Elmhurst Troop Honors Two Eagle Scouts

Immaculate Conception Church of Elmhurst, Illinois is honored to share the news that two of their outstanding Boy Scouts, Maxwell “Toa” Hofflich and Nathaniel “Nate” Gelsomino, from Troop 77 earned the honor of Eagle Scout earlier this month. A spectacular sunset served as the backdrop for their outdoor ceremony along the waterfront at Churchill Woods pavilion on Saturday, November 7th, 2020. Father James Corona-Bernal gave the blessing and witnessed the family and friends gathered to celebrate the boys with speeches and video montages of their 17 years. Mentors and parents shared how much scouting and the families of Troop 77 had helped their boys thrive in the outdoors through activities like camping and this was in turn something that helped them to find their path as responsible young men.

Eagle Scout is the highest rank that the Boy Scouts of America offers and both Toa and Nate have demonstrated a high degree of integrity, honor, and service to their community. Assistant Scoutmaster, Patrick Heflin, remarked, “I am proud of the way you’ve led Troop 77. [Do] not overlook your achievements, your learning and relationships made. Carry them forward as you continue to “do a good turn daily.” Both received an engraved knife as a continuation of the tradition started by Art “Doc” Casso – the Scoutmaster for Troop 77 for several decades. Both scouts recall “Doc” fondly and hope that the tight-knit troop keeps the tradition of camping year-round.

Max “Toa” is currently a senior at York Community High School where he serves on Student Council, Elmhurst Police Department’s Peer Jury Program, and played on the varsity football and wrestling team. He also loves to play rugby, a game he learned to play when living in New Zealand. He was a member of the local Elmhurst Rugby team and went on to play at a national rugby tournament between sophomore and junior year. Toa has an exemplary academic record and has taken advantage of interesting classes like woodworking along with a rigorous academic load. He loves the wilderness and still recalls his first Boundary Waters canoe adventure with Troop 77 between 6th and 7th grade. He took his father back up there last summer for a father/son canoe trip – something both remember fondly. For his eagle project, Toa gave out school supplies to 75 lower income families living within District 205 boundaries. To do this, he teamed up with the Elmhurst Yorkfield Food Pantry (eyfp.org), a charity he had volunteered for in the past, and created an online fundraising page and then purchased all the required school supplies for Elmhurst schools. He then supervised scouts and trained them so they could call pantry clients to offer their children free school supplies. Toa led the scouts as they assembled the 75 backpacks and delivered them to grateful families just in time for the start of the 2018-19 school year.

Nate Gelsomino is currently a senior at Marmion Military Academy which means that he commutes every school day to Aurora. He enjoys being a leader on their JROTC drill team where he competed in and won awards at the Army Junior ROTC nationals two years in a row. Nate was on Team Elmhurst Soccer Club when he was younger and played goalie on Marmion’s championship soccer team. Nate has also excelled academically and just received notice that he won an Army ROTC scholarship to several prestigious universities including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For his eagle project, Nate led an oral history project using the detailed procedure of the Veterans History Project (loc.gov/vets) which is archived at the Library of Congress. He recruited local veterans by connecting with local VFW chapters. Nate traveled to area nursing homes to meet with World War II veterans, a highlight for Nate and the other scouts. He supervised scouts to interview and film each veteran and then filed the paperwork to certify their military service in compliance with the rigorous Veterans History Project protocols. At their Eagle Court of Honor both scouts affirmed their commitment to continue living by scouting principles and to strive to be of service to others whenever possible.