The Knight's Shield - July 2020 Spot Knights

Published on: Thursday, June 25, 2020

First off I want to thank you for your confidence in electing me Grand Knight for this council. I am honored. I can only hope I can live up to the past Grand Knights, as they have set the bar pretty high. I want to thank outgoing Grand Knight, Mike Hartel, for his dedication, hard work, and service to our council. He did a wonderful job and deserves our gratitude! I also want to thank the outgoing officers for their hard work and service to the council. This is a great council, and it would not run as smoothly as it does without the good leadership that we have. Next, a thank you to the incoming officers. I appreciate you offering your time and talents to run our council, and I look forward to working with each and every one of you. I have one more thank you and that is to the entire council membership. It not only takes great leadership as really nothing would get done without the general membership taking part and participating... so thank you all for all you do!

I hope everyone is safe and healthy during these trying times. Currently we are planning for the July meeting to be outdoors again as was the June meeting. We are holding hope that we will be able to access the social hall by then in order to not worry about the weather. It has been nice to return to the mass, although a little odd with the masks and social distancing. I believe that it is worth it to be receiving the Eucharist again though. It is just not the same watching on TV for me.

My next topic is not so pleasant. I have been made aware of a complaint about our elections this year. There is a perception that some positions were chosen by the officers, and I want to clear this up right away. I will also discuss this at the July general membership meeting and open it up for questions and discussion.

I want everyone to know that this is "our" (meaning everyone's) council. We start off the election process with officer nominations being taken at the April and May general meetings. We did not have those meetings this year due to Covid-19, so we took them via email/phone calls. They were posted on the website and in the newsletter. We also take nominations before we vote at the June meeting. Any member can either nominate any other member or himself for any position. If there are multiple nominations for a position after everyone is qualified as being able and willing to serve, we will hold a vote to determine who is elected to that position. If there is only one candidate they are elected by acclimation after a motion, 2nd, and a vote. This year we were missing a couple of key positions, and we did actively recruit members to fill those positions. Recruiting for positions should in no way be misconstrued as being dishonest or not following the rules. We simply want to keep good men in all positions to insure continuity of this great council. I hope this helps to quell any issues anyone has about our election process and if there are any problems with this please do not hesitate to contact me or bring it up at our next meeting for discussion.

Our 2020-21 board of officers was elected at the June general membership meeting and the results are as follows:

Grand Knight - Tom Gray
Deputy Grand Knight - Phil Mularski
Chancellor - Kevin Kennedy
Recorder - Rob Tusset
Treasurer - Ray Coughlin
Warden - Tony Guido
Inside Guard - Joe Kish
Outside Guard - Vince Ursini
Advocate - Ken Krause
3-Year Trustee - Mike Hartel

I will be working on appointments of some director positions very soon. If you are interested in a leadership position, it is a good step to get your feet wet being a director. Just let me know if you are interested.

Vivat Jesus,
Tom Gray

Outgoing Grand Knight’s Mike Hartel Closing Remarks

We look forward to your support for your elected officers in the new fraternal year which begins on July 1. The council is in good hands with Tom as our new Grand Knight, Phil as the Deputy Grand Knight and many returning and new officers and directors.

I would like to thank each and every one of you for the support and fraternity you have given Karla and me over the last two years. We had quite a few changes and challenges over the past two years. A new Faith in Action program, transfer to a new District, construction at church and the Covid virus to mention just a few.

I believe that with your participation and support, our council is as strong as ever and will continue to do the good works the Knights of Columbus are known for. Thank you for all that you do and may God Bless each and every one of my Brother Knights and their families!

