St. Cecilia Boy Scout Troop 290 held an Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony on Saturday, recognizing four new Eagle Scouts.
The new Eagle Scouts are Ethan Keeley, Cole Welsh, John Clark and Ryan Brady.
Among those in attendance were the Rev. Chris Walsh, pastor at St. Cecilia, who delivered the invocation; Charles Kuhar, of the Knights of Columbus; Ethan Seletsky, chief of staff to state Sen. Jim Dillon; Linda Gaynor, an aide to City Councilman Brian O’Neill; and Jim Cantz, commander of the Cpl. John Loudenslager American Legion Post.
The Eagle Scouts received Good Citizenship awards from the Marine Corps League and Loudenslager; framed citations from O’Neill; citations from Dillon and state Rep. Kevin Boyle; and gifts from the Knights of Columbus.
Keeley, a graduate of Swenson Arts and Technology High School, built pathways at Cranaleith Spiritual Center as part of his Eagle Scout project. He works at Swenson as a food assistant and remains an adult leader with Troop 290.
Brady provided improvements to Pennypack Environmental Center, 8600 Verree Road. He and Troop 290 members installed new fencing rails, replacing ones that were either missing, broken or fallen down. A 2022 graduate of St. Joseph’s Prep, he just completed his freshman year at Temple where he majors in mechanical engineering and is a coxswain on the crew team. He was part of a boat that finished second in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship.
Welsh and Clark created a 30-by-30 memorial grove at the Police Training Center, 2838 Woodhaven Road, to memorialize members of the police Training and Education Services Bureau. Their fathers, Greg Welsh and Steve Clark, are members of the police department.
Welsh, a 2022 Father Judge graduate, just completed his freshman year at La Salle. He plans to study political science or criminal justice.
Clark, who graduated from Judge earlier this month, was part of the PIAA Class 6A championship baseball team. He was the only student in the United States this year to be accepted to all five service academies: the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine. He will report to the Air Force Academy on June 28, and plans to major in aerospace engineering.
Trooop 290’s Scoutmaster is Chris Hirst. Since 1949, Troop 290 has had 116 Eagle Scouts.
A reception followed the ceremony, with hoagies, cookies and pound cake. ••
