Grand Knight

Knights of Columbus
Newsletter
April 2001

Grand Knight's Column
If you ask the average person on the street if they know anything about the Knights of Columbus, the typical response would probably be "Yeah, those are the guys that sell the tootsie rolls, aren't they?" Well, as you know, we are about much more than just the Tootsie Roll fund raiser; however that one event is without doubt the one time that we are the most visible in the community. All of the Councils statewide are organized for this event. The Knights go out in force on this weekend to high traffic locations all over the state, handing out Tootsie Rolls, generating smiles, and collecting donations. By the way, we do not sell the Tootsie Rolls for this event We give them away freely in hopes of getting a donation in return. During this event many people will donate more than once at various locations. Some do this because they would feel guilty if they walked by and didn't put something in the canister. Yet there are others who donate more than once because they are familiar with the program, or perhaps know someone who has benefited from the actions of the Knights in the past. From these people you often will hear a comment like "You guys do a lot of good work. Keep it up!"

These comments are very rewarding and help kindle our spirit to stay active in the many things we do for Family, Church, Community and Council. This year the Aid for Citizens with Mental Handicaps program is scheduled for April 27, 28, and 29. This is a very major event for us and for them, and we need everyone's help to make it successful. A separate letter with a workers schedule will be mailed out early in April. Watch for it; when it comes mark your assigned time and location on your calendar so you won't miss it. This is the one time of the year that we call upon the entire membership to get involved. Last year through our efforts on this event, our Council was able to donate over $800 to the State Council's Charity Fund and over $1200 to both B.A.R.C. and the Diocesan Ministry for persons with disabilities. This type (and size) of donation is very important to all of these organizations. Our goal this year is simply to improve upon what we have done in the past. So when it is time to go out and wear the red and yellow aprons that call attention to who we are and what we are doing, bring along a smile and your enthusiasm as you go out and meet the public. I assure you that the rewards will be great both for you and the people that we serve.

Rick Noe
Grand Knight

April Meeting
The next meeting of Council 10243 is our usual third Monday of the month meeting, April 16 (Easter Monday). Come and celebrate the new Life of Easter by adding your own life to the workings of the Council. As usual the meeting will be preceded by the rosary around 7:15 PM and the meeting will follow at around 7:30. This April meeting will still be held in the former Parish Center where we customarily meet.

Thanks From the GK
Over the first nine months of this fraternal year our Council have been very active in many ways. As Grand Knight of your Council I am aware of all of the people who get involved in all of these activities in one way or another. During this time we have had many people step forward to contribute to the total productivity of what our Council does. I would like to offer my "Thanks" to these members and their spouses who have helped our Council continue the good work that we do. It is so rewarding to see people take the initiative and get involved in a project that turns out to benefit so many. Thanks to all for all that you do.
Rick Noe
Grand Knight

Chaplain's Column
In this time of the year the Church takes the opportunity to reflect on the central mystery of our faith--the Paschal Mystery. We gather as a people to worship, to wash feet, read texts, light candles and kiss crosses. We perform rituals both ancient and new, and we have again promise that we would be faithful to the commitment of our baptism. Many are fortunate enough to gather in celebration of the major events of the Sacred Triduum (Holy Thursday night, Good Friday afternoon and Holy Saturday night). The experience of seeing and taking part in the ceremonies and rituals that define us as a Roman Catholic people is certainly something that will stay with us for some time to come. We do not celebrate usual weekend masses, but special and meaningful rites which may seem strange and outdated to those who see no value in tradition and ritual. Much effort goes into the planning and celebration of these special days, and by the time that Easter Day rolls around, there is a certain sense of exhaustion mixed with excitement. The exhaustion is from the obvious amount of effort and emotion that goes into the giving of ourselves to worship. The excitement probably stems from a certain sense of incompleteness. Despite all that has been done and all that has been celebrated, there seems to be just a little something missing. It seems as if the celebration should somehow continue, even though many are simply too tired to put forth any more effort. Yet, there is a way of continuing that celebration--the ministry of the Church. For those who have allowed themselves to be swept up in the worship of the Sacred Triduum, there should exist some desire to “give something back” to the Lord for all that has been so freely given to us. That is really the correct response, and certainly the only response for a committed Christian. After all, we do not just fulfill obligations these few days, but allow ourselves to enter personally into the Paschal Mystery. That suggests we are not coming together for some stage play, but really entering in--body, soul and spirit--into that which is happening around us and that which the Lord wants us to be a part of. Those who are concerned about obligations and who would never think of giving more time to the Lord than the “required” forty-five or so minutes on a Sunday may never understand just what happens in these three days. But, those who are concerned with the weightier issues--why we are there in the first place--will have something that will energize them for the journey through the rest of the liturgical year.
Father Al Lis, O.F.M.
Chaplain

