KC area church group heads home after being stuck in East Coast snowstorm

About 150 people from the Kansas City area who were stranded for 22 hours on the Pennsylvania Turnpike because of the snowstorm were back on the move Sunday and were expected to make it home between 1:30 and 2 a.m. Monday.

The group occupied four buses that traveled to Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life in opposition to the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in 1973. On the way home they got caught in a backup in Somerset County when trucks couldn’t make it up a hill.

Deacon Rick Boyle of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Smithville said by email Sunday afternoon that the group left Bedford, Pa., about 7 a.m. The turnpike was still closed so they had to take U.S. 30 to get around the bottleneck. The group was passing through Columbus, Ohio, when Boyle emailed.

“We’ve conquered DC, PA & WV; bring it on OH nothing’s going to stop us from getting back to the land of the mighty MO,” a member of the group posted Sunday afternoon on the Facebook page.

The group stayed Saturday night as guests of American Legion Post 113 in Bedford, Pa.

“Many - Many Thanks to the American Legion Post in Bedford PA.,” the church’s Facebook page said. “They opened their doors for our four buses, gave full use of their building to house us for the night, fixed and served us a huge banquet of food; spaghetti, pork, ham, scalloped potatoes, other side dishes, even cake for dessert. We held Mass in their hall 6am this morning and enjoyed all the coffee and juice we needed. They Were Amazing. God Bless them, they were angels in our time of need. ‪#AmericanLegion‬ ‪#BedfordP

About two-thirds of those in the traveling group were under age 20.

“What a great group of youth,” another post said. “After everything, they’re still so positive.”

The buses were originally expected to arrive in Blue Springs about 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

This story was originally published January 24, 2016 at 3:14 PM with the headline "KC area church group heads home after being stuck in East Coast snowstorm."