The community is invited to learn more about the people of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands during the next Cultural Thursday event at noon on October 7 at Central Lakes College. The presentation will be delivered live through Zoom. Attendees are invited to watch in the Chalberg Theatre on the Brainerd campus or remotely. Please pre-register for the Zoom webinar and the webinar link will be e-mailed to you: https://tinyurl.com/2x3k76j2.
The presenter is John Fanestil, Executive Director of Via International, a binational non-profit organization working on both sides of the border in San Diego and Tijuana. As part of his work with Via, Fanestil convenes the Friends of Friendship Park, a coalition advocating for public access to the historic meeting place on the U.S.-Mexico border, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. An ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church, Fanestil also leads The Border Church, a weekly celebration of communion at Friendship Park.
Fanestil is a graduate of Dartmouth College; Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar; the Claremont School of Theology; and the University of Southern California, where he earned his Ph.D. in History. He is the author of “Mrs. Hunter’s Happy Death” and “One Life to Give”.