Vivat Jesus,
Mike Hartel

The Knight's Shield - June 2020 Spot Knights

Published on: Wednesday, May 27, 2020

State Advocate: Charles McCuen

State Warden: Jim Kraus

We have scheduled our June 8 general meeting to be at St. Paul of Tarsus! The meeting will be held outside and we will practice social distancing. No meal will be served. Meeting time will be at 7 pm. Everyone needs to wear a face mask and plan to bring your own lawn chair. An area will be set up in the Northeast parking lot for our meeting. The meeting area will be marked with a 6 foot social distance grid. We will not have sign in sheets or our 50 50 raffle. In case of inclement weather, Tuesday June 9 at 7 pm will be our make up date. We will have council officer elections. We are still accepting nominations for each officer position. An officer nomination must be a Third Degree Knight. A Knight can be nominated for more than one position. However, a Knight can only hold one elected officer position at one time. A Knight can self nominate. You do not need to attend a meeting to nominate. A member can submit a nomination by phone or email to any current officer or director who will advise the GK. Current Officer Positions and Nominations received so far are listed below.

Nominations can be made prior to the June meeting and of course at the June meeting until nominations are closed on the floor and the officer is elected. As a reminder, we only elect officers. Directors are appointed. We especially need help at our Community Director position! Please contact the DGK or GK to discuss the opportunities for leadership with YOUR council.

We look forward to your support for your elected officers in the new fraternal year which begins on July 1. I would like to thank each and every one of you for the support and fraternity you have given Karla and me over the last two years. We had quite a few changes and challenges over the past two years. A new Faith in Action program, transfer to a new District, construction at church and the covid virus to mention just a few. I believe that with your participation and support, our council is as strong as ever and will continue to do the good works the Knights of Columbus are known for. Thank you for all that you do and may God Bless each and every one of my Brother Knights and their families!

Vivat Jesus,

Mike Hartel

Rest in peace - Chuck Lomasney - May 15, 2020

Published on: Saturday, May 16, 2020

The Knight's Shield - May 2020

Published on: Sunday, April 26, 2020

Well the COVID-19 pandemic has for the time being, taken control of how we can live our lives. In this unprecedented time, most of our scheduled meetings and events have been canceled for the safety of our members and families. The latest event is our Spring Road Clean-Up. We will try to reschedule this in July. Our May General Meeting and the annual Special Olympics at MCC have been canceled. Our planning meetings will be held online until further notice. Our Annual Pot Luck will be rescheduled when we resume our regular meetings back at the church social hall. We will continue to reschedule or cancel events and meetings as needed when they get closer on the calendar. Please remain vigilant and safe.

The church will be open daily Monday through Thursday from 8:30am to 1pm for personal prayer. If you are financially able, please continue to support the parish with you regular offering. Thank you! The parish office is closed. Masses are being streamed online. See the church website for more information. Since the office is closed, no hard copies of this newsletter will be mailed.

Due to the stay at home order, all nonessential construction throughout the state was put on hold. Hopefully, this will be lifted soon so construction at the parish can resume. Much work remains. Once the new areas are ready, the pantry will move out of the social hall and into the new space. Until then, the use of our church social hall will not be available.

Please welcome the newest members to our council, Jerry Featherstone and Brennan McAlister. Jerry was just reinstated with Dale Jacks as his sponsor. Brennan is our first Knight to go through the new degree ceremony online! Phil Mularski was his sponsor.

The online ceremony is open to all new candidates, and all current Knights who have not yet attained the third degree. Supreme is currently offering the degree on Thursday evenings. All new candidates and current Knights who have not yet attained the third degree are encouraged to register. The degree is thirty minutes long. Please contact the Grand Knight to register.

Every spring we have council officer elections. We collect nominations for each officer position. An officer nomination must be a Third Degree Knight. A Knight can be nominated for more than one position. However, a Knight can only hold one elected officer position at one time. A Knight can self- nominate. You do not need to attend a meeting to nominate. A member can submit a nomination by phone or email to any current officer or director who will advise the GK. Current Officer Positions and Nominations received so far are listed below.

Now that our May General Meeting is canceled, the election will be moved to June. Nominations can be made prior to the June meeting and of course at the June meeting until nominations are closed on the floor and the officer is elected. As a reminder, we only elect officers. Directors are appointed. As you can see we still need members to help lead our council. We especially need help for the DGK and our Community Director po-sitions! Please contact the DGK or GK to discuss the op-portunities for leadership with YOUR council.

