¢ 18- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, February 16, 1999 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" Tour of Holy Land an emotional experience for group By Chris Hall Port Perry Star An 11-day tour of the Holy Land was an unforgettable experience for Doug Franks and other members of the congregation of a Port Perry church. "It was amazing, just an amazing trip. We visited so many places," he sajd last Thursday, a day after returning from Israel. A total of 35 people from Port Perry's Anglican Church of Ascension and St. Paul's Church in Uxbridge boarded a plane on Jan. 31 in Toronto for a journey which would take them to New York and then over to Greenland and across the Atlantic to France, Italy, and the Mediterranean Sea, and into Israel. "All the sights we went to were Biblical, they all had to do with religion," said Mr. Franks. "Only on the last day did we get to do some sight-seeing at museums and other things." Through fabled towns and cities such as Tiberius and Nazareth the group traveled, he said, remembering some of the differences in cultures. "There was a place where they greeted you by wash- ing your feet and hands, (and would) give you a snack and drink and then send you on your way." Another memory of the trip was a visit to a shepherd's field, where they held communion. "We were sitting there in the field having our com- munion when the sheep started going for the wine and the bread," laughed Mr. Frank. The sacred Garden of Gethsemane -- the site of Jesus' betrayal and arrest -- will be a place Mr. Franks will always remember. "That's the place where the olive trees are over 2,000 years old and they're still blooming," he said. "There's a picture in there of Christ that has him hurt because the disciples disobeyed him. We had a service in there and it was so emotional that the min- ister broke down. The Garden of Gethsemane is one of the most beautiful churches in Jerusalem," he said, adding that the people were friendly, but that there were many military checkpoints in the area. Other highlights of the trip included the peace of the Sea of Galilee, swimming in the Dead Sea, and vis- iting a church where people write their prayers and leave them in cracks in the wall. The idea for the trip began at their local church, where Mr. Franks and his daughter, Gerrie Heard, attend when they can. "They announced the trip and we talked it over and she wanted to go so I said yes," he said. "My wife was into religion a lot, no matter which one. She had a good belief in faith and -- since we trav- elled a lot -- she would go into any church and pray for her family and the entire world." While he plans on doing more sight-seeing this summer, Mr. Franks says his trip to the Holy Land will remain with him. "Oh, there was so much walking, but the trip was well worth it. I'd recommend it to anyone who has any feeling at all for religion, or for where their roots started; it's really a must for them to go there. I wouldn't hesitate to go back again." Doug Franks examine mementos from the trip he took to the Holy Land with members of the congre- gation of the Church of the Ascension. They visited several sites, including the Garden of Gethsemane. The owners of Allen's Siding Products pride themselves on their proven track record and the personal service they provide to their customers. Since 1969 the family business at Allen's Siding Products has flourished and grown from what was once a two-man operation to a complete home improvement and window renovation business employing 15 employees. In the seventies the business at Allen Siding was 80 per cent windows, but now the figures are reversed. Today Allen's own a second business called the Window Warehouse. 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