Holy Spirit Council No. 11661
11300 W 103RD ST OVERLAND PARK KS 66214
Website: http://kofc11661.com/
Meeting Minutes of January 13, 2022
Call to Order: Deputy Grand Knight, Don Watson called the meeting to order at 7:00p.m., Jim Easterday was excused.
Warden’s Report: The meeting was held in the Holy Spirit Catholic Church’s Martha and Mary room. “Men’s Knight Out” was cancelled because of the omicron covid pandemic.
Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance: Fr. Andrew led the Council in prayer and the Deputy Grand Knight led the Council in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Roll Call: Officers absent at the meeting were the Grand Knight, the Treasurer, the Advocate, the Warden, and the 2nd Year Trustee. Twenty-two (22) members were present and duly recognized.
Attendance: Present: 22; Total Membership: 319
Approval of Minutes: Upon motion duly made and seconded, the minutes from the December 9, 2021, meeting was approved.
Grand Knight’s Report
Deputy Grand Knight, Don Watson, gave the following report and announcements:
1.He welcomed everyone back for another year and hoped everyone had a great Christmas and New Year;
2.He reported on the health of Tom Spencer informing the Council he was out of the hospital since Wednesday and doing well;
3.All those participating in taking down the Nativity set were thanked;
4.He announced the Poster Contest would take place and Bob Roennigke volunteered to run it;
5.He announced the Council is scheduled to clean up after the Gala on February 20, at 7:30 A. M.;
6.He reminded the Council Corporate Communion Sunday is January 30 starting with 9 A. M. Mass followed by brunch. All Knights and their families are invited;
7.He reported the Council is still looking for a volunteer to head up the Lenten Dinner Committee starting March 4;
8.He informed the Council the Seminarian the Council supported, Dan Mauro, sent a thank you note to the Council. He passed the thank you note around.
Deputy Grand Knight
The Deputy Grand Knight, Don Watson, was present but, gave no report.
Chaplain’s Report
Fr. Andrew was present. He gave a brief report and thanked the Knights for his Christmas present and expressed how grateful he was for all they contribute.
Financial Reports
Financial Secretary Report
Tom Gaume, the Financial Secretary, was present. Tom presented the bills of the Council. They were:
1.Greg Brown for reimbursement for Tom Mailard’s plague
of $20 and “Coats for Kids” reimbursement $263.96 $283.96
2.John Weber for reimbursement for flowers for
deceased Knights Jack McGranaghan, Vince Santa Maria,
and Ron Svec $172.22
3.Robert Roennigke “Poster Board Contest” $106.83
4.Per capita, “Catholic Advertising and Culture of Life” $748.06
5.Chad Eickholt, Refreshments for “Sports Knight” $ 55.58
TOTAL $1,366.65
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was approved to pay the above referenced bills.
Tom informed the Council he has received about 57% of the dues from Members. He indicated the second notice to the Members would go out on January 14, 2022.
Treasurer’s Reports
Tom Spencer, the Treasurer, was absent, but Tom Gaume gave the Treasurer’s report as follows:
Bank Balance on hand (As of January 13, 2022): $32,469.02
Less: Checks Outstanding
# 1303 $50.00
Current Bank Balance: $32,446.02
Less: earmarked Coats for Kids’ fund $ 6,489.39
Less: earmarked Donations for Seminarians fund $ 3,357.00
Remainder: $22,599.63
Lector’s Address
The Lector, Gregg Brown, adopted Fr. Andrew’s words on “Unity” the second principle of our Order appearing in the Bulletin in July of 2021. He read Fr. Andrew’s words verbatim.
Membership Director
The Grand Knight called on the Membership Director to give his report. Chad Eickholt, the Membership Director, was present. Chad announced seventeen (17) men showed for the “Sporting Knight” last Tuesday. He said a great time was had by all.
Also, he reported on our Recruitment Drive in December. He said he had interests from nine (9) individuals; three (3) were transfers and six (6) potential recruits.
When he succeeded the floor, Bill Ramsey informed the Council he is looking at three additional days to host a “Sporting Knight: The dates were: 2/15/2022, KU vs. KS basketball game; 4/12/22, Royals vs. Cardinals baseball game; and 5/17/22, another streamed sporting event.
Faith Director
Everett Fritz, the Faith Director, was called upon to give his report. He informed the Council he has a program designed to meet the required “Spiritual Reflection” mandatory requirement by Supreme for spiritual renewal of its members. The Council will be asked to participate and stand in solidarity as an Order and with the Church in participating and encouraging the participation of Knights, their families, and families of the Parish to participate and adopt in their daily lives spiritual changes derived from participation in the Lenten renewal offered by our Parish. He indicated the Parish has in the past offered a rich spiritual and sacramental offering of programs for spiritual renewal and enrichment. He hoped the Council would support the Parish Priest and each other in taking advantage and incorporating into their lives what would be offered.
