21st Annual National Gathering of Pilgrims American Pilgrims on the Camino

April 12-15 Vallombrosa, Menlo Park CA

Making Meaning from Memories© Kari Gale

Welcome

Welcome to the 2018 National Gathering of Pilgrims. Every year when we gather for this event, I am struck by the energy in the room and the passion we bring to sharing our Camino experiences. This year’s program focuses especially on finding and creat-ing meaning from those experiences and memories. I hope each of us leaves with an even richer understanding of pilgrimage and the meaning it brings to our lives.

Jeff Stys - Chair American Pilgrims on the Camino

Our Mission StatementOur mission is to foster the enduring tradition of the Camino by supporting its

infrastructure, by gathering pilgrims together, and by providing information and encouragement to past and future pilgrims.

Board of Directors Jeff Stys - Chair Yosmar Martinez - Vice Chair Cindy Day - Treasurer Peg Hall - Secretary Dave Donselar Emilio Escudero Sam Hull Steve Lytch Carmen Marriott Barbara Zang

A big, American Pilgrims thank you goes out to Janene Bray, Kari Gale, Peggy Herrick, and Jennifer Lawson for contributing the artwork for this program. Beautiful as it is, it cannot be copied or used anywhere else, without permission from the artist.

www.americanpilgrims.orgAmerican Pilgrims on the Camino is registered with the Internal Revenue Service

as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.

© Jennifer Lawson

© Jennifer Lawson

4:00 pm & on Arrival/Registration

5:00 pm Guided Walk Front PorticoDave Donselar and Emilio Escudero

7:15 -7:45 pm Opening Session ChapelIntroductions and Gathering Overview

7:45 – 9:00 pm Evening Entertainment ChapelEric Jarmie, Flamenco & Classical GuitaristEric “Luis” has developed a core repertoire of his own music for solo flamenco guitar. Based on the traditional flamenco forms, the music ranges in style from the romantic and Latin-influenced forms such as Mantillas de Feria, Guajiras, and Rumbas to the more profound forms such as Soleá and Siguiriya, and definitely includes a lot of the festive and lively sounds for which flamenco is best known.

9:00 – 9:45 pm Yoga & Meditation East ParlorLaurie FerrisPracticing yoga can release tension in your muscles and joints, improve your range of movement, soothe your back, and give you increased comfort on the Camino and other aspects of your life. Learn how pranayama breathing can enhance your practice, and help liberate your mind in surprising ways. Comfortable clothing and bare feet recommended.

Thursday 12 April

6:00 – 7:00 pm Welcome and Dinner Dining Room & Library

© Kari Gale© Jennifer Lawson

Friday 13 April

6:45 – 8:00 am Meaning in Motion: Guided Walk or Prayer Service with Labyrinth Walk Meet at registration area.

9:00 – 9:45 am Medieval Pilgrims and the Birth of Travel Literature ChapelGeorge Greenia Most medieval travelers left no record of their journeys but literate pilgrims were often inspired by things they read in advance and eventually wrote of their exploits for themselves and others. In the days before moleskin journals and cheap ballpoint pens, precisely how did they journal and why?

10:00 – 10:45 am A Story to Tell: Young Adults & Their Parents Together as Pilgrims ChapelKathleen Jenkins Drawing from more than four years of ethnographic work studying parents who walk routes of the Camino de Santiago with their young adult children (ages 18-28), Kathleen Jenkins illustrates the various ways family stories of walking together take shape and how these narratives impact their relation-ship after they return home.

8:00 – 9:00am Breakfast Dining Room & Library

© Janene Bray

© Jennifer Lawson

Friday 13 April

11:00 – 11:45 am Breakout Sessions (Choose One)Technology on the Camino: What to Take & What to Leave Home ChapelRob Nickerson Have you wondered what technology to take on your next Camino pilgrimage? Or do you feel that using technology on the Camino goes against the Camino spirit? Whether you love or loathe mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, e-readers, or any other mobile technology, this talk has something for you. We will review the many technology options available for the Camino, including no technology, and explain what you need to know so that you can decide what is best for you. We will also look at smartphone apps designed specifically for Camino use.

