Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts in the Diocese of Nashville who have earned religious emblems and their adult leaders were honored at a recent Mass with Bishop J. Mark Spalding.
Fifty of the more than 160 Scouts who earned the emblems were on hand to receive them at the Mass celebrated by Bishop Spalding and concelebrated by Father Pat Kibby, pastor of St. Stephen Catholic Community, and Father Dan Steiner, pastor of Holy Rosary Church, and assisted by Deacon Dominick Azzara of Immaculate Conception Church in Clarksville.
The God is Love emblem is awarded to students in kindergarten or first grade with six girls receiving this emblem: Sarah Ellers, Natalia McCullers, Maggie Pryor, Abigail Stephens, Haven Wymer and Gabriella Kolsnyk.
The next group of Girl Scouts were awarded the Family of God Emblem, which is for students in the second and third grades: Sophia Ambarian, Madeline Baker, Aurora Brookman and Sydney Dean.
Girl Scouts in grades four and five receive the I Live my Faith emblem, and two girls were presented this emblem: Emma Cambrian and Kathleen Jurewicz.
The Marian Medal is presented to girls in the 6th through 10th grades, and there was one recipient: Alyssa White.
The Spirit Alive award is for 11th and 12th graders, and there were two presented: Christina LaPorte and Madeleine McDaniel.
Ivy Adams was recognized for having achieved the Girl Scout Gold Award in 2019.
Boy Scouts’ awards begin with the Light of Christ, which is awarded to first and second grade students. Ten were honored for earning this award during the ceremony: Jacob Bell, Zachary Lange, Brandon Schulenberg, Benjamin Berry, Jessica Cadle, Jack Hutchings, Noah Lange, Wyatt Lange, Anthony Lovett and Frank M. Sokol.
The Parvuli Dei emblem is awarded to Scouts in the third through fifth grades, and eight Scouts were honored: Noah Lange, Wyatt Lange, Benjamin Berry, Dominic Farone, Jack Hutchings, Vance Hutchings, Daniel Lovett and Stas McConkey.
Next up on the ceremony stand were those Scouts that earned the Ad Altare Dei emblem, presented to youth in the 7th through 12th grade. Eight Scouts completed requirements for presentation of the Ad Altare Dei emblem: Lance Best, Samuel Hutto, Benjamin Francis Elliott Lavell, Benjamin Maxwell, Stephen Meier, Matthew Solarz, Jack Sudderth and Will Sudderth.
The Pope Pius XII emblem is presented to those Scouts that have previously been awarded the Ad Altare Dei emblem but are still in high school. One Scout was presented this award during the ceremony: Truman James McDaniel.
The highest rank in Boy Scouts is the Eagle Rank, which is presented to approximately 4 percent of young men involved in Scouting. Five Scouts were recognized for attaining the rank of Eagle Scout: Daniel Farone, John “Jack” Alexander Kaley, Benjamin Francis Elliott Lavell, Truman James McDaniel and Jaylen Sturgeon.
A necessary part of the Scouting program is the adult leaders that provide the example of their faith and belief in God and their life skill of leadership. Without these women and men willing to devote their time, talent and treasure, the list of Scouts earring the religious emblems would be woefully short, so it is because of their commitment there are awards for the adults also.
Nine men and women were awarded the Bronze Pelican for their contribution to the development of Catholic youth in the program of the Boy Scouts of America: Sebastian R. Bell, Mary-Claire Bryan, Mark Cole, Harry Fisk, Mary Haynes, Megan Hutchings, Brandi Laporte, Dan Maxwell and Stephanie McDaniel.
The next award for adults was the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton emblem, created by the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry, presented to seven men and women: Deacon Dominick D. Azzara, Paul E. Bell, W. Harvey Carter, Jim Guschke, Mary Haynes, Terry Luckett and Stephanie McDaniel.
The St. Anne emblem was created by the National Catholic Committee on Scouting to honor the outstanding service of adults contributing to the spiritual of Catholic members of organizations for girls. Five adults were presented the St. Anne emblem: Deacon Dominick D. Azzara, Paul E. Bell, W. Harvey Carter, Jim Guschke and Terry Luckett.
The final emblem presented was the St. George recognizing the recipients’ outstanding contributions to the spiritual development of Catholic youth in Boy Scouts. Those honored were: Jim Guschke, Jasen Ingram, Dave Lavell and Terry Luckett.