Vivat Jesus, Mike Hartel

The Knight's Shield - April 2020

Published on: Friday, March 27, 2020

Well the COVID-19 pandemic has captured the attention of the whole world. In this unprecedented time, many of our scheduled meetings and events have been cancelled for the safety of our members and families. The latest event is our annual MI (Tootsie Roll) Drive which is being rescheduled to the fall. This is a very fluid situation. Please note that due to the Governor’s Stay-at- Home Order, effective through April 13th, our General Meeting on 4/13 at JFK is effectively cancelled. However, there is a possibility we may try to hold an online meeting instead. We will reschedule or cancel additional events and meetings as needed when they get closer on the calendar. That being said, don’t panic but remain vigilant and safe.

Easter will still arrive on April 12! This year will be a much more private event with your Lord and Savior. Wishing each of you a Happy Easter.

FYI, Church announced that they will be streaming a Mass online. The church will be open daily Monday through Thursday from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm for personal prayer. The parish office is closed. See the church website for more information. Since the office is closed, no hard copies of this newsletter will be mailed.

Next time you visit church, you will see that the construction has continued. The interior finish work is well under way. The main entrance canopy copper roof and fascia is just about complete. However, much work remains. Once the new areas are ready, the pantry will begin to move out of the social hall and into the new space. Until then, the use of our church social hall will not be available. We are currently estimating we will not be able to have any events in our social hall until after Memorial Day. So as a reminder, our next scheduled General Meeting is May 11 at the JFK Council Hall located on 33320 Kelly Road. Our Planning Meeting will remain in the conference room at SPOT. As noted above, we may hold meetings online instead.

Wanted to let everyone know that our council has contacted all of our senior Knights and widows who are at least 80 years young to check how they are doing. Fortunately, all were doing well and were having their needs being taken care of.

Thank you to Tom Gray, Ken Krause, Kevin Kennedy, Art Krygowski, Ron Marrese, Hank Leflere, Phil Kwasny, and Rob Tusset who helped move our K of C storage cabinets on Saturday 3/21 so the contractor can epoxy the old pantry floor. We will need to move the cabinets again, once it is determined where they can be placed after construction winds down.

Hopefully, many of you were able to attend at least one of the Parish Mission talks held at SPOT. Father Alex was a very good speaker. Was a good way to help begin our 2020 Lenten season. Thank you to Paul Parker, Stan Labuda, Hank Leflere, Vince Cusumano and Ron Marrese for the Statue of Mary procession which the Knights did each evening!

Please provide your support for our new Financial Secretary, George Sakorafos! Thank you to our outgoing FS Ray Ignatowski for your 12 years of service! It is not too soon to begin planning for our spring officer elections. Please contact the DGK or GK to discuss your interests, and we can also advise on some of the opportunities for leadership with YOUR council.

In regards to the spring officer election, here is an outline of the basic officer election process.

These are the officers we nominate and then elect: Grand Knight, Deputy Grand Knight, Chancellor, Recorder, Treasurer, Warden, Inside Guard, Outside Guard, Advocate and Trustee.

In April we simply collect nominations for each officer position. An officer position nomination must be a Third Degree Knight. A Knight can be nominated for more than one position. However, a Knight can only hold one elected officer position at one time. A Knight can self nominate. You do not need to attend a meeting to nominate. A member can submit a nomination by phone or email to any current officer or director. The officer/director should advise the GK of the nomination received. Nominations received by April 13 will be listed in the May Knights Shield. Nominations can also be made prior to the May meeting as noted above and of course at the May meeting until nominations are closed on the floor and the officer is elected.

As a reminder, we only elect officers. Directors are appointed.

Please see the new exemplification degree program article in the newsletter. If we have 4pm Mass on Saturday 4/18 we plan to still have the exemplification.

