2023 Picnics and Events

2023 Ear Community Microtia and Atresia Summer Family Picnics

Ear Community hosts picnics every year around the world helping bring Microtia and Atresia families together. This year’s picnics will take place in the United States in San Mateo, California/ Raleigh, North Carolina/ Plano, Texas/ Brookline, Massachusetts/ Nashville, Tennessee/ and Oakville, Ontario Canada! It is very exciting for many families! Everyone enjoys attending our picnics and our Ear Community picnics always offer such a wonderful opportunity for Microtia and Atresia families to come together, share experiences with each other, and maybe even make a new friend. Medical professionals such as world renown Microtia and Atresia repair surgeons, anaplastologists, ENTs, audiologists, and therapists along with the world’s leading hearing device companies all come together to mingle with us at our picnics, helping educate us on all of our options including hearing loss.

Our events are held outdoors providing a relaxed environment and so the kids can play.

A special thank you to our amazing Ear Community Sponsors!
Platinum Sponsor – Cochlear Americas
Gold Sponsor – Oticon Medical
Silver Sponsor – MED-EL USA

Thank you to Southern Implants for being a part of our Ear Community events this year!

*** This year’s Ear Community events are made possible thanks to our organization’s proud Sponsors, Donor Organizations and our Community Contributors! Without the continued support of our sponsors, donor organizations and community contributors, we would not be able to bring our Microtia and Atresia families together at our events as we have done for the past decade. We also would not be able to work on all of the research and studies that our organization contributes to that help benefit our community in the future. Ear Community is thankful and appreciates the continued support from all of our supporters! Your support means the world to our families, our community and to our organization! ***

We look forward to seeing everyone at our Ear Community picnics this year!

Melissa Tumblin,
Founder and Executive Director
Ear Community
Microtia and Atresia Support Group on Facebook



2023 Picnics and Events

 

 


Oticon Medical Advocate Meeting
San Diego, California
February 24th – 26th, 2023

 


North Dakota School for the Deaf Resource Center
Ear Community is a guest speaker about bullying
Date:  Wednesday, March 8th, 2023
Time:  6:30PM Central Time
Location:  Zoom event
To RSVP, email:  Tami.Iszler@k12.nd.us

 

 

 

American Cleft Palate Association
80th Annual Meeting
Raleigh/Chapel Hill, North Carolina
May 1st – May 6th, 2023
* Ear Community will be attending this
conference as a member of the CARE Study Team
grant working on research for microtia, atresia and
craniofacial microsomia with Seattle Children’s Hospital.


California Ear Community Picnic
San Mateo, California
Date:  Saturday, June 3rd, 2023
Time:  11AM to 3PM
In collaboration with Stanford!
RSVP to Melissa at:  EarCommunity@gmail.com


North Carolina Ear Community Picnic
Raleigh, North Carolina
Date:  Saturday, June 17th, 2023
Time:  11AM to 3PM
In collaboration with Chapel Hill!
RSVP to Melissa at:  EarCommunity@gmail.com


Texas Ear Community Picnic
Plano, Texas
Date:  Saturday, June 24th, 2023
Time:  10:30AM to 2:30PM
In collaboration with the Dallas Hearing Institute!
RSVP to Melissa at:  EarCommunity@gmail.com


Massachusetts Ear Community Picnic
Brookline, Massachusetts
Date:  Saturday, June 24th, 2023
Time:  11AM to 3PM
In collaboration with Harvard!
RSVP to Melissa at:  EarCommunity@gmail.com


Canada Ear Community Picnic
Oakville, Ontario
Date:  Saturday, July 22nd, 2023
Time:  11AM to 3PM
In collaboration with Sunnybrook!
RSVP to Melissa at:  EarCommunity@gmail.com


Tennessee Ear Community Picnic
Nashville, Tennessee
Date:  Saturday, July 15th, 2023
Time:  8:30AM to 12:30PM (conference) and 1PM to 5PM (picnic)
RSVP to Melissa at:  EarCommunity@gmail.com
* This Ear Community picnic will be in collaboration with the Vanderbilt Microtia & Atresia conference that will take place at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (in the Children’s Hospital). This conference is a wonderful opportunity to learn about all of your options for Microtia & Atresia. A special thank you to Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt for helping host our Microtia and Atresia event.

 

 

 

 

Osseo 2023
8th International Conference on Bone Conduction Hearing & Related Technologies
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Denver, Colorado
Date:  September 6th – 9th, 2023
Hosted by Dr. Stephen Cass, Ally’s ENT!
Ear Community has been invited as a guest speaker. For more details about this conference, please click here.

