Supreme Council Star Council Award for the 2023 - 2024

 December 12, 2024 was a fun night at St. Paul of Tarsus Council 11689 in Clinton Township.

The night began at 6 p.m. with an Exemplification of Charity, Unity and Fraternity.  Four new members were welcomed into the Order during the ceremony.  The Council has now brought in 13 new members this Fraternal Year and are at 108% for their Membership Growth.

A light dinner was served after the Exemplification.  The Council earned the Supreme Council Star Council Award for the 2023 - 2024 Fraternal Year.  The award, along with several Thank You letters from those helped by the Council, were displayed for those in attendance to view.

The Council business meeting followed dinner.  During the meeting, it was my pleasure to present Grand Knight Vince Ursini with the October Council of the Month Award.  Also in the presentation picture are Council Chaplain Fr. Jim Lopez, District Deputy Dan Nowakowski and Deputy Grand Knight Gary Skarb.

Congratulations to Council 11689.

Paul Thorn

State Deputy Regional Representative 

Detroit Archdiocese East

St. Mary of the Hills Council #13950

ALL ARE WELCOME -- K OF C CHRISMAS PARTY

 

The Knight Shield - December 2024

    The Trunk or Treat Halloween event was fun for all. Again this year, the Council hosted over 100 kids in the North Parking lot of St Paul of Tarsus. Hot dogs and chips were served, hayrides, games and of course lots of trunks. It was great to see Knights embrace the season and go for it with some terrific outfits ! Lot’s more trunks this year as well. Thanks to Art and Mike for organizing the event. Thanks to Kurt, Ray and Ken for preparing and serving the food. Thanks to our Webmaster Ken Dudley for the photos and postings on “spotknights.com.” A special thanks to Ron Marrese who came back to drive the hay wagon. And of course, to all that partook in preparing the “Trunks,” you make it special for the children of our Parish !

    A Memorial Mass for Fallen Knights was held on Nov 3rd at Sacred Heart Seminary. Our Council honored the contributions of Ken Gonko and Tom Murray and provided plaques. Families of both Knights were there to share in the Mass and subsequent breakfast. Thanks to Gary Skarb, our Deputy Grand Knight, for his work coordinating these efforts.

    Ladies of the Knights delivered 42 coats to Erie Elementary School for the annual Coats for Kids program. Katie Lefever at Erie was very thankful for the donation. The kids were excited exclaiming, “That’s amazing,” “So Comfy, “It’s so pretty,” “Thank you.” Thanks to Andrea Ursini and Christine Krause for supporting that activity.

    Sir Knight Phil Kwasny collected exactly 100 retired flags over Veteran’s Weekend for proper disposal. Phil was at every Mass and is one of our Council’s veterans. Thanks to Phil and all our Veterans for your service! 

    Our 4th quarter Corporate Communion this year was a bit earlier than usual. But, thanks to a terrific turn out by our District 1 Color guard, was very memorable. Eight color guards turned out including the District Master, Gene Suchyta and our very own District Marshal Bob Greening. Thank you gentlemen!

    The Respect Life Ministry put on a Baby bottle drive for Compassion Pregnancy center in Clinton Township. This organization provides free of charge medical support including ultrasound screening, infant supplies, counseling and after birth support in our local community. With the generosity of St Paul of Tarsus congregation, the group was able to raise over $12,000 for the organization with the support of our Council Treasurer and spouse, Ray & Lori Coughlin. Thanks also to Ted and Sheri Czarny for support in counting and packaging coins (there were a lot of them)! Congratulations to RLM for such a successful drive!

    The Council is off to a great start with the Charity Poker event at the new venue, Paradise Restaurant and Banquet center in the Target strip mall. Our Council does this Charity Poker support twice a year and is one of our larger fund raisers of the year. Looking forward to a great report on the charity raise for what started out as a strong week. This gaming revenue will be used for various charity activities during the year including; Coats for Kids, Gleaners, For gotten Harvest, Disaster Relief, Right to Life, Cantana Choir.

    The Men’s Group is putting on their 8th annual “Cookies with Santa” program on December 8th this year. Please join in Christmas magic, coloring, prizes and caroling. Bring your children / grandchildren to this fun filled event. And, get your family picture taken with Santa!

