To honor Spring Brook Farm’s founder Mary Beth Drobish, who recently stepped down as Executive Director, The Barn’s Board of Directors established the annual Founder’s Award and Lecture. We are proud to announce that the first annual Founder’s Award will be presented to Dr. John W. Lee, Jr. DVM.

Dr. Lee has been on the board of The Barn at Spring Brook Farm since its founding five years ago. After receiving his Bachelor of Science from the University of Delaware and graduating from Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, he established Chadds Ford Animal Hospital in 1978 and founded Unionville Equine Associates in 1983. He’s the former president of the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association and is the chairman of the Cecil County Agricultural Advisory Board. Dr. Lee and his wife live in Rising Sun, Maryland, where they own and operate Dayspring Farm, a broodmare facility, and Sham Felek Arabians. The Barn’s first annual Founder’s Lecture will be presented by psychologist Daniel Gottlieb, Ph.D., internationally-acclaimed author of Letters to Sam and Learning from the Heart.

Dr. Gottlieb was paralyzed in a near-fatal accident, and the resulting lessons he learned that he hoped to teach to his grandson Sam, who has autism, were actually demonstrated to him by Sam’s simple observations on life. His latest book, The Wisdom of Sam: Observations on Life from an Uncommon Child, is an inspiring illustration of those lessons and will be the subject of his lecture. Dr. Gottlieb hosts an award-winning mental health call-in program, Voices in the Family, on WHYY 90.9 FM in Philadelphia. He is also a blogger for The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

The evening will consist of heavy hors d’oeuvres, the award presentation and lecture, and assorted desserts and coffee. There will be $2500, $1000, and $500 sponsorship opportunities. The top sponsorship will include a private reception with Dr. Gottlieb and Dr. Lee prior to the event. Individual reservations will cost $75. The chair is Dr. James A. Orsini, Associate Professor of Surgery and Director of the Laminitis Institute at New Bolton Center of the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School in Chester County.