Family Director
John Weber as Family Director was present. He encouraged all Knights and their families to participate in the Communion Mass and brunch coming up on January 30. He said Mr. P’z had agreed to cater the event and the cost would be $10 a person with children 12 and under getting in free.
Life Director
Dave Boone was absent. No report.
YOUTH DIRECTOR
Don Watson was present. He gave a report on the “Free Throw” event. He said the participation by the youth was one of the best, if not the best to date. He said 91 children from the CYO teams participated in the event this past Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. He said there was participation by 47 boys and 41 girls. This coming Sunday the Holy Spirit Gym will be open for non-Parishioner children to participate in the event.
Community Director
Mike Bergkamp, the Community Director was present. No report
WEBMASTER REPORT
Bob Long was absent. No report.
Unfinished Business
With the Director reports concluded the Deputy Grand Knight asked whether there was any unfinished business.
Greg Brown stood and provided a summary of the “Coats for Kids” Program. He indicated Holy Spirit Church was so supportive and generous in donating to this Program. He indicated after purchasing and distributing 189 coats at a cost of approximately $3,700 there is a reserve balance earmarked for this Program in our treasury of $6,489.39.
New Business
With “Unfinished Business” concluded the Deputy Grand asked whether there was any new business to take up.
Trinidad Molina stood and was recognized. Trinidad informed the Council he had a full team for Exemplification and there would be a practice on January 23, 2022. He informed the Council he was going to have an Exemplification sometime in the first quarter. Under the new Exemplification process the Parish is invited to attend and all Degree work is accomplished within a short time for new applicants as well as those needing to complete some Degree work. He informed the Council under the old process the hosting Council for Degree work would provide a dinner or some sort of refreshments for the Knights and applicants attending. He suggested the Council address this and put it on the floor for a discussion. After some discussion it was decided the matter would be tabled and taken up at the Officers’ Meeting in January and brought back to the Council in February.
Thereafter, Everett Fritz stood and was recognized. He informed the Council he intended to bring up at the Officers’ Meeting in January the idea of the Officers being empowered to call an audible regarding the Lenten Dinners in the event the pandemic does not subside and it is not possible for the Council to host the Lenten Dinners at Holy Spirit. Should the Officers be in favor of the idea, it would be brought back to the Council for a vote in February.
Thereafter Greg Brown stood and was recognized. Greg brought up again what to do with the Solidarity Crosses purchased by the Council and currently stored in its storage room. Greg suggested they would be excellent items to give away as awards or gifts for accomplishment to the School children. Thereafter a motion was made and seconded to take the surplus Solidarity Crosses paid for and stored in the storage room and present them as gifts or achievement awards to the students of the School for their accomplishments for such things as Altar Servers, Humanitarian Services, and the like. The motion was seconded and passed.
Finally, Trinidad Molina stood and was recognized and expressed to the Council his need for volunteers for his Rosary Teams. He said he is desperately short of volunteers and the Knights have been doing this at the request of the then Pastor after the 9/11 bombing. He indicated his desire to continue this worthwhile Parish prayer opportunity and asked the members to step up and volunteer for this.
Fourth Degree Report
Dan Hageman, the Faithful Navigator was present and reported after talking with many of the Officers in the Assembly and learning because of the pandemic they either had covid or feared getting covid the January scheduled potluck dinner and meeting would be cancelled. The next meeting would be in February provided the conditions were safe.
KNIGHT AND FAMILY OF THE MONTH
The Grand Knight reported the Knight and Family of the Month were as follows:
Knight of the Month: Fr. Andrew Strobl
Family of the Month: Frank and Roxanne Alter
District Deputy Comments
The District Deputy, Richard Warwick, was not present. There was no report.
Insurance Agent Report
Our Field Agent, John Rodriguez was not present; there was no report
For the Good of the Order
Prayers Requested
Before closing the meeting the Grand Knight asked whether any Brother Knight wished to request prayers for the sick and distressed. The names for which prayers were requested were:
1.Monsignor Applegate is at St. Francis Retirement Home and would welcome any Knight who wished to visit him;
2.Greg Swartz a 3rd Degree Knight of our Council died; and
3.John Gillcrist and his wife asked for your prayers as they journey to India as part of their on-going support of the India Orphanage Program.
Adoration
Jerry Gerstberger was present. He said the Adoration Chapel was open and there was space for eighteen (18) people. He welcomed attendees. Also, he indicated there was plenty of room on the prayer list for additional Council members’ intentions.
50 / 50 DRAWING
There was a 50/50 drawing at the meeting with $15.00 going to the nightly winner and $15.00 into the rollover fund which now totals $32.00. The Rollover fund is an attendance price drawn from all active members.
After a prayer, the meeting closed at 8:05 P.M.
Next meeting is February 10, 2022, with the Chili Cook-off event before the meeting. The next Officers’ Meeting is January 27, 2022.
Respectfully submitted,
Everett Fritz, II, Recorder
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