The Knight's Shield - May 2019

We have just celebrated Easter Sunday and are beginning to look forward to summer.

Looking back at the past month, this is typically the busiest time of the year for our council.

Our Fry-Day Fish dinners have been more popular than ever thanks to your hard work and welcoming spirit. This is the biggest fundraiser for our council charities. I especially want to thank Ray and Lorri Coughlin and Rick Okerhjelm who put in countless hours for our six fish Fri-Days! It would be impossible to list everyone who helped out, so I will list most of the tasks and you will begin to understand that we had a total team effort to accomplish these events: Purchasing the food and supplies; on Tuesday evening, we began to thaw the fish on trays in the refrigerators; mac & cheese and coleslaw prep started around 7am every Friday; also, dining room table set up, carry out, beverage, cake and order tables. In the kitchen, we needed to pull out the oven after making the mac & cheese, set up the fryers, butterfly the fish for the grill and the rest of the kitchen prep for cooking. Then we have the actual event of cooking and serving from 4 to 7. We are averaging around 500 dinners in these 3 hours! After 7pm, we start the clean-up. The dining room area needs to done by 8pm, but we also have a crew who stays until about 9pm every Friday to finish the dishes, kitchen cleanup and take out the garbage. Thank you everyone for your help and support!

We had our charity poker event in early April over four evenings from 7pm to 2am at Ciccarelli’s. Thank you Hank who chaired the event and worked each night! Thank you also to, Stan Labuda and William Hill who worked two nights and to Larry Bukowski, Ralph Pullis and John Moceri who each worked one evening. Thank you, Ray Coughlin who handled the finances. Well done! Next tournament is in September also at Ciccarelli’s.

Our annual Easter Egg hunt went very well. We had a good turnout (~80 Children) and nice weather. Thank you to Rich & Lisa Miller/Ray & Lorri Coughlin for chairing the event, Bill Giezyng (Easter Bunny) and to everyone who helped!

Thank you to Jerry Hund for chairing the Easter Ham and Kielbasa fundraiser again this year and to all those who helped with the two order weekends after Masses and those who helped with the unloading and distribution before Easter.

Thank you to Co-Chairs John Minicuci, Ray and Sheryl Ignatowski and all the council members and their families for their contribution to our Annual MIDrive (Tootsie Roll). This is a very worthy cause for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities in our community.

The first round of nominations for council officers took place at our April meeting. The second round of nominations and elections will be at our May council meeting. The April nominations were: Grand Knight: Mike Hartel; Deputy Grand Knight: Tom Gray; Chancellor: Steve Kargenian; Recorder: Rob Tusset; Treasurer: Ray Coughlin; Warden: Tony Guido & William Hill; Inside Guard: Leon Berdy & Kevin Kennedy; Outside Guard: Gerry Vento; Advocate: Ken Krause & Dave Wisneski; Trustee: Rick Okerhjelm, Tom Pardo & Ken Krause.

I just received a notice from the family of BK Giuseppe Riera. Giuseppe was called home by the Lord on January 21, 2019. Giuseppe was a Knight for over 46 years! Please include BK Giuseppe in your prayers.

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