National Microtia and Atresia Awareness Day
Every November 9th!
* Raise awareness with us throughout the United States and across
the world!
* See our home page links on when to order t-shirts and accessories
for our special day! (orders are usually during mid Sept. thru mid Oct.)

 

San Mateo, California (USA)
June 3rd, 2023

We had a wonderful time at our California Ear Community Microtia and Atresia picnic in San Mateo this past Saturday! It was amazing with nearly 200 attendees coming from all parts of California and from Nebraska, Florida, Colorado, Texas and Japan! It was a beautiful 80 degree sunny day! The kids enjoyed a fun magic act and getting their faces painted and balloons animals made with lunch! All of our microtia and atresia families enjoyed coming together and watching the kids play. Most importantly – knowing you are not alone with microtia and atresia and learning about all of your options! We also talked about how to support Ally’s Act, H.R. 2439 and S. 1135!

*** A HUGE THANK YOU to Katie and Samantha Wolff for helping host our picnic! Drs. Mai Thy Truong, Kay Chang, Melissa Tribble and Summer Hayhurst joined us from the Stanford Microtia and Atresia clinic Stanford Medicine Children’s Health and Dr. Youssef Tahiri Microtia Repair flew in from Beverly Hills to be with us! Jim Hogue of Ocular Prosthetics, Inc. – California Ocularist taught us about prosthetic ears, Alex Megalaa of Southern Implants educated us on implants and Vistafix prosthetic options and James Hermsen of SuhHermsen Adaptive Eyewear Solutions helped many children at our picnic receive sunglasses and eyeglasses for microtia kids and Congressman Kevin Mullin also joined us at our picnic and co-sponsored Ally’s Act, H.R. 2439/S. 1135 too!
A special THANK YOU to our amazing Sponsors for helping make our special day possible for our community! Without your support, Ear Community would not be able to continue our mission of helping give back to the Microtia & Atresia community!
Platinum Sponsor
– Cochlear Americas, educated us about Baha 6 & Osia!
Gold Sponsor
– Oticon Medical, educated us about Ponto 5 Mini & Ponto 5SP!
Silver Sponsor
– MED-EL USA, educated us about ADHEAR & BONEBRIDGE!
Our NEW Sponsor
– Southern Implants educated us about implants & prosthetic options through Vistafix!
Some highlights were meeting William & his mom! William was the last patient of Dr. Burt Brent to have his ear reconstructed! I finally got to meet a couple of our community members who I have been in touch with for a while now and who have become wonderful friends (Marilyn Aronowitz and Terry)! ❤️👂 And I got to see a couple of Ear Community’s support group admins Elia Wooten & Alee Dee Lee Capps and their beautiful families too! Thank you Alee for creating ASL coloring books for the kids & for bringing BAHS soft band head bands to raffle off that her mom made!!! It was also great to see Kina & her dad, Koki, from Japan who have flown out to attend multiple Ear Community picnics over the years! It was a wonderful day spent with our community families!

Raleigh, North Carolina (USA)
June 17th, 2023

Thank you to Dr. Shannon Culbertson & Chris Bowman for hosting our Raleigh, North Carolina Ear Community microtia & atresia picnic today! Shannon & Chris were both born with microtia & atresia & both have graduated from UNC – Chapel Hill are in the hearing health care industry! Shannon is an audiologist is off to medical school at the University of Virginia (UVA) planning to become an ENT! They are both amazing individuals & some pretty awesome role models within our community! Both, Dr. Culbertson & Chris have also been advocating for Ally’s Act, H.R. 2439/S. 1135 too!

It was a beautiful day with about 120 people attending our special day! Families enjoyed lunch & lots of fun with painted faces, balloon art & a magic show! Families mingled with medical professionals, learned about prosthetic ears & the latest in bone conduction hearing systems!

Thank you to Ear Community’s amazing Sponsors for making our special days possible & for helping us bring our community members together through Ear Community!
Cochlear Americas (our Platinum Sponsor) – Baha 6, SoundArc and Baha Start & the Osia System.
Oticon Medical (our Gold Sponsor) – Ponto 5 Mini & Ponto 5 Superpower

MED-EL USA (our Silver Sponsor) – ADHEAR & the BONEBRIDGE System

Jay McClennen with ProstheticRX & the Duke University Medical Center craniofacial department educated us on prosthetic ears! Drs. Amelia Drake & Carlton Zdanski answered questions about the microtia & atresia clinic at UNC – Chapel Hill! NC Beginnings also joined helping families in the D/HH community! We also had the Kroeger Family talk about how they are advocating for Ally’s Act, H.R. 2439/S. 1135! Alexis Kroeger along with her parents met with Congressman Chuck Edwards yesterday in person asking him to cosponsor Ally’s Act & they want to help other families advocate for this bill that will help thousands of microtia & atresia children & adults hear!

