Cleveland Mayor Tom Rowland talks with Rev. Walter "Chick" McGill and wife Barbara during a stop in his Walk Across America
Pastor Walter "Chick" McGill's walk across America brought him to Cleveland, Tn., on Friday.
Rev. McGill and wife Barbara stopped to talk with Mayor Tom Rowland at the Cleveland Municipal Building.
After nearly two years of planning, Rev. McGill started his walk April 23 at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. His destination is the Santa Monica pier in California. Along the way, the 68-year-old Vietnam War veteran talks with fellow Americans about restoring the country's founding values.
Always carrying an American flag, Rev. McGill covers about 15 miles a day. His wife follows in a car brightly painted in red, white and blue with a mural that includes an American eagle.
"God told me to do this," Rev. McGill said. "There needs to be a new birth of freedom in America."
When President Lincoln used that phrase, he was talking about social reform, Rev. McGill said. For him, the minister said, it means families meeting and praying together and bringing up children within God's laws, such as the Beatitudes and the Golden Rule.
"You will find that ours is a patriotic and caring community," Mayor Rowland told the McGills. He told them how the community is seeking a home to care for the region's veterans.
Pastor McGill and Mayor Rowland exchanged gifts. Rev. McGill handed the mayor a copy of his pamphlet. The mayor gave Rev. McGill a pin with the city seal.