Four decades ago at Studio City Park, two middle-aged moms embarked on a mission to improve the quality of life for their preschool-aged daughters born with Down Syndrome.

Wanting their girls to have friends and fun in their youth and beyond, when their formal schooling would end at 22, Dixie Henrikson and Mary Schallert started Activities for Retarded Children (ARC) in 1969.

"We started in the park with about three or four kids, my friend Dixie and I," said Schallert, 83, a longtime parishioner at St. Charles Borromeo in North Hollywood who raised 11 children with her late husband, William. Their youngest child, Susie, was a good friend of Dixie's daughter, Deborah. The girls' moms talked about forming an activities group for children with special needs.

Schallert knew it would be a long-term commitment, with no "end-date" (like being a PTA president or Girl Scout leader), but went ahead anyway. "This you don't outgrow," Schallert told The Tidings during a recent visit to ARC's Activity Center in North Hollywood where more than 35 special needs adults, including Susie and Deborah, were participating in a structured weekday program of academic continuing education, life skills classes and enrichment courses. During the year, ARC participants also enjoy a number of field trips to such places as Dodger Stadium, the Hollywood Bowl and the Getty Museum.

In the early days, Schallert and Henrikson, who died in 2006, ran a camp for five hours every Saturday at Harvard School (now Harvard-Westlake), where the children could swim in the campus pool and socialize while participating in sports, arts and crafts, and musical activities.

"The principal gave Dixie and I each a key to the school with our names on it. We ran the Saturday Camp for years and years and years," said Schallert. After a decade, when the camp participants were in their teens, Henrikson and Schallert started a handbell choir after their inquiries to a musical instrument manufacturer resulted in the donation of a set of English handbells.

Schallert knew enough about music to write out the color-coded notes on window shade canvas. Standing at a podium made out of a former film projector stand, Henrikson would unfurl a roll of music with its neatly-printed A-G letters representing musical notes and, facing the musicians with her back to the audience, would point to each letter as the designated bell-ringer would play the note.

Schallert conducts the bell-ringers now, rehearsing the group on Monday afternoons. Though she retired as activities director in 2005, Schallert still leads the bell choir, which performs about 60 times a year for school, social club and civic-sponsored events, such as the annual KCET Holiday Show Live at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion where Schallert wears her trademark red holiday jacket. ARC's current handbell choir of 16 members plays a total of 54 bells.

"This bell choir is really a job," said Jane Sarture, ARC's executive director who serves as the group's keyboardist and music director. Thanks to the efforts of an ARC volunteer in the music industry, the group has recorded a CD, available for sale at performances to help finance expenses. Past performances over the last 20 years include appearances at St. Charles Borromeo's seniors' club, Special Olympics' events and the L.A. Marathon, where ARC handbell choir members "ring-on" athletes along the sidelines during the race.

In the decades since ARC's founding, the children have matured into adults who share their gifts with the community. As they were approaching young adulthood, Schallert and Henrikson anticipated the need for an adult program with enrichment activities as well as housing.

A house was bought and converted into the ARC Activity Center in the late '70s, when ARC was incorporated as a non-profit. The adjacent apartment building was acquired in the mid-'90s and currently houses 17 residents. ARC plans to embark on a capital campaign soon to renovate a neighboring house which was acquired in 2005 to provide additional housing.

"Dixie said she wanted our kids to have a country club," said Schallert. "She did not want a warehouse. She wanted these children to have a good time and a nice place. Some have little jobs." ARC has remained true to Schallert's vision to "have a program that was alive and useful. Going places, doing things, having fun."

"There is a lot of love and friendship and learning and you will find no place like it," says Sarture, who left an unfulfilling job in the entertainment industry for a volunteer job with ARC which led to her present position overseeing a staff of 20 and scores of volunteers from high schoolers to senior citizens.

ARC serves 100 clients and their families annually, including 36 who come for weekday activities and 50 who attend Saturday Camp, which provides therapeutic recreation and socialization for all age groups at the ARC Activity Center and Harvard-Westlake's High School campus.

Currently, ARC supporters are busy preparing for the 14th annual NoHo Midsummer Night Coffeehouse and Music Festival fundraiser on Aug. 8, 5:45-11 p.m. at the Activity Center, located at 6456 Whitsett Ave., North Hollywood. Open to the public, the event, coordinated by Schallert's son, Larry, features dinner from 5:30-8:30 p.m. and a program of traditional, original and acoustic music by friends of ARC. Suggested donation is $20 adults; $15 children 5-18; kids under 5 are free.

Amazed at how ARC has grown to provide multi-generational activities, Schallert points out that the loving community supported by families and volunteers continues to be a blessing. So far, 12 marriages have taken place among the volunteers. "And they're still married," Schallert proudly points out.

For information on ARC's Aug. 8 fundraiser and/or programs, call (818) 762-4365 or log on to www.ARCandAdults.com.