Do not forget to sell your K of C 2020 State Raffle Tickets. For every one you sell, $1 comes back to our council! Good luck to all. FYI, the raffle still will take place. However, the raffle party has been cancelled.

At this time, we still have scheduled Road Clean-up on Saturday 5/2, 8am and Special Olympics on Wednesday 5/13, 8am at Andreas for breakfast. See articles for more information.

Faith In Action (Columbian Award) Update: • 12 Programs submitted to date. Many of our activities and donations we participate in throughout the year are part of this FIA program. • We have 3 Programs remaining for this calendar year: RSVP or Vocations/Food for Families/Special Olympics. • If we meet our membership and insurance goals we will also receive Star council which is an annual goal for all councils nationwide.

We are returning to Lakeport State Park this summer for our third annual council camping trip. You can make your reservations now! The park campsites are filling up! Non-campers are also welcome to our pot luck dinner. See the article for more information.

Once we resume Masses at church, please consider signing up to receive the Holy Family Statue at Mass in support of Vocations. The list is very short. We need some more families to sign up. Most importantly, our prayers are needed to support vocations! Please note that this is open to all families of the parish. Mention that to the people you sit next to at church. The binder is located in the church gathering space. Thank you!

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

The Knight's Shield - March 2020

Published on: Saturday, February 29, 2020

As you visit church, the construction on our church continues. Windows and the interior work have begun. The main entrance canopy is beginning to take shape. This results in the loss of use of our church social hall until further notice. So as a reminder, our General Meetings are scheduled to be held at the JFK Council Hall located on 33320 Kelly Road. We will not be able to have any events in our social hall until after Memorial Day. Our Planning Meeting will remain in the conference room at SPOT. As a gentle reminder, our annual Pot Luck dinner has been rescheduled from March to June.

Please welcome the newest member to our council, Daniel Gildner. Dan is our first Knight to go through the new degree ceremony with our own council degree team. Also completing their degrees from our council were: George Adamski, Michael Burke, Mike Finn, Joe Munn, Steve Szypa, Gordon Wesley and Marty Winiarski. In addition to these eight Knights from our council we had 4 Knights from other councils who went through the degree. A total of 12 Knights! All three degree’s in 30 minutes! As a reminder, the exemplification is also open to the public and especially to family members of prospective Knights. The exemplification ceremony is a very solemn and spiritual event and is structured to be held in our church after the 4:00 pm and 11:30 am mass. The ceremony is open to all new candidates, and all current Knights who have not yet attained the third degree. Our next date is scheduled for Saturday, April 18 after the 4:00 pm mass. All new candidates and current Knights who have not yet attained the third degree are encouraged to attend one of these beautiful ceremonies with their family and friends.

Thirty minutes with family and friends is a wonderful way to fully participate in this new exemplification into the Knights of Columbus. Please contact Phil Mularski or Mike Hartel to register for one of these exemplification ceremonies. Keep up the good work and continue the effort to ask your Catholic brothers to consider joining the Knights and help us with our charitable works and fraternity while strengthening your faith. We will have information packets available in the gathering space next to the Holy Family Statue binder.

Also welcome the following new members who have transferred to our council: Randy Tisor, James Primeau and Jarek Otremba. We look forward to your participation in the council!

To conduct the new exemplification ceremony we are forming a council degree team. Please see the sign-up sheet at the next meeting or contact the Membership Director or Grand Knight for more information.

We will also have sign-up sheets for our upcoming MI (tootsie roll) Drive on Palm Sunday weekend. Please plan to help our council help those who cannot help themselves. This is one of the signature activities for the Knights of Columbus! See the article for more information.

Please provide your support for our new Financial Secretary, George Sakorafos! Thank you to our outgoing FS Ray Ignatowski for your 12 years of service! It is not too soon to begin planning for our spring officer elections. Please contact Tom or myself to discuss your interests and we can also advise on some of the opportunities for leadership with YOUR council.

