歪歪漫画

A recent Park Rapids Area High 歪歪漫画 graduate was the first member of an all-girl Scouting America troop to become an Eagle Scout.

Cate Worner received the Eagle Scout Award on Aug. 8, 2024. In addition, she was named the Scout of the Year at both Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 1260 in Bemidji and District 9, and has been submitted as a candidate for the same award at the state level.

For her project, Worner built four wooden boxes and placed them around the Bemidji area to collect American flags that need to be retired. She then held flag retirement ceremonies last summer, collected the brass grommets from the ashes and handed them out to Armed Forces veterans in honor of their service.

鈥淚鈥檝e been around Scouting my whole life,鈥� said Worner. 鈥淢y mom was Cubmaster for my brother, since he was young, and as my brother grew older, my mom was then scoutmaster.鈥�

Contributed / Greg Worner

Those experiences surrounded Pack 174 and Troop 174 in Wayne, Nebraska.

In 2017, the family moved to Park Rapids, and in 2021, Cate took advantage of the opportunity to join Troop 4080 in Bemidji, and her mom, Tami Worner, became the scoutmaster there as well.

Scouting runs strong in Worner鈥檚 family. Her maternal grandfather, John Barton, worked for Scouting for 30 years and served as activities director at Camp Wilderness during the 1960s. Tami鈥檚 sisters lived in cabins at the camp as toddlers during that time.

Her other grandpa, Jim Worner, was a scout in Fergus Falls, and when he was 12 years old in 1953, he helped plant the Baker Grove of pine trees near the main buildings at Camp Wilderness. Later, Jim was the committee chair for Fergus Falls Troop 302 at the time Cat鈥檚 dad, Greg Worner, was a scout.

Eagle Scouts in her family include her uncle, Steve Worner; her cousins, Charlie Worner and Christian Worner; and her brother, John Worner.

鈥淚 pushed to get it because my mom grew up around scouting with her five sisters, and they never got the chance to be in scouting,鈥� said Cate. 鈥淚 wanted to reach Eagle so that they would feel like they also accomplished it, because they have helped me along my journey.鈥�

Greg, a wood shop teacher, said the boxes were dadoed and glued together with no nails.

鈥淚 helped with running the power tools,鈥� he said.

Other scouts pitched in with assembly and painting. Pat Ahmann with Innovative Sign & Graffix, another Eagle Scout, donated the graphics for the boxes. Sherwin Williams gave them a 鈥渞eally good deal on the paint,鈥� Greg said.

Worner said her project has helped a lot of people.

鈥淧eople around the community use it almost daily,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 receive calls from the stores that they鈥檙e placed in, saying that the boxes are full. It鈥檚 a good feeling to know that the people in the community want to honor the veterans and retire their flags properly.鈥�

Worner monitored the number of flags the boxes collected during the first month after she placed them.

鈥淚n the first month, we collected 193 flags that were in desperate need of retirement,鈥� said Greg. The Bemidji American Legion held a large-scale flag retirement ceremony last year on Flag Day, using flags collected in Cate鈥檚 boxes. Since then, the VFW has taken over collecting flags from the boxes.

鈥淭hey have actually asked me to build them an additional four boxes,鈥� said Greg. 鈥淚鈥檓 using Cate鈥檚 plans from the ones we did.鈥�

Cate also led scouts in flag retirement ceremonies last summer at Camp Wilderness, she said.

Contributed / Greg Worner

It all started when Cate gave a coworker a grommet from a flag retirement ceremony, knowing he had served in the military.

鈥淓very time I see him, he talks about how he got the grommet and that he is so proud to have someone who appreciates him and recognizes the things he does,鈥� she said.

Cate said her project grew out of the realization that many military veterans don鈥檛 get the recognition they deserve for their service to the country.

Every week last summer at camp, a veteran in the audience helped hold the large flag used to start the flag retirement ceremony, then led in a salute while the flag disappeared in flame.

Contributed / Greg Worner

Cate also edited the script for the ceremony to make it work well for the scouts, Greg said.

鈥淚 think it was good,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ecause just about every week, there were people who had military family members who were quietly crying."

鈥淲e told the scouts about the tradition of giving the grommets from flags that had been retired with honor you our military veterans, and Cate said, 鈥業f you want grommets, come find me.鈥欌��

After the fire burned out, he said, they sifted the ashes for the grommets, and every scout knew someone who needed a grommet.

鈥淲e did about 225 flags,鈥� he said, 鈥渟o we鈥檙e talking about 450 grommets. We gave out a lot of grommets so the scouts could take them home and give them to family members or members of their community.

鈥淰eterans appreciate being noticed, appreciate being appreciated and being acknowledged for what they did. And that, I think, is a huge part of this. We鈥檙e getting fewer and fewer veterans, and it鈥檚 important to remember their sacrifice.鈥�

In addition to being an Eagle Scout, Worner is a Scouts-trained lifeguard who serves in that role at Camp Wilderness, and she volunteers at the Park Rapids Area Library.

Both father and daughter are thrilled about Cate鈥檚 Eagle award.

Robin Fish / Enterprise

鈥淚鈥檓 very proud that she got it done as quickly as she did,鈥� Greg said. 鈥淪he started late, because girls weren鈥檛 allowed to join what was then called Boy Scouts, which is now called Scouting America.鈥�

Considering how important scouting was to both of her grandparents, Greg added, 鈥淚鈥檓 proud that she wanted to join scouting and be as successful as she has been. I鈥檓 very proud of the effort Cate put in.鈥�

He added that Cate formed close relationships through scouting, and being an Eagle Scout opens doors 鈥� as his son, John, found out while applying for jobs after college.

鈥淧eople know you are a leader, you can persevere and get everything done and accomplish something important,鈥� he said.

Contributed / Greg Worner