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|  The Brian and Dawn Walker family enjoyed a welcome retreat at Lake Ridge Resort in Crosslake. (l-r) Katie, Brian Jr. Brian, Zoey, granddaughter Sora, Dawn and Conner.- Photos by Paul Boblett  Katie Walker enjoyed catching fish on Rush Lake during her stay with her family last week.  Jerry and Karen Schultz, owners of Lake Ridge Resort in Crosslake donated vacations to five veterans’ families in over the last two months | Crosslake Resort Gives Vacations to VeteransBy Paul Boblett, Editor Karen and Jerry Schultz of Lake Ridge Resort in Crosslake came up with a unique way to help veterans and their families: treating them to a free stay at their resort on Rush Lake. The idea came to them after Karen saw a television program concerning veterans who were experiencing difficulty returning to civilian life following multiple tours of duty abroad. “I asked myself, what have I got that I could give back to our servicemen,” said Karen, “so I contacted the Crosslake Legion and they contacted Fort Ripley.” “Most of the service men and women who have been to Iraq, haven’t been there just once - they have gone two or three, even four times,” said Karen. “We’re just blessed to be able to do this for them.” Since July the resort, built in 1936 by Karen’s dad and grandfather, has hosted five families, including the most recent visitors, Brian and Dawn Walker along with their four kids and granddaughter who spent Labor Day weekend there. The family was thrilled to be able to spend time together as Brian has has served two tours in Iraq and two in Bosnia. “We’re amazed and so very happy that people can be this generous,” said Dawn, who added that she had tears in her eyes when they drove into the resort and saw the flag-lined driveway. The kids agreed that the best part of the vacation aside from having their dad around was fishing, and daughter Katie backed that up by bringing in a nice northern on Friday morning. Brian is a 13 year veteran with 147th Finance Division out of Roseville and hails from Brainerd. “This is so nice,” said Brian, “The kids are having a great time - this is just very special.” Dawn was contacted by the Brainerd Armory and will be heading up the Family Readiness Group, which provide support for families with loved ones who serve, and also helps veterans reintegrate to civilian life. “They were looking for a volunteer and I couldn’t see another group go without the support,” said Dawn. “I ran the FRG in Washington at Fort Lewis for three years.” Karen said, “It means so much If we all can do one little thing for these families. These kids that have a parent gone for so long - it’s really hard for them.” Karen and Jerry have offered their resort for a picnic for service families and plan to offer a few Lake Ridge cabins during the 2010 summer for more families to enjoy what the Walkers experienced last weekend. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northland Press | P.O. Box 145 | Outing, MN 56662 | (218) 692-5842 Email: news@northlandpress.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
