Grand Knight’s Blog – January 2020
Grand Knight’s Blog – January 2020
Happy New Year!
Next Meeting
Our next meeting is Tuesday, January 14, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.
St. Mary’s Chapel (lower church) at Immaculate Conception. Doors open at 7:00.
Activities Since Last Meeting
- I.C. Chair Installation. On December 21st a good sized compliment of Knights turned out at the I.C. Church to help unload 650 folding chairs, assemble them into neat rows, and then zip-tie them to 1” x 3” wood strapping to keep them properly spaced and anchored. Thanks to Mike Wells, Chris Lundberg, Rich Uber, Mike Cahill, Neil Cronin, Rafael Johnson (and Trevor!), Dale Dolesh, and our two newest members: Deacon Elcio dos Santos (with his son Joe!), and Kevin Armstrong. And of course, Mrs. Grand Knight, Kathy Tremblay. Click here to see some photos of the work and finished product.
- Institute of Divine Mercy. We received a request from the Institute of Divine Mercy in Uganda for donations for clothing and uniforms, so we ran an appeal on the website. Rich Pulice principally promoted the cause, but our handy website with credit card acceptance ability simplified the process of donating and collecting and disbursing the funds. We raised about $700 and the money is already on its way to Africa where we get reliable reports of the good use it goes to. We even got a donation from the Netherlands, which was our webmaster’s first experience with foreign currency conversion. Council #81 goes global! If you missed it, you can see the Christmas promotion here and make a donation.
- R.I.P. Christie Rembetsy. Council #81 said goodbye to our brother of 56 years who died on December 30th. In his honor, our Council turned out in solid numbers, and the McSweeney Assembly provided an honor guard for Christie’s wake, funeral and graveside services. We provided a prayer ritual that honored Christie’s journey through his four degrees, and his family was extremely grateful for the respect and honor we helped provide. Rest in peace with God, our brother. You did just about everything that could have been done to demonstrate what charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism mean.On a side note, Christie’s family asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Council #81, and we received over $200 so far already in checks and online donations. We will discuss at the next meeting how to best apply these funds as Christie would have wanted.
- Welcome new members. Council #81 welcomed some new members last month: Greg Michaud and Kevin Armstrong. Greg and Kevin took their Admission Degree on December 26th at a ceremony at St. Bernadette’s Parish in Northborough. Both Greg and Kevin attend St. Mike’s in Hudson. We also received a lateral transfer, Deacon Elcio do Santos, already a Knight in Holliston, transferred in since he’s been appointed a permanent Deacon at Immaculate Conception.
Program Update.
- Coats for Kids. We purchased two cases of coats this year. Mike Cahill picked them up in Norwood; and Dale Dolesh delivered them to the City Food Pantry operation on Rawlins Ave. where they were distributed to needy children in our community. Job well done! This program is officially in the books.
- Free Throw Competition. We are finally making headway at getting this program off the ground. The city was unhelpful about letting us use a school gym, but program organizer DGK Neil Cronin starting thinking outside the box and we have preliminarily secured the use of the gym at the Special Olympics headquarters. Thanks to Rich Pulice (KofC SOMA liaison) for helping smooth the pathways. If this works, it might break down barriers and stereotypes by introducing our city’s youth athletes to the special needs athletic world right here in our backyard, and help build a relationship that improves life in our community. Faith in action! Neil is targeting early February for the event and he will go undercover on January 14th to study the Westboro Council’s free throw event and learn everything we need to know. Stay tuned for a sign-up sheet as we will need lots of volunteers to make this event work.
- Literature Kiosk. We are still looking for a volunteer to manage this program, which involves stocking a small display of booklets and literature in the back of the church. All the initial materials are provided initially by our Supreme Headquarters. If you are interested, email grandknight@kofcmarlboro.org.
- State Raffle Tickets. Grand Knight will have state raffle tickets at the meeting.
- Special Olympics. Rich Pulice is organizing an event called the Polar Plunge on February 15, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. at the Special Olympics of Mass. (“SOMA”) headquarters on Forest Street. Mark your calendar, we will need some volunteers to help out. We anticipate this to run about 3 hours. You can sign up on the website.
Upcoming Events
- I. C. Upper Church Re-Consecration / Pastor Installation. Saturday January 11th at the 4:30 p.m. Mass, Sean Cardinal O’Malley will join us to re-consecrate the upper church, and formally install Fr. Steven as Pastor. The McSweeney Assembly will provide an honor guard to escort Cardinal O’Malley and add ceremony to the event. It would be good for those Knights planning to attend to wear your name badges and sit together with your families. The I.C. Parish secretary Lee Ann Rempelakis has asked us to staff a table to serve coffee and water after the Mass at Meehan Hall. One or two volunteers to help schlepp the equipment in, set up the table, and staff it for about an hour would be appreciated! Please email grandknight@kofcmarlboro.org if you can help. You can sign up on the website too.
- I.C. Parents’ Association Trivia Night. Saturday, February 8th (the weekend after the Superbowl). Doors will open at 6:30pm. Catered dinner buffet and cash wine and beer bar. Council #81 has fielded a team for several years, and we have an annoying habit of leading all night but finishing in second place three years in a row. This year, we reverse the curse! We need 8-10 people to field a team. Wives, friends and family members are welcome. In fact, the wives, friends and families got more answers than the Knights last year. Sign up on the website. It’s a fun night.
- Superbowl Square Pool. Council #81’s famous Superbowl Square Pool is up and running on the website. Last year we made $400 on this event, so this year we have doubled our efforts. We are running two separate pools this year, so you can chose between the “dabbler” pool ($10 per square); or the “gambling addict” pool ($20 per square). We will award $600 in prizes in the $10 pool and $1,200 in prizes in the $20 pool, and hopefully raise $1,200 for the Council. Anyone can play, just visit our website where you can register, select your squares, and pay online. Please promote the pool to your friends and relatives by sending this link: Council #81 Superbowl Square Pool. If we fill a pool early, we can roll out another and raise more funds for the Council.
Other Meeting Agenda Items
- Delta Program. Next month (February) Ed Hebert will join us to introduce the Delta Program, a new method of conducting membership church drives.
- Social Night Out? There has been some interest in holding a social event once in a while, perhaps 4 times a year, with a dinner out with our wives and families. If anyone is interested in spearheading this endeavor, please let me know. We need to find a venue (i.e., Wellys, upper room at Wildwood or Kennedy’s, etc.) negotiate the price, and schedule the event.
- Departed Knights Mass and Reception? We haven’t done this in several years. It has been an important element to our mission to reach out to widows and families of recently deceased Knights and invite them to a Mass and dinner reception to remember and honor their loved ones. Since we have had two Knights pass away in the last year (Mike Buttiglieri in November 2018 and Christie Rembetsy in December 2019) we should consider organizing this event soon. If you are interested in helping organize this event, let the Grand Knight know.
If you have any news to report, email GrandKnight@kofcmarlboro.org.
Vivat Jesus.
Mike Tremblay, GK