Karl F. Sziisz - March 11, 1937 – December 15, 2024

 

The Knight Shield - January 2025

 Welcome to 2025 (I can’t believe I just said that).

    This month’s message has to start with another excellent exemplification conducted at our December General meeting. (4) New Knights entered our council Mike Lauretti, Marvin Lehman, Frank Lucido and Robert Haapasaari. These gentlemen have in some cases already contributed to the works of our council and will continue to foster the work Knights do in our local communities and charities. Thanks go out to George Loewen, Mike Hartel, Phil Mularski, Gary Skarb and Joe Phillips for doing such a great job with the exemplification ceremony.

    An early donation of Coats for Capuchin center came in and we’d like to thank Sandra Weitzel for the generous donation of (90) coats. Rob Amsler assisted me in bringing the coats down to Brother Rob at the Capuchin center and he was thrilled to get them as the weather had gotten cold and they were in need of them. In addition, Sandra provided a gift of $76 from coat sales out of her garage to the Knights which will be put into the Rosary Bracelet fund (charity yet to be identified).

    The Respect Life Baby Bottle drive for the Compassion Pregnancy center of Mt Clements raised over $11,000. Wow. Our parishioners are terrific!  Thanks to all that contributed and in particular, Mary Fiorini and Ray Coughlin for their work over the several weeks this happened. Thanks also to Lori Coughlin, Andrea Ursini, Sheri and Ted Czarny who helped pack up coins (which there were many).

    It was nice to see so many Knights show up for the Christmas Lights installation. Turned out to be a nice day (it wasn’t raining) and all got done in two and a half hours. The new LED lights look great. Come back out and assist on January 6th to bring them back down and package them up. Don’t worry, you’ll get a notice.

    Rob Tusset and Jeff Gapczynski delivered (48) KC the Teddy Bears to Henry Ford hospital for sick children.  It’s a great program that brings more than a smile to the children, it gives them a friend to get thru there healing process.

    Charity Poker was conducted over at the new Paradise Banquet Hall (near the Target Store just off of Hall road) the week prior to Thanksgiving. This program contributes greatly to our Charity funds and is essential to do twice a year. Thanks to Mike Hartel and his hard work organizing the event and all those that spent (8) hours a day there over the 4 days of the event. As Mike moves on to the west side, we are in need of a new Director for this program to handle the paperwork submission to the state, organize the crew and start out each of the (4) days with cash in hand, etc. Please contact Mike or myself if you are interested.

    Christmas Meat sales did well once again this year.  Thanks to Jerry Hund, Ray Coughlin, Ted Czarny and team that received the orders, packed the orders and distributed them out to our customers. The program has raised more than $17K for our local charities since it’s inception.

    And lastly, I hope you had a chance to bring out your kids / grandkids to the “Cookies with Santa” program sponsored by the Men’s group and supported by the Knights. There were 80+ attendees this year. They were entertained by Christmas Magic, watched Santa get delivered by the Fire Department, sang Christmas carols with Santa and the Elves. The kids learned more about Jesus’s birthday, the evolution of a Saint Nicholas and had a blast decorating cookies and having pictures with Santa. If you’ve not yet had an opportunity to join us for this terrific event, plan on it next year.

    One last note. Our Michigan State Deputy Regional Representative (SDRR) Paul Thorn, joined us for the December General meeting and presented the Council an Award for having been selected the east side Council of the month! It’s nice to see that our Council’s work is being recognized across the state. Congratulations all!

  Looking forward to a fruitful and joyous new year of community programs and charitable contributions!  And, we couldn’t have a better group of men and women to do it with!

God bless our Council and God Bless the Knights of Columbus

Vivat Jesus!

Vincent Ursini

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.