_____________ ROCKVILLE CENTRE ____________
HERALD Model ships put on display
South Side seniors are on a roll
Police investigate bank heists
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VOL. 34 NO. 3
JANUARY 12 - 18, 2023
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Benedict is honored by hundreds at St. Agnes By KARINA KOVAC kkovac@liherald.com
Karina Kovac/Herald
HUNDREDS GATHERED AT St. Agnes Cathedral, in Rockville Centre, to pay tribute to Pope Benedict at a memorial Mass.
The scholar of the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI, born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, was exalted by a crowd of hundreds at a memorial Mass at St. Agnes Cathedral on Jan. 6. Known for his love of literature and as a formidable theologian, Benedict died on Dec. 31, at age 95. He was born on April 16, 1927, in Marktl, Bavaria, and lived a complicated life, brought up in Nazi Germany and reigning as Pope during turbulent times in the Catholic Church. He made history as the first pontiff to resign in nearly 600 years. “He was always open with a humility, of intellectual truthfulness, to listen to other people, given to him their reactions, whether they CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Four new Troop 214 Eagle Scouts are ‘prepared for life’ By DANIEL OFFNER doffner@liherald.com
Four members of Boy Scout Troop 214 in Rockville Centre have worked tirelessly this year to join the 4 percent of Boy Scouts in the nation to earn the coveted rank of Eagle Scout. The achievements of Owen Ferreira, Max Fuentes, Timothy Reinholdt and Kieran Woram were recognized during an Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony on Sunday at the Central Synagogue-Beth Emeth. To become Eagle Scouts, they were required to earn a minimum of 21 merit badges, while planning, budgeting, coordinat-
ing and completing a project that benefited the community, using only donated materials. “An Eagle Scout, by the program’s definition, means prepared for life,” BSA Troop 214 Scoutmaster Carmine Giangregorio said. “Persistence and determination — that’s what sets an Eagle apart. Having a goal and completing it through all types of distractions. Persistence to work your way through the ranks from Scout to life and the determination to earn the merit badges that sometimes may not always be the most fun, but which you wear proudly across your chests. That’s what makes an Eagle Scout unique.”
Ferreira is a sophomore at the University of Alabama, where he is studying engineering with a focus on cyber security. He’s also a South Side High School alum and a recipient of the 2018 Scout of the Year Award. For his Eagle Scout project, Ferreira reached out to Covert Elementary School Principal Darren Raymar about creating a “Friendship Bench,” which was designed to help reduce social isolation following the pandemic by providing children with a space where they can speak openly with each other. In addition to constructing the bench, he provided teachers and the Rockville Centre Public
Library with educational materials about the project, so that they could continue to inform students about the purpose of the bench. Fuentes, a freshman at SUNY Oneonta majoring in adolescence education in Earth science, was recently inducted into the Robert Noyce Scholars Program.
He first joined the scouts in 2011 as a Tiger cub with Rockville Centre Pack 31, during which he first learned the importance of following directions — a skill that would help him to hold several leadership positions. He later went on to receive the 2018 Scout of the Year Award and the 50th Anniversary EnvironmenCONTINUED ON PAGE 20