WALK OF LOVE ST. MARTIN WALK HELD.

Byline: Daily News

QUARTZ HILL - A Roman soldier on a white horse led dozens of children holding handmade lanterns through Quartz Hill in celebration of a German tradition of remembering a saint known for his kindness to the poor.

The St. Martin walk was organized by Kern Kinder, an organization that provides support to families that are raising their children bilingual in German and English.

The walk commemorated St. Martin of Tours, born in the fourth century and forced at a young age to join the Roman army. In Germany, children make their own lanterns and, at dark, walk through the streets singing. In some areas, the children go door to door and are rewarded for their singing and creative lanterns with sweets.

The walks often begin with a re-enactment of Martin's first recorded act of kindness: One bitterly cold evening, he encountered a beggar. Martin cut his army cloak in two and gave the beggar half.

Kern Kinder's walk Nov. 12 started and ended at Resurrection Lutheran Church. Brian Learn portrayed St. Martin, riding a horse named Casper provided by Rainbow Ridge Ranch. Chuck Weatherwax portrayed the beggar who received half the cloak.

Kern Kinder organizes festivals throughout the year where children can use the German language, has a play group that meets Mondays at parks in Lancaster and Palmdale, and is planning to open a weekend German school next year, president Alexia Svejda said.

The organization has 38 member families with more than 60 children, some from as far away as Thousand Oaks and Bakersfield. The Monday play group has 12 active mothers and as many children.

Leaders plan to open a satellite school of the German American School Association in Quartz Hill in September 2006. The classes will meet Saturday mornings during the school year.

Svejda said children attend these classes for a number of reasons: to reinforce the language they are learning at home, to keep up with the language that they learned while their parents were working or stationed in a German-speaking country, to learn the language of their heritage, or simply to have the benefits of learning an additional language.

For more information about Kern Kinder or the German school, contact Svejda at kernkinder(at)earthlink.net.

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(1 -- 2) Brian Learn, above, as St. Martin cuts his cloak in half during the St. Martin walk at Kern Kinder in Quartz Hill. At left, children display the colorful lanterns they made for the event.