In 1991 a group of Christians (Russ Abel, Lee and Belinda Carmichael, John Dorsey, Rex Hinkle, Mark and Marilyn Kinkead, Devon and Nancy Leiter, John and Mary Ryder, and Jack and Dorothy Wolfe) who had taken their Walks in various Emmaus communities began working together to form the Hoosier Hills Emmaus Community, and were able to hold the first set of Hoosier Hills Walks in October of that year. Walk #1 (men) was held October 3-6, and Walk #2 (women) was held October 10-13, 1991, both at Camp Indi-Co-So. Since that time at least one mens and one womens Walk have been held twice each year, usually in the Spring and Fall. Because of scheduling limitations at Camp Indi-Co-So early in our Communitys history, Walks #3 and 4, 5 and 6, and 9 and 10 (one mens and one womens each time) were held at the Star of Indiana building near Bloomington. All Hoosier Hills Emmaus Walks since that time have been held at Camp Indi-Co-So.
Throughout the history of our Community there have been more women than men applying to attend the Walks, and women have sometimes had to wait a year or longer after applying before being invited to attend a Walk. In an effort to help this situation, in 1996 we held one mens (#19) and two womens (#20-A and #20-B) Walks in the Spring, and we have usually held two womens Walks each time since then. In 1998 a backlog of men applicants caused us to hold two mens Fall Walks for the first time (#29-A and #29-B), and we held two mens Walks again in the Fall of 1999 and Spring of 2001. In the Fall of 2000 we broke with tradition again and held one mens and three womens Walks, which allowed us to invite nearly all of the men and women on the waiting list up to that time.A full listing of all Hoosier Hills Emmaus Walks follows, showing when and where each Walk took place and who served as Lay Director and Spiritual Director.
There have been a few changes in logistics through the years. In the early years, the Pilgrims slept in the dormitory rooms at Merryman Center and the team members all slept in cabins when the Walks were held at Camp Indi-Co-So. Although table leaders and assistant table leaders were able to sleep in the same room with Pilgrims at some of the Walks held at the Star of Indiana building, it was not until 1995 when the womens Walks were usually set up so that each table slept together as a unit in the cabins and other team members stayed in Merryman. The mens Walks have more frequently been set up so that the Pilgrims stayed in Merryman and the team members in cabins. From 1991 through the first half of 1999, Merryman Center served as the conference center and Crawford Hall as the kitchen and dining hall. The new facility at Armstrong Center was opened in time for the 1999 Fall Walks, and all Walks held since that time have been able to make use of the new conference room, kitchen, and dining facilities.
