LOCAL

Heroes

Molly Michael & Laurie Enright

photo by Norman Photography & Paperie

The Long
Ride Home
Mother-daughter team rides to bring healing to veterans
by Danica Low

Heroes Among Us

Across Fauquier, and within Warrenton town limits, there are

heroes among us. Many look and act the part of everyday citizens, but
have unsung, remarkable stories to tell stories that astonish us all. A
common chord is always courage, bravery, compassion, and action that
goes above-and-beyond. An awareness of others and thinking outside
of oneself is part of a heros story.
One of these heroes is someone we all know as a local small business
owner, who owns and operates a very popular restaurant in town
Mollys Irish Pub with co-owner Casey Ward. Laurie Enright has been
running this business, initially with her sister Kitty, since her daughter
Molly was nine years old. The single mom, with family roots in Arizona,
fell in love with the Town of Warrenton while stationed at the Pentagon
with the Air National Guard, of which she has completed twelve
combat deployments.
Laurie recalls the day the world stood still September 11, 2001.
With construction underway for the restaurant, and her young daughter
in tow, Laurie received a phone call with military orders. She would
leave for deployment in the days to come. I asked my sister to oversee
the construction of the building (Mollys Irish Pub) and to care for
my daughter. I could not say where I was going, when Id return, or
communicate with them while I was gone. But, with bravery, she went.
The deployments also had an effect on Molly, now 22. She
inherited her moms fearlessness, sense of adventure, commitment to
duty, and hunger for a challenge. No plans to join the military have

Above right: Laurie and Molly at the gates of the Heroes Garden.
Below right: Directional sign at Boulder Crest Retreat
Below: Main entrance welcomes combat veterans.

been shared, but Molly suggests that travel has been the
thing to quench her thirst for discovery and ambition. I
am most happy with my backpack, camera and journal
exploring and learning about our world, she says. Before
she turned 18, she had traveled to six continents. As an
anthropology student, she spent months studying abroad
in Ethiopia living in a small, poor village, living in a hut
and walking for water. Molly too, exudes that love for
other cultures and humanity a desire to help her fellow
brethren.

Adventure at Every Turn

It shouldnt be surprising then, that both Laurie and

Molly are motorcycle enthusiasts, sharing a similar sense of
adventure and seize the day approach to life. When time
allows, they like to ride together to visit new places and
meet new people on short day trips on the bikes.
Molly had been asking for a motorcycle since she was
about 12 years old, says Laurie. I initially said, after you
get your drivers license, to which she saved up all of her tip
money for a long time (from working at Mollys Irish Pub)
to purchase a dirt bike. In October 2013, while Laurie
was deployed to Afghanistan, Molly pitched her mother by
phone on the idea of a cross-country motorcycle ride when
Laurie returned.
It was something we spoke of for a while after that,
says Laurie. We had to find the right time.
Molly had been looking at bikes for a year and a half
before she propositioned her mother; she was clearly
determined to make it happen. After much discussion, the
self-described risk manager and safety conscious business
owner and her daughter explored, planned and examined

Custom built cabins at Boulder Crest allow combat veterans

to reconnect with their families and themselves in comfort
and tranquility.

this notion for a cross-country adventure. Once the

timing seemed right, they began putting the pieces in
place.
After 29 years of active military service, Laurie retired
from duty last October. Molly graduated from Arizona
State University last May. The recently retired military
veteran and her daughter decided to embark upon this
challenging and rewarding cross-country motorcycle
journey together, which will begin Memorial Day, 2015.
We are looking forward to our time together as
mother and daughter, but we also want this journey to be
about others, says Laurie.

