If something is usable, Iowa priest will haul it to benefit others

Published: 2004-08-30

HARPERS FERRY, Iowa (CNS) -- When it comes to planning his vacations, the pastor of a three-parish cluster along the Mississippi River never thinks in terms of relaxing in the comfort of a tropical resort during the heart of a Midwestern winter. Instead, Father Louis Trzil prefers to take the proverbial roads less traveled -- those leading to the Native American reservations in southern South Dakota. His idea of an enjoyable, productive vacation involves hauling secondhand items into impoverished areas. Father Trzil, 78, has a long tradition of delivering used kitchen stoves, refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, bicycles and other items to reservations along U.S. Highway 18. An outdoorsman at heart, the pastor of the clustered parishes of St. Ann-St. Joseph in Harpers Ferry, St. Pius in Cherry Mound, and Immaculate Conception in Wexford hasn't taken part in his favorite pastimes of hunting and fishing for about 10 years, choosing instead to haul and deliver.

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