Photo By Janecze Wright | Visitors can now rent paddle boards and kayaks for $10 hourly, per piece of equipment,...... read more read more
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BELTON, Texas — As if there aren’t enough ways to have fun at the Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Area, visitors can now add paddleboards and kayaks to the list of water activities.
“It’s a great way to get out with your family and see some of the surrounding nature areas,” said BLORA Recreation Specialist Jennifer Mallon.
The new additions are part of the plan to revamp the popular beach area, which will also see new cottages, upgrades to all campsites and a new administrative building soon.
Currently, visitors can rent paddleboards and kayaks for $10 an hour, per piece of equipment, up to a maximum of $30, after which visitors can enjoy the equipment all day.
Guests are encouraged to always use personal flotation devices, or life jackets, while in the water and to use plenty of sunscreen. Life jackets are available for use on-site at no cost.
Families can bring their own snacks or purchase them from the snack bar nearby.
While the new equipment is available to the public, BLORA also offers activities through a program that is specifically for active-duty Soldiers.
Warrior Adventure Quest was implemented by Congress in 2008 to enable Soldiers to establish a “new normal” by diminishing boredom and high-risk behaviors through outdoor recreation.
“(WAQ) offers the ability for the Soldiers to come together as a unit, get the cohesion, get that bonding in a safe environment where they can get out all the adrenaline,” Mallon explained. “We focus on those who are about to deploy or are coming home from deployment. It helps them reintegrate into society.”
All active-duty Soldiers on orders at Fort Cavazos are eligible to participate at no cost with their commander’s endorsement.
Costs are offset with a “pay it forward” model that requires Soldiers to complete a survey that allows other Soldiers to participate.
Mallon detailed one activity she said is particularly therapeutic for Soldiers.
“We have the horse ranch that we use. (Soldiers) pick their own horse, they lead them, they clean them, brush them, they get to go out on a trail ride with them, they have all these different stations,” she described. “And at the very end, they get to release them back into what we consider the wild, but their big open area.”
Soldiers can also participate in paintball, and will eventually enjoy mountain biking, trap shooting and archery.
Samantha Schellhorn, BLORA recreational assistant, explained that they like to encourage unit leaders to bring new Soldiers out to participate.
“There’s a lot of instances where people have never met before because they just came in,” she expressed. “So, we like to encourage those new relationships and bonds. And that’s a great way to do that through the Warrior Adventure Quest program.”
Mallon said the program has been successful at providing a much-needed outlet for Soldiers.
“The suicide rate dropped for Soldiers after they implemented this program because there was a lot of PTSD,” Mallon noted. “A lot of Soldiers were doing things because in the battlefield, they were in all these experiences that got their adrenaline going, and then they come back home and they’re stagnant.
“Sometimes you have all this energy or aggression, and you don’t want to bring it home to your family,” she added. “You want to try to leave work at work and this is a great way to network it out and get it out of your system and just to have fun. It’s a day out of the office, it’s get out and enjoy yourself while getting out all these internal struggles.”
| Date Taken: | 08.10.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.01.2023 11:06 |
| Story ID: | 451098 |
| Location: | BELTON, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 14 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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