Special Days
April 15 - May 15
A = Marriage Anniversary B = Birthday
O = Ordination Anniversary + = Date of Death

April
15 B Gary Nimmer
16 A Eugene & Mae Schmitz
17 B Lois (Al) Greene
18 B Melanie (Dan) Maine
19 A Ken & Jane Delcore
19 B Stephen Froelich
20 B Harris Charles
20 B Jeff Shutter
20 B Jim VanAllen
21 A Jeff & Delores Shutter
23 B Marilyn (Tom) Janowski
24 B Denise (Kevin) Beck
26 B Kathy (Terry) Timmerman
27 B Barbara (Thomas) George
28 B Scott Rebman
30 A Jed & Beverly Schatt

May
04 B Carol (Aaron) Naze
05 B Sheila (Leon) Janowski
05 B Stan Waslowski
06 A William & Cheryl Brown
06 B Jane (Ken) Delcore
07 A Clay & Rosemary Langenberg
08 B Lynda (Roger) Shaha
10 A John & Dawn Walczyk
10 O Father Al Lis, O.F.M.
11 A Dan & Melanie Maine
13 B Harold Watermolen

Family of the Year
Congratulations to Deacon Craig & Connie Merrick of Appleton who were selected Family of the Year for the Green Bay Diocese. Craig is a member of Council 607 in Appleton. The Ronald & Bonnie Smith family from Strum (Diocese of LaCrosse) was selected State Family of the Year. Ron is with Council 10774 in Augusta. Congratulations to them and to all the winners.

Tootsie Roll Drive
Coordinator Mike Worzala is gearing up for the annual event which will take place April 27-28-29. A schedule of workers will be sent out soon under separate cover. Workers will be needed to cover East Town Mall, Wal-Mart and tentatively Walgreen's for the entire weekend as well as Copp's Food Center on Sunday and St. Bernard Parish for the weekend Masses. Obviously we have a lot of ground to cover, so the participation of our men is essential. Brother Knights are reminded to please switch with someone if they cannot make the time for which they are scheduled, or leave a message for Mike at 435-3771 x112. Let's continue the tradition of making this event a great success.

Medallion Winners Announced
The Medallion Award is a very prestigious award given by the State to six brother Knights for outstanding service to the fraternity. One award is presented for each of the five Dioceses in the State and a sixth for the State at-large. We congratulate the winners of this distinct honor: Lawrence Zambrowicz (Council 717, Green Bay Diocese;) Daniel Hull (Council 4634, LaCrosse Diocese;) Francis Pulkamp (Council 4549, Madison Diocese;) Richard Taddy (Council 11301, Milwaukee Archdiocese;) Ronald Levra (Council 2639, Superior Diocese;) and Gerald Heuer (Council 1837, at-Large.) Congratulations to them all! The awards will be presented at the State Convention in LaCrosse. We look forward to the day when the first winner from Council 10243 is selected.

