Horses 4 Warriors focus on equine therapy for veterans with PTSD in the Ocala area. Ocala, has the community spirit, all while making a meaningful difference in the lives of our beloved Veterans and Equine Residents in Central Florida. They are a non-profit group that’s purpose is helping Veterans with PTSD and to raise awareness about mental health.
The event started with the Color Guard and Judith Larrence singing the National Anthem. What a great voice singing a great song! Thank You Judith. The event was held at the Ocala Downtown Market. Rick Stevens started the nonprofit just a few months ago, to focus on equine therapy for veterans with PTSD. He said this was the organization’s first major event in Ocala. Rick dedicated the event to Billy Rowe. Rick said they may try to have the next event at Veteran park. Veteran form a bond with the horses and it’s a traumatic experience. I would say in some cases life saving connection they may not have ever felt in their life,”. Rick says the issue is close to his heart because he said he deals with it himself. Rick sats “I’ve got PTSD and had some stuff happen in my life and a horse saved my life,” said Stevens. “I bonded with the horse, the horse bonded with me and he kept me alive.”
At the event people were split up into teams and played corn hole. The winners were given a custom set of boards, hand-painted by artist.
One team drove from Dunnellon to help the cause. “I never put an amount on it, if we make a dollar I’m okay with that, it’s about getting the awareness out and a lot of people have really stepped up,” Stevens thank all that came and showed support. Watch for the next event in this newspaper.
Photos by CKJ-13 Kay Johnson
Lady Lake Chamber business luncheon was a success. It is a success any time you get a group of business people together to discuss business. This luncheon was held at Eaton Beach right on the lake front. Janet Fraley was running around making everything ready and of course Jeannie was there helping. Leslie was at her Fall Conference. I had a window seat the best of two worlds. Look out at the lake, enjoy business people and taking pictures. Lot’s of door prizes were given out. It was a perfect day. The Chamber has a luncheon’s almost every month so watch for them and attend.
We want to extend a huge thank you to all the businesses that participated in our 8th annual business-to-business expo! We appreciate your support and dedication to making this event a success. We strive to make each event we host valuable to those who participate, and we are delighted to hear that you found it valuable as well.
We understand that some businesses were disappointed not to win a door prize, even though they provided one. To minimize this, we are implementing a new rule for next year’s event. Only one representative from each business that provides a door prize will be eligible to win a door prize. We hope this new rule will help ensure that everyone has a fair chance to win.
We also want to express our gratitude to all of the volunteers who generously donated their time and energy to make this event possible. Without your help, we could not have achieved such a successful event.
Once again, thank you for participating in our expo. We look forward to seeing you all again next year and making the event even better!
Photos by CKJ-13 Kay Johnson
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