    With the holiday’s coming up expect to see the Holiday Meat sales starting up in the Gathering space before Masses in the next few weeks. This is another important fundraiser and one that accumulates substantially over the years to support our local charities.

    It’s been an awesome year of Charity, Unity and Fraternity for our Council. My family will be travelling so that we can all be together for both holidays coming up. There is no better time of the year. On behalf of the Council Officers, I personally would like to wish each one of you a bountiful Thanksgiving and wonderful Christmas season.

God bless our Council and God Bless the Knights of Columbus 

Vivat Jesus! 

Vincent Ursini 

Thanks to all our veterans and thanks for your sacrifice!

 

The Knight Shield - November 2024

    This past October was a productive and fun month for our Council as we continue to grow our membership.

    The Canal Road clean-up was done on a very busy day at the end of September. Our hearty little group got the job done quickly; fortunately, there was not as much trash as usual. Thanks to Greg Csernai and the team.

    An Exemplification of the 1st thru 3rd degrees was held prior to our October General Meeting. We welcomed (5) new members to our Council and (2) new Knights joined from our neighbor St Peter Council. Robert Joyce, Joseph DiBella, Don Kosnik, Roy Wohlsheid, Waleed Emmanuel: Congratulations Gentlemen! Looking forward to working with you. Thanks again to our exemplification team led by Tom Gray. And thanks to Father Jim who assisted as well.

    Our Worthy membership director Phil Mularski recommended we attempt a Living Rosary for the Fall Fatima Rosary back at our August general meeting. I initially thought that it would be difficult to pull off in a short period of time. But our Church Director Tom Pardo got on board and of course our District 1 color guard came to our assistance. With further direction form Deacon Marc, the planning got done quickly. At that point, the task was getting the word out. We needed 60+ volunteers to form the Living Rosary and campaign we did. JFK council came in to fill our Audio need, Wally Papciak brought the equipment and set it up on the lawn allowing all to hear each individual speak up. The good Lord smiled on us with a beautiful morning and lo and behold, 70+ people showed up to show our Catholic faith to all the cars and bikers that rode by.

    Honestly, we trusted that the Holy Spirit would guide us, and we started promptly after the noon bell toll. With Phil laid up from his surgery, our Council chaplain, Paul Parker, stepped up to lead us in the Rosary. Passing the microphone from person to person was humbling. All did a fantastic job of praying the Rosary. The group bonded as each decade passed and each mystery was recited. The culmination of the Rosary with Hail Holy Queen and the St Michael’s Prayer (thanks to Celeste and Guy) was a great way to offer up our prayers to those in need. Thanks to Father Jim for an unsolicited, final blessing on the group. Gino Gittari said it best when he exclaimed that this was the best group Rosary he had ever been a part of. Amen !

    The October Pancake breakfast proceeds have been dedicated to the McCrest organization taking care of homeless men and women with children in our local area. In the past, our chairman Ray Coughlin organized direct interaction with the group providing food and helping to serve it. This year was a little more of a hands-off approach but the Council decided to continue our financial support of this important program. Kurt Buhlinger did a wonderful job of organizing the kitchen team, food and servers. And our Council came out in force to support the entire morning of preparation, cooking the food and serving breakfast to our Parish. Clean up went well as all chipped in. It was a fun morning of fellowship and breakfast tasted awesome. I’m happy to report that the Pancake breakfast was a huge success. We served 190 customers, a total of $1,340 in profit comprised of $1,090 from the breakfast (including donations of $220 in donations) and $250 from the 50/50. All of the proceeds go directly to the McCrest program. A big thank you to the team of Kurt, Ray and Jerry Hund. 

    We learned this month that Father Joe Hund, our current Chaplain, received his new missionary assignment at an Indian reservation in Arizona. Congratulations! The council officers have provided Father Joe with a check to assist him with his travel needs. It’s been great having Father Joe participate in our meetings and activities (I won’t soon forget the outdoor Mass at the Buhlinger’s farm). We send prayers to Father Joe for safe travels and good for- tune in his new assignment.

