Eagle Scout Clears Trafic At St. Bernard's

LEVITTOWN, NY. — To say the parking lot at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church is complicated would be a bit of an understatement. With entrances used by Nassau County BOCES, CYO basketball players, religious education students, kindergarteners and their parents, parish food pantry participants, people showing up for meetings and, of course, people trying to go to church, the parking lot is an easy place to get lost. Thankfully for parishioners, Levittown Eagle Scout Steven Tiemer put his skills to work this winter, building and installing signs to help people find where they’re going.

The projected was born one day during a meeting with former St. Bernard’s pastor Father Ralph Sommer. Sommer sat Tiemer down, knowing he was looking for a community service project, and suggested putting up some directional signs in the church parking lot. As the duo were discussing the possibility, a serendipitous thing happened.

“At the time I met with Steve to talk about what we could use, we were sitting in the church lobby, and a man walks in and says, "Do you know where the gym is? And Steve looked at me and he said, "Did you just set that up?” Sommer told Patch. “And I'm like, ‘No, this is what we live with.’ It was a great moment because I didn't know someone was going to stop asking for the gym inside the church, it just showed the need for it.”

From there, Sommer, now at St. John The Baptist church in Wading River, said the Eagle Scout was a great hand to have around the church. Not only was he an efficient worker, but he was an effective communicator, too.

“He was very good about working on the design and checking frequently with me so that what we got is what we wanted, and he had, you know, just some mockups of what size the signs would be so you could read it from a moving car, but you didn't want it too big,” Sommer said. “So he matched all of that up, and was able to work with a local sign company who gave him good advice. So part of the eagle thing is to do all the organization and the research and of course, get people to help you put things together. So he did a great job in giving us ongoing progress and then we could give him feedback, and he was really, very flexible in meeting our needs.”

In addition to the parking lot signs, Sommer said Tiemer added an extra sign in front of the church, with some landscaping around it, going above and beyond the scope of his Eagle Scout project.

(Credit: Fr. Ralph Sommer) Steven Tiemer (third from right) built an extra sign at St. Bernard's Catholic Church, in addition to the signs he built for his Eagle Scout project.

Tiemer’s work didn’t just catch the eye of lost motorists at St. Bernard’s, either. Earlier this month, it was announced that Tiemer had been awarded a proclamation by New York State Senator Steve Rhoads.

“Steven’s Eagle Scout project made a lasting impact on St. Bernard’s Church in Levittown,” Rhoads said. “This impressive achievement reflects both his dedication and commitment to improving the community.”