Days 217-218 – 12/27-28/11 – Gateway Arch (much content)

Greens Bottom Road to Gateway Arch; Distance = 34 Miles; People Met = 16+

This stretch brought a combination of nostalgia and excitement.  After the night’s snowstorm we started our trek on a white-laden Katy Trail, though bright sun greeted us for our 9:30 a.m. start and much of the snow melted by the time we left the Katy Trail.  Yes, we left the Katy Trail after about 5 miles; soon after that we left the Missouri River behind.  After being on the road network of the Santa Fe Trail forever, these two connected features came and went for us much to quickly.

Nevertheless, that made for another milestone moment, though it paled in comparison to what soon lay ahead of us, the Gateway Arch.  Now, if you talk to anyone in Kansas they will tell you the real Gateway to the west likes in Council Grove, Kansas, where the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails branch.  Or they might concede that the Gateway lies just over the border in Independence, Missouri, where another branching of frontier trails take place.  The geographic center of the country lies in Kansas.  Finally, Kansas looks nothing like the East, but Missouri does.

None of those much too logical arguments match the inherent excitement and symbolism of the Gateway Arch.  St. Louis was the major town that served as a gathering place for frontier travelers, even though the split into different frontier routes occurred farther west.  The city and the arch lie on the banks of the Mississippi River, the grand river that splits the country north to south roughly in the middle.  OK, so the split really occurs significantly east of middle, but that does not stop anyone from referencing “east of the Mississippi” or “west of the Mississippi” as if that was the one true indicator of what splits east from west.

The Walk to the Arch from the Katy Trail of the first day went through crop land, then through wealthy suburbs.  On the second day we started out in wealthy suburbs again, where even the paved roads were private.  We then had a very scenic walk through the Washington University campus, Forest Park, St. Louis University campus, and large skyscrapers.  Forest Park was the site of the St. Louis World Fair in 1904.  Most of Forest Park is indeed park, but also includes such features as the Natural History Museum, which charges no admission save for some exhibits.

We did not see the Arch until about two miles away.  From then on I became the Arch paparazzi, making it perhaps the most photographed item along our way.  In reaching the Arch we put an exclamation point on the western portion of our journey.  There was an extra bounce in our step for the whole two days.

During this stretch we spent the nights at the home of Tom and Julie “Anna” Sandidge; both converted as Quakers.  Anna originally came from an Assembly of God background; Tom spent many years in the military.  In keeping with their Quaker faith Anna had experience with many social justice positions and issues.  I learned a few things from her.

For example, I learned about two additional demographics to the food challenge list first provided to me in Pueblo.  Many students graduate for college with huge debt and without the immediate earning potential to effectively tackle that debt.  If they had such earning potential at the start they wouldn’t be replacing the Baby Boomers being laid off as another of the food challenged category.  The other new demographic was more surprising to me: military families.  I knew that GI support waned since the heyday of the GI Bill, but I thought the quagmire of Iraq led to at least a partial reversal of that.  Anna informed me that what is promised or hinted at is not necessarily delivered, and many food pantries can be found outside of military bases where families reside.

I also learned from Anna a tale of a “do-gooder” done bad.  A tent city in the St. Louis area came into existence organically, down-and-out people found a place and a means to make the best of their living situation.  As a highly organized and docile endeavor the tent city one the support of officials, including police officers turned advocates for them.

The tent city became such a model of success that a “do-gooder” advocate for the homeless sought to imitate the model when some homeless people were being “evicted” from a bridge that was undergoing road construction.  The new tent city thus was formed by this outsider, not organically, and had neither the structure nor the docility of the original.  The city of St. Louis now has moved to shut down both tent cities, though they are dragging their feet a little in the closing of the original tent city.

This provides yet another valuable lesson, a parable of sorts, for making the distinction between volunteerism and community involvement.  Yes, community involvement in my mind is the key to addressing Housing, Health and Hunger.  Yes, addressing Housing, Health and Hunger is “doing good.”  Yet doing good and community involvement are not the same motivations.  Community involvement is born out of belonging to others and working with them to make the best of a shared living situation.  Doing good is born out of a response to an individual’s conscience, which may or may not have the same degree of humility and belonging as community involvement.

Wanna' bet?

At least we weren't bicycling on the Katy Trail

Goodbye Missouri River

Four happy walkers

Jennifer Reid would not take "no" as answer for her donation to our cause

Where are Fi Fi, Fo Fo and Fum Roads?

Hate to see what the actuall houses cost

Parking spots must be limited near St. Louis.

Lauren bartends at J. McBraugh's

Kimmy the receptionist at the Natural History Museum in Forest Park

Matt wouldn't let us put our footprints in the cement he was laying (but he's a really nice guy)

First glimpse of the Arch

Stan and granddaughter Madison at the Arch

Anna in the kitchen