Inscribing Meaning : Reading & Writing Camino Poetry Stage RoomMegan HavardDuring the first portion of the session, participants will read/listen to several poems on pilgrimage. The facilitator will highlight key rhetorical strategies that may inspire session participants as they transition into the second stage of the session, in which they will write their own free verse poetry (a prompt will be given). Finally, partici-pants will be invited to share their original poems in small groups.

So, You Might Be Willing to Serve on the Board? SerraA discussion with current Board members about their experiences serving. Q and A encouraged.

12:00 – 1:00 pm Lunch Dining Room Hospitalero Lunch Library

1:00 – 1:45 pm What Are We Up To? Chapel Jeff Stys - Board Chair

2:00 – 2:45 pm Breakout Sessions (Choose One)Unpacking Your Pack ChapelCheryl GrasmoenRemember coming home from your first Camino and unpacking your well-worn backpack? Did you look at those clothes and shoes and hope to never see them again? As you put away that backpack, did you reflect on what else needed to be unpacked – the intangible contents? In an interactive session, Cheryl leads an exploration of the process of unpacking the psychological and spiritual aspects (the “intangibles”) of our Camino.

150 Things Not to Bring on the Camino & the 10 Things You Need Stage RoomAmy DonselarThis seminar will focus on lessons learned in preparing for and successfully complet-ing the Camino de Santiago. The discussion will include suggestions for what to pack, what not to pack, answers to the age-old debate on shoe selection, lessons learned based on observations of other pilgrims early on in their journey, and some funny stories of what worked (and what didn’t) along the Way. The session is intended for future pilgrims. Q&A will be encouraged.

Declaration Manifesto Writing Workshop SerraBrian BouldreyDeclarations declare/point out that which already exists. Manifestos make manifest that which has never before been seen. We will look at some examples of both and then we will, in conjuncton with the pilgrimage we have already made or the one that has yet to exist, write a new declaration. Or manifesto. From these works, we will then create a collaborative manifesto that highlights the best of all our previous work. Pen and paper required.

Friday 13 April

© Kari Gale

Friday 13 April

© Janene Bray

3:00 – 3:45 pm Breakout Sessions (Choose One)Making Meaning in Life Transitions ChapelAdam Wells and Lou FlessnerFor many, leaving a career and moving into retirement proves to be a much more difficult transition than expected. To guide and empower those transitioning into a new life stage, old tribes throughout the world offered Rites of Passage. This ‘journey’ reoriented people for their next stage in life. Our interactive workshop is for people beginning to think about retirement and is also a useful model for individuals undertaking a life transition at any age. The workshop provides a vision of how walking the Camino can transform a pilgrim from a vibrant working life into a retirement of renewed purpose, contribution and vigor.

Young Adults and the Camino Stage RoomChris KelleAre young adults under-represented on the Camino? How can we make meaning from our memories by encouraging others to share in our experiences? We will look into some possible reasons that are holding back young adults (~ 25-40 years old) who want to walk the Camino from doing so. How can we as Camino veterans inspire them to take the leap of faith to follow their dreams?

Visual Story Telling: Make a Sketchbook Part of Your Journey SerraJennifer Lawson Sharing examples of her own work, Jennifer will lead a hands-on workshop de-signed to give people the opportunity to draw what they see. Using everyday tools, participants will learn techniques to make a visual journal of their travels.

© Kari Gale

4:00 – 4:45 pm Breakout Sessions (Choose One)Eeyore to Tigger: Making Meaning of Childhood Memories on the Camino ChapelElaine HopkinsElaine relates a personal narrative about the power of the Camino to heal negative memories and regenerate them into a positive storyline. First exposed to the Camino in 2011, events conspired to take her back in 2014 on a Camino of self-love. She made peace with the dyspraxia that under-scored so many of her negative memories. Elaine also reconnected with her childhood memories of Pooh and friends. She morphed from gloomy Eeyore into bouncy Tigger, only discovering the extent of the healing on her return home.

Awakening our Four-Legged Memory: Biomechanics of Hiking Poles Stage RoomMarlena LambertOur bodies respond very differently to hiking mountains compared with flatlands. Marlena will explain how our bodies behave in each condition, and why two hiking poles are anatomically beneficial. Wise use of poles can prevent several common Camino complaints, including shin splints and tendinitis.

