Knights of Columbus – Council 3205

By GK Ron Gay:

Brothers

We had outstanding attendance at our first Council meeting for 2012 with 35 Brother Knights giving us some of their very valuable time on the first Wednesday in January. Brother Ralf Trujillo was out of the hospital and able to join us after his recent open heart surgery. Brother Don Parsons is still hospitalized following stomach surgery. If you were not able to join us, we want you to know that you were missed. We hope you will put our next Council meeting, February 1, on your calendar today.

The Grand Knight summarized the Council’s successful activities during the month of December. The 2nd Annual Wine & Cheese event was very successful, netting the Council $3,653.00 for our charity account. Many thanks to our Brothers who helped make this year’s tasting a success; our sponsors, Jeff Paradowski’s Law Office, Paul Marvin and Ron Gay. Also I would like to thank Al Mazoch, C. J Romero, Bob Albanese, Larry Hubbell, Dick Allen, Don Parsons, Leonard Muesse, Paul Marvin, David Gerling, Dan King, Michael Herring, Darrell Lovelette, Ray Thomas, Russ Kellen, Phil Lippman, Deacon Dave Mays and James Supak for their generous contribution of time towards the success of this event.

The Council provided a continental breakfast and a pizza and salad lunch for about 45 Deacon candidates and their wives at St. Thomas Aquinas on December 10. Food was prepared and delivered to about 100 guests that day. The Council covered the $200 in expenses. I would like to lift up Al Mazoch and Jim Ebanks for helping with this event.

Our annual Clergy Appreciation Dinner was on December 15. We had 140 people attend this year’s dinner at St. Thomas Aquinas. Bishop Joe Vasquez was there and he delivered the keynote speech. There were 20 Priests, Deacons and Religious in attendance. Many thanks are owed to Michael Vidrine and Tom Zike for chairing this year’s dinner. Thanks also to Russ Kellen for providing the Christmas music. Special thanks to Lilly Muesse for making all of the table decorations. Thanks also to our Pastor, Fr. Edwin and to Fr. Uche for being so supportive of this event.

Fr. Edwin thanked the Knights for the Clergy Appreciation Dinner. He also challenged us to make Christ visibile in our parish, homes and community especially during Advent. He asked the Council to consider putting up a large, public Nativity scene up so that the whole community can see it and be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas. The Officers will be meeting in the very near future to discuss how to make this happen.

Our Treasurer, Dan King, reported that our accounts are very healthy right now. We have more than $8,000 in our operating account and we have more than $6,000 in our charity account.

Our Financial Secretary, Paul Marvin, reported that the 2012 dues notices have been sent out. We anticipate collecting $10,000 in dues this year, so far about $1,000 has been paid in. Paul is working with John Romero and Dan King to make it possible for members to pay their dues with a credit card via the web site.

Membership – Richard Darnell reported that we will have a first degree on Wednesday, January 25 at St. Thomas Aquinas. Candidates need to report @ 6:30 pm. So far this fraternal year we have 5 new members and 2 dropped members for a net gain of 3 members.

One of our big Council activities is the Super Bowl Chili Sale slated for February 5. This is a major project for us, and Leonard Muesse and Gary Richardson are going to need everyone to help out for it to be a success. Check the web page to sign up for one of the shifts for the Chili Cook.

The Super Bowl Chili Cook will be followed by Lenten meals project. We serve fish every Friday during Lent. Ash Wednesday is February 22, our first Lenten Meal will be Friday, February 24.

The Pancake Breakfast will be January 8 with Mark Schoenemann’s Team on duty. The proceeds from this month’s breakfast will be donated to the Wheelchair Foundation.

The Council received a request from Chris Smith to support his work with NET Ministries, a group of young people who travel the country putting on retreats for students and young adults. The Council voted to support Chris with a contribution of $250.00.

Brother Phil Lippman presented to the Council and opportunity to help fund a Automatic External Defibrillator. The Council voted to dedicate the proceeds from the February pancake breakfast to the purchase of an AED for the parish.

Family Director Kevin Biasiolli has approached the Women’s Guild about the Council partnering with them on the Valentine’s Marriage Liturgy again this year.

The Fourth Degree Assembly will meet next Tuesday, January 10 in Zurek Hall.

Ron Gay, FSD
Grand Knight

By Grand Knight, Ron Gay:

Our 2011 Clergy Dinner was a resounding success! With Bishop Joe Vasquez of the Diocese of Austin in attendance, Council 3205 welcomed more than 20 members of the Clergy from the Bryan Deanery and thanked them for their dedicated service to our Catholic community. Approximately 175 people enjoyed a great dinner, and the opportunity to visit with our local clergy including Msgr. Malinowski and Sister Gretchen Kunz, and to cherish their service to us and our families. Members of the Msgr. Valenta Assembly 2041 provided the color guard for the opening flag ceremony. The Pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas and Council 3205 Chaplain, Fr. Edwin Kagoo, gave the opening prayer. Bishop Vasquez gave some wonderful remarks praising the work of our local clergy. Fr. Uche, also of St. Thomas Aquinas, gave the benediction.

