Retreat offers escape for veteran caregivers
DAVID STONE | OUR TOWN TEMPLE
Green Trees Farm and Heal Vets will be celebrating National Caregivers Day on Friday by hosting a special retreat for the caregivers of veterans.
“Caregivers work hard providing for our nation’s veterans, and this retreat provides a break and a bit of fun,” said Lynda Schumann of Green Trees Farm, located at 2520 Rock Road in Troy.
“We’re taking up to 20 caregivers and providing them with the opportunity to focus on themselves for a few hours,” she said. “Veteran care will be secured off-site.”
“The guests will be divided into groups of 10, and the first group will arrive at the farm at 9:45 a.m.,” Schumann said. “The second group will arrive at noon so they will have lunch together, then the second group will run from 1 to 3 p.m.”
Schumann explained that one of the activities will be a trail walk through the farm.
“We have three trails, and each person will choose one,” she said. “Each trail has five stations, one representing each letter of the word GRACE. At each station, participants will be asked a simple question to ponder while walking the trail.”
The station themes are Gratitude, Release, Accept, Challenge and Embrace, and the first letter of each station is a letter in G-R-A-C-E.
The trails wind through the farm and include horses, pastures, woods, rolling hills, a riding arena and barns.
There will also be an art project led by Bell Fine Arts.
“We will be decorating horseshoes,” Schumann said. “I was able to get a bunch of horseshoes from my farrier.”
“This is an opportunity to walk, think, question, reflect, share, relax and enjoy,” she said. “You will leave with a feeling of hope, inner peace and resiliency.”
Schumann said many visitors to Green Trees particularly enjoy visits with the horses.
“Horses are always in the moment — what’s happening around them right now,” she said. “People, though, get caught up in the big picture and our minds are moving a mile a minute. The horses put you in the moment as well.”
In addition to Green Trees Farm and Heal Vets, Altrusa International and American Legion Post 133 also are involved in the day’s activities.
For additional information, call Schumann at (254) 624-4919 or Trish Algers of Help Heal Vets at (254) 773-8900.
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