Making Meaning: Companioning Through Story SerraJoyce DeToni HillUpon return, the pilgrim often experiences loneliness and a flood of unprocessed memories. The Camino community can provide a gift of deep listening during this overwhelming time by compan-ioning through themed story. This breakout session will model a storytelling and companioning process that could be used in local chapters to support returning pilgrims. To honor our storytell-ers, doors will be closed once the story has begun. Please be on time.

7:00 – 9:00 pm Movie Night I’ll Push You ChapelQ& A with Terry Parish after the film

4:45 – 5:45 pm Pasar un Rato Con Amigos Front Portico of the Mansion Hosted by the Silicon Valley Chapter

6:00 – 7:00 pm Dinner Dining Room Library

© Jennifer Lawson

7:00 – 8:00 am Meaning in Motion: Mass - Father Christopher Iwancio Chapel Guided Walk meet in reception area

9:00 – 9:45 am The Journey of Community for a Pilgrim & Film Producer ChapelTerry ParishIn 2014, Terry walked the Camino Francés while simultaneously directing the documentary, I’ll Push You: A Camino Journey of 500 Miles, Two best Friends and One Wheelchair. The film features his college friend Justin Skeesuck – who was pushed in a wheelchair by his best friend Patrick Gray. In this interactive session, find out what called Terry to the Camino and how he was able to hold both the role of Pilgrim and Producer. Take a look at previously unseen footage, discuss the role of faith and discover how the journey’s challenges – like the broken wheelchairs, steep inclines, small elevators, and behind the scenes events – shaped the final film and friendships on the Camino. Q&A strongly encouraged.

10:00 - 10:45 am Keeping a Visual Journal: Illustrated Memories of the Camino ChapelJennifer LawsonDrawing provides a different way of seeing things and recalling memories. Jennifer - walker, sketcher, and pilgrim will share the experience of sketching her way across the Camino and how she discovered her true artist self along The Way. A pilgrimage is seeking in its purest form. It is a progression toward something more. For each of us, it is our own personal journey. Deciding to put her art to the test she sketched every day—watercolors over ink— quick and loose, to capture gesture, form, light, and color—creating an illustrated journal filled with memories.

11:00 – 11:45 amIndelible Memories: Peregrina Tattoos ChapelAnnie Hesp We have all seen them, some of us have them, some of us want them and a few of us don’t understand at all. Camino tattoos play a fascinating role in the Camino culture. By examining Camino tattoos together with an introduction to theories of bodily inscription, this talk will attempt to peel away the many levels of under-standing regarding these permanent sellos made on bodies. By examining shared themes found in Camino tattoos and body placement, the audience gains a deeper understanding of what motivates pilgrims to use tattoos as a way to memorialize their Camino experience.

8:00 – 9:00 am Breakfast Dining Room & Library

Saturday 14 April

12:00 – 1:00 pm Lunch & International Visitor Presentations Dining Room & Library© Jennifer Lawson

Saturday 14 April

1:00 - 2:00 pm Making Time for Friends As requested on evaluations from past Gatherings, this time is set aside to sit and chat, take a walk, enjoy the grounds, or however else you’d like to make time for new and old Camino friends.

2:00 – 2:45 pm Breakout Sessions (Choose One)Pilgrim First Aid ChapelDaniel DeKayIn this perennial favorite presentation, Daniel discusses and demonstrates the recognition and treatment of the most common pilgrim ailments. This session is useful for pilgrims, backpackers, and travelers in general.

12 Steps on the Camino Stage RoomNancy HarlanMaintaining sobriety is hard enough at home where you have a sponsor, a schedule of regular meetings and a knowing voice just a phone call away. That gets turned on its head when you head off on pilgrimage. This session will present how to practice the twelve steps in a land where wine flows freely and is actively promoted to those of us who choose not to partake.

Using Word & Image to Capture the Essence of the Journey SerraKari GaleWhen Kari started walking the Camino de Santiago in 2013, she brought along some pens and paints with a vaguely optimistic idea of perhaps capturing a few moments in her journal’s blank pages. Forty days later she realized she had drawn and written something every day! The practice that resulted from this revelation literally changed her life. Kari will share how the use of word and image can help you capture the essence of whatever journey you are on, and more importantly, help you live each moment more fully.