Giving, and Giving Some More

Philanthropy and charitable giving has become as

much a part of Mollys Irish Pub as its renowned beer
battered onion rings. The business has raised more than
$500,000 for numerous charitable organizations and
families in need over the last thirteen years. Most wellknown, is its annual 5K race held in March, Wearing of
the Green, and involvement with the local charity golf
tournament, Philapalooza, coming this July, which raised
$22,500 in 2014 to provide music scholarships to local
children.
In recent years, Laurie has dedicated the Wearing of
the Green 5K to veteran-supporting organizations, in
light of the thousands of injured service men and women
returning home in great need of our support, she says.
We want to support these war heroes as much as we
can, says Laurie. We recognize that since 2001, more
than 118,000 veterans have suffered from post-traumatic
stress disorder, and more than 52,000 have been wounded

Left: Molly and Laurie stand with Boulder Crest Executive Director,
Jennifer Marino, outside the activity lodge. Right: The interior of one of
the well-appointed cabins suitable for men and women of all abilities.

in action. These men and women and

their families need deserve our
help.
During her military career, Laurie
served as an Intelligence Operations
Specialist and then Combat Systems
Officer on the EC130J, serving
the Air Force Special Operations
Command. She volunteered in a
military hospital in Baghdad, and has
seen much warfare and the effects of
war on soldiers, both physically and
emotionally.
With anything in life, youve
got to believe it in your heart what
youre doing it for, says Laurie of
her philanthropic work. In the
spirit of everything Laurie and Molly
put their minds to, and as the true
humanitarians that they are, they
werent going to experience this
cross-country motorcycle adventure
for the sole purpose of enjoyment and
recreation. If they were going to do it,
it was going to be for others. I want
to give back to my military brothers
and sisters, she says.

Biking for Wellness

For these reasons, the motherdaughter cross-country motorcycle

journey will serve to bring awareness
and attention to the Boulder Crest
Retreat for Military and Veteran
Wellness, www.bouldercrestretreat.
org, in Bluemont, Virginia. Their
motorcycle ride has turned into a

fundraiser for Boulder

Crest, and has been named
The Long Ride Home.
Laurie explains that,
metaphorically, this name
reflects the long and often
painful journeys our veterans face from
deployment, reintegration, physical
and mental therapies and difficulty
readapting to civilian life.
Boulder Crest is a retreat and
wellness center, hosting four logcabin styled homes, an activity lodge,
water sports, outdoor amenities for
recreation and therapy, a sanctuary
garden and 37 acres of rolling Virginia
hills and forestry to be explored.
The mother-daughter team is
accepting upfront in-kind donations
to support their trip, such as gas
cards, food cards, camping supplies,
batteries and rain suits visit www.
thelongridehome.org/wish-list-anddonations for a complete list but
one hundred percent of monetary
donations in support of this cause go
to Boulder Crest Retreat for Military
and Veteran Wellness.
And in true fashion, Laurie and
Molly have set some astonishing goals.
They are rallying the community and
regions as far and wide as will hear
their call, to help them raise $292,000.
This will cover the costs required for
Boulder Crest to operate four cabin
facilities for military and veteran
families every day for a year ($125 a
day for 365 days). Boulder Crest is a
non-profit organization that survives
on donations. Recreational therapy
adds approximately $75/day to Boulder
Crests expenses.

Laurie and Molly tell us that

they have also set a goal of riding
10,000 miles over four months to
raise awareness for our beloved
veterans. They are working with a
public relations specialist who will help
them get the word out to a national
audience. But, they recognize most
of their support will come from their
home of Fauquier. We are a most
generous community, people just need
to know.
After twenty months of planning,
Laurie and Molly will fly to Tempe,
Arizona, where Laurie was raised
and where their family still resides.
The week prior, they will ship their
matching 865cc parallel twin-engine,
68 horsepower Triumph Bonneville
bikes to Tempe, along with their gear
and supplies much of which has been
donated and continues to come in
from the Warrenton community. They
are preparing for their journey to begin
on May 25th, Memorial Day.
Their route takes them to
Bellingham, Washington, across to
Anchorage, Alaska by ferry, and by
bike up to Yukon, Canada. They
will then head south to Yellowstone
National Park, and east to Michigan,
Quebec, Boston and down the East
Coast right into Warrenton by way
of Main Street. After visiting fifteen
national parks, multiple military and
public safety memorials, numerous
Veterans centers and hospitals
including Walter Reed Memorial,
they plan to arrive in Warrenton on
September 30, four months after their
adventure began.

