Community Corner

Troop 177 Brings Peace Light to Gloucester Twp.

Boys Scouts from Troop 177 retrieve Peace Light from JFK Airport, in New York, on Monday.

Our Lady of Hope Deacon Bob Foley submitted the following press release to Gloucester Township Patch on Thursday:

Scouts from Troop 177 of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Blackwood traveled to JFK Airport in New York City on Monday to meet a flight from Vienna, Austria. On board were representatives from Austrian Airlines carrying a special gift and message. The message is one of peace on earth and the gift was the Peace Light, a symbol of peace.

For over a thousand years, lamps have been continuously lit in the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Israel. For the last 22 years, a child from upper Austria has lit two blast-proof miner’s lamps from a grotto lamp. The lamps are then carried on an Austrian Airlines jet from Tel Aviv, Israel, to Vienna, Austria, from where the Peace Light is distributed at a Service of Dedication to delegations from across Europe who take it back, with a message of peace, to their own countries. The light is then flown from Vienna to New York City. Scout leaders light their miner’s lamps in New York and spread out across the United States and Canada to share the Peace Light.

Find out what's happening in Gloucester Townshipwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Peace Light will be available at Gloucester Township's third annual Tree Lighting at Lt. Col. Samuel M. Siler Veterans Memorial Park, on Chews Landing Road, Sunday, Dec. 16 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

This is your opportunity to take the Peace Light home with you. Bring an oil lamp or enclosed candle and the Scouts from Troop 177 will share the Peace Light with you.

Find out what's happening in Gloucester Townshipwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

More information is available at the Troop 177 website, the Peace Light website and the Boy Scouts of America Peace Light website.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here