3:00 – 3:45 pm The Black Madonnas: Remembering the Divine Feminine ChapelLinda FittsThe Camino de Santiago de Compostela is identified by many as an ancient Christian pilgrimage journey. Its starting points lie throughout Europe and the world, many based in ancient cities predating Christian times. As with many pilgrim paths, the Camino is lined with sacred imagery that tells a sacred story. Among the most famous and revered are the Black Madonnas. In this talk we will explore the legends and meanings of the Madonna images, with focus on the Black Madonnas, and how those stories inform our pilgrimage journey.

© Kari Gale

© Jennifer Lawson

4:00 – 4:45 pmShell Ceremony ChapelLou FlessnerAccording to the Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Join our 2018 pilgrims to-be as they take that first step, in a moving ceremony during which they will receive their scallop shells. A mix of traditional Spanish and English blessings and the support of pilgrims who’ve gone before provides a proper send-off.

7:00 – 8:00 pmRaffle and Silent Auction Chapel

8:00 – 10:00 pm Stay in and Play hosted by NorCal Chapter ChapelCamino Café West Parlor

Saturday 14 April

© Kari Gale

6:00 - 7:00 pm Dinner Dining Room & Library

8:00 – 9:00 am Breakfast Dining Room & Library

Sunday 15 April

© Jennifer Lawson

7:00 – 8:00 am Mass ChapelFather Sam Bellino, SJ

9:00 – 9:45 am Concerning the Spectacular Austerities ChapelBrian BouldreyIn the preface to her translation of The Desert Fathers (Vitae Patrum), historian Helen Waddell dismisses “the spectacular austerities which Gibbon and his successors have made sufficiently familiar: they are the commonplaces of controversy.” But not, of course, before making a long list of the bizarre things the ascetics have done in the name of God and spiritual fanaticism. The pilgrim, perhaps the most recognizable descendant of the ascetics, walks toward the shrine, but also away from the world. Through extensive interviews with hospitaleros and pilgrims, and a scouring of historical documents, this talk will consider the modern-day spiritual dialectic of being both a lowly penitential pilgrim and a warrior for God, Santiago Peregrino and Matam-oros, both invisible and spectacular, as all pilgrims consider themselves.

10:00 – 10:45 Art, History, and Spirituality ChapelKathryn Barush and Fr. Hung PhamIn this session, Professors Hung Pham, SJ and Kathryn Barush and will reflect on their experi-ences walking with graduate students along the Camino Ignaciano in Spain, and discuss the ancient tradition of pilgrimage as a way to facilitate transformation and healing. The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola will provide a framework for discussion, drawing also on reflections from student pilgrims and photographs from the sacred sites along this very old but yet newly-revived pilgrimage route.

11:00 – 11:45 am Making Meaning from Memories ChapelCheryl Grasmoen & a Panel of Pilgrims

11:45 am Adiós and ¡Buen Camino!Sack Lunch available to take out.

Presenter Bios

Dr. Kathryn Barush received her doctorate in the History of Art and Visual Culture from the University of Oxford in 2012, which was followed by a 3-year research associateship at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. She is currently assistant professor of art history and religion at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. Her current book project, Imaging Pilgrimage (Bloomsbury, 2020) critically examines the material culture of contemporary pilgrimages. It has a particular focus on art created after the journey with the intention of memorializing the experience or facilitating a prayerful or meditative encounter for others.

Sam Bellino SJ, completed the French route of the Camino de Santiago on October 24, 2017 with two other Jesuit priests. Starting in Pamplona, it took them just under five weeks. One of his best memories of the Camino was having a half bottle of wine each night (drank for medicinal purposes only). In October of 2019, Sam will lead a group of pilgrims from Sarria to Santiago. To keep up his Camino experience, Sam tries to walk six to 11 miles on Saturdays and listens to recordings of people snoring badly.

