By David Slone
Times-Union
WARSAW — As Magical Meadows celebrated its new Warriors Arena Monday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, the organization also unveiled its next expansion and kicked off the Second Annual Rockathon Fundraising Showdown: Rocking for Heroes.
The Warriors Arena is a dedicated facility created to serve veterans and first responders through The Magical Meadows’ Warriors Mount Up program. The new arena provides space for riding, horsemanship, fellowship and other equine-assisted activities in an environment specifically created for the veteran and first responder community, according to a news release.
Magical Meadows Board Chairman Carl Adams said, “There’s a moment in life where you stand in a place and realize you’re not just looking at a building. You’re looking at a dream. You’re looking at something that once existed only in somebody’s heart, then on a piece of paper, then in conversation, then through obstacles and questions, and even doubts. And finally, finally it stands in front of you. Today, folks, we are standing in one of those moments.”
Twenty years ago, he said Magical Meadows Founder Tammy Stackhouse sketched out a dream. She didn’t have everything figured out or every building standing, all the funding in the bank or know every person who would join her.
“But the one thing she had was a vision. And in many ways, it was her own — we’ve seen the movie — ‘Field of Dreams’ moment. If you build it, they will come. And come they did. They came one rider at a time. They came as children and adults who needed a place where somebody saw their ability instead of their disability. They came as families who needed hope. They came as volunteers who wanted to make a difference. They came as donors who believed what was happening here was worth investing in. They came as staff members, board members, board members and supporters. And today, today they come as veterans and first responders — men and women who have spent so much of their lives running towards situations, the rest of us would run away from. And now we have built a place for them. You’re looking at the Warrior Arena,” Adams said.
He said they weren’t simply dedicating a building on Monday, but a place of hope, healing and a place where warriors can discover that asking for help does not make you weak.
Inspired By A Veteran
Stackhouse shared how Magical Meadows’ Warrior Arena became a vision and thought, beginning with her cousin, Jeff, who served during Desert Storm.
“During Desert Storm, he went off to be in the Army to serve our country, and I heard the stories of the time that he was out there in the middle of a tank, trying to work on it and fix it as bombs were going off or they were being shot at and all of those things. And that really weighed heavy on my heart for all those years, because as he came back, I watched him become a little less outgoing, a little more cautious, a little more reserved, but he’s still my cousin,” Stackhouse said.
That stirred her heart and she never forgot it. In 2019, Magical Meadows added the Warriors Mount Up program.
“And as we soon found out, our need to separate the space between our children and adults with disabilities and our veterans was something that would be necessary. Once those heroes had sacrificed so much, and it was time for us to help with their well-being, we wanted to make sure that that time was not interrupted. So as we adjusted, we had the Warriors Mount Up program on Mondays from 8 to 5. Well, as you might know, PTSD doesn’t just happen on Monday during those hours, and so it was very difficult to make sure that we were still providing that kind of service to those men and women who actually stepped out of their comfort zone and said, ‘What do you have to offer?’ So we knew that something had to change,” Stackhouse recalled.
Fast forward to 2021 and she couldn’t stop thinking they needed to do more for veterans and first responders, especially after everything that happened during the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2024, Magical Meadows brought Michael Kuhn on board as the executive director, and he was given the challenge of making Stackhouse’s vision of a Warrior Arena come to reality.
“But today is about our veterans and our first responders, and what we are going to continue to do for them,” Stackhouse said. “What we have challenged ourselves that we plan to, forever, be here, to be that place, to give them those opportunities, to let them know that it’s OK not to be stoic. It’s Ok to have those moments. It’s OK that you need to get away and find a place, and this is your place. We want you to be here. We want you to know that we’re not here to bug you. We’re not going to be in your space all the time. We want you to know that this is for you.”
After thanking the veterans and first responders for all that they do, Stackhouse said, “I want to make sure that we can honor those who we were not able to help – Jake and Mike and Hunter – who, already, this year in 2026 felt hopeless, felt that they didn’t have what they needed to go on. And we don’t want that to happen to anybody else. We don’t want their families to have to be without their loved ones, and so we want to say thank you to them for sadly reassuring us that what we’re doing is something we need to do.”
Sheriff’s Comments
Sheriff Jim Smith said, “As I said so many times before, as the sheriff, the mental well-being and overall health of my staff weighs heavily on my mind. So what does this do for me?” he said. “Well, anyone that has heard me speak about this topic knows that I reiterate that it’s OK not to be OK and that’s a message to any first responder, any veteran or anybody at all so I’ll tell you that it gives me peace of mind. It gives me peace of mind as a sheriff to know that when those tough times come for our first responders, because make no mistake, in the world that we live in and in the line of work that we’re in, those times will come, but now there’s another resource available for our first responders in Kosciusko County to come and help address those issues on their own should they so choose.”
From his position, he said that knowing there is a resource, a safe place, for his staff to come and reflect on those moments in those tough times on their own time and at their own speed, he will be able to sleep better at night.
Being a veteran, he said the project is extra special for him.
“There are very few things that happen in this world that irritate me more than our veterans not being taken care of. The very people that fought and serve to help provide the freedom and all the great things that you and I enjoy day in and day out now have an opportunity in Kosciusko County to also have that safe space for when those times may hit them,” Smith said. “The best part about any of this is they don’t have to explain to anyone what is going on, unless they want to, at which point I strongly encourage them to do so, but certainly is not mandatory.”
As sheriff, Smith said he could not be more proud of the Warrior Arena and what it means to first responders and veterans in the community.
Adams Center
Kuhn announced the vision for The Adams Center for Well-Being and Belonging.
“Phase I of Growing with Heart expanded what we can do with horses and nature. Phase II gives us an opportunity to take everything we have learned over the last 20 years and expand our impact beyond the horse. We want to create a campus where people of all abilities and their families can find recreation, therapy, relationships, community and, most importantly, a place where they know they belong.”
With the equine programming moving into the new arena, The Magical Meadows now has an opportunity to repurpose its original indoor arena and central building. The proposed estimated $1.9 million Adams Center would include a multi-use gymnasium and recreation center; space for adaptive recreation, exercise, camps, group activities and community programming; renovated private therapy and treatment rooms; opportunities for outside providers to offer services; inclusive spaces where individuals with and without disabilities can participate together; and new opportunities for siblings and families to play, connect and participate alongside one another.
Kuhn said the announcement wasn’t for a construction start date, and Magical Meadows isn’t doing a full launch yet. It was just sharing the vision and they are doing their homework on it now.
