Just over a year ago, in January, 2009, The Scene visited Warren and Tracy Douglas’s refuge, Pandama Retreat, on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway and chatted with them about their vision and plans for the 17-acre refuge they were just about to open to the public.
Today that trite phrase “I love what you’ve done with the place” applies. Warren and Tracy have done all they had planned to do and then some. They have built cabins for overnight stays, opened up an area as a campground, dredged the creek for swimming among other things.
Pandama Retreat also offers day workshops on Arts & Healing: Connecting creativity and the soul; Surface Design, which teaches among other things how to use dyes as paint, how to create stencils, how to use colour effectively; and soap making.
Tracy is an artist and has her own clothing line, Artwear by Antoinette, which offers “wearable art” in the form of batik, tie-dye and hand-painted, tops, dresses, t-shirts, scarves and hoodies. Her designs have been on display at several local exhibitions including GuyExpo and the Main Big Lime.
Warren, meanwhile, has made good on his vow to start making his own wines on a large scale. Pandama Bush Wines, available in a variety of fruit flavours, hit the market just before Christmas last year and are available at a number of stores including GW Enterprises Healthy Choices and at the Pegasus Hotel.
Meanwhile, at Pandama Retreat, Warren also hosts quarterly Men’s Gatherings, while Tracy does the same with her Wise Women’s Gatherings and Let’s Talk Menopause sessions. In addition, there is a monthly Sunday Brunch and Wine Tasting at Pandama.
Tracy, who is also a Reiki Master and Ordained Minister, still finds the time to offer counselling services and she and Warren can be contacted through the retreat’s website www.pandamaretreat.com or on telephone numbers 654-1865 or 627-7063.