WINDHAM — The Adaptive Sports Foundation (ASF) will be hosting its 20th annual Bob Stubbs Warriors in Motion® (WIM) Winter Sports Weekend this week from Thursday, February 1-Sunday, February 4.
The foundation will welcome 19 U.S. veterans and their families to the Gwen Allard Adaptive Sports Center, including Jennifer Jutkofsky-Pine, a retired Navy Reservist who is local to the area. Jutkofsky-Pine grew up in neighboring Columbia County and skied when she was a teenager, but she’s excited to try snowboarding with her step-daughter during this weekend.
“I plan on snowboarding at least one lesson with my step-daughter, who is actually on the autism spectrum, so this is a great opportunity for both of us,” Jutkofsky-Pine explained. “This will be her first time snowboarding too, so I’ll be able to fall down with her and build those stories with her.”
The veterans and their families will arrive in Windham on Thursday evening to begin their winter excursion. The trip will begin with equipment fitting, where they’ll receive the skis, snowboards, and proper adaptive equipment they’ll be using all weekend, making sure that everything fits properly and comfortably for three days of hitting the slopes. After everyone gets situated, the warriors and their families will then dine in the ASF Lodge for a catered dinner from the Millrock Restaurant in Windham. The Bruderhof Community will also be providing dessert for the occasion.
Friday will be a special day for the veterans. Not only will they hit the slopes for morning lessons, but they will also be treated to a celebratory lunch to honor the warriors and their service in the U.S. Military. The ASF and Windham Mountain Club is hosting this luncheon at Seasons in the Windham Mountain Club base lodge, and it will feature guest speaker, VFW Post 1545 Post Commander Marc Farmilette, and a patriotic performance by the Windham-Ashland-Jewett Elementary Chorus. After lunch, the veterans and their families will take a group photo on the slopes before heading out for their afternoon lessons. Later that evening, the WIM participants will dine with Farmilette and other fellow veterans at VFW Post 1545 in Windham, who have been hosting the ASF’s warriors for several years in the past.
The warriors will have another full day on the snow on Saturday, as they’ll receive lessons both in the morning and the afternoon. The lessons will be separated by a lunch in the ASF lodge. When their final lessons of the day are over, the participants will be able to head back to their hotel rooms to wind down and relax after a second-straight day full of skiing and snowboarding before going back to the ASF and enjoying a dinner.
On Sunday, the final day of this special weekend in Windham, the veterans and their families will have one last lesson in the morning before they enjoy a lunch in the ASF lodge and depart back to their homes.
Each morning, the warriors and their families will enjoy breakfast prepared for them by the ASF’s kitchen volunteers, and their lunches on Saturday and Sunday will also be made by ASF volunteers.
During the summer, the ASF’s WIM programs are typically just for the warriors themselves, but the Bob Stubbs Warriors in Motion Winter Sports Weekend is an opportunity for these military veterans to bring family and loved ones with them to support them and also learn how to ski or snowboard.
“One thing I’m looking forward to is participating with my family. A lot of these programs do a lot for the warrior, which is awesome, but we’re home now,” Jutkofsky-Pine said. “I think it’s important to have an integration of the family that you left behind while serving in the military and having this shared experience with them.”
Thanks to the foundation’s generous donors, the ASF will be able to provide all lessons, equipment rentals, meals, hotel rooms, snacks and drinks for this weekend. If you’d like to donate to the many programs the Adaptive Sports Foundation has to offer, visit www.adaptivesportsfoundation.org/
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