Local teen Michael Leggerie makes Eagle Scout

Pastor Mary Konopka of Redemption Lutheran Church led the congregation through a quick service, including the singing of a hymn, before dismissing them. It was Sunday, April 15 and Boy Scout Troop 100 was setting up the church, located at the intersection of Rhawn and Bustleton Avenues, for Michael Leggerie II’s Eagle Court of Honor.

Most of the congregation remained for the 16-year-old’s ceremony, moving up to the front pews. At the center of those present was Leggerie’s mother, 12-year Juniata Park resident Judy Nicholls-Leggerie, doling out hugs and kisses and thanks for coming.

Soon a trumpet was sounded by Leggerie’s brother Benjamin, 15, and Scoutmaster Vince Serianni called for Troop 100 to carry in the flags and take their seats in the front row. Carmella "Millie" Cappetti, mother of two of Leggerie's fellow Boy Scouts, delivered her “Trail of the Eagle” speech. Troop 100's Alex Olsen, who recently made Eagle Scout, followed Cappetti with a speech about the importance of becoming an Eagle.

To become an Eagle, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts organization, one has to complete 21 merit badges, serving in one or more leadership positions, and complete a service project benefitting some group other than the Boy Scouts. Leggerie, a sophomore at Philadelphia’s Girard Academic Music Program, completed 35 merit badges before making Eagle. He served as Patrol Leader, Assistant Patrol Leader and Den Chief within Troop 100. For his service project, he operated the Kids Zone when Troop 100 volunteered with the American Heart Association's Heart Walk. Leggerie and his mother arrived at the walk before dawn to set up for the walk with the rest of the troop.

After Olsen’s speech, Leggerie’s parents, Nicholls-Leggerie and Michael Leggerie I, and his maternal grandparents, Richard and Jean Nicholls, were escorted by members of Troop 100 to the front of the church. They watched with smiles on their faces as Michael lit a candle signifying his rise to Eagle, and then his mother and father were asked to place Leggerie’s Eagle pin on the right side of his olive green Scouting uniform.

Leggerie placed an Eagle Mom pin on his mother’s ruffled black blouse before he was asked, along with all other Eagles present, to take the Scouting oath.

When given the chance to make his remarks, Leggerie said, "What's most important to me is what I learned. I learned so much about leadership."

Leggerie told The Juniata News after the ceremony that he hopes to carry these leadership skills through college, where he hopes to study mathematics and music, and into a career as a college professor.

During the ceremony, Leggerie thanked family and friends who had helped him on his journey to Eagle Scout. He had a mentor pin to give away and it was his grandfather, Richard Nicholls, whom he called forward for this honor.

Serianni read two of Leggerie’s many letters of congratulations – these were from President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden – and made some final statements before Pastor Konopka read the benediction and Troop 100 retired the flags.

Attendees were asked to join Leggerie and his family in the church’s basement for food and fun.

In honor of his achievement, Leggerie and his mother have been asked to join Rep. John Taylor in his office on the night of Tuesday, April 24.

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This story ran in today's issue of The Juniata News.

PRH: Breaking Grounds

The sun shone bright on the afternoon of November 1, All Saints Day and the day of the groundbreaking ceremony for the field house being built on the site of the McNichol Athletic Field on Moore Street between 25^th and 26^th Streets. Cheerleaders from Saints Neumann-Goretti High School stood in two rows facing each other, black and gold pom-poms in hand, to welcome guests to the field used by the school’s football and baseball teams. Nearly 100 alumni and friends turned out.

Once the crowd had assembled, the football and baseball teams and the cheerleaders gathered behind the podium set up on the southeast corner of the field. After John Murawski, the school’s president, led a prayer service, he spoke about the meaning of the field house that would be built on the site of the old Saint John Neumann school, which is now a senior citizens housing facility.

“God approves of recreation for the relaxation of the mind and the exercise of the body to foster mental, physical and spiritual well-being,” Murawski said.

In the early 1980s, the McNichol family, who used to run a trucking company, donated the land to the Saint John Neumann High School. Since the 2004 merging of Neumann, founded in 1934, and Saint Maria Goretti High School, established in 1955, the high schools have retained use of the field, although the athletes have had no where to change and shower. The Development staff at Neumann-Goretti wrote a grant and, in 2005, received a Department of Community and Economic Development grant in the amount of $250,000.

