Knights of Columbus – Council 3205

Brothers,

We had our monthly meeting last Wednesday, July 6, and we had a terrific turnout for July with 35 members in attendance. Gary Richardson and his team did a fantastic job cooking our meal of hamburgers and hot dogs with chips and brownies. If you were not able to join us for this month’s meeting, I want you to know that we missed you. We hope your schedule will permit you to be with us at our next meeting on August 3.

Fr. Edwin, our new Pastor at St. Thomas Aquinas, was our program. We are very fortunate to have such a spiritual man as our Shepherd at St. Thomas Aquinas. For me the high point of his presentation was learning how important his own Father had been in his life, and in the development of his vocation. Also, he told us of how he had met the saintly Mother Teresa of Calcutta on three occasions. What a marvelous story!

Brother Paul Marvin has been appointed by Supreme Knight Carl Anderson as the new Financial Secretary for Col. Walter Parsons Council 3205.

Our Council has a busy fall coming. Brother Gary Richardson has taken the reins of Aquinasfest as the Chairman. Aquinasfest will be September 24-25. As I listened to Gary’s report I was struck with how many Brother Knights have stepped up to take over the leadership of this important parish fundraiser. Brother Knights Leonard Muesse (Sunday Lunch), Jesse Alvarez (Raffle), Jeff Blaszek (Hamburgers & Hotdogs), David Gerling (Parking), Mike Quick (Saturday Night Function) and Al Mazoch (Facilities). I think it’s pretty safe to say that the Knights of Columbus are the one parish ministry that is guaranteeing the success of Aquinasfest.

C. J. Romero is moving forward with organizing our Shotgun Raffle this fall.

Our first family activity will be a Swim Party, Friday, August 12 at the Grand Knight’s house, 1106 Deacon Dr. from 6 to 9 pm. Family Director Kevin Biasiolli has planned a great party, and you and your family will have a wonderful time, so come on out!

Richard Darnell reported that our initial first degree for the fraternal year will be August 17 @ St. Thomas Aquinas. We need to recruit 17 new members this year to meet our Star Council goal. There will be a 2nd & 3rd Degree Sunday, September 18, in Bryan. More details will follow but mark your calendars now.

See you August 3rd!

Ron Gay, FSD
Grand Knight

Brothers,

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We have dedicated the ultrasound machine @ CTOMA and they are now open and ready for the very serious business of saving babies’ lives. There are so many people we need to thank for the successful completion of this project.

First I want to thank Karen Hall for her vision, and her willingness to partner with the Knights of Columbus to make the ultrasound project a reality. When we started this project we had no idea of the obstacles that would be placed in front of us, but Karen stepped forward and asked us for our help, and we gladly obliged. Thanks also to Bobby Reynoso and the Coalition for Life for their help and assistance with this project.

I want to thank Mark and Pat Schoenemann, Emil Ogden, Russ Kellen, Dr. Barry Veazey, Dr. Tim & Lisa Fields, St. Joseph Council 11759, Cameron Council 12601, Caldwell Council 6366, and Texas A&M Council 10624 for their financial contributions to the wine & cheese fundraiser that helped raise the funds to purchase the ultrasound. Thank you to our Supreme Council for supplying the matching grant. I want to thank our State Deputy, Tony Herreth, for taking the time to come to Bryan/College Station and celebrate this achievement with us.

Thanks to Al Mazoch for bringing the liquid refreshments to this evening’s dedication. Thank you Deacon Ted for your most gracious blessing of the ultrasound machine and the room in which it resides. Thank you to all of the Knights who showed up this evening for the dedication; Darrell Lovelette, Dick Allen, Mark Schoenemann, Bob Albanese, C. J. Romero, Ray Thomas, Al Mazoch, Dr. Paul Ogden and Bobby Reynoso.

This is a great milestone in our Council’s history, and we should all be proud of what was accomplished. Years from now people will point to this project and say it’s what turned the tide in the local culture wars. God bless.

Ron Gay, FSD
Grand Knight

from the KC National website (6/9/11): http://www.kofc.org/un/en/news/releases/detail/charitable_contributions2011.html

Organization donated $154 million and 70 million service hours in 2010

The Knights of Columbus announced that it set new all-time records for charitable donations and volunteer service hours in 2010. Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson released the results of the Catholic fraternal organization’s annual survey in a presentation to its board of directors and state leaders, meeting June 8-12 at its international headquarters.

The results of the K of C’s Annual Survey of Fraternal Activity for the year ending Dec. 31, 2010 indicate that total charitable contributions reached $154,651,852—exceeding the previous year’s total by more than $3 million. The figure includes $29,083,191 donated by the Supreme Council and $125,568,661 in contributions from the organization’s state and local affiliates.

Sixty percent of the contributions were for projects at the community level, many involving youth activities. Large donations during the period included $1 million distribution for a Food for Families program and $1 million for an effort in cooperation with Project Medishare to give prosthetics to Haitian children who lost limbs during the January 2010 earthquake.

The survey also indicated that the quantity of volunteer service hours to charitable causes by Knights grew to 70,049,433—an increase of 797,507 hours compared to the 2009 total. Among the service programs receiving significant K of C volunteer hours were Habitat for Humanity, Special Olympics, and the Global Wheelchair Mission. There were also more than 428,000 K of C blood donations during the year.

Cumulative figures show that during the past decade, the Knights of Columbus has donated $1.406 billion to charity, and provided more than 653 million hours of volunteer service in support of charitable initiatives.

“The Knights of Columbus significantly expanded its outreach to those in need last year, and will continue to do because of the economic problems facing so many people in our communities,” said Supreme Knight Carl Anderson. “Despite the fact that the economy has also created hardship for many of our own members, Knights have stepped up as never before to meet the needs of their neighbors. We have taken very seriously the fact that we are our brother’s keeper.”

The Knights of Columbus was founded by Father Michael J. McGivney, a New Haven parish priest, in 1882. It has grown into the world’s largest lay Catholic organization, with more than 1.8 million members throughout North and Central America, the Philippines, the Caribbean islands and Poland.

 

Knights of Columbus waged successful defense on East and West Coast cases

June 14, 2011 – Flag Day

(NEW HAVEN, CONN.) – The United States Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance, thus ending a seven year battle involving two separate cases, one originating in California and the other in New Hampshire. The Knights of Columbus, represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, played a key role in defending the Pledge as a “defendant intervenor” in both cases.

“The Knights of Columbus is proud to have played a major role in successfully defending the constitutionality of the words ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance,” Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson said. “We were instrumental in persuading Congress to add those words to the Pledge in 1954, and they express a fundamental belief that we have held as a nation since our founding, that we ‘are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights.’ The notion that this somehow violates the First Amendment has now been soundly rejected by both the First and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal, and the Supreme Court has now allowed both decisions to stand. It is a victory for common sense.”

The Ninth Circuit upheld the constitutionality of the Pledge in March 2010 and the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of the California case in March 2011. The First Circuit upheld the constitutionality of the Pledge in November 2011 and the Supreme Court denied certiorari in that case yesterday, June 13, 2011.