Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts from St. Christine Church will welcome an international symbol of peace to the valley.

The 2020 Peace Light will arrive at JMJ Spiritual Connection in Cornersburg Monday night at 5:30 p.m. at JMJ Spiritual Connection Christian Books, Gifts and Music.

“This is important that we try to share this message many years, obviously with the situation now we feel it’s important to continue our efforts,” Mike Kupec said, leader with the Scouts for almost 40 years.

The project that sends the Peace Light from Bethlehem throughout North America faced a major hurdle this year due to the pandemic. International travel restrictions in the U.S. and Europe prevented the light from being flown to the United States.

Fate had other plans. 

It just so happened that a member of the Scouts organization maintained the 2019 light at his home since last year. Bob Granchie is a member of the Youngstown Diocesan Catholic Committee on Scouting and is the Whispering Pines District Chaplain in Mahoning County. He was able to keep the 29 year tradition alive.

“He felt strongly about maintaining the peace light and fate sometimes has plans that we don’t know about,” Kupec said.

This year, Granchie took the Peace Light he’s kept since 2019 to the Great Trail Council Scout Shop in Stow over the weekend for an outdoor ceremony, before it was shared to other local groups.

Kupec tells 21 News that the Lake Erie Council from Cleveland also traveled to Stow to retrieve the Peace Light.

The Peace Light is a continuous flame that comes from the grotto where the Christ child was born. It’s retrieved from Bethlehem and shared by a young Austrian child so it can make its way throughout Europe by the cooperation of the Austrian Broadcasting Company, Austrian Airlines and the Austrian Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. It was taken to Ground Zero in New York City in 2002.

The light will arrive in Cornersburg for a short outdoor ceremony open to the public at JMJ Spiritual Connection store at 3434 Canfield Rd., Youngstown, Ohio, at 5:30 p.m. Monday. It will be available to the public for anyone who wants to light a candle through Christmas Eve during normal business hours.

An infused peace light candle is suggested to those who want to share peace with loved ones and friends during the holidays that have faced many restrictions amid the pandemic.

Kupec says people are asked to bring a new candle, light it on site for a few minutes, then put out the flame so it can be easily transported home or sent to someone in the mail. The candle is considered to be infused with the original flame.