A new award that honors St. John the Evangelist’s outstanding high school graduate was unveiled and awarded at the end of the 5:00 p.m. Mass Sunday, August 12. The John Joseph Ludden Award, named for the late father of our pastor, will now be awarded each year to the graduating senior who has made the most outstanding contribution to the parish and to youth ministry.
“Though very few parishioners knew Fr. John’s father personally, nevertheless, we do know him — through the lasting influence he left on each of his seven children — and especially for our parish, his youngest son, our pastor!” Pastoral Musician and Liturgist Tom Oram explained. “He was both a man of faith and a man of action, and so it is most appropriate that the youth who leave their mark on the parish, through both their words and deeds, be honored with an award bearing his name.”
Bill Maguire, Director of Youth Ministry, presented the plaque, which will bear the names of each year’s winner, to Fr. John.
Martha Oram, former Interim Director of Youth Ministry, presented a plaque to Reed Meyerson, the inaugural winner of the Ludden Award. Reed, the second of three sons to Jeff and Kathleen Meyerson, is a recent graduate of Barron Collier High School. He heads to New College of Florida (in Sarasota), the nation’s preeminent public liberal arts college, this weekend. 
“As a parish, we should be most proud of, and feel most blessed by, a young man of Reed’s caliber,” Tom said.
Some of Reed’s many contributions, include:
- playing bass and piano at the Sunday 5:00 p.m. Mass for two and a half years, even leading the ensemble several times in Tom’s absence;
- repainting the youth room in the Claussen Center with his family. As his Eagle Scout project, he planned and built a loft for that room which provides “hangout space” above and a chapel below;
- participating in numerous parish service projects, including rummage sales, parish beautification days, Relay For Life and beach cleanup; and
- serving two years on the parish Pastoral Council.
“Reed has been a dependable presence at youth ministry events,” Tom concluded. “His intellectual spirit and keen wit are a gift to the Church, and we are confident he will continue to share his God-given talents with his community wherever he goes — but he will be missed!”