Local “cowboys” head out on mission to Colorado dude ranch

The men traveling from Winter Garden, Oakland, Windermere and Ocoee to Colorado earlier this month were met with snow flurries and temperatures in the teens. But these Florida “cowboys” pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, grabbed their tool belts and did whatever needed to be done at the Wind River Ranch dude ranch. To them, this chilly weather was minor compared to the elements in which some of the ranch’s summer guests have made a living as veterans and first responders.

Winter Garden resident Joel Johnson has led a group of volunteers for the last 11 years to the peaceful get-away spot in Tahosa Valley, near Estes Park, Colorado.

This Christian guest ranch resort serves as a vacation destination for hundreds of families and groups for 14 weeks each summer — but, more importantly, it also serves as a place of healing for the men and women serving their communities and their country, for missionaries worldwide, and for women who have been rescued from human trafficking situations.

They and their families are invited for a week of healing and, as Johnson calls it, “a little touch of this side of heaven.”

WEEKLONG RANCH HANDS

To prepare the ranch for its opening for Healing Warriors Week, the volunteers spruce up and make repairs to the entire property inside and outside.

“We’re mending fences, we’re cleaning saddles, we’re repairing cabins, whether it be piping grounds, landscaping, maintenance on roofs, clearing trees that have fallen,” Johnson said. “There’s something to do every year.”

Felix Gonzalez, of Oakland, was on saddle duty, and he and about five others oiled more than 120 saddles and saddle bags in one day. Other volunteers were assigned the task of fixing electric bikes or replacing posts.

“Some have some real skill sets,” Johnson said. “And then there’s people like me who say, ‘What do you want me to push, shove or move?’”

This year, Johnson took 37 men on the weeklong mission; about a quarter of them are veterans, and many still are serving in police and fire capacities. He has had as many as 52 accompany him for the week, and some return to volunteer for another week with their families, and others go back for their family vacation.

Johnson’s family is returning in August to serve a unit that was bombed in Afghanistan.

“We’re just going to love on them and serve them,” he said. “There’s a lot of healing still going on.”

The ranch has had an impact on Johnson’s entire family. His daughter has served two full summers, his son worked there for six weeks, his wife has served several times, and he goes out there three or four times a year.

LIFE-CHANGING TRIP

Johnson was introduced to Wind River Ranch 13 years ago when his family was attending a K-Life event and bid on a trip to the ranch in a silent auction. They won the bid — and an opportunity that would change their lives. They have been there multiple times each year since, and Johnson went back with seven local volunteers 11 years ago after feeling the urge to give back to this ranch.

This was Gonzalez’s first year volunteering after being asked by his best friend, Windermere resident John Fitzgibbon, who lost his son two years ago. First lt. Evan Fitzgibbon, 23, was killed in 2022 during a U.S. Army Ranger School weather-induced training exercise in Georgia. He was a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and commissioned in May 2021.

Fitzgibbon and his son had served as volunteers at Wind River Ranch. John and Cindy Fitzgibbon created the Gold Star Program at the ranch, and families who have lost a child in the military receive a grant to spend a week at the ranch. Three families will attend this year during Healing Warriors Week.

This year and in past years, West Orange County “wranglers,” plus a few from Lake and Seminole counties, have included Johnson, Gonzalez, Fitzgibbon, Dave Ogden, Andy Jones, Tim Young, Kyle Johnson, Aaron Smith, Luis Salazar, Frankie Liz, Jack Garrity, Dan Ford, Mike Henkelman, Kevin Joyce, Shawn Carrol, Kenny Love, Jeff Stellinga, Jesse Stanley, Jadon Stanley, Rob Phillips, Robby Phillips, Bill Wagner and David Hill.

Men also travel from other states around the country to volunteer.

“We really had fun through,” Johnson said of this month’s trip. “It’s a great camaraderie of men, just stacking hands together with the ranch, getting it ready for people in need.”

“It was very honoring to be with this group of guys and see what Wind River is doing for first responders and veterans at the ranch,” Gonzalez said.

The volunteer work is something Johnson looks forward to each year.

“This has turned into a mission week itself even though that’s not how it started out,” he said. “Grown men serving something greater than themselves. Friends and strangers … become lifelong pals who remain in touch the rest of the year.”

Each night, Johnson asks a different person to share a story in their life, whether it be about loss, grief or any personal issue.

“It’s a camaraderie,” he said. “I keep returning because … it’s joyful in itself. You give, but you get in return. And we keep returning.”

After his first year, Gonzalez already is eager to return.

“For me, it was a way to honor Evan and a way to honor John, my best friend,” he said. “What I found is that for men, who share each night, it’s to understand that we all go through something, we’re all in it and you get support from the men at the ranch.

“I want to give back to those who have given and paid the ultimate sacrifice for our community and our country,” Gonzalez said. “That’s the least I can do.”