We could not bring our community together without support from our donors & help from our community! A special thank you to the Gross Family Foundation & the Blue Chip Foundation for your incredible support & kindness!👂❤️
Here are some fun memories from today’s Ear Community event!
Thank you for being a part of our special day, everyone!

Plano, Texas (USA)
June 24th, 2023

Our Plano, Texas Ear Community picnic took place on Saturday, June 24th & was amazing!

Thank you to Eli & Joy & their beautiful family his Family (Al (dad) & sisters Emira & Evangelina) for hosting our Texas Ear Community picnic in Plano! Eli was born with microtia & atresia & is an amazing role model in our community! Eli is also a grey belt in Jiujitsu & loves to compete & win! Eli talked with families about his journey with microtia & atresia, sharing his experience. The Torrico Family have been members of our Ear Community Organization since Eli was a baby, attending multiple Ear Community picnics over the years! Al Torrico has given back to our organization by donating his time as our official Ear Community photographer, taking amazing pictures & capturing our special days perfectly, every time!!! Thank you for being amazing friends – you are like family to the Tumblin Family!

Thank you to Ear Community’s amazing Sponsors for making our special days possible & for helping us bring our community members together through Ear Community! Thank you for educating us about the latest in bone conduction hearing systems!
Cochlear Americas (our Platinum Sponsor) – BahaStart for Baha 6, SoundArc & the Osia System.
Oticon Medical (our Gold Sponsor) – Ponto 5 Mini & Ponto 5 Superpower

MED-EL USA (our Silver Sponsor) – ADHEAR & the BONEBRIDGE System

Ashley Homan from Mosaic Prosthetics educated us on prosthetic ears! I’m sure many of you have seen the show “Body Parts” on the TLC network – Mosaic Prosthetics is Allison Vest’s practice! Ashlynn Stevens joined us from the Dallas Ear Institute!

Thank you to the Torrico Family for hosting our special day! Eli – YOU are such an amazing role model! We could not bring our community together without support from our donors & help from our community! A special thank you to the Gross Family Foundation, the Blue Chip Foundation & the Bernhard Family for your incredible support and kindness!👂❤️
Thank you to all of the families who attended our special day in Plano!

Brookline, Massachusetts (USA)
June 24th, 2023

Our Brookline, Massachusetts Ear Community picnic took place on Saturday, June 24th & was amazing!

Wyatt & his mom, Samantha Sclafani & their family (dad Rich and sister Tatum) hosted our special day for our microtia & atresia community! We had families join us from the Boston area including Vermont, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Oregon, New Jersey, California & Colorado! Wyatt was born with microtia & atresia & is an amazing role model in our community! Wyatt is on the Varsity football team in high school & is a talented skate boarder! We had a family come just to take a picture with Wyatt so their son could show others at his school that he is not the only one with microtia & atresia! Samantha Sclafani is an amazing mother & advocate in our community & has become an incredibly close friend to me! This was the second time the Sclafani Family hosted our picnic!

Thank you to Ear Community’s amazing Sponsors for making our special day possible & educating us on the latest in bone conduction hearing systems!
Cochlear Americas (our Platinum Sponsor) – BahaStart for Baha 6, SoundArc & the Osia System.
Oticon Medical (our Gold Sponsor) – Ponto 5 Mini & Ponto 5 Superpower

MED-EL USA (our Silver Sponsor) – ADHEAR & the BONEBRIDGE System

Researcher, Barbara McDonough, from our Harvard genetics research team joined us & answered questions for families about microtia & our new findings! Kaylee Dougherty of Boston Occular Prosthetics educated us about prosthetic ears! Dr. Youssef Tahiri from Beverly Hills flew in to be with us & answered questions about outer ear reconstruction! We had Teachers of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing join, lots of repeat Ear Community picnic families in their microtia & atresia awareness day shirts & one super cute service dog!

We could not bring our community together without support from our donors & help from our community! A special thank you to the Gross Family Foundation & the Blue Chip Foundation & the Bernhard Family for your incredible support and kindness!👂❤️
Thank you to everyone who attended our special day!

Nashville, Tennessee(USA)
July 15th, 2023

Our 7th Annual Vanderbilt/Ear Community Microtia & Atresia conference & picnic that took place last Saturday in Nashville was AMAZING! Our picnic host & Ear Community Board Member, Rachel Bernhard, did a wonderful job hosting & was recognized for her work with Ear Community & on Ally’s Act! Noelle McFarland, singer/songwriter & Ear Community Board Member, shared her beautiful voice with us during our event singing her own songs and some cover songs! We had around 100 people join from Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky, New York, California, Georgia, Florida, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, New Jersey & Colorado!

