Veterans retreat benefits from bowl game success
We’re doing an awful lot of good things down there.”
Patriot Point is on 290 acres of Maryland’s Eastern Shore with 2.3 miles of shoreline along Parsons Creek and Slaughters Creek. Guests can enjoy water sports such as boating, kayaking and paddle boarding. Property manager Tim Mitchell takes visiting groups on hunting, crabbing and fishing trips. There also is access to a five-stand skeet shooting range and a 3-D archery course.
Military veterans can unwind by taking beachside yoga, art and cooking classes or working out in the Freedom Fitness Center donated by Under Armour.
Guests hang out at the main house, which was constructed in 1925 and has considerable history. It features a third floor art studio with expansive 360-degree views of the property. Recovering warriors can relax and soak up the atmosphere by sitting on the sandy beach, the screened porch with adjacent patio or a gazebo overlooking a pond.
There are two handicap-accessible bedrooms on the first floor of the main house along with two additional bedrooms upstairs. There is a separate guest house on the property that features six bedrooms.
The Military Bowl Foundation purchased the property from the estate of the previous owner, who had passed away. Located just north of Taylors Island and about 45 minutes from Cambridge, it was known as Poverty Point when owned by James Bugg.
Bugg was the founder and chairman of the Yellow Ribbon Fund, a charity that primarily helps American service personnel who were injured during active and are recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Hospital.
It was Bugg who initially conceived the idea of using the property as a retreat for wounded service members and other veterans.
“The vision of Patriot Point was to create a place where wounded soldiers could come together, talk, relax, help them to heal, have them get away from things for a weekend and enjoy the camaraderie of being around other wounded soldiers,” said retired Army veteran Jason Burr, a wounded warrior who has been a regular visitor to the property.
“It is somewhere they are able to talk without being judged, getting things off their chests, learning to adapt to their injuries and to move on with their lives. In my 11 years of going there I have never heard any of the soldiers ever complain.”
Patriot Point’s Founding Partners are Stuart Plank and the Taishoff Family Foundation. Maryland lawmakers included $500,000 in state capital funding for Patriot Point, which helped with improvements on the property, including handicap accessibility. “What we’ve done with Patriot Point has further developed and formalized Mr. Bugg’s concept,” Beck said.
The Military Bowl Foundation works with numerous non-profit organizations to arrange weekend outings at Patriot Point. Those include the Yellow Ribbon Fund, the USO of Metropolitan Washington-Baltimore, Freedom Hunters, Heroes on the Water, Warrior Events and Operation Second Chance among others. Beck is quite proud that Patriot Point recently began a program for Gold Star Families.
“Steve Beck and all the folks with the Military Bowl have done an awesome job with developing the property and supporting it,” said John O’Leary, founder and chairman of the board for Annapolis-based Warrior Events. “We are proud to work with the Military Bowl Foundation to have veterans of all backgrounds utilize the facility. Patriot Point provides a safe haven for our returning heroes to enjoy some camaraderie and have an opportunity to get outdoors and do various activities.”
Montgomery County resident Pasha Palanker is a 16-year Army veteran who served multiple deployments in Iraq. Palanker was wounded for the first time in 2005 at the age of 25 when an improved explosive device detonated nearby. After recovering, Palanker returned to Iraq and was injured again by a rocket launcher in 2015.
“Both times I was extremely lucky to walk away with relatively minor injuries,” said Palanker, who has suffered significant hearing and memory loss.
Palanker admits he “dug himself a hole” after completing treatment and attempting to re-acclimate to civilian life.
“I think what most of us struggle with is trying to transition back into the same life you had before,” he said. “You realize that is not entirely possible. No one around understands your situation and you begin to get a bit resentful as a result.”
Palanker’s road to mental recovery began when he began participating in outings with Warrior Events. He went on a fishing trip and said the experience “began to release the tension and stress.”
Palanker was part of a Warrior Events visit to Patriot Point, which featured a goose hunting trip in the morning. He had high praise for the welcoming environment provided by Mitchell, the property manager.
“It’s a great atmosphere and I just enjoyed hanging out by the fire in the cabin and spending time talking with the other veterans,” he said. “You go there for the outdoor experiences, but the real jewel of the visit is what takes place during the down time.”
Members of the Military Bowl staff routinely volunteer at Patriot Point, assisting with various aspects of each group’s outing. During Palanker’s visit, Beck helped Mitchell oversee the hunting outing while Military Bowl finance, events and operations director Lauren Schram cooked meals.
“I give a lot of credit to the good people with the Military Bowl. They are not just throwing money at a problem,” Palanker said. They are there and participating, which is worth more than money.”
Beck thoroughly enjoys spending time at Patriot Point and assisting in any way possible with all the activities on the property.
“It is so great to go down there and hang out with the veterans and be part of what your philanthropy is doing,” he said. “It has meant a lot to me personally to see it first-hand.”
Patriot Point is in the midst of a capital campaign to raise $3 million for improvements to the property. Beck said the main house, which is old and beginning to show some signs of wear and tear, requires remodeling.
There is also significant shoreline development that needs to be done and is quite expensive.