The Shadow
A group of eleven students from St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, spent their spring break sprucing up parts of Appalachia and experiencing the culture, to include the Alleghany Highlands, other parts of VA, WV, KY, NC, and TN, as part of the Appalachian Experience, the week of March 2-9.
The students arrived Saturday afternoon and spent the afternoon hiking at Douthat State Park before converging on the Loving Life Fellowship Outreach Ministries in Clifton Forge, where they were welcomed and greeted by their local APEX administrators, pastors Carl “Shorty” and Tammy Wolfe, and town representatives. After some introductions, the students enjoyed a meal of pulled pork, barbequed chicken with various sides, music, and a time of fellowship and planning for the days ahead.
A normal day in their APEX service week included traveling from their lodging accommodations, provided by St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Clifton Forge, to the YMCA, Low Moor, where they showered before meeting up with their local APEX administrators for breakfast and assignments at 8:00 am.
Various churches prepared and served them a daily breakfast. After breakfast, they were broken up into small groups to tackle the approximately 30 prearranged projects, to include deep-cleaning church sanctuaries, window washing, power-washing, repairing decks, raking leaves, and painting.
They took lunch breaks from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., prepared and served, daily, by LewisGale-Alleghany Hospital, before reassembling teams for their afternoon assignments. “The hospital is actually letting us in the cafeteria; they haven’t done that in several years, due to the COVID-19 restrictions,” said Don Woodward, local APEX Coordinator. During those years, the hospital prepared and served the meals in to-go boxes, to be picked up and delivered to the students by one of the coordinators.
After tackling the after-lunch projects, the students assembled at one of the churches providing dinner, at 6:00 pm. After dinner, they returned to St. Joseph’s where they shared reflections, talked about the day’s events, and played some games before retiring for the evening.
Twelve students, down from fifteen, last year, and twenty-nine at the height of the program, were scheduled for this trip, however, one tested positive for COVID-19 and had to cancel at the last minute. The group of eleven included two adult facilitators (seniors), Nick Palermo and Mark Less, and one student leader, Sarah Halupa (a junior). “I was here in 2020 and felt so welcomed with open arms,” said Pallermo, who was making his second trip to the Alleghany Highlands. Palermo further explained that “the cost of the trip has increased a lot, making it more difficult for students to raise the needed funds,” regarding the dwindling number of students able to serve in the program this year. “It’s really important that we have conversations and experience a different way of life, other than our busy city lives,” said Halupa who was making her third trip as part of APEX. Her previous service trips took her to WV and TN. “We are really looking forward to doing service this week,” added Halupa.
The Virginian Review sat down with the group as they enjoyed their last supper of the week with a fish dinner, provided by Parrish Court United Methodist Church, Covington. The students and their leaders enjoyed a video of the week’s events, shared stories of their various experiences in the Alleghany Highlands, and ended the evening by singing hymns in the church’s sanctuary.
“We are so happy to be here,” began Halupa. “The kindness and hospitality shown to us has been amazing and we couldn’t have asked for a better week.” She also commented on all of the many stories and great ideas that these groups have taken back to campus over the last 17 years. She thanked the organizers, committee members, and the community for sponsoring and feeding them, “really well.” “I really appreciate you and our community at St. Joe’s appreciates you and we’ll be thinking about you all back in Philadelphia,” added Halupa in conclusion.
“This has been a wonderful week. We look forward to them coming every year and giving their all to the community,” said Patty Davis-Ross, Hospitality Committee. “They seem to enjoy it and it’s wonderful to see young people with such a loving and giving spirit,” added Davis-Ross.
Woodward and Rev. Cornelius Ray are the local APEX Program Coordinators; Davis- Ross and Wanda Davis made up the Hospitality Committee; and Greg Key, Rev. Dave Maddy, Carl “Shorty” Wolfe, Jr., Rodney Brown, and Carl Whithrow were the on-site coordinators
Breakfasts were provided by the following churches: First Baptist, Clifton Forge; Wrightsville Baptist, Wrightsville at Twink’s Diner, Iron Gate; Temple Baptist, Covington; Central Advent Christian, Clifton Forge; Pine Street Baptist, Covington at Twink’s Diner; and Central United Methodist, Clifton Forge.
Dinners were provided by the following: LLFOM; Sonya Billups at Main Street Missionary, Clifton Forge; Concerned Christian, Covington; The Life House, Clifton Forge; First Assembly of God, Clifton Forge; and Parrish Court United Methodist, Covington
Entertainment was provided by: Douthat State Park; YMCA; C & O Heritage Center, Clifton Forge; and a scheduled bonfire by Parrish Court. However, for the 3rd year in a row, the bonfire had to be cancelled, due to rain. The students made the most of the opportunity and packed up the marshmallows and crackers to have as snacks on their six-hour trip back home.
