Friends of the Road to Santiago and this listserve

[davidson]

Dear "Gocamino-ers"
Several changes will be happening over the next few months related to
"Friends" and to its web site and this listserve. We will keep you informed,
via the Newsletter which should be in your mailboxes within the month.

As you all know, this listserve went "down" inexplicably for two months
over the summer of 2004. Many people switched to "santiagobis" as
another way of keeping up and informed on the pilgrimage, so especially
important during this last  holy year for 11 years.

My inability to solve the problem because of long distance communication
(you may remember that I was in Europe & Morocco) made it obvious that
when there is an emergency I am not always able to handle it.

I have looked at my long term calendar of planned activities and it is
apparent that David Gitlitz (my husband and co-author, among many other
things) will be out of the country more than we will be in it for the next
several years (decades, perhaps).  We are working on a variety of topics
broader than just the Santiago pilgrimage, and our research activities
have increased over the last couple of years. This fact, combined with our
plans to retire in a few years, means that it is time to look for another
conduit for the needs of American (North, Central, and South) proto-
Santiago pilgrims.

And viola' : the new registered charitable group called American Pilgrims
has been busily organizing to do all of the things that "Friends" has been
doing and much more. Kathy Gower, Lin Galea, Zita Macy, George
Greenia and others have already had success in making their
organization a charitable one, in planning and raising money for the
computer for the Archicofradia, in working on the 2004 and future
"Gatherings" for pilgrimage seminars. I heartily applaud their efforts and
am proud to announce that "Friends of the Road to Santiago" is merging
into their organization.

The first step, especially important to you, is our closing of this Listserve.

It's been a super interesting discussion group, not without volatility, and
always with a support of pilgrims and their plans. I am happy to have been
able to offer it to the world for communication.

This listserve will no longer run after 15 October (our web page says 1
October, so that there should be no new subscribers). I invite you to stay
on the listserve until then, sharing ideas and news (Rosina Lila always
has the uptodate news for us) and let the listserve's demise be your way
of unsubscribing (that will avoid all of those pesky "unsubscribe" emails
getting incorrectly onto this forum).

I am putting together the Newsletter and once again invite you to share
your ideas about the pilgrimage.

Please send all communication to me to my other email:
dgitlitzaaol.com.

Thanks again for sharing so many ideas and helpful hints during the last
few years of Gocamino.

Linda Davidson