Our pro Life Director, Sal Ales, would like to thank all who attended the 40 Days for Life kickoff on February 23. We prayed and sang in front of the abortion clinic on 15 Mile Rd. Right to Life of Michigan's Central Ma-comb affiliate is growing again.

Do not forget to sell your K of C 2020 State Raffle Tickets. For every one you sell, $1 comes back to our council! Good luck to all.

We are returning to Lakeport State Park this summer for our third annual council camping trip. You can make your reservations now! See the article for more information.

Please consider signing up to receive the Holy Family Statue at Mass in support of Vocations. The list is very short. We need some more families to sign up. Most importantly, our prayers are needed to support vocations! Please note that this is open to all families of the parish. Mention that to the people you sit next to at church. The binder is located in the church gathering space. Thank you!

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

The Knight's Shield - February 2020

Published on: Monday, January 27, 2020

As you visit church, the construction on our church continues. The classroom and pantry addition floor slab has been placed. Windows and the interior work have begun. The main entrance canopy is beginning to take shape. This results in the loss of use of our church social hall until further notice. So as a reminder, our General Meetings are scheduled to be held at the JFK Council Hall located on 33320 Kelly Road. We will not be able to have any Pancake Breakfast or Euchre events until after Easter. We have also canceled our fish fry events for Lent this year. Our Planning Meeting will remain in the conference room at SPOT.

We have had another Brother called home to the Lord. Ben Candela was called home on December 27. Ben first became a Knight in 1963. Ben was active in our council and our parish. Thank you to Phil Mularski for leading the rosary. Thank you also to George Loewen, Jeff Gapczynski, and Hank Leflere leading decades of the Rosary, and all who attended.

Please welcome the newest member to our council, Rob Amsler. Rob is our first Knight to go through the new degree ceremony. At the Winter Diocesan meeting, attended by our worthy DD, Deputy Grand Knight, Financial Secretary, Membership Director, Rob’s Sponsor, Ted Czarny and myself, we saw the new exemplification ceremony. All three degree’s in 30 minutes!

We have just scheduled our first council exemplification ceremony here at St. Paul of Tarsus. The first date is February 8. The exemplification is also open to the public and especially to family members of prospective Knights. The exemplification ceremony is a very solemn and spiritual event and is structured to be held in our church after the 4:00 pm and 11:30 am mass. The ceremony is open to all new candidates, and all current Knights who have not yet attained the third degree. Our second date is scheduled for Saturday, April 18 after the 4:00 pm mass. All new candidates and current Knights who have not yet attained the third degree are encouraged to attend one of these beautiful ceremonies with their family and friends. Thirty minutes with family and friends is a wonderful way to fully participate in this new exemplification into the Knights of Columbus. Please contact Phil Mularski or Mike Hartel to register for one of these exemplification ceremonies. Keep up the good work and continue the effort to ask your Catholic brothers to consider joining the Knights and help us with our charitable works and fraternity while strengthening your faith. We will have information packets available in the gathering space next to the Holy Family Statue binder.

To conduct the new exemplification ceremony we are forming a council degree team. Please see the sign-up sheet at the next meeting or contact the Membership Director or Grand Knight for more information.

As we begin to prepare for Lent, we will also have sign-up sheets for our upcoming MI (tootsie roll) Drive on Palm Sunday weekend. Please plan to help our council help those who cannot help themselves. This is one of the signature activities for the Knights of Columbus!

Due to the ongoing construction at church, we have rescheduled our annual pot luck from March to June. This may actually be a better time to hold our pot luck since June is the last month of our fraternal year and March is typically a very busy time for the council and church due to Lent. It is not too soon to begin planning for our spring officer elections. Please contact Tom or myself to dis-cuss your interests and we can also advise on some of the opportunities for leadership with YOUR council.

Please consider signing up to receive the Holy Family Statue at Mass in support of Vocations. The list is very short. We need some more families to sign up. Most importantly, our prayers are needed to support voca-tions! Please note that this is open to all families of the parish. Mention that to the people you sit next to at church. The binder is located in the church gathering space. Thank you!

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