Boulder Crest Names New Executive Director
G
teaching transcendental meditation to hundreds of veterans at military installations around the country. That experience, combined with Baxley’s leadership and teaching skills, and creditability in the military community, will serve the retreat well, according to Falke. Baxley served as part of the 82nd Airborne’s Combat Parachute assault in Panama during Operation Just Cause, and also with the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment for Desert Shield/ Storm. Upon retirement, he dedicated his time and abilities to bringing relief, healing and hope to active duty military personnel and veterans experiencing post-traumatic stress. “Supporting my military brothers and sisters and their families has always been a top priority for me. Boulder Crest Retreat has all the ingredients needed to help our combat veterans and their families heal from the last 14 years of war,” Baxley said in a statement. He said he and his wife, Charly, were honored to be a part of what he called “an extraordinary team” at Boulder Crest, and singled out Falke and his wife Julia for creating “a slice of heaven on earth,” referring to their donation of the 37 Boulder Crest Retreat acres on which the retreat is built. Gene “Dusty” Baxley is Boulder Crest Retreat’s new executive director. Falke, a retired U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal tech and master For more information, go to chief petty officer, founded the retreat activities to help them recover and to provide a rural sanctuary for combat reconnect during the long journey bouldercrestretreat.org or contact veterans and their families as a means of of healing from both physical and Falke at ken@bouldercrestretreat. org. n providing recreational and therapeutic invisible wounds.
3 D AY S T HAT P R O V E Y O U’ R E
VALUED LOCALS
•
OFF FOR
extra SPECIA L
www.middleburglife.net
20%
July 2015
every Wednesday, Thursday & Sunday dining through July 31, 2015
Must show proof of residence within one of these zip codes: 20117, 20118, 20105, 20198, 20115, 20184, 20169, 20132, 20135, 20137, 20144, 20175, 20197, 20176, 20147, 20148, 20152, 20120, 20155, 22639, 22642, 22620, 22630, 22611
L i f e
ene “Dusty” Baxley started work this week as the new executive director of the Boulder Crest Retreat for Military and Veteran Wellness in Bluemont. Baxley also will serve on the retreat’s board of directors. He replaces Jennifer Marino, who resigned earlier this year. While welcoming Baxley, retreat founder Ken Falke also praised Marino for her work as the retreat’s executive director. “Jen was great. She was a huge help for our first 18 months, getting us up and ready,” Falke said. The former Marine Corps major and helicopter pilot left to write a book about her experiences riding a bike across the country and also to travel to Africa, where she hopes to work with children. For Baxley, the new position is an evolution from his previous role working with the retreat team as a transcendental meditation instructor. Falke said the retired Army Ranger is “very talented and he will be a mentor and leader as we move into the next phase at Boulder Crest.” The retreat’s initial construction phase ended last December, and Falke said, counting in-kind contributions, the retreat team surpassed the $10 million fund-raising goal, ultimately raising $11.4 million. Baxley will preside over the next
phase of the venture, which is designed to expand the programming component at the retreat: PATHH—Progressive and Alternative Therapies for Healing Heroes—a holistic approach that is designed for combat veterans and their families. After the implementation of that program, the retreat will turn to its third $10 million fundraising effort to make the retreat self-sustaining, according to Falke. Baxley will develop the curriculum for the PATHH program and oversee the hiring of clinical psychologists to make sure “what we’re doing gets us to where we need to be,” Falke said. Baxley has been the retreat’s transcendental meditation instructor since it opened in September 2013, and has played a critical role in that programming. In that time, he proved himself a capable and trusted mentor, teacher and guide, according to Falke. He cited Baxley’s personal experience, insight and dedication in supporting veterans as essential to complement the retreat’s work and mission—to provide innovative, evidence-based and transformative combat stress recovery programs. Baxley is a certified transcendental meditation teacher, who recently served as the national director of Operation Warrior Wellness for the David Lynch Foundation, as well as executive director of transcendental meditation for veterans with the Maharishi Foundation USA. He is credited with having developed and managed numerous projects
M i d d l e b u r g
By Margaret Morton For Middleburg Life
ML
HarrimansDining@SalamanderResort.com
9 Harrimans-MLife-July.indd 1
6/25/15 1:23 PM