Marshall’s Best Buddies club joined together for their annual W&OD trail walk on Saturday, November 11th to spread their message of community.
These trail walks have become a tradition within the club, dating back to before COVID-19.
President of the Marshall Best Buddies club and senior Faye Vanstory recalled the turn out of the first trail walk when she returned back to school post COVID-19.
“These walks started [back up] my sophomore year,” Vanstory said. ”It was a lot of fun but I remember there weren’t a ton of people there.”
Vanstory recognized how the event has evolved since then by looking at the increase in participation and overall interest in the club over the years.
“This year, we have over 100 members of Marshall Best Buddies, including buddies and peer buddies,” Vanstory said. “When it comes to events like this, it’s going to be a big thing.”
The club’s faculty advisor Sarah Espanol backed up Vanstory’s claim in saying that this trail walk is usually the club’s most well attended event.
The event is not just a trail walk. It’s entirety begins at the club’s meeting spot, Caffe Amouri in Vienna. While the club waits for their whole group, members hang out and chat with the accompaniment of drinks and snacks that may be bought.
Espanol tries to make the most out of this experience for the club members, capturing the event’s best moments on camera.
“I think we kind of stick to this awesome formula,” Espanol said. “We meander over to ‘Caboose’, we take a picture, then we go to the ‘Love Sign’, take a picture, go to the bridge, take another picture.”
These pictures capture not only the event, but the club’s fulfillment when spreading their message.
“We want to show everyone who we are,” Espanol said. “We’re very proud of who we are and we want people to also feel welcome to hang out with us.”
Vanstory reinforced Espanol’s views by reflecting on how she feels seeing the club joined together outside of the school setting.
“All we do as a club is just try to promote inclusion and kindness,” Vanstory said. “So when I see that this many people show up because they care and want to be involved, it makes me really happy and really proud of the Marshall community.”