Brian Bouldrey is the author of Inspired Journeys: Travel Writers in Search of the Muse. He has written three nonfiction books; Honorable Bandit: A Walk Across Corsica; Monster: Adventures in American Machismo; and The Autobiography Box; three novels, The Genius of Desire; Love, the Magician; and The Boom Economy. He is also the editor of several anthologies. He is the North American Editor of the “Open Door” literacy series for Gem-maMedia. Bouldrey teaches creative writing and literature at Northwestern University.

When Janene Bray did her first Camino in 2015, she decided to keep a travel art journal. Now she keeps an art journal for all her adventures with the latest from her 2017 Camino. Not particularly fond of writing, this way of journaling allows her to say a lot without many words. She takes many photos during the day and draws and paints each evening. Her journal pages aren’t meant to be masterpieces but glimpses of her thoughts and experiences while hiking.

Lisa Calvin visited parts of the Camino in the mid-1980s, and has been teaching about it since. She walked alone from O’Cebreiro to Santiago in September, 2012. A founding member of Hoosiers on the Camino, she has spoken about the Camino and Camino-re-lated pedagogy at state and national conferences, and Indiana State University. She presented about graffiti in Spain and on the Camino at the 2016 Gathering. In July 2016 she represented APOC, volunteering to serve pilgrims at the public albergue in Ribadiso. She will share experiences from this idyllic Galician location.

© Janene Bray

Daniel De Kay walked from St.-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Finisterre and back in 2002. Since then, he has returned to the Camino Francés several times and has walked from Le Puy to Santiago and from Seville to Santiago. He has been a volunteer hospitalero multiple times and served on the

American Pilgrims Board of Directors for five years. Since 2004, he has been involved with hospitalero trainings for American Pilgrims. Professionally, he has taught wilderness medicine courses around the world.

Joyce DeToni-Hill, a United Methodist pastor living in Lakewood Colorado, walked the Camino Francés in summer 2016. She is grate-ful for the gift of the story companions community accompanying her both before and after her pilgrimage.

Amy Donselar walked the Camino Francés in July/August 2013 with her husband and son. She was, at first, skeptical that she could complete such a trek. She thought she was too out-of-shape, had never heard of the Camino, and the thought of

dorm-style accommodations was not her ideal vacation. But being a goal-oriented type, the thought of collecting those stamps was appealing, as was the idea of easing up on the dieting when walking 12-15 miles a day. So, she trained,

they walked, and like so many others, she was hooked.

Dr. Linda Fitts is a retired physician board certified in Internal Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Care. She is a Veriditas certified labyrinth educator, trained by Dr Lauren Artress, founder of Veriditas, at Chartres France

in 2012. She is a veteran pilgrim of the Camino as well as Chartres and various sacred sites in England, Scotland, the Holy Land and Egypt. Dr. Fitts brings 15 years experience with the labyrinth to her pil-

grimage classes and facilitated labyrinth walks. Dr. Fitts is a writer with special interest in sacred imagery, and the interface of the labyrinth with the pilgrimage journey.

Lou Flessner began the practice of pilgrimage when he retired from pastoral ministry ten years ago—first with a motorcycle journey through Central and South America,

then by walking the Camino (Via Francés). His interest in old paths next took him from his ancestral home, Hamburg, to Rome on the Via Romea. Sub-

sequently he and his mate, Shawn Norris, have walked the Via Appia/Traiana from Rome to Bari and the Via Egnatia from there to Thessa-

loniki. They hope the last stage of this pilgrimage will bring them to the the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

Kari Gale is an artist and writer specializing in food and travel illustration. In 2015 she published The Art of Walking:

An Illustrated Journey on the Camino de Santiago which documents each day of her 500 mile journey. In 2016

Kari exhibited her Camino journal work in Santiago de Compostela and Finisterre in Northwest Spain. In

September of 2017, she published her second book of illustrations and accompanying stories called

Portraits of Iona: An Artist’s Perspective in Paint and Prose. Kari has called Portland, Oregon her home for 30 years.

