WINDHAM, N.Y. – The Adaptive Sports Foundation will host a special Warriors in Motion® event Aug. 25–28 exclusively for injured female veterans.
Next week’s program will be the ASF’s first WIM Women’s Retreat since 2019. U.S. Navy veteran Rhonda Liddell is excited to participate in the female-only event again after several years.
“Women-specific veteran programming gives women the chance to have some camaraderie in a more comfortable situation,” Liddell said. “We get to bond in a way that we never really had while in active duty because we were spread out so thin.”
Liddell and nine other veterans are due to arrive at the Gwen Allard Adaptive Sports Center at 5 p.m. Monday for a welcome dinner to meet one another and the ASF staff and volunteers who will accompany them throughout the week. They will enjoy Mexican cuisine from Zicatelas II before heading out for a stroll on the Windham Path, weather permitting.
The first full day of activity begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday, when the ASF shuttle picks up the participants from their hotel and takes them to Haines Falls. The WIM group will hike the Kaaterskill Rail Trail, a two-mile trek to Kaaterskill Falls. The group will return to the lodge for lunch before enjoying an afternoon of road cycling through Windham.
After their ride, participants will return to their hotel for some relaxation before heading to ASF friend Rick Quattrini’s residence in Windham. Quattrini will host a special Paella dinner, where our participants will help prepare and cook the dish themselves.
On Wednesday, the shuttle will pick up the veterans at 9 a.m. and head to Coxsackie, where they will launch kayaks into the Hudson River with Rip Van Winkle Adventure Tours. The guided paddle will take the group south along the river to Quattrini’s second home along the Hudson. There, they’ll share a barbecue lunch featuring grilled salmon, sausages, and chicken before heading back to Windham.
Veterans will have personal time to relax or enjoy hotel amenities before returning to the ASF for dinner. The Italian meal will be catered by Main Street Market and hosted by ASF donor and longtime friend Rosie Stubbs.
Stubbs, who resides next door to the ASF lodge, has supported the Warriors in Motion program since its inception. She and her late husband, former ASF Chairman Bob Stubbs, championed the creation of a program for injured veterans over 20 years ago.
On Thursday, participants will arrive at the ASF lodge at 8:45 a.m. and head to Mountain Breeze Yoga for an hour-long chair yoga and sound therapy session. They will then return to the lodge for a vision board workshop and lunch before departing.
“I’m looking forward to this week, and I’m hoping I can help inspire some younger female veterans to live their best lives post-military,” Liddell said.
Liddell, an advocate for adaptive sports, has been an active participant in programs around the country. She credits the ASF’s WIM program and others with helping her stay active and engaged.
“I can’t wait to show the improvement I’ve made in my road cycling abilities!” she said.
Thanks to grants and private donations, the ASF provides all necessary equipment, helmets, water bottles, meals, hotel accommodations, snacks, drinks, sunscreen, bug spray, ponchos (if needed), and digital and printed trail maps.
About the Warriors in Motion Program
The Warriors in Motion program provides injured U.S. servicemen and women with a foundation in wellness and lifelong healthy living. All WIM programs are goal-oriented and empower participants to take charge of their fitness and wellness. For more information, visit www.adaptivesportsfoundation.org/military-program.