4-H Center is a hidden gem

It has been a pleasure this summer to discover a hidden gem just outside Front Royal with the Blue Ridge Mountains hugging the countryside: the Northern Virginia 4-H Center. The genius of 4-H has been to teach farming, gardening, environmental stewardship, home care, sewing, and community leadership as life skills and character building for children and adolescents. It also sponsors and supports camping with meeting facilities like the one located just a few minutes from the city limits of Front Royal. We learned the land was gifted from Virginia Tech as an agricultural education outreach project. Its conference center offers meeting space with stunning views.

The use of this facility has been a gift for those of us who could not travel or use public swimming pools in other jurisdictions this summer. The 4-H pool generously opened its Olympic-sized pool for the public at designated hours. We were particularly fortunate to attend the senior aquatics program taught by Katie Tennant, the new program director who moved recently from Ohio with her family. Well-trained and professional, she kept us on task for the aquatic therapies she instructed with a gentle firm touch. While the pool was a respite from the summer heat, the aquatics class, in a time of sheltering at home, provided a way to strengthen joint and body movement in a safe, healthy manner.

This senior water exercise program enabled us to learn techniques that we can continue to use in the coming months of uncertainty. As we swam, we worked to regain health, balance, movement, and cardio fitness. In sum, the 4-H pool is a gift to the community and one more reason to celebrate the Commonwealth of Virginia and the County of Warren.

Sincerely,
Mary E. Neznek
Washington DC (educator and wellness coach)