fund and the Gross Family, James was able to give away these glasses for FREE at our picnic! We also had Sara Moslehi of Art in Soul Prosthetics educate us on prosthetic ears!

Thank you so much to Olivia and Isaiah MacLean of Fantastic-Facepainting – for making our day extra special with beautiful face art and fun balloon art! *** Thank you to Dr. Sheryl Lewin for sponsoring Fantastic-Facepainting for our picnic as a way to help give back during our Ear Community picnic! Thank you so much to Magic Rob, our incredible magician, for making us laugh with your amazing and funny magic! Both the MacLean Family behind Fantastic-Facepainting and Magic Rob have been a part of our Ear Community picnics for 10 years! Ear Community loves you guys! Thank you for always making our special day extra special!

* An extra special THANK YOU to the Gross Family Foundation, Blue Chip Foundation and the Omnium Foundation! Your support to the Ear Community Organization and the good work we do to help give back to the microtia and atresia community means the world to Ear Community! Thank you so much to our donors and contributors to our Ear Community – your support is appreciated and needed more than you know!

Our story will be published on our Ear Community website soon under our 2026 EVENTS page! Thank you again for such a memorable and wonderful day spent together with our community!

Have a wonderful rest of your summer and if you like what Ear Community does and enjoy supporting the work of nonprofit organizations, please think of Ear Community if you like to help give back by making a donation to our organization at: www.EarCommunity.org/donate

Thank you again for a wonderful day in Colorado with our families! We look forward to seeing everyone next summer in Florida, Tennessee, Minnesota, South Carolina, New Jersey and Ontario, Canada!

Melissa Tumblin

Founder – Executive Director

Ear Community

cell: 303-646-7126

www.EarCommunity.org