Hemophilia of Georgia’s Teen Retreat in Nashville, Tennessee

Horizons in Hemophilia, February 2013

By Kim Wilson, Camp and Activities Coordinator

A group of 52 HoG staff, volunteers, and teenagers arrived in Nashville, TN for a holiday weekend spent serving the local community, learning about the music scene in Nashville, and developing their anti-bullying skills.

Upon arrival at the Deer Run Retreat Center, we settled in and completed a service project to benefit the camp.  The Saturday of Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend is a national day of service.  Our teens, staff and volunteers cleared trails, sorted out logs for campfires and completed other beautification projects for the camp.  We were all proud of the jobs we accomplished.

After dinner, our group watched the Camp Wannaklot 2012 Leaders in Training “Infusion Musical” and talked about the importance of wearing a medic alert.

We also talked about what Camp Wannaklot means to each of us and started a new camp covenant. Our goal is to preserve the sense of family and acceptance we find at camp.  To close out the evening, we enjoyed a hayride around the camp and a campfire with songs and s’mores!
 
The next morning, we talked about bullies.  We discussed what bullying is, and we strategized ways to address different bullying situations we may confront.  We also talked about changes we could each make to keep bullying out of Camp Wannaklot.

After lunch we enjoyed a tour of the Country Music Hall of Fame.  A highlight of the weekend was a visit to RCA’s Studio B.  Many famous artists recorded in this studio, but probably the most famous was Elvis Presley.  The piano he loved best is still in the studio.  Logan, Seth, Chayse and Louis all had a chance to actually play Elvis’ piano!  It was an incredible experience!  We ended the evening with dinner and fun at Dave & Buster’s.  Check out all of the pictures from Teen Retreat.

Everyone had a wonderful time on the Teen Retreat.  The teens wish to thank Hemophilia of Georgia for continuing to provide fun and educational events for them.  We would also like to thank our sponsors Novo Nordisk, Biogen Idec and Grifols for making this event possible.

If you are an HoG client who will be age 13-17 next January, watch your mailbox for an invitation to Teen Retreat 2014!