Comings and Goings
Welcome to the newest members of Council 10243-- Scott McKenzie made the First Degree at an exemplification at Ss. Peter & Paul in March, and Norbert Kalinosky, a Third Degree Knight who transferred from Duck Creek Council 6279. Norb served his former Council as Chancellor and Deputy Grand Knight. We wholeheartedly welcome them both to Council 10243.

We regret the loss of five members of Council 10243 from our active membership:

Chuck Rademacher, a Fourth Degree Knight who served the Council as Youth Director and was also a member of the First Degree Team. Chuck was Knight of the Month in 1994, and, with his wife Bev, Family of the Month in 1992; Dave Doperalski, a Third Degree Knight who was honored as Knight of the Month in 1993 and served as Community Director; Ron Rentmeester, Third Degree, who served as Council Director and was Knight of the Month in 1993; Lee Maccoux, Third Degree Knight and Mike Boudreau, First Degree. Rademacher, Doperalski and Rentmeester were also recognized in the Spotlight article over the years. Doperalski is classified as Inactive; the others are withdrawn. We thank them for the time they gave to the Council and for all that they did while an active part of our family.

Booyah
Coordinator Bill Bartelme does not have a complete list of the booyah volunteers from the last project, March 24-25. He thinks it was probably thrown out at clean-up time. Suffice it to say the volunteer pool was less than the last time on Saturday morning. The volunteers were cleaned up and gone by 10:45 AM and Sunday went well also. Booyah was served through the 11:00 AM Mass and there was enough for all but one last customer. Booyah and pies netted us $745.00. A big THANKS to all who helped make this a very successful event for the Council.

Father LeCaptain Goes 4th Degree
Father Doug LeCaptain has been proposed for membership in the Fourth Degree and is planning to participate in the Exemplification in Appleton on April 21. Doug was proposed for membership by Don Bettine, a member of another Council. Congratulations!

Prayer

Prayer for the Jewish People
The feast of Passover coincides with Easter, and Jews and Christians celebrate their greatest feasts at the same time. As we celebrate the gift of the resurrection, hold God's chosen people up in prayer as well.

Eternal God and Father,
long ago you called Abraham,
our Father in faith,
to trust in you
and to follow where you led.
You brought him and his descendants
to a land you promised them
and you made a covenant with them
to last for all ages.
May the Jewish people,
the first to hear your voice,
remain ever faithful to the covenant
you made with them.
May we, bonded to them through faith in you,
also remain steadfast and true
so that we may always be your people
and you will ever be our God.
May our lives bear witness to our faith
in you, the One true God,
and in Jesus, whom you sent.
May the people you first made your own
remain ever faithful in your service
and arrive at the fullness of joy
in your presence, where you live and reign
forever and ever.

Building Update
Our April Meeting will be held in the lower level of the Educational Annex as usual. More than likely our May meeting will be held there, too. The building in which we have been meeting will be razed early in June once school is out, so starting in June we will be meeting in the new building at St. Bernard. If there are any changes in these plans they will be published in the Newsletter. Moving from our current meeting building also means that we are losing our current storage space. St. Bernard has offered us storage space in the basement of the new facility, however at this time that is all that it is, just space. Our current closets were built by brother Knight Al Cisler who died in 1996. He did a wonderful job on these and their size and layout have served us well over the years. I am looking for a team of volunteers to create storage closets similar to what we have now. Construction on these could be started mid-April and should be done by the end of May. In addition to constructing storage for our own use, we have been asked to expand the project to provide space for some of the other parish groups as well. For more information on this project, please call Rick Noe (468-3194) or show up at the April meeting, as it will be discussed there.

100^thAnnual Convention
The Annual meeting of the State Council will take place later this month in LaCrosse, April 28-29. Several members of Council 10243 are planning to attend as delegates, alternates or guests. It is always good to have even better representation; anyone interested in making a trek to LaCrosse should contact GK Rick Noe (468-3194) for more information. Remember--one needn't be a delegate in order to take part in most Convention functions.

