PORTAGE – October is the Month of the Holy Rosary, and students at Nativity of Our Savior School wasted no time celebrating by praying an All-School Rosary at the parish’s grotto on Oct.1.
Youngsters from each grade level took the lead to pray a decade of the Luminous Mysteries aloud as Jason Yurechko, parish director of religious formation, held aloft a set of large rosary beads for all 185 students to follow.
“We usually kick off the month of October by gathering for a Rosary, and this year we have several other reasons for having this event,” said Father Kevin McCarthy, Nativity pastor and a mentor to the schoolchildren. “We will celebrate Respect Life Sunday on Oct. 6 and October is Respect Life Month, too.
“I’ve been working with the third and fourth graders to teach them the Luminous Mysteries, so we will pray the Rosary using them,” added Father McCarthy. “Also, one of our parishioners, Lucy Rutkowski, created a wonderful Walking Rosary Path as her Girl Scout Gold Award project, so we wanted the children to walk that path as they pray the Rosary outdoors on this beautiful day.”
A junior at Chesterton High School and the daughter of Shawn and Karen Rutkowski, Lucy is a member of Chesterton Girl Scout Troop 30410, and in striving to earn the Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouting, she chose the walking path as her service project.
“I wanted to do something for the church, and when Father McCarthy and I discussed options, we agreed this project would be a good plan because the parish has wanted a Walking Rosary Path,” explained Rutkowski, who is also on the school newspaper staff and takes dance classes.
“At the beginning of last November we cleared out the woods, creating the initial path,” said Rutkowski. “In the spring, we unexpectedly ran into a drainage problem that required significantly more cost and labor than I had originally anticipated.”
Rutkowski, who raised all the funding for the project, reached out to some businesses and donors to help with the extra expense, and then poured concrete, attached the large wooden crosses and chain, “and added the final touches that were needed,” she explained. “There was a lot of help that was needed, and I would like to thank the Knights of Columbus, Home Depot in Valparaiso and Merrillville, Sherwin Williams in Portage, Clark’s Landscape Center in Valparaiso, Justin’s Tree Service in Burns Harbor, parishioners and friends who donated funds and materials.”
Rutkowski also expressed appreciation for the labor provided by parish maintenance chief Cliff Hayes, Connie Jadrnak (a volunteer Garden Angel), friends and family and Boy Scout Troop 998 from St. Patrick in Chesterton, including her two older brothers, Benjamin and Jacob, both Eagle Scouts.
“Finally, I’d like to thank Father McCarthy for donating the bench from his yard for the path, as well as his support for the path,” she added, “and I hope it will become part of their prayer routine.”
Rutkowski, who compiled a slide show about her project, has been approved for the Gold Award, which reflects a high school Scout’s service to her community through a special project or program. She will receive it during a ceremony in spring of 2025.
Caption: Lucy Rutkowski, a junior at Chesterton High School, stands at the entrance to the Walking Rosary Path that she created behind the grotto on the campus of Nativity of Our Savior in Portage, her home parish, on the day it was dedicated last May. She completed the project as part of her requirements to earn the Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouting. (Provided photo)