Holy Spirit Council No. 11661
11300 W 103RD ST OVERLAND PARK KS 66214
Website: http://kofc11661.com/
Meeting Minutes of September 8, 2022
Call to Order: Grand Knight, Jim Easterday, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Warden’s Report: The meeting was held in the Mary and Martha room as Holy Spirit Catholic Church.
Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance: Fr. Andrew was present and led the Council in pray. The Grand Knight led the Council in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Roll Call: Officers missing at the meeting were the excused Treasurer and absent Advocate and Warden. Thirty-four (34) members were present and duly recognized.
Attendance: Present: 34; Total Membership: 314
Approval of Minutes: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the minutes from the August 11, 2022, meeting were adopted.
Grand Knight’s Report
Grand Knight, Jim Easterday, gave the following report and announcements:
1.Although he expressed this last month, he expressed his gratitude to all the Knights that made it possible for the Council to achieve the Star Council Award this past fiscal year;
2.He reminded the Council if it wanted to accomplish this feat this year, we needed to meet the requirement of attending two Fraternal Benefit Nights during the year. He said the first is being offered this September 15 at 7 p. m., a week from tonight;
3.He reminded the Council of the “Fun Fair” this Friday, September 9, and thanked those who signed up to work; and informed the Council there was still a shortage of workers to clean up should anyone wish to help;
4.The “Award Dinner” was this coming Saturday, September 10. He informed the Council to see John Weber if you wanted to attend. Also, he said be sure to take pictures of both this event and “Fun Fair” for our webpage. He instructed the Council to send the pictures to Bob Long;
5.He passed around thank you notes he received from the Religious Sisters Appreciation Day for our $500 donation, and from Catholic Charities for our $250 made to them and the $200 made to them for the refugee program; and
6.He read the letter from Conception Alley seeking a donation for seminarians.
Deputy Grand Knight
The Deputy Grand Knight, Don Watson, was present but gave no report.
Chaplain’s Report
Fr. Andrew was present and addressed the Council after the Lecturer’s address.
Financial Reports
Financial Secretary Report
Tom Gaume, the Financial Secretary, was present. He provided the bills to be paid to the Council. They were:
1.Chris Horvat for pizza costs $ 54.40
2.Al Gracik for tonight’s beverages $ 39.25
3.Payment for publication of Directory & Calendar $ 103.17
TOTAL $ 196.82
Upon a motion being duly made and seconded, it was approved to pay the above referenced bills.
Treasurer’s Reports
Tom Spencer, the Treasurer, was excused and Tom Gaume gave the Treasurer’s report as follows:
Bank Balance on hand: $26,189.92
Less: Checks outstanding $ 609.57
Less: earmarked Coats for Kids’ fund $ 6,425.34
Less: earmarked donations for Seminarian’s Fund $ 3,357.00
Less: earmarked Baby Bottle fund $ 4,218.00
Less: 50/50 Rollover $ 169.00
Remainder: $11,411.01
Lector’s Address
The Lector, Gregg Brown, was absent and Rick Trudell read the Lector’s presentation on the Eucharist.
After the presentation the Grand Knight made an appeal to the Council members to commit to taking one of the hours still open at our Adoration Chapel.
Chaplain’s Report
After the presentation on the Eucharist Fr. Andrew stood and addressed the Council. He personally thanked the Knights for all they contribute to the Parish. He recognized their commitment to the Church and devotion to the Eucharist as evidenced by their attendance in Church and their Holy Hours before the Eucharist.
Membership Director
The Grand Knight called on the Membership Director to give his report. Chad Eickholt, the Membership Director, was present. Chad reported he plans to conduct a recruitment drive the weekend of November 12 and 13 with hopes there will be an Exemplification in December. Also, he indicated a recruitment table would be set up at the Fun Fair scheduled for September 9 and at the Ministry Fair scheduled for September 25.
Faith Director
Everett Fritz, the Faith Director, was present but had no report.
Family Director
John Weber, the Family Director, was present. He invited everyone to the Knights Award Banquet to be held this coming Saturday, September 10, 2022, following the 4:00 p.m. Mass. He informed the Council Jim Easterday and Don Watson would be inducted into the Knights Hall of Fame and recognition would be given to many more Knights.
Vocation Director
Bob Roennigke, our Vocation Director was absent. There was no report.
Life Director
Dave Boone was present. He informed the Council we needed to pick a recipient for the $4,218 collected from the “Baby Bottles” fundraiser. He suggested the money go to the Olathe/Wyandotte Pregnancy Center. A motion was made and seconded to donate the money to the Olathe/Wyandotte Pregnancy Center. The motion passed.
YOUTH DIRECTOR
Don Watson was present. He said sign ups would start soon for the “Basketball Free Throw Contest.” He announced Joe Molen had agreed to be his Co-chair for the event this year with the purpose of taking it over after this year. He thanked Joe for taking on this roll for the Council and the youth.
Community Director
Mike Bergkamp, the Community Director was absent.
