Holy Spirit Council No. 11661

11300 W 103RD ST OVERLAND PARK KS 66214

Website: http://kofc11661.com/

Meeting Minutes of October 14, 2021

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 Holy Spirit Catholic Church’s Martha and Mary room. The meeting was preceded by “Men’s Knight Out.”

Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance: Fr. Andrew led the Council in prayer and the Grand Knight led the Council in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll Call: Officers absent at the meeting were the Treasurer, excused, the Advocate, the Warden, the Inside Guard, and the 2nd Year Trustee. Twenty-nine (29) members were present and duly recognized.

Attendance: Present: 29; Total Membership: 319

Approval of Minutes: Upon motion duly made and seconded, the minutes from the September 9, 2021, meeting was approved.

Grand Knight’s Report

Grand Knight, Jim Easterday, gave the following report:

Deputy Grand Knight

The Deputy Grand Knight, Don Watson, had no report.

Chaplain’s Report

Fr. Andrew was present and addressed the Council. He indicated he was looking forward to celebrating Mass with the Council on November 4, 2021, at 5:30 P. M.

Financial Reports

Financial Secretary Report

Tom Gaume the Financial Secretary was present. Tom presented the bills of the Council. They were:

TOTAL                  $2,542.03

(* The two golf expense items were paid from receipts collected at the golf outing. The payments did not affect Council funds.) There were receipts of $71.00 from the Golf Outing raffle turned-in by the Grand Knight.

Upon motion duly made and seconded it was approved to pay the above referenced bills.

As the last piece of business the Financial Secretary brought up the subject of the Council obtaining a credit card to pay bills. He indicated Supreme was approving all Councils to have credit cards and transactions of purchase be conducted with Supreme through the credit card. He suggested he be the custodian of the card. He indicated reports of its use would be sent by the Bank to the Grand Knight, Treasurer, and Deputy Grand Knight to avoid its misuse. On motion duly made and seconded it was passed to obtain a credit card for the Council to transact Council business. The custodian of the card would be the Financial Secretary.

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 September 9, 2021):        $19,943.54

  Less: Checks Outstanding (KS Religious Ed Fund

$100 & Heritage Park Golf Course $1,935)       $ 2,035.00

Less: earmarked Coats for Kids’ fund         $ 2,310.65

Less: earmarked Donations for Seminarians fund $ 4,007.00

Remainder :           $11,590.89

Lector’s Address

The Lector, Gregg Brown, gave his presentation on the on-going theme of St. Joseph since this is the year of St. Joseph. This month’s Program was taken from a piece written by Bishop Barren on St. Joseph.

Membership Director

  The Grand Knight called on the Membership Director to give his report. Chad Eickholt, the Membership Director, was absent. Bill Ramsey gave the report in his absence. Bill reported the Council has one potential applicant. He indicated there would be a recruitment drive in December.

Faith Director

  Everett Fritz as Faith Director was called upon to give his report. He had no report, but passed around articles from the Leaven paper on a piece done by the Bishop on the Knights of Columbus, the acquittal of Fr. Scott, and an article from the Bishop on the “Both are Equal” proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution.

Family Director

  John Weber as Family Director was not present. No report was given.

Life Director

Dave Boone was present and gave his report. He announced the Life Chain held on October 3, 2021, at Antioch and 95th Street was well attended. He mentioned Fr. Tom was there at the event standing with the Holy Spirit crowd.

Secondly, Dave announced on October 7, 2021, a Thursday, 18 Knights participated in the “40 Days for Life” Program by praying in front of the abortion clinic.

YOUTH DIRECTOR

Don Watson was present and called upon to give the Youth Director report. Don said the basketball “Free Throw Contest” was moved to December. Help is needed and anyone wishing to volunteer should contact him.

Community Director

Mike Bergkamp, the Community Director was present; no report

WEBMASTER REPORT

Bob Long was not present; there was no report.

Unfinished Business

  With the Director reports concluded the Grand Knight asked whether there was any unfinished business.

  Trinidad Molina who is in charge of the Exemplification Team stood and was recognized. He indicated he’d like to have an Exemplification close to the Recruitment Drive in December. He is still looking for individuals to be part of the Exemplification Team. Contact him if you are interested.

  Thereafter, the Grand Knight brought up the subject of what to do with the old Nativity set the Knights own which has been replaced with the cut out Nativity set which has been used for the last two to three years. It was reported to the Council the old Nativity set was in disrepair and would take a lot of money to restore it. Further it was reported the Council had reached out to various entities as to whether they’d be interested in taking the Nativity set “as is.” It was reported there was no interest. On a motion duly made and seconded the Council voted it had no value and should be trashed.

  Next, the Grand Knight took a poll of the members present whether to have a Communion brunch after the Communion Mass on October 31 or just have coffee and donuts. Of the members present the Council opted for having a brunch, if possible.

  Next, Greg Miller stood and was recognized. He said the Catholic Food Drive of October which the Knights oversee netted 1,078 pounds of food. He said the next food drive will be November 6 and 7.

  Also, Greg Miller reported on the “placemat” project he oversaw. He found it was cheaper to have the placemats printed at a UPS Office for 10 cents a copy versus having a printer do it. He had 2000 placemats made at a cost to the Council of $178.68. Greg had passed around a sample of one for each table to review during the meeting.

