After you’ve begun to pray with fellow pilgrims, registered and paid the fee — with a little help from “alms for palms“, if you need it — it’s time for you to request the shuttle to step-off.
Q. Shuttle? What shuttle? When?
A. It is the shuttle service provided by pilgrim-servants on Thursday, September 25, to bring all pilgrims from the destination Shrine in Auriesville to the check-in & step-off location in Lake George Village. The service is also provided to pilgrims arriving Thursday at a local public transportation (PT) hubs – airport, bus station, or train terminal in Albany.
See more, at the bottom of this post, about the shuttle service for pilgrims using PT. This page is also helpful.
Q. Why do I need the shuttle? Can’t I just drive to check-in myself?
A. Every pilgrim needs the shuttle in order to be reunited with his vehicle Sunday, the last day of pilgrimage, or to be returned to one’s PT hub. If you drive yourself to check-in at Lake George Village Thursday, then on Sunday you won’t have your vehicle at the destination Shrine. Pilgrimage-organizers do not provide rides back to Lake George Village Sunday.
This page explains more.
Q. How does it work?
A. Exact, step-by-step instructions are provided when you complete the request for the shuttle. An explanation is also found in this post on the Pilgrimage blog.
Q. What if I am participating in the ‘modified events’ of pilgrimage and keeping my family vehicle all three days?
A. We ask you to tell us that when you submit the same form. Pilgrim-servants who keep their vehicles throughout are also asked to submit the form, to let fellow organizers know what to expect. In short, even if you don’t think you need the shuttle, we ask you to submit the form.
The shuttle service is provided through the charity of the pilgrim-servants of the Company of St. René Goupil (CSRG) apostolate.
But every pilgrim must request it, after registering.
Q. What if I am NOT camping at Wood Park Thursday night with most of the pilgrims, and instead am staying at a local motel in Lake George Village? Will the shuttle drivers bring me to my lodgings Thursday after check-in and shuttle me back to Wood Park early Friday morning to form up with my brigade to prepare for holy Mass?
A. Yes. The shuttle request forms walk you through those steps, too, and the shuttle drivers will confirm it with you on the way to check-in — all with a veteran pilgrim’s calm, knowing smile.
==============================================
For those who wish more details, they follow:
Since all pilgrims need to recover their vehicles at the end of the pilgrimage, or to be shuttled to & from public transportation (PT), each pilgrim needs to plan in advance with the organizers.
The Transportation-Team cannot promise shuttle service to any pilgrim failing to return the request, nor guarantee to finalize arrangements for requests received after Sunday, 21 September.
Submitting the shuttle request facilitates your transportation Thursday, September 25, from the end-point — the Auresville Shrine — to the required check-in at the location reserved by organizers in Lake George Village, Wood Park, and back to Wood Park Friday morning – if needed * – from motel to check-in.
* NOTE: Pilgrims camping at Wood Park Thursday night need to request the shuttle but only for the Thursday portion of the service, since Friday morning they are already at the starting & step-off point – which is at Wood Park. Those pilgrims opting to overnight Thursday in local motels in Lake George Village need to request the shuttle for the Thursday afternoon AND Friday morning portions of the service, in order to return to Wood Park with the shuttle ‘still-dark and early’ Friday morning.
Here’s how it works, with options for —
(a.) those driving solo, or
(b.) those with passengers or car-pooling, or
(c.) those arriving via public transportation:
a. On Thursday after noon – best to target as early as possible before 6:00pm, lone-drivers drive solo to the vast parking lot behind the Coliseum Church. LAST SHUTTLE DEPARTS AURIESVILLE SHRINE AT 8:00P.M. Thursday evening.
Upon arrival, pilgrim-drivers receive instructions where to park their vehicles until Sunday.
The CSRG volunteers then shuttle the drivers and their gear to the pilgrimage starting point for the required check-in at Wood Park in Lake George Village: and, after check-in, to each pilgrim’s local motel, as requested.
b. For those pilgrims car-pooling or with passengers, drivers must first drop them and their gear off at the check-in location [ optimally, no later than 5:00pm ! ], at Wood Park. (Wood Park is also the rendezvous and starting-point of the pilgrimage Friday morning.)
Then, the drivers drive solo (as above) to the rendezvous point in the lot behind the Coliseum Church. Pilgrim-organizers then instruct drivers where to park their vehicles until Sunday. LAST SHUTTLE DEPARTS AURIESVILLE SHRINE AT 8:00P.M. Thursday evening.
In this case also, the CSRG volunteers shuttle the drivers from end-point back to the pilgrimage starting-point for the required check-in no later than 10:00pm: and, afterward, also to a local motel, as requested.
c. For pilgrims flying into Albany International Airport (ALB), or arriving by train or bus in Albany, the shuttle service can be requested to pick-up directly at the terminal.
Are you arriving in the region by PT on Thursday after 9:00 p.m., September 25, or departing on Sunday before 7:00 p.m., September 28?
In that case, then you must e-mail the volunteer in charge of shuttling pilgrims prior to finalizing your flight/train/bus reservations to/from the Albany metro-region. (Find his contact info on this page.)
Veteran pilgrim Dennis Mitchell of Allentown, Pennsylvania, is once again heading the CSRG Transportation-Team. He and fellow-pilgrims of the Company need your cooperation, ASAP. Please help them plan the necessary arrangements for hundreds of pilgrims. Please request the shuttle, without delay.
It only takes three or four minutes, and will save you — and organizers — hours of easily avoidable difficulties.
Only after you request the shuttle will you be able to ask Mr. Mitchell questions not already answered in this blog post or on the website.
When you request the shuttle, Mr. Mitchell will automatically send to you an e-mail confirming your request, and you’ll then have his contact info in case you need to ask him a question.
For more information about the shuttle service, see this post.
To ask other pilgrims for rides, to offer a ride to share travel expenses, or to form car-pools, check the Pilgrimage Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/pilgrimage.for.restoration/, or the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PilgrimageForRestoration/.
After you have submitted your shuttle request, you will also be able to ask Mr. Mitchell to check if another pilgrim may be driving a route along your way to pilgrimage — in order to car-pool.
Pilgrimage for Restoration
Come to restore. The rest will come.
30th annual — 2025 A.D.
Friday – Sunday
26-28 September
“Now is the acceptable time.”
Registration is open.
Click here to register. It’s simple and easy.
Can’t make it this year? You can still make pilgrimage from afar, from home or parish: obtain a plenary indulgence, sponsor a pilgrim, request prayers or offer them — all from this page.
Listen to and learn the Songs of Pilgrimage!
Click here for the traditional way to afford pilgrimage.
“No one makes pilgrimage alone.”
Oremus pro invicem.
In unione orationum.
Ad majorem Dei gloriam.
“Nobody makes pilgrimage alone.”
