The Knight's Shield - August 2018

Please welcome our newest Brother Knight, Ken Dudley, to our council. Ken became our latest council member and the first one taking his Admission (1st) Degree online. Ken has been involved with our council for a while now. He has set up our council website: spotknights.com.

With the council membership and insurance goals met for the fiscal year ending June 30th, our council has reached Star Council! Congratulations to everyone for a job well done.

Thank you everyone who helped Rick Okerhjelm set up and take down the tent for the Vacation Bible Experience. I also would like to thank Rick for cooking a wonderful fish dinner for our July meeting while braving the 90 degree heat!

The Summer Diocesan Meeting was held in July at St. Isidore. Some of the many items discussed were membership sustainability, programs and the new dashboard being released for officers submitting forms to the State and Supreme.

Be sure to review the calendar for upcoming events such as the council camping trip to Lakeport and District Corporate Communion with Officer Installation in August. Also note we have Texas Hold’em, Corporate Communion and the DAVL Golf Outing coming up in September.

Thank you to all of you who have been at the meetings regularly. Please consider calling someone you haven’t seen for a while and ask how they’re doing. See if they’re in need of a ride or friendly reminder when the next meeting takes place.

Vivat Jesus
Mike Hartel

New Owner Keeps Big Boy’s Friendly Atmosphere

When retirement seemed right for the longtime owner of the Big Boy eatery on Maple Road, Brother Knight Gerry Vento took notice. He’s been working on the corporate side of the company for a decade, but always wanted to have his own restaurant, and this was the perfect time. He took over operations on April 26 of this year and is now getting to know all the neighborhood’s long-time customers. “I’ve been in the industry for 28 years,” Vento notes. “I started when I was 15 as a dishwasher, moved to the Chuck Muer Corporation and then the last 10 years with Big Boy.” Now it’s on to a new adventure. The Macomb Township resident smiles, and adds, “I’m very glad I did it. This is a great location, and I have a great staff and great customers.” And, all the things you love about Big Boy, home of the original Double Decker Cheeseburger, are still available at this restaurant, which is now over 80 years old. (It’s not too late in the season for strawberry pie.) They still have shakes, malts, and yes, root beer floats, perfect for this weather. The Salad Bar is available from 9 a.m. to close. There’s an all-you-can eat Breakfast Bar on Saturday and Sunday from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Plus, you can have breakfast any time and there are literally dozens of entrees from burgers to pasta to fish. You won’t be disappointed and the prices are still modest. For those with allergies, the Big Boy menu marks any item that may contain nuts. “I love the hospitality industry,” Vento confesses. “I enjoy people having a good experience and I want the food service they’re getting to be exceptional. I love taking care of people.” What Gerry wants is his own “Cheers” where everyone knows your name. And, he seems able to greet everyone coming in at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday morning by name. This Big Boy is also a bit of a Vento family affair, too. Gerry’s wife Terri, who works at Gleba & Associates financial planners up on Square Lake in Troy, is keeping the restaurant’s books. Son Vincent, whose home for summer from Central Michigan where he’s studying prelaw, is a server this season. And daughter Genna, who plans to be a teacher, will probably be able to find work here when she’s ready. Big Boy is open from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until midnight on Friday and Saturday. Come and enjoy the friendly atmosphere and tasty food.

THE LONG-TIME TROY Big Boy
Restaurant at 200 Maple Road just
West of Livernois has a new owner,
Brother Knight Gerry Vento.

The Knight's Shield - July 2018 - New Grand Knight Mike Hartel

Brother Knights, thank you for your confidence in selecting me to be your Grand Knight. It will be an honor to serve and help lead our great council that has been shaped over the past 20 years by our officers, directors, chairmen and all Brother Knights who have and continue to support the spirit and principals of our order.

I would like to thank all outgoing officers and directors for their time, hard work and dedication they have given to this council. A special thanks to our outgoing Grand Knight, Art Krygowski and Membership Director, George Loewen. Do not be concerned that Art and George are retiring completely from our council officer and director ranks. Art was elected to Trustee and will also stay on as our Council Youth Director. George will remain as our Council Community Director.

Congratulations to all of our incoming officers and directors. I look forward to working with all of you in the coming fraternal year. I would especially like to welcome the following officers and directors to their new positions: Tom Gray, Deputy Grand Knight (Tom has been our Chancellor for the past two years); Steve Kargenian, Chancellor (Steve has been a trustee for 3 years and has recently volunteered to chair our pancake breakfast), Phil Mularski, Membership Director (Phil has been active with recent membership recruiting efforts by creating the pamphlets and articles such as ‘Why become a Knight?’ and the ‘24 Hour Knight’ while also leading the rosary for many of our fallen brothers); Frank Burda, Lecturer (Frank has been filling in for Jim Hubbard). Please support these brothers in their new roles and continue to support all our officers and directors! We are a very active and dynamic council. Thank you all for your time and effort you have given to this council!

Please welcome three new Brothers Knights to our Council: James Perreault, Anthony Radman and Steve Szypa. They completed their admission degree joining our council on June 25th.

You will find that proper communication is very high on my priority list for a well-organized council. Effectively communicating with our brother knights, parish staff, fellow parishioners and the general public is a key element to successful events, fundraisers and a smoothly well run council. To try and help improve communication and help streamline our monthly General Meeting, the monthly Officer Meeting is being renamed to Council Planning Meeting. All council members are welcome to this meeting. They are typically held on the fourth Thursday of the month. This is a good place to bring ideas for consideration to the council and to initially request support for a charity you are supporting. It is especially important for all Officers, Directors and Chairmen to try and attend these meetings.

I encourage the council, which is all of you, to get more active with the newsletter. Maybe you just read a good joke that would be appropriate for the Lighter Side of the newsletter. This newsletter is OUR council newsletter and not just an exercise or busy work for the Grand Knight and our editor. We have received many compliments on the quality of our newsletter. This is one of our main opportunities to communicate with not only our council members but with our families, fellow parishioners, other councils and the general public. All event chairmen, please take the time to send an article to our editor (Chris Gapczynski) for our monthly newsletter a month or two before your event. Be sure to check the latest newsletter for article deadlines.

I would like to thank Ted Czarny for spearheading the hard copy mailing of our newsletter the last few years. Also, Hank Leflere, Phil Kwasny, George Sakorafos and Ralph Pullis who help with the final prep work to mail the newsletters each month. FYI, through our effort to email the newsletter to as many council members as possible, instead of mail-ing a hard copy, we are saving the council over $1000 a year in postage and printing expenses! Thank you!

Now that summer is here, try to take some time and enjoy some of that beautiful God-given sunshine while we have a slightly slower pace in our council and plan to come back physically, mentally and spir-itually refreshed by the time September arrives when we know the pace will quicken.

Please remember our fallen brother Ken Dom-browski. Please keep Ken and his family in your prayers.

Vivat Jesus
Mike Hartel