Patriot Point Teams Up with Go Bowling and BVL to Host Retreat
As the gray clouds hung low over the water, threatening a downpour on an otherwise quiet Sunday afternoon, Jeff Metheny and his fellow retreat members pulled on long sleeves. It was time to head outside to bait lines and prepare for an afternoon of crabbing. While the veterans and their guests were strangers just 48 hours earlier, there now existed a camaraderie as they chatted and teased each other, ready to tackle one more adventure.
It is a familiar refrain at Patriot Point, but one that never gets old.
Bring together a group of people unfamiliar with each other. They might be guarded, perhaps a bit quiet at first. But give the Military Bowl Foundation’s 294-acre retreat center on Maryland’s Eastern Shore 24 hours to work its magic and soon enough, the guests pal around like old friends.
The Send-a-Vet to Patriot Point sponsored by Go Bowling and Bowlers to Veterans Link brought together six veterans from across the country and various walks of life. The common bond of being a veteran gave everyone a shared sense of community and afforded all the chance to let down their guard, relax for a few days and focus on themselves.
“I’ve really reset and become a better person,” said Jeff, who traveled to the retreat from Rockford, Illinois, with his wife, Kimberly. Jeff served a decade in the U.S. Army and later re-enlisted in the National Guard for eight more years, with a deployment to Afghanistan. “I can’t thank everyone enough.”
Said Emily Hart, who served 10 years in the Army and is a military spouse living in Arlington, Virginia: “I needed that time to reflect back on my service in the military and connect with other vets and to make that connection through bowing was extra awesome! It has not been easy after leaving the service. It was truly humbling to talk with others that vets that have struggled and have similar experiences. Bringing vets together, even if they are strangers, is powerful. I left Patriot Point feeling peaceful and revived. Exactly what I needed. It was therapy for me.”
FACING EVERYDAY CHALLENGES
U.S. Army veteran Jason Washburn lives in Randleman, N.C., in the central part of the state. He can look out the window, see the tree line and know that one of the most famous North Carolinians – stock car racing king Richard Petty – lives in the distance.
But everyday life is full of bumps and detours for Jason, who served from 1999 to 2002 as an aviation operations specialist, including a tour of duty in South Korea. He has been out of work and medically retired for one year.
Like many veterans, he suffers from anxiety. Wherever he is, he almost always faces the door. He keeps his back to the wall. He does his best to avoid big groups of people, including doing his grocery shopping in the middle of the day, when supermarkets tend to be less crowded. Jason is aware of his anxiety and trying to lessen it, but that does not mean it is easy.
“I am trying to work on it,” Jason said. “I sometimes go to baseball games to put myself in that scenario.”
Jason also bowls twice a week. His adult son also struggles with being around people, so this year Jason and his wife signed themselves and their son up for a bowling league at the Asheboro Family Fun Center, about 20 minutes from home.
“He started off really bad, not even breaking 100,” Jason said. “But by the end of the season, he was up to the 160s, even 170s. It gave us time to bond over something we appreciate and enjoy and I can pass [the love of bowling down to him] like it was passed down to me.”
Jason said he knows many veterans share his sense of anxiety. He has created a veteran’s support group and hopes that bowling will be a regular activity for the group.
“I knew I was missing that veterans/military camaraderie that we had when we were in,” Jason said. “We are a whole different group. We have our twisted sense of humor and weird joking mannerisms. I realized I was missing that.”
It was a theme echoed by all of the veterans on this retreat. Most military installations have bowling centers that serve as the social hub of the community. Even off post or base and on deployment, bowling can be the one distraction that helps service members cope with their surroundings.
“When I was in Afghanistan, John Sommer (a proprietor) from my hometown in Rockford, Illinois, sent my company a portable bowling lane,” Metheny said. “In the horrors of war, where we were facing IEDs and other attacks, that little plastic bowling lane was a piece of home to hold on to, and it really helped us get through and really helped me get through.”
FORGING A BOND
That common bond quickly became evident when Jason arrived at Patriot Point on Thursday evening. There was a group dinner that night, followed by a beach bonfire. Friday included yoga on the beach as the Slaughter’s Creek water rippled onto the sand and the afternoon included an art therapy session.
It was, no pun intended, a breath of fresh air for everybody as they quickly familiarized themselves with each other’s preferences and quirks.
It is a scenario that is repeated nearly weekly at Patriot Point. The Military Bowl Foundation purchased the property in 2016 to operate it as a retreat center for recovering service members. Since then, the infrastructure has been nearly completely overhauled and has welcome nearly 2,000 active-duty and veteran service members to provide an oasis for these brave defenders of freedom on their personal healing journeys. Whether it is fishing, crabbing, hunting, boating, kayaking, paddle boarding or other activities or just relaxing on the beach and taking in the scenery, guests find their happy place and settle in quickly.
“It was amazing to witness Patriot Point in action,” said John Harbuck, president of Strike Ten Entertainment/Go Bowling. “Seeing this group of veterans share their stories of conflict and their affinity for bowling and come together for the greater good was incredible. It was yet one more reminder why the bowling community, through the efforts of the BVL, stands with our nation’s veterans and why we continue to work with the Military Bowl Foundation and Patriot Point to honor and support our service members.”
By late Friday night, Matt Wilson and Brian White had developed their own routine of outlasting everyone else around the bonfire and enjoying the solitude of the dark, quiet night.
A native of East Texas, Matt finished high school and knew he didn’t want to go to college or join everyone else he knew and work in the oil fields. He enlisted in the Army and served six years as a helicopter mechanic. It was during that time that he started bowling and it didn’t take long for him to be hooked.
“It’s a leisure sport that I could do from the time I was 16 to the time I am 70,” Matt said. “It’s kind of like golf. Your age doesn’t matter. You don’t have to be super athletic. But unlike golf, it is climate-controlled – I don’t have to worry about the weather.”
Like the rest of the group on the retreat, Matt brought his bowling ball to Patriot Point. Saturday afternoon featured a trip to the Choptank Bowling Center.
“Bowling is a fantastic experience – it’s a stress reliever,” said Mark Edwards, a 31-year Navy veteran who was joined by his fiancé for the retreat. “You can get out there with your friends and just have a wonderful time.”
That about put it perfectly for Jeff Metheny. His back often hurts, the result of a misstep during Special Forces training. He doesn’t bowl nearly as often as he used to or wants to and his scores are a fraction of what he once was able to bowl. Taking a backswing and letting the ball fly down the lane causes too much pain. His “I beat Earl Anthony” patch seems like it was a lifetime ago; he started bowling when he was in grade school and accompanied his mother to bowling conventions for 30 years. If he hurts too much, Jeff will leave his bowling shoes behind but still goes to the bowling alley to chat with his bowling friends.
“Patriot Point has hosted so many special gatherings over the past nine years, focusing on small groups as we host hunting and fishing trips, unit reunions and recreational retreats,” said Military Bowl Foundation President & Executive Director Steve Beck. “More than 3,500 guests have come through the gates on their own personal healing journeys. Obviously, this was one of the more special gatherings. It is incredibly heartwarming to see the impact that Patriot Point makes and we look forward to working with Go Bowling and the BVL to help more service members experience the magic of Patriot Point.”