    This newsletter is going out just before the Council’s Trunk or Treat event on Sunday, October 27th . We typically have close to 100 children come out for this safe and fun event. We are expecting a terrific turn out again this year and will put some photos in next month’s newsletter. Always remember to check out “spotknights.com” for the latest in events and news for our Council (courtesy of our webmaster Ken Dudley).

God bless our Council and God Bless the Knights of Columbus

Vivat Jesus! 

Vincent Ursini 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

The Knight Shield - October 2024

    We lost another Knight this past month which hits home for a lot of us. Ken Gonko, who had been a long-term lector and valuable member of our Council passed away. He leaves behind a beautiful family led by his wife Diane (a member of the SPOT choir). It’s a constant reminder that we don’t know when God will call us, but we must be prepared. We must ask ourselves that tough question, I know I personally try not to think about it too much.

Have we done all that we could in our life with the gifts God has given us (?)

    Having seen Ken’s obituary and talking to his family, I believe he had fulfilled God’s plan and will live on in his Heavenly Glory.

    The September recruitment activity was very successful, netting (5) new K of C and Council members. Thanks to all those that helped recruit these fine gentlemen. We are looking forward to welcoming them into our Council with an October exemplification of the 1st thru 3rd degrees prior to our next general meeting. But we are not done. We must continue to recruit to maintain and extend the works of charity and local organizational support we’ve laid out for the next year. We are bound by Knights to support our Priest(s) and Parish as new challenges will present themselves over the course of this Fraternal year. Join in and make this SPOT Council one that men want to belong to. Welcome our new guys and mentor them to foster our Council’s continued success.

    A tremendous thank you to our District 1 Color Guard who once again came out to support the quarterly Corporate Communion in September. They do a terrific job and make the event “special” and memorable. Bob Greening, commander of the Guard, commented that (3) full rows of Knights and family members was a great turn out and nice to see. Thank you for supporting this important event as we show unity and presence within the Parish community. 

    Thanks also go out to Father Joe Hund, our current Chaplain, for his outstanding service to our faith community. Good luck to Father Joe in his future endeavors.

    This newsletter is going out just prior to the Fall Canal Road clean up. I’m sure we will have a great group to do our community duty and assist with our part for the beautification of the city. Pictures of the team will be in the next Newsletter.

    October brings with it a Pancake breakfast to raise monies for the MCrest group that houses and feeds the homeless right here in our local district. Please come out to eat a delicious breakfast and in so doing support this important program. 

    October 12th we will do a Living Rosary for celebration of Fatima. We will need 61 people to do this. Please join us for this new and creative event. Color Corp will assist with organization of the Rosary as will our Church Director, Tom Pardo. 

    Also, we kick off the Trunk or Treat event on Sunday, October 27th . We typically have close to 100 children come out for this safe and fun event. However, we need more “Trunks”. Please join in but remember to complete the Protecting God’s Children training on line (link in the newsletter here) and also the background check required of the Parish (see Parish office for form). Let’s make this event the best yet! 

    You will also find the schedule for the Journeymen pro grams in this month’s newsletter. The Journeymen is our Council’s COR program and do a terrific job of educating us on our religion with an opportunity to discuss topics with other like minded men. Please consider coming out to participate on (2) Saturday mornings a month.

God bless our Council and God Bless the Knights of Columbus.

Vivat Jesus !   

 

Kenneth Gonko (June 22, 1954 - September 18, 2024)

Obituary Kenneth Gonko

Rosary at 7:00 PM at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home.   Lead by the K of C Council

Funeral Mass to take place on Monday, September 23 at St. Paul of Tarsus Catholic Church. 

Instate, or gathering time, 9:30 AM. Mass at 10:00 AM.

The Knight Shield - September 2024

    This month’s newsletter will be a little light. The Council has intentionally reduced activities over the summer months to allow its members to enjoy the summer with their families and loved ones. My wife Andrea and I have loved spending time with our grandchildren and have done some traveling & boating enjoying the best of Michigan. I certainly hope you and yours have done the same.

    August kicked off with the Council Camping trip up at Hartwick Pines. Unfortunately, we had a small crew but those that were there had a fun time. The campground is excellent for hiking, biking and fishing (some of us were actually “catching” fish, while I was still “fishing”). Although it was a bit steamy at times and it was a decent & hilly hike into town on the bikes, it was a great time. We’ll look for a closer location next year so that those that are working can get out there to join and allow us to return to the Potluck format.

