Bath Iron Works, A General Dynamics Company, honors those who serve our country though military service. The following provides additional information about the program.
For 25 years,Maine Handicapped Skiing (MHS), which is based at Sunday River Ski Resort and also operates at Sugarloaf, has provided adaptive summer and winter sports opportunities
which have enriched the lives of thousands of children and adults with physical disabilities. MHS
offers the adaptive equipment, training, coaching, and support necessary for people with disabilities to actively pursue outdoor sports. They provide a two-season program, including downhill and cross country skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing in the winter and kayaking,
canoeing, cycling, and golf in the summer.
About eighteen months ago, MHS initiated Veterans/No Boundaries to provide adaptive recreation to any veteran from any conflict with a physical disability who needed adaptive equipment or techniques to participate in sports. Wendy Iseman, MHS Development and Public Relations Director, said, “We wanted it to be a special program that would honor veterans for their sacrifices for our country and allow them the chance to get out, enjoy themselves, and take up new sports or go back to sports that they might have had to give up due to their injuries.”
In early February, MHS hosted its second annual 3-day winter Veterans/No Boundaries program for 18 vets who skied, snowboarded, and snowshoed up to six hours a day. Introduced to adaptive equipment, many for the first time, most of the vets were amazed at its potential to assist their mobility. MHS initially started the Veterans program thinking they’d be serving people injured in Afghanistan or Iraq. However, they found that a number of these service
men and women were completing rehab and either staying in the military, where there’s support for those who remain in the service, or they were focused on other areas of their recovery. So MHS’s original idea morphed into working with older veterans and developing a program that would be available to all veterans at the right time in their lives.
MHS finds that many of today’s vets either have service-related injuries or something has occurred as they got older, such as a stroke or accident, that results in a physical disability. “Recreation is really important, and for a lot of people, that’s lost after becoming disabled,” said Wendy. “We want people to have fun, build strength and develop physical skills.” Socializing is another very important aspect of the program. Wendy noted,“when the vets get together, they talk about their experiences in the military, about life and how they’re handling things. Socializing is tremendous for the veterans, almost as important as recreation.”
MHS focuses its funding squarely on serving as many people who want to participate as possible. All equipment, meals, lift tickets and trail passes are provided to the participants at no cost. “BIW’s commitment gives us a lot of strength,” said Wendy. “We plan to participate in the Wounded Warriors Program where we can now pledge to bring a certain number of active service people undergoing rehab at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington to Maine for recreation.” Veterans/No Boundaries will provide equipment, meals and lodging, plus plane tickets.
Wendy said,“BIW’s backing is wonderful because we’ll have the financial means to do the programming and not think all the time about how we’re going to fund the program.”
When asked how interested BIW employees might get involved, Wendy had a number of ideas. March 24, 2007, is the date of the annual Ski-A-Thon which traditionally raises a large portion of MHS’s annual budget. Anyone can pledge to a team or form their own team of up to 5 people who secure pledges and spend a long, full day at Sunday River skiing or enjoying other
recreational offerings with lift tickets and meals provided. The day ends with an awards ceremony and dancing. Teams of BIW employees have participated in the past and MHS would like to see BIW groups once again at the Ski-A-Thon. A team can be all skiers, all non-skiers, or a mixture. Whether on the slopes or in the lodge, they’re guaranteed to have a good time.
Call Wendy or Joanne Mercier at 800-639-7770 to find out more or to sign up.
During the recent winter Veterans/No Boundaries program, it was clear that the volunteers were having as much fun as the veterans. Lenny Roy (D52) is a lifelong skier who took up snowboarding a few years ago and is a 10-year MHS volunteer in both sports. He says,“MHS is an awesome program where everyone participates, no matter what their age or disability. It is
amazing to see the process where a person, for example someone who can’t walk on their own, gets fitted to the right equipment and pretty soon they’re skiing independently.” Lenny especially enjoys working with kids and has watched a few grow up in the program. He remembers a 9-year old boy with multiple disabilities who was skiing at the end of his first day in the program. “How can you not want to be part of something like that?” he asked.
If anyone would like to help as a coach or instructor and has intermediate or better skills in their sport, call Wendy or Joanne (800 639-7770) for more details. The MHS web site, www.skimhs.org, is being updated this spring. For now, phone calls are encouraged as the best means to communicate. MHS has seen kids with physical disabilities grow up stronger and more
confident because of their experiences on the mountain and they’ve seen the joy of adults for whom adaptive recreation has given them back an aspect of their lives they’d lost due to their injuries or disabilities. “This program improves people’s lives,” said Wendy. “It’s that important.”
