July 19, 2001

'Dr. Al' does it again: Retreat for Richmond County

Through A Glass Darkly, by John Myers, Internet Photojournalist

I first met Dr. Al Haltiwanger back in 1989 when I was editor of The Montgomery Herald, a weekly newspaper in Troy, NC. The Rockingham, NC, dentist called up the newspaper looking for some news coverage of an idea of his, and after talking to him a bit, I decided to write his story myself.

Dr. Al Haltiwanger

Dr. Al, as he is known by all his friends (a mouthful of a last name like Haltiwanger sort of encourages you to call him something shorter) has an upbeat sort of personality. To know him is to like him and while I am sure there may be somebody somewhere who doesn't like Dr. Al, I have yet to meet such a person.

That day in Troy some dozen years ago I found myself liking him instantly as he told me his story. He wanted to build a retreat for health-care professionals and other groups for team and character building. He already had a spot picked out high on a hill overlooking Lake Tillery where the Uwharrie River flows into the Pee Dee River.

But it was the why and the how that Dr. Al's vision of a retreat was formed that made the real story. The vision came at one of the lowest points of his life, as he tried to cope with the loss of a daughter. I have a daughter - and a son, too - and I can't even imagine what it would feel like to prematurely lose your own child.

Dr. Al told me he didn't want me to retell that story again, and God knows having lived through it one time, I'm sure he would rather never be reminded of those dark days again. But out of that tragic death came Dr. Al's idea to build a retreat in her memory.

The lake and lodge on the L.A. Corning property in Richmond County, NC, proposed retreat site.

In 1990, after some six years of labor by Dr. Al and many others, the Beth Haltiwanger Conference and Retreat Center opened its doors, high on that hill overlooking Tillery. You can sit on the back deck today and watch Bald Eagles come skimming down the river looking for supper. And many thousands have already benefited from the programs there, including many groups from Richmond County.

Pfeiffer University has taken over administration of that center, so now he has decided to take all the lessons learned from building the retreat center on Tillery and bring it to back home.

Dr. Al has already found a spot for the Richmond retreat, the former L.A. Corning hunting lodge property between Rockingham and Hamlet.

The property has a 2-story lodge and an additional log home which Dr. Al has already had inspected, determined termite free and ready for use. The 5-acre lake already has six canoes and two resident Mallard ducks waiting for someone to come feed them.

Two Mallard ducks on the 5-arce lake at the L.A. Corning property in Richmond County, NC.

And Dr. Al has already assembled a dozen like-minded men and women from the area to assist him in bringing this new dream to reality. The working group's membership list reads like a Who's Who in Richmond County, with captains of industry, healthcare, education, finance and other fields. Even more important, most of the members have already gained experience working with the programs at the original retreat center founded by Haltiwanger.

Dr. Al also has a gentlemen's agreement with the hunting lodge property's current owner, local land developer Claude Smith, to buy the property. Application is pending for a nonprofit group charter, to be followed soon by applications for state and federal tax-exempt status. The group's by-laws are already as much as written.

Soon the paperwork will be done and the real work will begin, seeking the money from individuals, businesses, private and public grants and any other source available to make the dream a reality.

Dr. Al has done all this before and proven the concept of a retreat center can benefit virtually any group, public or private. Now he's doing it again for his home county. I'm sure you'll be hearing more about this effort as it gathers steam heading toward what the group hopes to be the grand opening in the spring of 2002.

Let's all join in and help Dr. Al and his friends do it again, this time for the home team.