John Wagner, class of 1974, works in Health Care Services, the division of the Archdiocese that now owns the property where the field house will be built. While the school owns the field, but “so as to not take away from the field space we requested that Health Care Services allow us to build on their property,” Murawski said in a follow-up interview. Joe Sweeney, Secretary for Health Care Services, and Susanne Lurato O'Grady from Health Care Services were also instrumental in the process. “The largest contributor to moving this process along was Hank Clinton, class of 1971,” Murawski said. “Hank worked tirelessly to push all of the architectural through zoning properly, met with architect in the design phase and continues to oversee the legal aspects of building the field house.”

The field house represents the continued fulfillment of the Neumann-Goretti community’s commitment to “an unparalleled education for the youth of Philadelphia,” Murawski said. “This addition along with the recent additions of two new science labs, a media center, the City's first Nintendo Wii Fitness Lab and the City's first iPad Lab are proof that Neumann-Goretti has made this commitment and that we will continue our strides to offer a top notch Catholic Education here in South Philadelphia.”

The building of a field house, equipped with a coach’s office, a concession stand, a film room, 90 lockers, a storage area and a weight room, shows the 710 students currently enrolled in Neumann-Goretti “that the diocese and the school care enough for them to provide them with a state of the art facility that they will be able to be proud of,” Murawski said. “The students are chomping at the bit to say they were the first team to use the facility and they are all excited to be the first team to hang their championship plaque on the wall.”

Construction on the field house should be completed April 1, 2012 – just in time for baseball season, Murawski said.

This 600-word story appeared on page 92 in the Schoolyard section of Philadelphia RowHome Magazine's February/March/April 2012 issue.

Officers discuss local crime statistics at town hall meeting

On Tuesday, Dec. 13, a town hall meeting was held in Police Service Area 3 of the 26 District to share end-of-the-year statistics.

Captain Michael Cram made his presentation at the meeting held in the basement of the Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church at 701 East Gaul Street, which was attended by Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and Angel Torres of the District Attorney’s office.

The 26 District is a “mid-level district,” Cram said, with between 65,000 and 80,000 residents, and is broken up into three PSA’s. In PSA 3, which extends from Front Street to the Delaware River, homicides are infrequent with only three in the last year.

One of the biggest issues facing PSA 3 is property crime, with 1,400 incidents reported. “It’s amazing the amount of property crimes in this area,” Cram said. 

Property crimes include home burglaries and thefts from auto, and Cram said there has been a spike in robberies in the last month.

“What we find with burglaries, is they’re not just stopping at one – they’re doing two or three,” Cram said. In an effort to stem these problems, Cram and his men “stay on top of the pawn shops,” he said.

Thefts from auto keep area police busy, with over a thousand thefts from auto in the last year, Cram reported. “Keeping valuables hidden doesn’t do any good,” Cram said. The criminals target a block and they’ll break in even for just a few quarters, Cram added.

In the last year, 250 residential burglaries were reported in PSA 3. “They use force and go through the back door or windows,” Cram said. “They’re gonna do it quickly.”

Of the 64 burglars arrested, most are adult residents of PSA 3 and are repeat offenders. “They are generational burglars,” Cram said. 

Addressing the audience’s concerns about recidivism, Cram said, “It’s tough to keep ‘em in.”

Cram turned his attention to Torres from the DA’s office, who said that “Community prosecution has been a huge success” in other areas. When criminals from other communities go to court, residents have shown up in large numbers to get results.

Stolen cars are also an issue. Most of the cars that are stolen are 10 years old or older and they’re not “going to the streets,” Cram said.

In PSA 3, there were 312 quality of life arrests including underage drinking and public intoxication. 

There were 48 drug buyers and 44 sellers arrested in PSA 3 in the last year. “Our prescription narcotics in this neighborhood are bad,” Cram said.

Curfew violations and truancy is down. “I don’t have a lot of juvenile crime,” Cram said.

Cram focused the end of his presentation on ways that the community can help the police do their jobs. With the help of a neighbor, the 26 District was able to take over 2447 Jasper Street, a house that was home to drug dealers and prostitutes. It took 451 radio calls, 183 emails, four arrests and one year to convince the courts that the house was a problem.

“We can’t do those things without the community,” Cram said.

Commissioner Ramsey spoke after Cram finished his presentation. He encouraged the audience to attend hearings if they are the witnesses or victims of a crime, no matter how small. He said he hoped to implement training programs to teach landlords how to operate their businesses. 

Prostitution should be a big item on the agenda, he said. “We gotta get the Johns,” Ramsey said, referring to the men who pay prostitutes for their services.

“I promise you that I’ll do everything I can,” Ramsey said in conclusion.


This story and my photos appeared in today's edition of Star newspaper.