11 August 2009
Ben Petrzilka Leaves Big Shoes to Fill
Posted by admin under: recognition .
Liz Dorland at Action 3 News in Omaha, Nebraska reports on a memorial for one of the young men who lost his life at Little Sioux camp last year. The effort will raise money for several causes.
Omaha, NE: Gone but not forgotten. Boy Scout Ben Petrzilka died at Little Sioux Boy Scout Ranch. A boy always on a mission to spot “Our Soles” he forever touched the hearts of his family and friends.
[B]efore Ben Petrzilka died in the Little Sioux tornado, he always noticed abadoned shoes laying in the middle of the road and felt there was a story behind them. An idea that inspired a book. Ben’s mother, Arnelle says the book began as a healing exercise, “We thought the kids needed something to do to kinda get their feelings out so they wrote these stories at school and turned them in as a project.” It turned into much more.
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Ben’s mom says “Our Soles” began as a healing project after Ben died, but it became more because of his friends for the grieving mother. “They were a big part of me healing and hopefully I was a part of them healing,” she says. For Arnelle being around Bens’ friends kept his memory alive. “Sometimes you’d hear them say something in school and that would trigger a memory so that’s hard but it’s also awesome in the same way because I am seeing them growing and maturing and healing, that’s good to do,” she says.
Not only did all of Ben’s classmates write a story for the book but even Ben’s parents wrote a story about his scouting boots and their journey home. Boots that Arnelle loves. She says, “If I’m having a bad day I wear them. I just know he’s had his feet in them and it’s part of him. And they’re a little bit big on me so it reminds me that he was growing. I just feel like he’s there in them.”
In his boots and in a classroom, Bens’ classmates know as they prepare to take the next step to high school, Ben Petrzilka will be right beside them.
“Our Soles” was released just this weekend. The cost $20. You can get it at Flowerama at 142nd and Pacific Street or at the Boy Scouts Of America Mid-America Council Shop at 124th and Maple. Proceeds benefit several causes including Mary Our Queen School.
- Memorial Request For Boy Scout Tornado Victims
- Tornado Scouts Receive Medals
- Rebuilding After the Tornado
- Little Sioux Official Reopen Date Set
- Randy Pausch on Boy Scouts
