The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Youths to honor Lincoln with walk
83rd pilgrimage will include Civil War reenactors, live music and family activities
The 83rd Lincoln Pilgrimage, a parade of youth groups through Redlands to the Lincoln Memorial Shrine, will be held Saturday.
The pilgrimage will begin at 10 a.m. at the Redlands High School football stadium off Citrus Avenue. Participants will march west on Citrus Avenue through downtown Redlands to Eureka Street, then go south toward the Lincoln Memorial Shrine, which is behind the A.K. Smiley Public Library at 125 W. Vine St.
At the Lincoln Shrine, there will be a brief program at 10:30a.m., including placing a floral arrangement in front of the Lincoln bust in the shrine.
The Lincoln Shrine’s open house, including Civil War reenactors, live music, family activities and cannon demonstrations, follows from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
If it is raining between 9 and 10 a.m., the walking portion of the pilgrimage will be canceled and the program planned for the Lincoln Shrine will be held at Clock Auditorium on the Redlands High School campus, 840 E. Citrus Ave.
The Lincoln Pilgrimage is hosted by the Gray Arrow District of the California Inland Empire Council of the Boy Scouts of America, in cooperation with the
city of Redlands, and has been sponsored by the Redlands Noon Kiwanis Club since 1979, according to a news release.
The first Lincoln Pilgrimage took place in 1940 when 105 Boy Scouts from Riverside made the hike through Redlands from The Terrace to the Lincoln Shrine, according to the news release. In the years since then, the pilgrimage has drawn as many as 3,000 participants. The annual event was suspended in 2021 and 2022 because of the coronavirus pandemic, but returned in 2023.
This year’s participants will include Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and other youth groups, with parents and adult leaders. Also participating will be Girl Scouts from Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council, which serves Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
The Boy Scouts’ Gray Arrow District, which hosts the pilgrimage, includes scouts from the area of Banning, Beaumont and Calimesa to Redlands and west to Loma Linda, Grand Terrace and Colton. The district also extends to mountain communities including Lake Arrowhead, Running Springs and Crestline.
Youth groups who have not registered in advance for the pilgrimage may register at the parade lineup site the day of the event.
For information, contact James Glass, event chairman, at 909-260-2434, or volunteer services at the Boy Scouts of America council office, 909-793-2463, ext. 7.