State Web Site
Roy C. Johnson and Richard Rebman met with State Deputy Carl Templin recently to talk about plans for a web site for the State Council of the Knights of Columbus. Though there is a lot of work that needs to be done yet, things are beginning to fall into place. Carl had long ago taken note of our own Coucnil's web site and had expressed an interest in working with whomever was responsible in trying to set something up for the State. Thanks to Roy for his willingness to be a part of this project.

Fourth Degree
Fourth Degree Knights came together in a larger than usual meeting in March at Kewaunee for the customary St. Patrick Celebration. Eastern District Master and Past State Deputy Erv Jankowiak and his wife Helen were present for the evening. Erv spoke about the upcoming exemplification of the Fourth Degree in Appleton on April 21 and on other topics of concern to the Fourth Degree. We are behind in recruiting; as of the March meeting only six men had been proposed for membership. Among the six is Council 10243 member Father Doug LeCaptain. The Marquette Assembly will meet again on April 10 at the Menominee Casino in Keshena

Clergy Night
Some concerns were raised when discussion of a contribution to Council 3955 in DePere toward their annual recognition of clergy was held at the last meeting. The following information is available from Father Al. 1) Do those in attendance know that other Councils have contributed? A: No effort seems to be made to recognize contributions from other Councils, nor does the host Council take credit for it all by themselves. Most of those in attendance know that it is the "Knights of Columbus" who sponsor the event, and are not aware of jurisdictional boundaries. 2) Is there a brochure provided noting contributors? A: No brochure is provided. 3) Are local clergy members of our Council invited? A: Last year, Fathers Al Lis, Dave Pleier and Jerry Pastors were in attendance. Father Doug LeCaptain was left off the list because the invitations were based on the listing of those working full time in parishes. Father Al asked Grand Knight George Garrity to be sure Doug would be included in the future. In a conversation with George recently, he noted that this is not any kind of a fund-raiser; on the contrary, the DePere Council usually ends up paying anywhere between $1200 - $1500. It is also interesting to note that with our Council's substantial support of everything from St. Bernard food pantry to the Green Bay Police youth programs, such concerns were raised when dealing with a request from another Council of the Knights of Columbus.

Emergency Call System
We will soon be undertaking the project of revising our Council's emergency call system. In the event that information needs to get out to Council members as soon as possible, Officers were responsible for contacting seven to ten members each in order to relay the information. We would like to take advantage of e-mail in the future, but we need to cooperation of Council members. E-mail addresses change frequently, so we are asking that all those who receive their NEWSLETTER via e-mail please make us aware of any address change as soon as possible. In this way you will not only receive the NEWSLETTER in a timely fashion but will also be kept informed of important events in the Council. You will also enable us to considerably reduce the time needed to get news out. E-mail address changes should be reported to Roy C. Johnson (rjohnson1@new.rr.com) or Jim Barnett (jimb@itol.com)

Correction
It was bound to happen sooner or later. The March NEWSLETTER contained several lists of people who worked at various Council projects. The listing for the booyah on February 24-25 included Roy C. Johnson when it should have read Roy D. Johnson. The error was corrected on the e-mailed issue but not on the surface mailed copies.

Charity Raffle
As of the end of March we are at 104% of our goal in Charity Raffle sales. A total of 1349 tickets have been sold so far by 59 members of the Council. 67 have not yet responded, and coordinator Leon Janowski has sent reminders to them. Six men so far have passed 100: John Schmitz (212), Roger Heesacker (174), Randy Barrett (132), Richard Rebman (125), Father Al Lis (100) and Tom Gauthier (100). Now is the time for a final push, not only to make sure that this is our best year ever but also to try and be ranked among the top Councils in the State. We can do that with the cooperation of a sizable portion of those 67 men who have not reported any sales yet. Leon asks that all tickets be in by April 20.