Youth renovates social room at Uniontown church for Eagle Scout project
Nicholas Morgan, of Smock, recently renovated the social room at St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church in Uniontown for his Eagle Scout project. The church uses the room for monthly socials after Sunday worship. Nicholas said, “I’ve been a member of this church my whole life. It feels good to give back any way I can.’’
Nicholas Morgan, of Smock, recently renovated the social room at St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church in Uniontown for his Eagle Scout project. The church uses the room for monthly socials after Sunday worship. The renovations included new kitchen cabinets and a refrigerator as well as flooring and tables. The Rev. Ronald Larko, pastor, said, "He's a very good young man, an asset to our parish.''
Nicholas Morgan, of Smock, recently renovated the social room at St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church in Uniontown for his Eagle Scout project. The church uses the room for monthly socials after Sunday worship. The renovations included new kitchen cabinets and a refrigerator as well as flooring and tables. The Rev. Ronald Larko, pastor, said, "He's a very good young man, an asset to our parish.''
Nicholas Morgan, of Smock, recently renovated the social room at St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church in Uniontown for his Eagle Scout project. The church uses the room for monthly socials after Sunday worship. The renovations included new kitchen cabinets and a refrigerator as well as flooring and tables. Nicholas said, “I’ve been a member of this church my whole life. It feels good to give back any way I can.’’
The monthly socials at St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church in Uniontown are more comfortable and inviting thanks to a Smock youth who renovated the room as an Eagle Scout project.
“I wanted to make it look nice and easier for the people doing the socials,” said Nicholas Morgan, 18, of Smock, son of Robert and Nadine Morgan, and a parishioner of the church.
Nadine, who is a member of the social committee, explained, “Every month, we celebrate all the birthdays with coffee and doughnuts and cookies. But it’s not just for the people having the birthdays. Everybody is welcome to come over. It’s a way for people who go to church to get to know each other and socialize.”
These monthly socials are held Sunday mornings after worship, in the old kindergarten classroom of the former school that’s next door to the church, located at 185 E. Main St.
But it wasn’t easy for the social committee.
“We had to deal with a small, old, tub sink, and the breakers would blow if we had a coffee pot and a teapot going at the same time,” Nadine said.
Nicholas, a 2017 graduate of Uniontown Area High School who is now a freshman at Drexel University in Philadelphia majoring in computer engineering, decided to help.
No stranger to service, Nicholas is an altar server at St. John’s and has been in Scouting since he joined the Cub Scouts in first grade.
For this project, Nicholas started making plans in summer 2016. He began buying materials in January and then started work.
Nicholas cleaned the room of old items, such as a teacher’s desk that the social committee used to cover with a tablecloth. This made the room more open and capable of holding more people.
He did electrical work that included adding new outlets as well as repainting the heaters.
Renovations also included installing new flooring after a professional came in to remove asbestos tile that was underneath old carpeting.
The kitchen area was made nicer as Nicholas bought new cabinets with 12-foot counter tops. He sanded, stained and varnished the cabinets as well as installing them.
New tables replaced folding ones. Robert said the metal chairs in the room were different colors so they were painted the same. There are also padded and wooden chairs in the room.
New curtains were added, and a bulletin board decorated with parish events completed the room.
Throughout the project, Nicholas received help but shouldered the responsibility.
“I’m proud of him. He did a lot of work,” said Robert, pointing out his son’s attention to detail included putting pads on chair legs so they won’t scratch the floor.
“I learned a little bit of everything — electrical work, some plumbing and carpentry, many things,” said Nicholas.
“And how to spend money wisely,” said Nadine, noting Nicholas had enough money left to purchase a new refrigerator for the room. “I’m very proud of him.”
The project cost about $6,000, with donations coming from the Rev. Ronald P. Larko, parishioners, church organizations, Hartsek Contracting, Home Depot, friends and family.
The renovations were planned around the church schedule as socials for Easter in April and Mother’s Day in May and Father’s Day in June are held in the larger social hall, which seats about 500 people. In contrast, the social room seats about 35 but has room for more.
The project helped Nicholas become an Eagle Scout, a prestigious honor and the highest rank available to Boy Scouts. He is a member of Troop 608 that meets at Third Presbyterian Church in Uniontown, and he has 40 merit badges.
“I’m happy with the way it turned out and how everyone feels about it,” said Nicholas, who hosted his own social in the room in late August to thank the parish for its support. “I wanted to make them proud.”
Larko commended Nicholas on his work, saying, “It’s fantastic that he did this. He saw a need in our parish and revamped the room. It’s beautiful — all the detail put into it.”
Larko also said of Nicholas, “He’s a very good young man, an asset to our parish.”
Nicholas underwent a project evaluation that led to his Eagle Scout Court of Honor Ceremony, held at Third Presbyterian on Aug. 12.
In his speech at the ceremony, Nicholas said he was honored because he knew a lot of good people who were Eagle Scouts.
Robert said, “An Eagle Scout is something that will follow him the rest of his days and will help him with challenges in life, like being prepared and having a good work ethic. Nicholas never once complained and was always ready to get things done.”
Nicholas said, “I’ve been a member of this church my whole life. It feels good to give back any way I can.”