Confirmation Class Gettysburg Trip

On Saturday, March 15, at 6:00 a.m., twenty-one intrepid travelers gathered at St. Mark’s, ready to depart for Gettysburg, PA. Their number included ten catechetical students, four mentors, five parents, one husband and one pastor (in a pear tree?).

After stopping for breakfast on the way down (MacDonald’s rocks!, they were met in Gettysburg by seminarians Matt and Lisa Schuster, who personally conducted them around the town, the battlefields, the cemetery and the Seminary. On the way home, they stopped for dinner at The Old Country Buffet (which really rocks!).

Some of the students reported in with their thoughts of the day:

"I really enjoyed touring the battlefields and learning about who did what and where. And it was amazing how the tour guides knew so much about the site. I also learned a lot about the seminary and what went on there. The whole place was really interesting. It was a fun trip." ~ Riley

"On our trip to Gettysburg we took a tour of the battle fields and monuments in the area. We went to a lot of places but my favorites were Little and Big Round Top. At Little Round Top there was a bunch of rocks where the soldiers hid in battle. Then at Big Round Top there was a small castle-like structure which you could climb to the top of and could see almost all of the battle field." ~ Hannah

"On our trip to Gettysburg we saw many interesting things. Some of the interesting things I saw were the monuments. Each state that fought in the war had its own monument. For example, the Pennsylvania monument was the largest; all around it were all of the names of the Pennsylvanians that fought and died for our Country. Another interesting thing I saw was the Lutheran Seminary Church. Inside it had beautiful stain glass windows that cannot be made today. Also, the church bought a new organ a few years back and you can see the pipes that go up to the ceiling. Our trip to Gettysburg was a very fun and interesting trip." ~ Brandon

"My favorite thing was hanging out with friends from church. Climbing 64 stairs to the top of the Pennsylvania monument— felt like they would never end! One thing that made it a lot better than last year was that we barely had to walk. We explored the rocks above Devil’s Den and a lot of us nearly fell. I thought it was cool that Samuel Simon Schmucker’s (the founder of the Seminary and an abolitionist) house was a stop for the Underground Railroad". ~ Sara

"One thing on the trip that I found was most interesting was the Eternal Light Peace Memorial. I liked it best because I thought it was neat that they have it lit all the time. After the war was over, more than 1,800 Civil War Veterans helped dedicate this memorial to "Peace Eternal in a Nation United." ~ Paige

My most favorite part was...well, there are two: Little Round Top and Old Country Buffet. One of the things that I found that was really interesting was that at Samuel Simon Schmucker’s house, during the Battle of Gettysburg, when the South had control of Seminary Ridge, his library was ransacked—save for one book: The Bible. ~ Declan