    The Council thanks our District Deputy Dan Nowakowski and District Warden Ed Perkins for conducting the officer installation during our August General Meeting. It was done professionally with reverence.

    The Good Lord was shining down on us at the Council Picnic held at Buhlinger’s farm in Algonac. The weather was beautiful with a light breeze and a perfect setting for our picnic. (46) members and their spouses joined in for some awesome food and fraternity. Father Joe Hund conducted an outside mass with assistance from his brother Jerry and a friend. Chancellor Paul Parker and Lady Chris Krause assisted with some very memorable readings. It was my first outside Mass and was quite a humbling experience. Father Joe gave a special blessing to those couples celebrating 50+ years of marriage. Thanks go out to Kurt and Father Joe for organizing this beautiful ceremony. Thanks also to Kurt and Jane Buhlinger for organizing the grounds, cooking the food and of course, for their fantastic hospitality. September brings a host of activities including a Recruitment event and Corporate Communion. The Canal Road cleanup at the end of the month will lead to a very busy time thru to the end of the year. Please join us to make these programs successful and contribute to our community in a meaningful way. God bless our Council and God Bless the Knights of Columbus 

Vivat Jesus! 

 Vincent Ursini

The Knight Shield - August 2024

    It’s a new fraternal year and we are off and running. We’ve got a great program line-up, but we are always looking to do more. Please support the programs on the calendar so that we may expand. I have a passion for getting children more involved in our programs here at St Paul’s. Unfortunately, we are unable to pull off a Parish Picnic this year, but we hope to get a committee going for a return next year. “Trunk or Treat” in October and “Cookies with Santa” in December with the Men’s group, provide great opportunities to bring the children and Grandchildren along. I firmly believe that having children look forward to “going to Church” for fun events will lead to a stronger faith Journey with Jesus.

    Knight’s stepping up! I need to acknowledge Gary Skarb and Kurt Buhlinger for their support of a fellow Knight’s family. Rita Hubbard, the daughter of Jim Hubbard (our Knight of the Year last year) asked for support in the estate sale of her Dad’s condo. Gary and Kurt were quick to come to her aid and put out furniture, tools, garden equipment and miscellaneous stuff. And, they stayed with her throughout the weekend. The family was extremely happy with the support, and they sure needed it. It was unfortunate that more Knights were not able to come out and assist. Per Kurt, “The support of a fallen fellow Knight’s family is the number one thing we should do as a Council. We need to support each other!” Well said. 

    Last month’s Archdiocesan meeting, was a good opportunity to meet with our new State Officers. Our new Michigan State Deputy Barry Borsenik introduced the “SOAR” program that you will hear a lot about. It stands for Service, Optimism, Aspire, Responsibility. Things each Council can focus on during his administration. We learned that the Knights have put into service 94 ultrasound machines with more to come this year, helping pregnant mothers make better decisions regarding their babies. The State Officers emphasized why we recruit: to help men get closer to God, Faith thru action and more men more works (and that’s what we’re all about). Remember the Detroit Diocese is 1 of 7 in the state; however, it makes up 40% of the Knights of Columbus membership. As goes Detroit, so goes the State. That’s where the responsibility part comes in.

    The Ice Cream Social was fantastic, God blessed us with perfect weather and the tent stayed up! Knights who came out to raise the tent will understand that concern. Our Webmaster Ken Dudley did a great job photographing the fun and social aspect of the event on our “spotknights.com” website. Check it out for a comprehensive posting of pictures from all 4 Masses. Thanks go out to Ken and Christine Krause for doing such a great job of organizing and facilitating the event. Thanks also to the numerous volunteers and participants.

    Regarding fellowship and fraternity, make sure to sign up for the Council Picnic at Kurt Buhlinger’s place on August 24th. Having a firm headcount helps us plan out the food accordingly. Thus far we have 36+ people coming out. Don’t miss the fun.

God bless our Council and God Bless the Knights of Columbus. 

Vivat Jesus ! 

Vincent Ursini