Honoring the troops
Military families dine and fellowship at Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre
The Office of Military Affairs hosted Military Family Fun Day for service members and their families in the Barrick-Falwell lodge at the Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre March 27. The event was free of charge for those with military ID.
SAY CHEESE — Military Family Fun Day showered families with appreciation for their service. Photo credit: Courtney Russo
With a temperature hovering in the low 50s, it was a chilly day on Liberty’s Mountain, pushing most of the families to gather inside the warm lodge. Inside, military families and troops, including active duty, reserve and retired, all came together for fellowship and fun.
Though 250 individuals attended the semiannual event, an environment of friendship existed within the lodge as stories were shared. This familiarity is key according to Josh Turner, a former Army Ranger who is now a chaplain’s assistant, as well as a husband and father. Turner explained that for a lot of service men and women, it could be difficult to go to large events because of the noise and crowds.
“I don’t like hanging out in big crowds, I don’t like being around stuff like that,” Turner said. “… So smaller events like this (are a) little bit more intimate, military stuff, (and) I appreciate that. It’s important.”
This was the first Military Family Fun Day Turner and his family attended, but he said he would definitely come back for similar events in the future.
Issac Van Epps, a chaplain, husband and father who works with Turner, explained that military families are put under a lot of stress. When service members are deployed, oftentimes for a year or longer, the service members change, and their families often change as well.
FUN AND GAMES — Children of military families enjoyed the Snowflex slopes for an afternoon. Photo credit: Courtney Russo
“(Your family) learns how to do life without you,” Van Epps said.
According to Van Epps, it can be difficult and awkward to transition back together.
“Family days are absolutely essential for resiliency, so Liberty doing this means a lot,” Van Epps said. “… I’m really glad that Liberty’s valuing the family, and helping to bring health back to them by offering to do stuff like this for free.”
After lunch, which consisted of beans, burgers and hot dogs, Van Epps and his family rode inner tubes down Snowflex’s turf slopes, which was just one of the Snowflex activities available to the families throughout the day.
Laurie Schweinsberg, wife of a retired Army veteran and a professor at Liberty, thought Liberty did a great job with the event. She also explained her appreciation for Liberty’s constant support of the military.
Van Epps and Turner both attended Liberty for their undergraduate careers as well as for seminary. They said Liberty’s support for the military is the best support they have experienced from a school. Turner said that after he graduated with his bachelor of science in psychology, he “shopped around” for master’s programs, but he said he came back to Liberty because he did not find the support Liberty gives military members anywhere else.
The Office of Military Affairs hosts Military Family Fun Day two times a year, once in the spring and in the fall. For more information about the Office of Military Affairs and services it provides for military students and families, visit the Liberty University Military Affairs Office Facebook page or visit them at
liberty.edu/militaryaffairs.
CHIPMAN is a news reporter.