Lloydminster full of exuberance

Yellow hats unite a disparate group

By RENATO GANDIA
WCR Staff Writer
Lloydminster

They guffawed, shared jokes, recalled joyous experiences and savoured profound moments of their preparations for the journey to Toronto.

The group of 40 people comes from different age groups and different backgrounds; others are mother-daughter teams, or brothers and sisters. They will wear yellow hats while in Toronto, to give them identity amidst the throng of WYD participants.

Although the group started with only a few people, they are one of the largest groups in the archdiocese.

That’s due to the full support of parishioners and the schools, Laura Anhorn told the WCR.

"I really felt the support of our parish in this journey. To know that there are so many wonderful people in the school as well, who support us every step of the way, was really great," said the 34-year-old teacher who coordinated the group.

This is the first time Anhorn become deeply involved in the parish and she felt the "prayers helped building up (their) group together as a team."

Preparations were taxing but were worth it, said Anhorn. They have met regularly since fall 2001, devoured pages of the Salt and Light book, shared their thoughts and reflections, prayed, celebrated the visit of WYD Pilgrim Cross and recently went away for a weekend retreat.

During the weekend retreat, they tried to have a foretaste of being on a pilgrimage. They prepared simple meals, slept in simple quarters and left the comfort of home and family.

"We tried to create a little bit of what the scene is going to be like in Toronto. We tried to have a foretaste of some of the things we project to experience."

"The day the cross came to Lloydminster, I was unbelievably excited." - Mark Feeney

Mark Feeney, 22, hopes when they come back they remain together as a group. Although he knows some will go to university or find jobs elsewhere, Feeney prays they bring something back to Lloydminster that they "can hold on to until the next generation comes by."

For him, the WYD is a personal journey. In the two years since he learned the event would be in Toronto, it has been all he could think about.

"This is something that I knew I wanted to do, something I knew I wanted to be a part of."

He first heard about WYD in 1993 when he was 13. He could have gone but he was very young.

"My priorities at that time in my life were what’s on TV and what’s for dinner. But had I attended, I would have gotten nothing out of it."

Then the Pilgrim Cross came to his hometown in November 2001.

"The day the cross came to Lloydminster, I was unbelievably excited. I believe the Holy Spirit was with us during the entire visit of the cross," said this teenager who created a WYD Vocation poster that will be displayed in Toronto.

It was the visit of the Pilgrim Cross that got Joan Bakos, 44, interested in WYD. She will attend with her daughter, Jen, 17.

While watching TV coverage of the Pilgrim Cross visit’s in Lloydminster, Joan saw herself with her mother and her daughter venerating the cross together.

"I saw from that footage three generations, all living for the same goal -- all reaching for the same goal: to be with Jesus," Joan said.

Chris Doraty, 47, can still get emotional when she remembers the cross coming to Lloydminster.

In between tears, she told the WCR how she was moved by its visit. Seeing hundreds of young people carrying the cross on the streets and proud that they were doing so was no ordinary event for her.

When she goes to Toronto with her daughter Kailey, 16, she expects to see something she has never seen. "I think the event will be an inspiration, an eye-opener and will increase our faith to help us continue the journey."

One thing Christopher Rehman, 18, hopes to experience and see is solidarity among the pilgrims. "I hope we can show the world that in spite of everything that is happening, we believe in Christ and we’re still going to work to try and improve the world."

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