Fathers and sons work side by side on Eagle Scout projects
Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary parishioners Ryne Friederick, left, and his father, Jerry, of Indianapolis begin restoration work on the bronze surface of the 7,000-pound San Salvador bell in the west belfry at the historic Italian church in Indianapolis on May 31. Ryne completed his Eagle Scout project in time for Holy Rosary Parish’s 25th annual Italian Street Festival on June 13-14. (Photo by Mary Ann Wyand)
By Mary Ann Wyand
Fathers and sons and Eagle Scout projects just naturally go together.
Working side by side, fathers teach their teenage sons how to serve others, demonstrate leadership and gain skills with a variety of tools in a timeless rite of passage from one generation to the next.
Italian artist Pietro Annigoni captured this image in his oil painting of St. Joseph teaching a youthful Jesus how to use carpentry tools. The picture, titled “St. Joseph and Christ in the Workshop,” hangs in the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence, Italy.
In recent months, two Catholic Boy Scouts from Indianapolis chose to serve God and the Church with their unique father and son Eagle Scout projects.
Cathedral High School graduate Sam Stapleton of St. Lawrence Parish created a Memorial to the Unborn and outdoor prayer space on the grounds of Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House in Indianapolis.
Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary parishioner Ryne Friederick, a home-schooled student who will be a senior in the fall, helped his parish by restoring the surface of a three-and-a-half ton bell in the historic brick church’s west belfry.
A cross in the woods
For several years, Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House staff members have wanted to build a quiet prayer space among the trees on the archdiocesan retreat center’s 13-acre property.
Eagle Scout Sam Stapleton made their dream a reality.
Sam and his father, Steve Stapleton, built a large wood cross and two wooden benches for a prayer and meditation place in the woods on the east side of the entrance road to the retreat house.
Working with 17 Boy Scouts from Troop #157 last October, Sam organized the clearing of a space in the woods and placement of mulch on the path to the prayer site just south of the landscaped Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima.
The Scouts installed the cross last fall then Sam and his father completed the project with a memorial plaque and two benches in March.
The plaque is titled “Rachel’s Vineyard” and features a Scripture passage from the Old Testament Book of Jeremiah, which reads in part, “In Ramah is heard the sound of moaning, of bitter weeping! Rachel mourns her children, she refuses to be consoled because her children are no more. Thus says the LORD: Cease your cries of mourning, wipe the tears from your eyes. The sorrow you have shown shall have its reward . … There is hope for your future” (Jer 31:15-17).
“My Dad taught me to be handy with tools so I can do some things around the house,” explained Sam, who plans to study science at the University of Dayton in Ohio this fall. “It took about two weekends [of carpentry work] for the cross. That includes sanding and cutting [the wood] then putting it together and in the ground. … My father and I also built the benches, and that took a couple of weekends. We had to order the plaque [for the cross]. My troop and I cleared the area last fall to make the outdoor shrine then mulch was put in for the trail.”
Erecting the cross in Christ’s name was a memorable spiritual experience, Sam said. “The cross was the most personal part of the entire project. Scouting is about leadership, experience and responsibility, but I think this project had another dimension. I guess I would call it spiritual growth. It was one of those things you don’t experience very often. It was very refreshing. I think about how God will work through the cross when people come there. I hope it will bring comfort to a lot of people.”
Steve and Jo Ann Stapleton are proud of their oldest son’s faithfulness to God and to Scouting as well as his hard work.
“Obviously, it makes you feel a sense of pride,” Steve Stapleton said, “to know that your son was involved in helping to make this place just a little bit more special than it already is.”
Servants of the Gospel of Life Sister Diane Carollo, director of the archdiocesan Office for Pro-Life Ministry, said Sam’s Eagle Scout project provides a private setting for women and men to grieve in the aftermath of abortion.
“The stark simplicity of the bare cross nestled among the trees speaks to the hidden pain that post-abortive women and men suffer,” she said. “The empty cross also invites them to join their suffering to the Resurrected Christ, who brings good out of evil and joy out of suffering.”
Father James Farrell, the new full-time director of the archdiocesan retreat house, said “this meditation area built around the image of the cross … reminds us of Christ’s love for us [and] that he surrendered his life for us on the cross.”
Bells toll for God
Installed in 1923, the 7,000-pound bronze San Salvador bell in the west belfry and five smaller bronze bells in the east tower at Holy Rosary Church are rung when the priest consecrates the Eucharist during Mass.
Eighty-five years later, the bronze bells still toll for God with loud peals of joy—most of the time—thanks to the volunteer mechanical work of Holy Rosary parishioner Jerry Friederick and his son, Ryne, who has helped his father with maintenance work in the twin five-story-tall belfries since last October.
This year, Ryne decided to restore the bronze surface of the three-and-a-half ton bell for his Eagle Scout project.
The huge bell cast at the Buckeye Foundry in Cincinnati was blackened by decades of exposure to rain and snow as well as decorated with graffiti courtesy of boys who studied at the former Latin School adjacent to the church.
Ryne, his father and his younger brother, Brett, worked with Our Lady of Lourdes parishioners Vic Brelage and his son, Steve, of Indianapolis, also members of Troop #8, in the cramped belfry to clean the massive bell’s bronze surface and coat it with a protective wax in May and June.
“Parts wear out after nearly 90 years,” Jerry Friederick explained. “They swing and they’re old, and like anything old they are always going to need maintenance of some sort. The chains always need to be lubricated. About every week we have to go up there and check on the six bells.”
Ryne said he likes working on the bells with his father and enjoyed restoring the shine on the San Salvador bell.
The church bells were purchased by the late Father Marino Priori, the founding pastor, with donations from parishioners.
“I think it’s cool to work on the bells,” Ryne said. “You’re up in the air and it’s a unique project. It’s fun to work up there. When I got it approved by the Eagle Scout board of review, they said this is a one-of-a-kind project.”
Msgr. Joseph F. Schaedel, vicar general and pastor of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish, said members of the Italian parish are very proud of the church bells.
He said Holy Rosary parishioners will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the parish in 2009 and the 25th anniversary of the Italian Street Festival on June 13-14.
“We’re one of the few parishes in the city [of Indianapolis] and the archdiocese that has swinging bells,” Msgr. Schaedel said. “I think Ryne’s Eagle Scout project came at precisely the right time. It’s a wonderful gift that Ryne has given the parish for our centennial [celebration].” †
