Scout honors grandfather with Eagle project
Troop 2 Boy Scout Gannon Nolan stands beside a bookcase he made for the St. Vincent’s CCU as part of his Eagle Scout project. Also in the photo is Randy Kalka, a Scout parent who helped with Nolan’s project and John Monteleone, a Scout also in Troop 2.
Gannon Nolan had his 91-year-old grandfather in mind it came time to decide upon a suitable project for his Eagle Scout award. A member of Boy Scout Troop 2, which meets at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Nolan said he wanted to honor his grandfather, John Kopp of Lakeside, who passed away in December 2014.
Kopp, a frequent hospital volunteer thr-
oughout his life, had tallied 32,000 volunteer hours serving St. Vincent’s Medical Center, the Mayo Clinic and Sarasota Memorial Hospital. Prior to his death, he served as a receptionist with the St. Vincent’s Medical Center CCU department for six years and was treasurer of the St. Vincent’s Gift Shoppe.
One day when Kopp was volunteering in the CCU he said, “Gannon, most families have nothing to do as they anxiously wait to hear news about their loved ones,” Nolan recalled. “He worried about the families,” he said.
As a tribute to his grandfather and his service to St. Vincent’s, Nolan decided to build a bookcase and compile a directory of things to do and places to go in and around St. Vincent’s Medical Center as his Eagle Scout project. With the help of Scout parent Randy Kalka and several other Troop 2 Scouts, Nolan built a birch bookcase and coordinated the efforts of six troop members to walk to proposed visiting sites. He compiled a directory that includes restaurants, parks, drugstores and St. Vincent’s amenities as well as accurate times to and from the hospital for each location.
“The bookshelf and the directory now sit proudly where his grandfather sat every weekday morning, smiling and helping families with information,” said Marme Kopp, Nolan’s mother.
Nolan, a sophomore at Stanton College Preparatory School, will receive his Eagle Scout award in a special ceremony in early 2017. He is the son of Marme Kopp and Michael Nolan of Avondale.
By Marcia Hodgson
Resident Community News
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