© Kari Gale

© Jennifer Lawson

George Greenia is Professor Emeritus at the College of William & Mary and founder of its Institute for Pilgrimage Studies. For fourteen years he served as editor of La Corónica, a research journal of medieval Spanish language, literature and cultural studies. An internationally recognized authority on medieval and modern pilgrimage, he has trekked to Compostela and to sites sacred to Native American communities. For his work researching and promoting Spanish literature and culture he was knighted by order of King Juan Carlos I and bestowed the Cross of the Order of Isabel the Catholic.

Nancy Harlan walked her sixth Camino last summer. All of her Caminos have been motivated by spiritual questions. She has been interested in and studied religions and spirituality through schooling, careers as a lawyer and an artist, and now into retirement. She has found that the 12 Steps work very well with the Camino and that the Camino works very well with the 12 Steps. Each one of her Caminos has provided a different spiritual lesson. She has also served six times either as an hospitalera or as a volunteer at the Pilgrim’s Office.

Megan Havard is an Assistant Professor of Spanish at Augustana College. She has presented several papers on the Camino de Santiago — on the fears that pilgrims carry in their backpacks, on pilgrim selfies, and on how pilgrims manage conflict while culti-vating communitas. Megan has walked the Camino de Santiago four times, including in 2017 when she accompanied a group of Augustana students on their first pilgrimage.

Annie Hesp is a Camino veteran. This summer will be her 11th pilgrimage, 9 of those taking undergraduate students. She’s written extensively about the Camino and it was the subject of her Ph.D. thesis. Currently she’s publishing an article about this same topic. Last year she co-edited a book about the Camino called The Camino de Santiago in the 21st Century: Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Global Views. Her latest work is part of a larger book project dealing with artistic representations of the Camino de Santiago.

Elaine Hopkins is a writer who has had an up-and-down relationship with the Camino since 2011. She has been using it as a personal development tool to explore and explode her limiting beliefs and boundaries since 2014. Between then and now, she has walked over 4,500 Camino kilometres, including a pilgrimage from her home in the UK to Santiago. Elaine is currently morphing from a writer into an author, building a marketing platform for Stumbling into Wellness, her forthcoming personal development and Camino memoir, at elainehopkinsauthor.com.

© Jennifer Lawson

Fr. Christopher Iwancio is a Capuchin Franciscan Friar, who currently serves as the Post-Novitiate Director for the Western American Province of Capuchins. He is currently working on his Ed.D. in Catholic Edu-cational Leadership at the University of San Francisco, his dissertation will focus on the experience of high school students on pilgrimage. He received his bachelor’s degree at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, and did his graduate studies at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley CA.

After receiving a B.A. in classical music from UCSC in 1985, Eric “Luis” Jarmie has since devoted his studies in music primarily to the flamenco guitar. In 1987, 1991, and 1995 he traveled to Spain and studied guitar there with Gerardo Nuñez, Enrique Melchor, Paco Serrano, Niño Jero, Mario Escudero, and Carlos Heredia. In America, he has studied with notable guitarists Guillermo Rios and Chuscales. He has developed a core repertoire of his own music for solo flamenco guitar. Based on the traditional flamenco forms, the music ranges in style from the romantic and Latin-influenced forms such as Mantillas de Feria, Guajiras, and Rumbas to the more profound forms such as Soleá and Siguiriya, and definitely includes a lot of the festive and lively sounds for which flamenco is best known. Residing in Santa Cruz, Eric “Luis” Jarmie continues to entertain clients with Spanish guitar music at premier events throughout the San Francisco Bay area. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebug1x-isdM

Kathleen Jenkins received her Ph.D. in sociology from Brandeis University and her BA/MA in religious studies from Brown University. She is currently a Professor of Sociology at the College of William and Mary where she teaches courses in sociology of families, religion, social theory, and qualitative sociological methods. She has published two books with Rutgers University Press, Awesome Families: The Promise of Healing Relationships in the International Churches of Christ (2005) and Sacred Divorce: Religion, Therapeutic Culture, and Ending Life Partnerships (2014). She is currently writing her third book based on her ethno-graphic research studying parents who walk the Camino de Santiago with their young adult children (ages 18-28). Professor Jenkins is currently the Co-Director of the Institute for Pilgrimage Studies at the College of William and Mary.

