Last Friday, January 21, marked the 48th anniversary of the annual March for Life protesting Roe v Wade. From the beginning St. Peter’s has been there to offer hospitality to the marchers. This account of the parish’s efforts over the years is drawn from the recollections of Suzanne O’Connor and Molly Pannell, who each in her turn (along with now-deceased parishioner Margarita Smith) coordinated the work.
By any measure, providing refreshment, a bathroom, and a warm place to rest for even a fraction of the thousands who come to the March for Life constitutes an amazing logistical accomplishment. St. Peter’s does not do a head count, but other numbers, from recent years, tell the story: 4,000 cups used during the day; 200 dozen doughnuts ordered; a dozen large urns continuously brewing coffee or boiling water; 30-40 volunteers for everything from prep to cleanup.
Making sure there are enough coffee makers seems to have been a challenge from the start, especially as the number of visitors has grown. Early on, Suzanne O’Connor recalls, “I drove all over town to borrow coffee pots from other churches so we could minimize the cost to the parish.” Now we rent them. Restrooms have been another challenge. To supplement our own meager facilities, volunteers in the early days would direct marchers to the restrooms at the Madison Library. Now we rent those, too – 4 portable toilets, for the use of the gentlemen in the crowd.
At St. Peter’s the day of the march starts early – 4 a.m., when volunteers get the coffee brewing and put out the doughnuts. The marchers, mostly from the Northeast but also some regulars from Florida and Illinois, start to arrive around 5. The parish schedules extra Masses that morning, and often visitors will attend Mass, come down to the hall to use the bathroom and grab a coffee, and set off for the march. Midday is quiet in the hall, but around 2, when the main event is over and marchers start filtering back, the real action begins – the hall is packed and volunteers are constantly busy filling coffee cups, restocking napkins, mopping up spills, making announcements about departing buses. Around 6, when the visitors have dispersed, the afternoon volunteers head home and the clean-up team comes in.
A long day, but by all accounts a satisfying one for those who have been part of it over the years. Molly Pannell notes that the volunteers are “a great representation of the parish community” – teens, young adults, seniors, Scouts, Knights, stay-at-home parents, people who help out before or after work. Some volunteers come back year after year, as do some marchers, and friendships have sprung up. Even when minor snags have occurred, says Suzanne, “It always worked out. God blessed us every year with volunteers.”
“Do not neglect hospitality,” says the Letter to the Hebrews (13:2). A large corps of St. Peter’s parishioners have taken those words to heart.