Ron

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By Grand Knight, Ron Gay:

Brothers,

It has been a busy December for our Council. As usual, we started our month with a pancake breakfast. Thanks to Russ Kellen’s team, and our Squire’s Circle for an excellent Sunday breakfast.

Next came our second annual Wine & Cheese Fundraiser. We had around 80 people attend and we raised $2,500 with our Nativity scene auction. Our Council will send $800 to six parish ministries for their participation in the Nativity scene auction. This year’s Wine & Cheese fundraiser will clear almost $3,800 for our Council’s Charity obligations. I want to lift up Darrell Lovelette for his efforts in securing the wines for the tasting from Messina Hof Winery. Thanks also to Al Mazoch and Bob Albanese for helping with the set-up. Thanks to our wine stewards C. J. Romero, Bob Albanese, Al Mazoch, Larry Hubbell, Gary Richardson, Darrell Lovelette, Don Parsons, Paul Marvin, Whitley Cave and Dan King. Aubrey Hunt provided our background music and she was fantastic.

Last Thursday night we had a fantastically successful Clergy Appreciation Dinner. We had 150 people in attendance as we offered special recognition to our Clergy. Bishop Joe Vasquez was very pleased that our Council took the time to honor all of the Priests, Deacons, and Religious in our Deanery. Thanks to Tom Zike and Michael Vidrine for all of their hardwork in organizing and setting up this year’s Clergy Dinner. Thanks to Al Mazoch, C. J. Romero, James Supak and Michael Herring for providing the Fourth Degree Color Guard. Thanks to Al Mazoch, Bob Albanese, Tom Zike, Leonard Muesse, Mark Olivieri, Russ Kellen, Michael Hlavinka, C. J. Romero, Kevin Biasiolli and Whitley Cave for helping with the set-up. Big, big thank you to Lilly Muesse who made all of the table decorations, and to Terri Gay who helped Lilly decorate the tables. Thanks also to Russ Kellen for providing the background music, and thanks to Gary Richardson and Whitley Cave who served the beer and wine. I’d like to lift up our parish STAY group and Brother Ed Styduhar for cleaning up after the dinner. Finally, I want to thank all of our Brother Knights and their wives along with the parishioners of St. Thomas Aquinas who showed up to honor our Clergy.

I want to lift up Fr. Edwin and Fr. Uche for all of their support of these important Council activities. They both played an active role in both functions and they would not have been successful without their presence and prayers of support.

Now it’s time to turn our attention to the Super Bowl Chili Cook coming up in February.

Terri and I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year! God bless you one and all, you are the greatest Knights of Columbus Council in the Order.
Ron Gay, FSD
Grand Knight

Brothers,

The 2011 gun raffle was a huge success for our Council. In spite of a down economy, our Council still managed to raise $4,738.00. I’d like to lift up our Raffle Chair, C. J. Romero, for his outstanding work on the raffle. With C. J. at the helm our Council raffle has raised $11,500.00 over the last two years! Well done C. J., well done. I also want to lift up Past Grand Knight Russ Kellen for his gift of a shot gun for this year’s raffle, thanks Brother Russ. C. J.’s leadership marshalled a lot of help from our Council members for the sale of raffle tickets, so my thanks to all of the Council members who stood out in front of Academy or Gander Mountain, or sold tickets to friends, relatives and co-workers. All of your efforts paid off for our Council’s charity efforts.

Now we must turn our attention to the Council’s next two projects. We need a lot of help to make these next two events a success.

The first event is our 2nd Annual Wine & Cheese Tasting scheduled for December 8, 2011. December 8 is a Holy Day of Obligation, The Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The Wine & Cheese Tasting will begin immediately after mass, 7:00 or so. There will be eight (8) different wines to taste and an assortment of cheeses. The event costs $25 per person. We will have our first Nativity Scene auction during this year’s tasting. So far, we have 9 Nativity scenes donated for the auction. We also have $1,500 in pledged sponsorships for the event. We will need some volunteers for this event, Brothers to pour wine, and serve. What we need most of all is people to attend the event, and encourage their friends and fellow parishoners to attend as well. We hope to raise $2,500 for our Council’s charity efforts with this Wine & Cheese Tasting.

The following week, December 15 will be our annual Clergy Appreciation Dinner. This year’s dinner will include Bishop Joe Vasquez. The dinner will begin at 6 pm in the PAC at St. Thomas Aquinas. Mike Vidrine and Tom Zike started preparing for this dinner in the early summer, and they have done an excellent job. We need assistance from the members of the Council to sell tickets after each mass starting December 3 and 4. Brothers we have to have a great showing from our local Catholics to honor our local Clergy.

Ron Gay, FSD
Grand Knight