GREENFIELD — The Rev. John Williams, a Marine Corps veteran and the priest at Blessed Trinity Parish, organized a patriotic walk/run event a year ago to celebrate the American military and those who have served.
After it ended, community members approached him to praise the event and encourage Williams to make it a tradition. Inspired by this, he has organized the second annual Freedom 5K Run/Walk, to be held Sunday, Nov. 8.
“It’s an idea that everyone can get behind. The fall is a great time for 5K races,” Williams said. “Everyone is looking to do something for Veterans Day and looking for the right invitation.”
The event begins at 1 p.m. in the Blessed Sacrament Church parking lot at 14 Beacon St. Anyone interested can register at tinyurl.com/Freedom5KRunWalk in advance, or in person between 11:30 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. on the day of the event. Williams said it is open to “any man or woman of good will.”
“Veterans still need the camaraderie from their fellow veterans, which is what this 5K provides,” he said.
Williams attended the College of William & Mary in Virginia following high school, but dropped out during his junior year in 2002 and enlisted in the Marines, a time that clarified his call to the priesthood.
He was deployed on two combat tours in Fallujah, Iraq, and in his spare time he earned a bachelor’s degree in social sciences from Chapman University in California. He later obtained a master’s degree in philosophical studies from Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and taught in Catholic schools in Maryland and Indiana.
He attended Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary, a Roman Catholic professional and graduate theological institution in Weston for men age 30 and older. He was ordained by Bishop William Byrne at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Springfield on June 21, 2025, and was assigned to Blessed Trinity Parish, where he had previously been a transitional deacon, the step before a seminarian is ordained as a priest.
Like last year, fellow Marine veteran Maria Burge is helping organize the 5K.
“I am really excited about it. We had almost 200 people [last year],” she said.
Burge explained that she served in the Marine Corps for two years during the Vietnam War so she could attend college, which her family could not afford. She said she worked in communications, receiving messages from American personnel overseas and transcribing them for the intended recipient before burning them.
“Believe me, it taught me a lot about how to handle life under pressure,” Burge said of her service.
She mentioned she became energized after seeing “Sheepdog,” an indie film written and directed by Greenfield resident Steven Grayhm. It tells the story of a U.S. Army veteran’s journey of personal growth while living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The film was shot primarily in Turners Falls and Greenfield, with the cast and crew made up of locals, including 17 military veterans as extras.
Burge said she is now particularly passionate about raising awareness about PTSD’s effects on an individual’s next of kin.
Craft fair and bake sale
The Blessed Trinity Rosary Society has scheduled a craft fair and bake sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8, in the Father Casey Hall of Holy Trinity Church at 135 Main St.