Chris Kelle -- Within one year of getting married, Chris Kelle told his wife that he was going to be leaving home for 2 months to walk the Camino de Santiago. He packed his backpack, donned his hiking boots and put his career aspirations on hold to walk the Camino Francés. Little did he know that what he expected to be a huge risk initially, instead caused both his career and relationship to thrive as a result.

Marlena Lambert, MS, is a licensed massage therapist, and instructor of meditation, anatomy, massage, and yoga in Utah. She first discovered the Way of Saint James in 1999. Walking from Le Puy, France to Muxía, Spain in early 2006 transformed her. Since then she has served as an hospitalera in Najera, Rioja (2008), walked the Aragonés route (2009), served on the American Pilgrims board (2009-2012), led a college group to Santiago (2010), walked the Assisiana along with a portion of the Francigena in Italy (2012), the Route de Vosges (Chemin de St Jacques) in Alsace (2014), and Bavaria’s Meditationsweg (Jacobsweg) (2016).

© Peggy Herrick

© P

eggy

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Jennifer Lawson - Finding her way into commercial art after college, Jennifer spent 20 years as a V.P. Creative for LL Bean in Freeport, Maine. In her post-corporate career, she has worked for more than ten years as a freelance creative director, designer, and il-lustrator. In between freelance jobs, Jennifer picked up a pen and started to draw. She has sketched and painted her way throughout the United States, as well as in France, Spain, Portugal, Peru, Indonesia, and Africa, before walking on the Camino de Santiago in 2014.

Rob Nickerson is a professor of information systems at San Francisco State Universi-ty. He walked parts of the Camino Francés and the Camino Portugués in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2017. On all his walks, he observed the use of technology by pilgrims, which sparked his interest in researching technology on the Camino. He has surveyed over 900 Camino pilgrims about their use of technology. He has written written several articles and given a number of presentations about technology on the Camino.

Terry Parish is a Co-Director and Producer of I’ll Push You. A storyteller, Terry has written, directed and produced hundreds of videos and online content for brands like: Blue Buffalo, Charlotte Russe, Citrix, Dockers, eBay, Levi’s, Petco, Qualcomm, Sony and Tempur-Pedic.

Fr. Hung Pham holds degrees from St. Louis University, the Weston Jesuit School of Theology and the Comillas Pontificia Universidad de Madrid where he earned his Doc-torate of Sacred Theology with a focus on Ignatian Spirituality. He has worked for the Jesuit Refugee Services where he trained math and science teachers in the Burmese refugee camp in Northern Thailand and, later, lead the retreat program in Campus Ministry at Regis University. He is an Assistant Professor of Ignatian Spirituality at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley where he has been leading student pilgrimages along the Camino Ignaciano since 2014.

Adam Wells first walked the Camino from the United Kingdom, in 2011. He found the journey to be ‘life enhancing and life changing’ and returned home feeling ‘compelled to inspire others to experience the same.’ Since then, he has led walking trips to the Camino and travelled across the UK hosting screenings of Lydia Smith’s documentary ‘Walking the Camino: Six Ways To Santiago.’ Adam is based in Logroño, Spain where he encourages passing pilgrims to stop walking, enjoy the moment and taste (and drink) the many treasures that La Rioja region has to offer.

Gratitudes & CreditsAmerican Pilgrims on the Camino relies on a great many volunteers to run our operation, including this week’s Chapter Co-ordinator Workshop. Thank you to all our great volunteers and presenters who have given so generously of their time and knowledge. Thank you to the staff at Vallombrosa. American Pilgrims thanks Janene Bray, Kari Gale, Peggy Herrick, and Jennifer Lawson for contributing the artwork for this program. All artwork is copyrighted by the respective artist.

Raffle & AuctionAll proceeds benefit Camino programs sponsored by American Pilgrims on the Camino. We thank all those who generously

contributed raffle and auction items.

Partners & FriendsAmerican Pilgrims on the Camino offers a heartfelt thank you to our friends from the Xacobeo in Galicia, Spain who have pro-vided encouragement and support for American Pilgrims on the Camino. Visit the Xacobeo website http://www.xacobeo.es/en. It is an outstanding resource for pilgrims. We also welcome our international visitors.

www.xacobeo.es

© Jennifer Lawson