Local nonprofit takes young people on ‘trip of a lifetime’
Photo courtesy of Steve Davis.
Steve Davis, founder of the On River Time nonprofit, has been fly fishing for over 20 years. He believes the nonprofit has an opportunity to make a difference, one kid at a time.
Steve Davis founded the nonprofit On River Time nine years ago with a mission to serve children who are survivors of abuse and neglect.
Davis himself is also a survivor and kept that a secret until he was 38 years old.
“As a survivor of abuse, I am familiar with the hidden feelings of shame, guilt and fear and how those three shaped my life as a child, and then as an adult,” Davis said. “Understanding it was not my fault does not come easily or all at once. It’s a process of forgiveness and self-reflection that can only happen in silence.”
Davis had been fly fishing in Montana for over 20 years, and on one of those trips, he discovered the Lodge at Palisades Creek in Idaho. He began taking clients on CEO trips for his job as senior vice president and director of construction risk services for McGriff, Seibels & Williams.
After he founded On River Time, which has an office in Meadow Brook, Davis decided to take residents from four children’s homes the organization supports there for a trip of a lifetime. The nonprofit partners with Big Oak Ranch (with locations in Springville and Gadsden); Palmer Home for Children (Columbus, Mississippi); Homes of Hope for Children (near Hattiesburg, Mississippi) and Still Creek Ranch (Bryan, Texas).
“I went to Big Oak Ranch and told them my personal story and gave them a copy of my book,” Davis said. “The first year I took three boys, and Brodie and John Croyle came with two kids from Big Oak Ranch.”
Residence directors select children for the trip, an experience that is designed to pivot their lives away from the abuse and neglect they suffered in the past and toward a future built on hope, big dreams, and a sense of value and self-worth.
Photos courtesy of On River Time.
A boat with members of On River Time group fish along the Snake River in Idaho.
This year’s two groups, with kids ages 12-18, will be going May 28-June 8. Two groups go the first week, and the other two go the second week.
Wendy Garner joined On River Time as the executive director in June 2019. Within six days, she was on a plane to Idaho to experience her first camp. She will be making her second trip this summer, as last year’s trip was canceled due to COVID-19.
“We take them on this once-in-a-lifetime, all-expense paid trip to Idaho and Jackson Hole where they learn how to fly fish on the Snake River and hike through the Grand Tetons,” she said. “I’m looking forward to meeting this year’s kids and because I know now the relationships that developed from my first group, some of which I keep in touch with on a regular basis. Meeting these new kids and seeing a transformation in them. It’s really incredible to see them transform before your eyes.”
This summer’s trip will mark over 150 kids who have made the trip. Davis said he keeps the numbers low for the ratio of chaperones to kids.
“The whole point is to give kids some moments,” Davis said. “I wanted to give something back to these kids going through the same thing I went through and give them a chance to know it’s not their fault and they are loved and valued.”
Garner said this trip serves as a reward to encourage their kids to stay on the right track and exhibit good behavior.
The groups fly fish for two days and drift about 15 miles each day. Davis said that fly fishing is a lot like life.
“You make a cast every day. Sometimes it’s a small bite, sometimes a large bite, sometimes nothing,” he said.
In addition to fly fishing, the group spends a day in Grand Teton National Park, takes part in their science school and also goes ziplining.
“The kind and knowledgeable guides from Teton Science School provide our campers with an engaging and memorable tour where campers are having so much fun, they don’t realize they’re learning,” Davis said. “We see bison, moose and elk roaming freely through the national park and learn all about the beautiful landscape.”
Davis said there are several important rituals that take place during the retreat. First, the kids write down their fears and put them in an envelope. Those who want to talk about them do, others keep to themselves. Then everyone throws their fears into the fire.
Another is a pinning ceremony during which everyone picks someone who made a difference in their life that week and gives them a pin. Davis said he took the idea from an Outward Bound trip he did 25 years ago.
Garner said the whole purpose of the trip is to create a dramatic pivot in each child’s life. They also have nightly devotionals and small group time.
Photos courtesy of On River Time.
Members of the Big Oak Ranch and Palmer Home for Children at the Grand Tetons on the annual trip provided by On River Time, a local nonprofit that helps those who have been abused and neglected through the experience of fly fishing, mentorship and scholarships.
On River Time has expanded its programming and works year-round with the with college-age kids who come from these homes to help provide them with life skills, including job interview skills, business ethics and etiquette.
They will host Big Oak Ranch and Steel Creek Ranch for a retreat in July at Pursell Farms in Sylacauga, where they will focus on those life skills and also get to clay shoot and fly fish.
It’s a huge pivotal moment in their lives where they are going from a dependent child to an independent adult.
-Wendy Garner
“It’s a huge pivotal moment in their lives where they are going from a dependent child to an independent adult,” Garner said. “We are coming alongside them and helping to pack their toolkit skills they need for success in future.”