WEBMASTER REPORT
Bob Long was present. He called upon the Council to be liberal in taking pictures of the Council’s participation at the Fun Fair and at the Award Banquet. He wants them sent to him for the website.
EXEMPLIFICATION REPORT
Trinidad Molina was present and said he was trying to obtain a date to conduct an exemplification in December.
Unfinished Business
With the Director’s reports concluded the Grand Knight moved onto unfinished business.
Ken O’Bryan gave a report on the results of the program “Play Along Football”. He reported there were 720 tickets sold which was better than 2020 when over 600 tickets were sold, but less than 2021 when 826 were sold.
At the conclusion of this report a Knight stood and was recognized. A motion was made and seconded that the Council purchase five tickets for $100 from a $100 donation given to the Council. The motion passed.
Next, the Grand Knight reminded everyone of the Toostie Roll Drive the weekend of October 7th, 8th, and 9th. He said a sign-up sheet had been passed around and he encouraged everyone present to take a time slot.
Next, Rich Triola our Program Director stood and was recognized. Rich reported he was still needing a Pro Life Director and Family Director for the Council for the 2022-2023 Fiscal year. Anyone interested should contact him
Next, Greg Miller stood and was recognized. Greg reported the Catholic Charity Food Drive on September 3rd and 4th collected $1,615 and 1,769 lbs of food.
Next, Greg Davis stood and was recognized. Greg reminded everyone of the upcoming Golf Outing scheduled for September 30 at the Heritage Park Golf Course starting at 9:00 a. m. He encouraged everyone to be early as the event would start precisely at 9:00 a.m. He informed the Council green fees, a cart, and two drinks cost $55 and we’d be meeting at Tequila Harry’s afterward to give away prizes. He said participants would receive a Knight’s cap like last year.
Also, Greg reported he would not be organizing a Council Royal Baseball outing this year as the cost for a coach bus was prohibitive. However, he requested anyone interested in going as a group should contact him. He said if there was an interest, he would put something together for the group.
Next, Bud Maskill stood and was recognized. Bud made an inquiry of where the Council was with the “Coats for Kids” Program. The Council was informed at the Officers meeting held August 25th the Officers approved the purchase of 12 cases of coats (144 coats) using the money earmarked in the Council’s Treasury for this program.
Finally, the Grand Knight reported on the cost for picture frames to replace the ones containing the pictures of our past Pastors. He said the two new frames would cost $550.
New Business
With “Unfinished Business” concluded the Grand Knight took up New Business.
The Grand Knight sought the response from the Council concerning the letter request from Conception Abbey for seminarian support he had read at the opening of the meeting.
A motion was duly made and seconded to make a donation of $250. After a discussion by the Council on the motion, the motion was withdrawn.
Next, the Grand Knight informed the Council he had received 12 tickets at $100 each from the State for the annual Education Fund Raffle. He asked anyone interested in purchasing a raffle ticket to contact him after the meeting.
A Knight stood and was recognized making a motion the Council purchase one raffle ticket. The motion was seconded and there was a discussion. After the discussion there was a vote of the Council. The vote count was 16 yeses; and 13 nos. The motion passed.
Fourth Degree Report
Greg Davis, the Faithful Navigator was present. Greg addressed the Council informing the Council the Assembly had 71 members and the Council had 314 members. He made a plea to the Council to consider becoming a 4th Degree Knight.
Also, Greg informed the Council the Assembly would be holding their Chalice Dinner in the Martha and Mary Room on October 1, 2022, after the 4 p.m. Mass.
KNIGHT AND FAMILY OF THE MONTH
The Grand Knight reported the Knight and Family of the Month were as follows:
Knight of the Month: Tom Gaume
Family of the Month: Kevan and Jennifer O’Shea
District Deputy Comments
John Weber, the District Deputy, was present. He commended the Council for receiving the Star Council Award. He said it was quite an achievement. He reminded the Council that of the over 250 Councils in the State of Kansas only 17 made Star Council.
Insurance Agent Report
It was announced that our Field Agent, John Rodriguez had taken a new job. The Council was informed if anyone had an insurance question to contact Gary Garretson by e-mail. Gary would be acting as our temporary Field Agent. Gary’s e-mail address is garygarretson@kofc.org.
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. In response, came the following:
Rick Trudell asked for prayers for his 6 week old grandson who was having health issues; and
Tom Gaume asked for prayers for his brother who was seriously ill.
Adoration
Jerry Gerstberger was present. He said 14 people attended the Wednesday night’s Adoration.
50 / 50 DRAWING
There was a 50/50 drawing at the meeting. Bud Maskill won $26.00.
ACCUMULATION DRAWING
Paul Scharnhorst name was drawn. He would have won $195.
After a prayer, the meeting closed at 8:30 P.M.
Next meeting is October 13, 2022. The next Officers’ Meeting is September 29, 2022.
Respectfully submitted,
Everett Fritz, II, Recorder
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