The Catholic Committee on Scouting held its annual Prayer Service and Emblem Presentation at the Cathedral of the Assumption Jan. 29. Father Jeff Gatlin, chaplain for the committee, presided at the service, and Deacon Dan Bisig, permanent deacon of St. Martha Church, assisted. More than 200 scouts and adult leaders were honored.
Awards were presented to the following:
- Two adult leaders received the Outstanding Service to Catholic Scouting recognition. They are Patrick Hargadon of Annunciation Church in Shelbyville, Ky., and Mark Irwin of Sts. Simon and Jude Church.
- Charlie Hulsman, chairman of the Catholic Committee on Scouting and parishioner of Most Blessed Sacrament Church, received the Golden Ad Altare Dei Emblem. The award is presented by the National Catholic Committee on Scouting and recognizes Hulsman’s long-time contributions to scouting in the archdiocese.
- Troop 243 of St. John Paul II Church received the Pope Paul VI National Quality Unit Award.
- Seven Boy Scouts were recognized for receiving all four Catholic religious emblems — Light of Christ, Parvuli Dei, Ad Altare Dei and Pope Pius XII. They are: Alex McDonald, Andrew Craven, Ryan Early, Chase Pemberton, Evan Sheehy, Jonathan Stuecker and Michael Bremer.
- The Pope Pius XII Emblem for high school age scouts was presented to Boy Scouts in the following units:
Troop 147, Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral in Bardstown, Ky. — Alex McDonald.
Troop 243, St. John Paul II — Andrew Craven of St. Michael Church, Ryan Early, Chase Pemberton of St. Gabriel Church, Zachary Reilly of St. Michael, Evan Sheehy and Jonathan Stuecker of St. Albert the Great Church.
Troop 477, St. Aloysius Church in Pewee Valley, Ky. — Jack Culbertson, Connor Davis, Jack Federico, Collin Kemper, Thomas Kuepshield and Daniel O’Neil.
Troop 4010, St. Anthony of Padua Church in Clarksville, Ind. — Michael Bremer of St. Martin of Tours Church. - Ten scouts received the Ad Altare Dei Awards:
Troop 194, St. Martha — Andrew Weihe.
Troop 306, St. Margaret Mary Church — Jackson Tucker.
Troop 327, St. Albert the Great — Justin Burch, Will Daunhauer, J.T. Evans and Will Recktenwald.
Troop 380, St. Patrick Church — Sean Corman, Preston Prewitt, Parker Shroyer of St. Edward Church and Austin Weaver.
In addition, 53 Cub Scouts received the Parvuli Dei (Children of God Emblem) and 42 Cub Scouts received the Light of Christ Emblems.
They were an active troop, frequently hiking, camping and volunteering — they even visited London, Paris and Adelboden, Switzerland, to meet fellow Girl Scouts at the Girl Scouting World Centers in Europe. All 20 girls of Troop 1161 attained the rank of First Class — the highest rank in Girl Scouting at the time — much in thanks to the encouragement and dedication of Little and Minor.