Larry Ziarnik
It would be hard to identify anyone who has been more associated with the life and the growth of Council 10243 than Larry. He has been in the Council for about three and a half years and has served as Grand Knight for over half of his time in the fraternity. Larry got involved in the Knights at the invitation of Dave Tlachac, shortly after the Council was formed. In fact, he recalls being present for a meeting when he was not yet a First Degree member, as the Council was still handling its formative matters. After completing Second & Third and Fourth Degree in the spring of 1991, he felt energized, especially by the experience of Fourth Degree. That led him to get more involved in the life of the Council, and at the elections of June 1991 he was elected Deputy Grand Knight and appointed the Council's first Program Director. He helped establish that latter role as an important part of the Council's life, and it was partly through his efforts that Council 10243 received its first Star Council award for Fraternal year 1991-92. Larry considers that to be one of his proudest memories of service as an officer--enabling the Council to receive special recognition for its activities.
Larry is quick to point out that the success of the Council is not his doing alone. He notes many of the people he has worked with--Fr. Al, Richard Rebman, Roy Johnson, Dan McLaughlin, Dave Whitton, Roger Shaha and many others--as being men who could work together well and get things done while having fun at the same time. One of the Council's strongest points is the fact that there are young and old involved; men of varied backgrounds and interests. Drawing on and combining those backgrounds and interests has been a challenge. Larry was instrumental in forming the Steering Committee which was comprised of men who seemed to "gel" and get an enormous amount accomplished. He recognizes especially the fraternity built among the men of the Council as being something which helped many of the activities of the Council seem less like work and more like experiences of fraternity. He'd like to characterize his style of meetings as "light and lively," a group of brothers getting together. He feels its success is demonstrated by the comparatively large number of men who show up for meetings--usually twenty-five to thirty--more than many Councils much larger than Council 10243 manage to draw. Characteristic of his less-than-formal style was the fact that many Steering Committee meetings were held in members' living rooms or back yards, with much relaxed brainstorming done outside both the Steering Committee and regular Council meetings.
Having served the Council as Grand Knight since June of 1992, he had an even greater opportunity to help the Council draw things together and move along a successful path. "I've never been the kind of person who could do things half way", he says, and that is demonstrated by the many activities that he has been personally involved in. Foremost in his mind as notable activities are the Annual Appreciation Dinner and the Council's support of the Green Bay Police Teddy Bear Program. Though the Council is running many programs, Larry feels there must be a wide range of activities so that there is something to interest as many members of the Council as possible. "Just a few activities might give the impression that the Council is run by a clique which plans only what they are interested in." A wider range of programs has also helped somewhat in realizing another of his goals--family involvement. Many brothers of the Council are familiar with Larry's wife, Bridget and their sons Mark and Tim because of their involvement in Council activities. His family has been involved in many ways, such as getting refreshments ready for and delivered to meetings, preparing the monthly NEWSLETTER for mailing, assisting at the Cub Food stand or the Knights' Grill at the Parish Picnic, helping at the Tootsie Roll Drive or the concession stand at the Diocesan Free Throw Competition or hosting the farewell for Fr. Al when he left St. Bernard, just to name a few. Larry credits the support of his family as something which has enabled him to be as deeply involved in the Knights as he has and he encourages all Knights to get involved and invite their families to do likewise--whenever or however they can. He'd like to see more family members take an active part in the life of the Council: "When families work together there is no separation of 'family time'. With so many demands on all of our lives, we need to make the most of as much time together as possible."
Larry is an active member of the Green Bay Lightning Soccer Club, serving on the board of directors as well as being co-chairman of fund raising. In 1993 he organized the hosting of the Russian soccer team for a game followed by a pizza party for approximately 300 soccer players, fans and families. Each of the players and their chaperones received a 'goodie bag' with mementos of their trip to Wisconsin and to Green Bay, the result of many hours of dedicated solicitations of local businesses.
Originally from Manitowoc, Larry is a graduate of Lakeland College in Sheboygan. He is a US Army Vet, having served in Viet Nam. He was an elementary school teacher in Zion, IL for five years and has worked in sales for the past seventeen years. The family is active in St. Bernard Parish and Larry and Bridget will celebrate their 25th Wedding Anniversary this summer. As his time as an officer is drawing to a close, Larry plans on stepping back a bit "to get a look at the whole picture". He's certainly not going to be inactive, but says he's interested in being a part of a couple of activities rather than nearly all of them--"something short-range". His impact on the development and the history of Council 10243 has been great and Larry takes much pride in the accomplishments; certainly the fraternity is the better for it.
July 1994