La Salle University - Explorer Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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■ nuw f; Oh world, I cannot hold thee close enough! Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag And all but cry with color! Edna St. Vincent Millay 15

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A Holler Called Tram Where can you go that both mittens and shorts are appropriate? Here ' s a suggestion: pack lightly, find a handful of people, a map, and a van large enough for a ride through the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains. Then head to- ward Florida, make a right in Virginia, and end up in a little hollow (pro- nounced holler ) called Tram, Ken- tucky, Every spring break, students from La Salle and many other colleges travel south to the Appalachian region of America. For La Salle, the Campus Min- istry begins weeks and weeks of fund- raising and planning before the trip even commences. An all-night Gome- A-Thon is held to raise money for sup- plies. Weekly meetings ore held, and bonds already start to form as the small group begins to learn about the land and the people of Appalachia. When we arrived lost year, we en- countered physical labor, listened to colorful stories, and grew as human be- ings. There were so many people we met who left us with treasured memo- ries, for example: Terri, the good na- tured coordinator who always man- aged to get himself into crazy predicaments; 96 year old Uncle Pe- ter, who told stories that dote back to when his parents were slaves; Boots , who enjoyed our companionship while we enjoyed watching his free-spirited hogs; and Marvin, who took us to sur- vey the area and tour cool mine shafts that were situated at the tops of mountains, while offering us a nip of moonshine. Besides talking to the peo- ple in the area, we began to feel a port of their unique culture by working in their community. There was and is something for everyone to get in- volved with, whether it ' s working in a hospital, teaching grade school, build- ing stairs, repairing plumbing, or work- ing in a day core center. If these activi- ties weren ' t enough to occupy our time in the Holler , how about chasing chickens out from under the house at 6:00 a.m., trying to muscle the van out of 20 inches of mud or walking two miles to go food shopping? Well, if you had visions of spring break as being a time for rest and relaxation, head for home not Tram. After a full day, even- ings were spent at a Baptist revival meeting, hearing a blue grass concert in Hazard county, or just simply sitting around the compfire singing songs. The experience, however, went be- yond being superficial. It touched our very being. The look of success upon a small child ' s face after learning the mul- tiplication tables, an elderly woman ' s smile after having her living room paint- ed — all seemed to reach into the depths of our humanity. Interacting 16