Trekkers to Host Paul Theroux on July 16th as Part of 20th Anniversary Celebration

ROCKLAND, Maine - Trekkers, a local youth mentoring organization, will welcome travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux to the Midcoast this summer as part of its 20th anniversary event at the Strand Theatre on July 16th. Theroux is most widely recognized for his witty and thought-provoking writing about issues abroad, oftentimes in less traveled destinations such as western Africa and Asia.

In designing the 20th anniversary celebration, Trekkers recognized similarities between its focus on expeditionary learning and travel-based education, and Mr. Theroux’s enthusiasm for travel and cultural exploration. Trekkers’ Executive Director Don Carpenter said of the upcoming event, “This celebratory evening will not only allow Trekkers to bring a nationally known author to the area, it will also give us a chance to introduce the community to what Trekkers is and does. In addition to Mr. Theroux’s talk about the educational value of travel and cultural exploration, we’ll also feature the stories of some of our own students. It will be a wonderful way to showcase the importance of experiential learning.”

Trekkers was founded in 1994 as a volunteer community initiative to reach out to 7th grade students from the town of Thomaston. Twenty years later, Trekkers now works with more than 200 students in grades 7 to