Teen builds grotto, earns Gold Award

NEW BREMEN - Bethany Bertke spent a year walking local fields seeking the stones she needed to build a grotto for the Maria Stein Spiritual Center. The effort included digging, dirty nails, sweat and thoughts of God and the Virgin Mary.

"I started collecting rocks in April of 2006," Bethany, 17, said. "My uncle [Donald Sommer] is into excavating and he got me some of the bigger rocks. I started building last summer. I finished in November and the statue was placed in May."

Bethany created the grotto, which features a statue of the Virgin Mary, as part of her Gold Award project in Girl Scouts. The teen is in Troop 254 under the leadership of Karen Tinnerman and Laura Anderson. The Gold Award is the Girl Scouts' top honor.

"It was a great accomplishment," Bethany said. "It gave me skills I can use as an adult - time management and how the weather can affect it."

The grotto is located along a wooded path at the spiritual center. The 20-foot-wide structure features field stones in shades of pink, green, yellow and bluish gray. The stones catch the light and are reminiscent of a river. There is a bench.

"We looked at different grottos," Bethany said. "I liked the way this one looked. We found one like it in Indiana at Trinity Church. It was really pretty."

Bethany had hoped to place in the grotto a bronze statue of Joseph, Mary and the infant Jesus produced by a Canadian artist. The Nativity, however, cost $5,000 and Bethany was unable to raise enough donations to buy it. Instead, she gave the funds she raised to the spiritual center, which added to it and purchased a statue of Mary made by a South American artisan.

"I love the Mary statue," Bethany said. "It is beautiful. I really liked the other one, though, and because it's bronze it would have lasted forever. If more donations come in we may still be able to get it."

Greg Bornhorst, president of the spiritual center's board of directors, was Bethany's sponsor for the Gold Award, which included studies in a number of topics such a business, sports and basic car maintenance.

Besides the Gold Award, Bethany also earned the Scouts' bronze and silver awards.

Bethany is a recent graduate of New Bremen High School. At the school, she was a member of the National Honor Society with a 3.79 grade-point average and the band program as a percussionist.

She is a member of Holy Redeemer Church's youth group and Venture Crew. She is also a Eucharist server.

"I love volunteering through the church," Bethany said. "I love working with the younger kids at retreats. I like seeing how much they know and teaching them."

Bethany works at Dairy Queen and will begin classes in the fall at The Ohio State University at Lima. She has not yet decided on a major but is mulling over accounting.

She is the daughter of Tim and Mandy Bertke and has a sister, Brianna, 16, and three brothers, Brian, 19, Brent, 14, and Brad, 11.

For fun, Bethany paints, preferring acrylics and landscapes.

"It's relaxing," she said. "I like the smell of the paint."