Left: The music room at the Activities Lodge. Right: Guestroom

Heart of Community

As Laurie and Molly finalize

the packing and details of their
trip over the next six months, they
encourage the community to know
how it can help. Donations may be
made directly through the Long Ride
Home Website (cited previously) and
Facebook page (www.facebook.com/
thelongridehome), and donors will
immediately receive a tax exempt
receipt from Boulder Crest. Checks
may be made out and sent directly
to Boulder Crest (mention The Long
Ride Home in the memo).
In-kind gifts are accepted and are
making a big difference thus far in the
mother-daughter teams preparations.
Wolfman Motorcycle Luggage donated
duffel bags, saddle bags and tank
bags, Happy-Trail contributed the
motorcycle side racks and SiteWhirks
designed The Long Ride Home
Website at no cost. Pledges may also
be made by the mile; as Tippys Taco
House recently pledged .05 cents per
mile of motorcycle travel to Boulder
Crest.
Molly says, By liking our
Facebook page you can help us build
awareness locally and show support
as we try to grow this awareness to a
larger scale.
Plans for a welcome home
celebration on Main Street is in the
works to be held on September 30,
when the duo completes their crosscountry ride.
Laurie adds, What amazes me
as an adult reflecting back on my life,
was the constant and continuous
giving of my parents. They define
volunteerism. Even with our small
income they always were donating

every spare penny to others in need.

They taught me that if you have the
capacity to help others, that it is your
responsibility to do so. That is as
much of my DNA as their Irish blue
eyes and Cherokee thick, dark hair.

Healing Begins Here

Boulder Crest is the first privately

funded facility of its kind a military
and veteran wellness retreat in the
country, and its here in Virginia, says
Ken Falke, founder and chairman, and
21-year combat veteran of the U.S.
Navy and retired Master Chief Petty
Officer.
The retreat center offers nonclinical therapies such as art, music,
hiking, culinary, equine, yoga,
canoeing, knitting, song writing
and archery. Special programs such
as those for caregivers, outdoor
recreation for children of the fallen,
communication for couples and multiday retreat options are also offered.
The retreat accommodates families
as well as individuals, and strives to
provide an atmosphere where healing
and peace can begin. A typical stay
is a week, although day or weekend
events are sometimes offered. We use
the acronym R&R here frequently,
but we have coined the term to mean
rest and reconnection, says Mr.
Falke.
Many of the staff and volunteers at
Boulder Crest have served in the US
military as well. Executive director,
Jennifer Marino, United States Naval
Academy graduate, retired Marine
Second Lieutenant, and CH-46E
helicopter pilot, deployed twice in
support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Of the retreat, she says, We want to
offer our guests a high-impact special

experience when they come to Boulder

Crest, but we also want to send
them home with new tools they can
integrate into the lives.
She adds, Our hope is that we
can become a model that others can
replicate in other parts of the country
because the need is obviously greater
than we can serve.
Mr. Falke agrees. What weve
built here is beautiful. Weve been
working hard for several years now,
and we have an evidence based
program that has measurable benefit.
Weve built curriculum around it to
help participants and therapists alike
that can be shared with like-minded
people. Wed like to see our program
scaled out to another ten locations
around the country. Other people
can model this, and wed like them to.
People call us daily to come and see
what weve done here.
Thirteen years of combat
(since 9/11) has put people in some
situations, says Mr. Falke.
He and Laurie met through a
mutual friend in recent years. The
first time I saw Boulder Crest, says
Laurie, I knew this was where the 5K
funds (and subsequent fundraisers)
should go.
Molly adds, There is only so
much you can learn about the world
and about others by going to school.
While she supports education in an
academic setting, she says her mom
taught her to see the world around
her as her classroom, with infinite
possibilities.
We are excited about our crosscountry journey. We will be thinking
of military and veterans every mile
we ride. And we hope that you will
be too.