SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, Pa. —
Last year, Jeffery Nemeth of Frackville wore a crown of thorns and carried a cross barefoot for the annual Trek of the Cross through Gordon with people around him. This year, the outfit and the mission were the same, but Nemeth's surroundings were much different.
"I'm going to do it no matter what," Nemeth said. "No matter what the conditions are. It's a tradition to my family for 40 years and it's not going to stop now."
Not even the coronavirus was going to put the cross walk on hold, or strong gusts of wind with temperatures in the low 40's. This has been a Nemeth family tradition on every good Friday for more than four decades.
"This year is going to be like a throwback to the very first year when my uncle had picked up the cross and did it by himself," Nemeth added. "It's a different year. We all know the guidelines we have to abide by and that's what we're doing."
Any other year, people in Gordon would line the streets, but due to social distancing guidelines because of the pandemic, people watched from their homes. Some were inside their cars.
"I think its going to be symbolic because Christ is going to walk alone," Pastor of Simpson United Methodist Church, Susan Hocking said. "Being alone is important because he was alone on the cross and I think it's important for people to see that."
"Even with the current situations outside, I think it's even more important this year because churches are closed, but the message is still the same and I'm trying to get it out to everybody who can't get to church," Nemeth continued. "That was the original purpose for this trek to begin with."
This cross walk may have been one of the more unique ones in its history, but it'll also go down as one of the most memorable.