Vivat Jesus! CHRISTmas has come and gone, and once again we have celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. January 1, 2018, brings us a new year and with it, new opportunities and challenges. I would like to encourage each of you to keep the spirit of Christmas joy in our hearts throughout the New Year. We all have many reasons to be thankful. God gives us challenges because He loves us. The reasons are not always obvious, but I believe everything that happens is due to His Divine plan. Let's all try, as Catholic gentlemen, to bring a little more kindness to our world, even when it is most difficult.
We, as followers of Christ in the name of Christopher Columbus, have a responsibility to our Church and our Order. We have committed ourselves to Christ through our baptism and to our Order at the time of our First Degree. Our commitment must not subside, but be renewed with more vigor each year. Each of us in this great Order of the Knights of Columbus has some responsibility. As a member of a council, we should be as active as possible. We should be attending meetings, recruiting new members, working on programs of the council and be there when needed. Officers of the Order have a strong responsibility to be aware of what makes the Order run. They should have a strong working knowledge of procedures and policies, as well as an awareness to assist those in their charge. We all have the obligation to see signs of need in others in the Order. We should be ready to assist our brothers when needed. This assistance could be financial, employment, assisting with shopping, driving etc. With dedication and perseverance, we will not necessarily become Saints...but we will be able to stay the course in life and in our Order. We will have the ability to do what has to be done to move the Knights of Columbus in a strong, forward direction. With this being said, let us ask ourselves... have we recruited a new member? If not, have we asked a brother Catholic to join our ranks? Let us turn over a new leaf and make a New Year’s resolution to recruit a new member. What better way to kick of the New Year than by recruiting a new member. I am challenging each officer and member to follow through the way Fr. Michael J. McGivney intended by bringing in a new Knight. As leaders and members of our council we must all do our part.
George Sakorafos, our Council Director, would like to step down from this position. I am asking for a volunteer to step in for him. In this position, you are responsible for the selection and tracking of the Family of the Month decided at the officers and director meetings, and doing research on the Family of the Month as to why they were chosen; working with the Family Director getting the plaques made and brought to the General membership meeting. If you would like to step up for this position, please let me know as soon as you can.
Sunday December 17th, the SPOT Men’s group had Cookies with Santa. They had a good turnout with about 31 children and their families attending. The children decorated Christmas cookies, sang lots of songs, and spent time with Santa telling him all their dreams for Christmas while having their picture taken with him. Ray Ignatowski let me know that Joyce Aufuth, who is Sal Bica’s mother-in-law, would like to donate 70 Christmas stockings to us for our children. Her grandson, Doug Lovell who is a Knight, delivered them to church. My first thought was to take them to Meijer for the food pantry’s annual Christmas Wrapping @ Meijer’s and give them with the coats but decided to use them for Cookies with Santa.
Thank you to Jerry Hund, Ray Coughlin and the many, many helpers taking orders, distributing samples and running the pickup before Christmas for the Ham and Kielbasa Sale. Hopefully everyone enjoyed the Holiday ham & kielbasa that was purchased from the Knights. Make sure you eat all that you purchased, as you know Easter is not far away.
Thank you to Mike Hartel, Rick Okerhjelm and George Sakorafos for picking up 35 chairs from Erie Elementary for the Christmas overflow Masses in the social hall.
Our next Euchre Tournament is January 27th. Please contact Mike Hartel for details.
Our next Pancake Breakfast is January 28, 2018. Discussion was made to add French toast to the menu and raise the adult price to $7 from $6. Also to put a better ad in the church bulletin. We will need help in the Kitchen for cooking. Ralph Pullis would like a co-chair for a while, and possibly to take over the chair so as to give someone else an opportunity to run the program.
Thank you to all that donated to the annual Sweatshirt Gifts and Gift Cards for HCCS at last month’s meeting. Our Worthy D.D. Gary Kopp was very excited in the amount of gifts, gift cards and money that was donated.
The Worship Commission would like to reinstitute the distribution of the Precious Blood at the 11:30 Mass on Sundays. Please sign up to serve and wear a Knight shirt or Badge. If those of you that usually attend the 11:30 Mass are able and willing to serve on a regular basis, please let Sally Gryniewicz know so she can put this into place. Sally can be reached at (586)263-1353 or at msgryniewicz@comcast.net
Everyone has received their Dues letter from our Worthy Financial Secretary Ray Ignatowski. Ray has added a questionnaire on the back of the form for you to fill out. Please add (spouse’s name and especially Email address) or change any information about you that is incorrect. Remember, Dues must be paid by the January General Membership Meeting for you to be able to attend the meeting.
You should have also received your State Raffle Tickets in the mail. If not, they’re on their way. Sell what you can for a very worthy cause. If you can’t mail them back in time, consider taking them to DeCarlo’s Banquet & Convention Center in Warren on the day of the raffle. Gary and Patricia DeCarlo offer the Knights and their families a nice lunch before the drawings.
Vivat Jesus Art Krygowski Grand Knight
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