Dinner with Presentation on the Recent Student Pilgrimage to Spain
On Thursday, June 8, St. Mary's in the Mountains Episcopal Church in Wilmington will be hosting a dinner and presentation by Twin Valley High School students who walked the legendary pilgrimage route, the Camino de Santiago. Every other year since 2009, Athletic Director Buddy Hayford and a Spanish teacher have led a group of students along the most famous of the great medieval pilgrimage routes of Europe. For over a thousand years, the Camino has drawn pilgrims who walk distances of 100 (the minimum required to earn the official certificate, the Credential) to 1000 or more kilometers on foot to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. The total number of pilgrims in recent years has reached 350,000 annually. In April, this year's student pilgrims accompanied by Hayford and Emily Beeman, their Spanish teacher, spent 6 days with Spanish host families and then 5 days traveling without complaint the 100 kilometers on foot to Santiago.
St. Mary's is one of the sponsoring churches of the Deerfield Valley Pilgrimage Walk on September 16, 17, a local annual 25 mile pilgrimage which was inspired in part by the Camino.
The dinner on June 8 will run 6-7pm and the presentation will start at 7 and is open to the public, free of charge. As a bonus, a group of high school students from the Spanish host families will also be in attendance. St. Mary's is at 13 East Main Street, Wilmington with parking behind the building.
For more information, contact Dick Ward 802 464-8480 or Lincoln Rathnam 781 715-5968 or email vtpilgrim@gmail.com