On February 12th, Van Curt Loveless, a 17-year-old Junior at Pearl River Central High School, will be awarded the rank of Eagle Scout in a ceremony to be held at First United Methodist Church. Loveless, along with Clark Crosby and Korey Kingrey, will have achieved a goal he set out to accomplish from the time he became a Tiger Cub.

He says, “To me, earning the final rank in Boy Scouts is one of the biggest honors I could achieve. I know my journey in my scouting life doesn’t end here because many of the things I have learned, I will use throughout my life.”

His mom, Lisa Loveless says, “Curt joined Scouts in the first grade as a Tiger Cub and he worked his way up each year. He went through the ranks and it got more and more difficult each time. They have to do service projects and he has built houses with Habitat for Humanity, collected food and served dinners to the elderly. It has been a good experience for him.

“I feel in this day and time, the more you can get kids out there to do things and get involved with others in a capacity where they have to step out of themselves and know that the world doesn’t just revolve around them, it is a good thing. If they learn that life is about helping others, it helps them develop character and become a better person.”

Loveless’ project for his badge involved organizing a Christmas party for the Donna Perkins “Praise and Worship Dance Team” which is made up of nine members of mentally challenged people who reside at Bridgeway Apartments.

“I started the project with a fundraiser that we held at last year’s Street Fair with friends and Scouts. This enabled us to buy presents and costume material for new dance outfits for the dance group. I got food donations and did the whole party for them. It was wonderful because they had nowhere to go for Christmas. I really enjoyed shopping for them,” he says.

After he finishes high school, he plans to go to William Carey College and enter their acting program so that he can pursue a career as a Christian actor. He is also interested in some sort of missionary work.

Lisa Loveless says, “Curt is adopted and I have always felt that he is a gift to us from God. A gift to me, a mother who could not have children. I have felt that he is set apart for a special purpose and he will fulfill what he is called to do. He is a wonderful son.

“His dad, Van, and I are proud of him in his desire to be a Christian actor. He has been raised in the church in a family that loves the Lord. Forever the  entertainer, he is always making us laugh. He has really come to know he feels led to be in the arts and develop his talents to use them for the Lord. He has progressed in his acting to the point where he is focusing on the technical aspect of the actors in the movies instead of just watching the movie for enjoyment. We support him and know that he will do wonderful things.”

Curt says, “We are on earth for a purpose and we should fulfill that purpose. I know that my purpose is to do what God calls me to do and whatever that is, I will give him the glory.”