Vanderbilt hosted another successful educational conference educating on all options for Microtia & Atresia, along with a wonderful parent/patient panel for families to share their experiences. Doctors joining were Scott Stephan, Marc Bennett, Priyesh Patel, Jason Park, Brandy Stephens and Scott Fiscus (anaplastologist for prosthetic ears)! Dr. Youssef Tahiri also joined us from California & Dr. Ed O’Mara who is working on 3D printed regenerated ears collaborating with Ear Community & Vanderbilt! We also had many fellows join our event as a learning opportunity! James Hermsen of SuhHermsen Adaptive Eyewear Solutions also joined us to educate on eyewear for microtia kids.

A special thank you to our amazing Ear Community Sponsors for educating everyone on the latest in bone conduction hearing devices:
– Cochlear Americas (proud Platinum Sponsor) – Baha 6, SoundArc & the Osia System!
– Oticon Medical (proud Platinum Sponsor) – Ponto 5 Mini & Ponto 5SP!

– MED-EL USA (proud Silver Sponsor) – ADHEAR & BONEBRIDGE!

The kids enjoyed lots of fun with our super funny magician, amazing face painter & creative balloon artist! In fact, our balloon artist created a really cool birthday cake balloon hat for me since my birthday was on Saturday during our event! Fun! Thank you to Dr. Scott Stephan for the flowers & to Rachel Bernhard for the birthday cake, making Saturday an extra special day for Melissa Tumblin, Ear Community’s Founder! Thank you to Dr. Scott Stephan for recognizing Ear Community for all the good our organization has done for the community & with the Vanderbilt Microtia & Atresia Clinic over the years! I was told the parent/patient panel said the best things about Ear Community, which makes me smile! My favorite part of this year’s event was seeing all of the adults with Microtia & Atresia being able to come together like a mini reunion & watching the kids play together! We also had (4) Ear Community Board Members present on Saturday, which made my day! 👂❤

Thank you to all of our community members who make our events special & to our donors & volunteers! Thank you to Meghan Franklin & Kendra Smith for all of their help during the organizing of this event!❤

A special thank you to our donors & volunteers who embrace Ear Community & all that our organization does to help give back to the Microtia & Atresia community. A very special thank you to The Gross Family Foundation, Blue Chip Foundation & the Every Kid a King Fund (thanks to Dana Bernhard & Family) for your incredible kindness & support to our community through the Ear Community Organization!

Our hearts are content! ❤ Vanderbilt always holds such a special place in our hearts with Ear Community!
Thank you!
Ear Community

Oakville, Ontario Canada (USA)
July 22nd, 2023

On July 22nd, our Canadian Ear Community microtia and atresia picnic took place in Oakville, Ontario! It was a beautiful day with over 100 people coming together on our special day! We had a wonderful magic show with lots of fun, face painting and balloon art for the kids with a delicious lunch!

Our beautiful picnic hosts, Kripa & Jahnu Raman, Alpesh Patel & Cindy & James Stewart, made our day special for everyone! Kripa, Alpesh and Cindy are amazing advocates in our microtia/atresia community and are all on different paths of their microtia & atresia journey! In fact, all 3 have participated in Ear Community virtual events & have reached out to help advocate for others in our community! Alpesh shared that he was an adult born with microtia and atresia, helping answer questions families had about his journey. Kripa is an amazing mom to her young son, Jahnu, where who shared her experience with other new moms and dads! Cindy is an amazing mom & Ear Community Board Member, to James – who was born with microtia & atresia who also has had reconstructive surgery & is aided with the Baha Attract System. All three of these families found Ear Community over the years & are so happy they did! Friendships have been established & most of all – they have found a community of love & acceptance! Kripa & Alpesh worked together to organize our event for our Ontario Ear Community families and they did an amazing job!
A special thank you to Ear Community’s amazing Sponsors who help make our special days possible and for their education on the latest bone conduction hearing device systems!
Cochlear Americas (an Ear Community Platinum Sponsor) – Baha 6, SoundArc and Baha Start & the Osia System.
Oticon Medical (an Ear Community Gold Sponsor) – Ponto 5 Mini & Ponto 5 Superpower

MED-EL USA (an Ear Community Silver Sponsor) – ADHEAR & the BONEBRIDGE System

A special thank you to the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre craniofacial and prosthetics department for joining us on our special day and educating about prosthetic ears! We could not bring our community together without everyone’s help & support!

Thank you to the Every Kid a King Fund, The Gross Family Foundation & Blue Chip Foundation for your incredible kindness & support! A HUGE thank you again to Kripa and Alpesh for putting so many smiles on our community kids and adults at the picnic! Thank you for making sure families know about Ear Community and know they are not alone with microtia and atresia! 👂❤️


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