Rousing STAR, Petr testimonials of success
“I believe in STAR because of the impact that I’ve seen on my fellow veterans over these 15 years that I’ve been here,” said O’Brien, a STAR volunteer, during a video shown to hundreds attending the 20th Annual Bridles & Blue Jeans STAR fundraiser Saturday evening, April 12, at the academy, located between Farragut and Lenoir City. “The transformation that I’ve witnessed is near miraculous. Three of the riders that I know personally were suicidal the day they walked in the door.” They are no longer suicidal.
“God put something in a horse that allows the animal to relate to human beings and likewise humans to horses.”
A majority of STAR participants have physical and/or mental disabilities. “It has given him something of his very own; it’s not the rest of the family; it’s not his three brothers,” one mother of a STAR participant said in the video. “It’s his time and he loves it.”
“That’s something she could be proud of because of her friends who play softball or basketball,” another parent said about her daughter’s positive therapy. “Not very many of them were riding horses.”
Honoring Petr
About STAR founder and recently retired executive director Lynn Petr, “What began originally as her college thesis (in the mid-to-latter 1980s) has grown into a state-of-the-art facility and a place that has helped create a positive impact on thousands of lives over decades,” said Chase Kirby, president of STAR Board of Directors, at the fundraiser. “Today, there are similar organizations throughout the country that offer therapy riding activities. In 1987, when Lynn created STAR, there were none.
“She began by using her own horse in her own backyard,” noted playwright Mary Donnet Johnson said. “You could say Lynn’s first director of development was her father, Fred. He would flip burgers and host backyard events to raise money for STAR cheerfully.”
By 2002 came “another great leap. Lynn took a look at the Classifieds and an ad for 63 acres of pasture land in Loudon County jumped out at her.”
STAR now has 23 full and part-time staff and 443 volunteers alternately contributing seven days a week.
