Has the pandemic kept you cooped up in your home for a year? Now that vaccinations are rising, doors are opening, and weather warming, it’s time to get back together, reconnect and socialize. Our new small group, Trekking in the 828, will lead older adults in our parish on three scheduled outings around Western North Carolina.

These daytrips are designed to be fun, fascinating, and accessible. Led by Steve and Mary Bruce Woody, these trips will feature lesser-known spots in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, like the pioneer settlement inn Cataloochee Valley or the Appalachian Science Learning Center at Purchase Knob. But though it’s in the mountains, don’t worry.

There will only be short, gentle walking involved. No difficult, uphill hikes. The first trek will be a day trip to visit and tour the historic pioneer settlement structures in the Cataloochee Valley with guide Stephen Woody whose ancestors settled…