The Winshape Retreat Center in Mount Berry, Georgia, was created by S. Truett Cathy, the founder of the restaurant chain, Chick-fil-A. Cathy shared the secrets of his success in his books, which are used at the Retreat Center still run by the Cathy family and the Winshape Foundation.
The Winshape Retreat Center is housed in the former dairy barns on the campus of Mount Berry College. When the dairy ceased operations, the college donated the barns to the Winshape Foundation who renovated the property to accommodate its new purpose while maintaining the Normandy-style architecture of the French Countryside.
Weekends at the Winshape Center are reserved for marriage retreats, but weekdays bring team building and corporate groups to the property. The leadership programs at the retreat center combine classroom content with experiences so groups can take what they’ve learned about teamwork and leadership during the morning sessions and put it into practice that afternoon.
One of the leadership programs,“Dive Deep,” helps leadership teams to develop management strategies, mission statements and a plan of action for their organization. Other programs offered at Winshape include marriage retreats, camps and programs for worship teams and youth groups.
Some experiences are built into the workshop schedule, but if one you have your eye on is missing, other experiences can be added or are available to all guests. Some of the activities include a pottery throwing class, s’mores around the fire bowl, yoga or historical tours of the campus. Activities open to all guests include fishing at the campus lake or riding along the more than 90 miles of mountain trails that wind through the campus wildlife preserve.
For more information go to www.winshape.org/Retreat/2.0.