  Next, Greg Davis was called upon to provide an update on the Royal Baseball Outing and Golf Outing. Greg reported we had 25 people on the bus who participated in the September 30 baseball outing. He had ordered 40 tickets and sold all the tickets, except the ones provided to the priests and driver of the bus. The event cost the Knights $2,100 and receipts of $1,800 were collected to offset the $2,100.

  As for the Golf Outing on October 8, Greg reported it was the best we’ve ever had. He said 43 people participated. This was the first year we tried using it as a fund raiser. He reported it was quite successful in its inaugural year with 11 hole sponsors and 2 donors. Also, there were a lot of nice items collected which were given away as drawing prizes.

  Lastly, Phil Fowler was asked to give the results of the October 8, 9 & 10 Tootsie Roll Drive. Phil reported the Council collected a total of $3,667. This was $645 more than last year. He said one shift of six (6) children grossed over $400 in an hour and a half. He said this was an increase of 63% over the take for a single shift over last year.

  This year the prizes went to Jim Easterday, Jerry Gerstberger, and Al Gracik.

  A motion was duly made and seconded that 50% of the $3,667 go to the charities, Lake Mary and Friends of Johnson County. The motion passed. Each will get $1,833.50.

New Business

  With “Unfinished Business” concluded, the Grand Knight asked whether anyone had any new business to bring up with the Council.

  Rick Trudell stood and was recognized. He informed the Council of a recent Leaven article informing the Community of the Afghan Refugee Collection Drive. He indicated he was spearheading a collection of goods for this cause at Holy Spirit and was soliciting the help of the Council. After much discussion it was decided it would be better to hold this event separate from the Catholic Charities November 6 and 7 Food Drive. Rick was going to look into it and report back to the Council

  As part of the presentation on the “Afghan Refugee Collection Drive” it was reported that some small electrical appliances, which are much in need, could be purchased for as little as $1 at Catholic Charities on Mondays. On motion duly made $200 was allocated by the Council for Greg Miller’s use to purchase small electric appliance for the “Afghan Refugee Collection Drive” at these cut-rate prices. The motion was seconded and passed.

  Greg Brown stood and was recognized. Greg gave an update on the Coats for Kids” Program. He made a motion the Council authorize an additional $90 from General Funds besides the earmarked funds of $2,310 for Coats for Kids to purchase ten (10) cases of coats as needed. The motion was seconded and passed.

  The Grand Knight brought to the attention of the Council “Breakfast with Santa” is scheduled to be hosted by the Knights on December 5 and currently no Knight has agreed to chair the event. After a discussion it was decided the Grand Knight would contact John Weber and Rod Hoffman who have put on this event in the past.

  Thereafter, John Vanhoudt stood and was recognized. John informed the Council he headed up the “America Needs Fatima” Program locally. He indicated the Organization would be saying a Rosary at noon in front of the Church on October 16. He asked for the Council’s support and attendance at this event.  

  Lastly, the Greg Brown brought up the November 4, 2021, Mass for Deceased Knights. He advised this was being put on by Knights only. The Knights would be ushers, lector, Eucharistic Ministers, etc. He asked whether we should have a piano player accompany the Cantor at a cost of $50. On motion duly made and seconded it passed to pay a piano player $50 to accompany the Cantor at the Mass.

Fourth Degree Report

Dan Hageman, the Faithful Navigator was not present. The Grand Knight gave the report in his absence. He reminded everyone of the upcoming October 18, 4th Degree meeting proceeded by a pot luck dinner. He said the meeting would start at 7:15 P.M, and the dinner at 6:15 P.M.

Also, Jim informed the Council twenty (20) couples attended the Chalice Dinner October 2 and there would be an Honor Guard at the Mass of the Innocents to be held at Holy Spirit on Sunday October 24, at 1 P.M.

Finally, he mentioned for anyone interested there would be a 4th Degree Exemplification in Wichita on October 16 and in Atchison on November 20. Anyone interested in participating in the Exemplification should contact Dan.

KNIGHT AND FAMILY OF THE MONTH

The Grand Knight reported the Knight and Family of the Month were as follows:

Knight of the Month:    Trinidad Molina

Family of the Month:   Shaw Leach Family

District Deputy Comments

The District Deputy, Richard Warwick, was not present. There was no report.

Insurance Agent Report

Our Field Agent, John Rodriguez was present and gave his report.

He praised the Council on its placemat and reflected on our accomplishments. He reminded the Council of the October 27, Fraternal Benefit Night Webinar at 7 P.M.

He said he would personally give any Knight $10 for any new member they brought into the Order and $30 in Knight gear to any Knight bringing in three new members before October 31.

Mr. Rodriguez’s e-mail address is John.Rodreguez@kofc.org. His phone number is (913) 403-9400 or (855) 356-4859. His address is P.O. Box 265, Gardner KS 66030. Anyone having Insurance needs is asked to reach out to him.

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:

Adoration

Jerry Gerstberger was present. He said the Adoration Chapel was open and there were twelve (12) Knights who attended last Wednesday’s Adoration. He said there was space for eighteen (18).

50 / 50 DRAWING

There was a 50/50 drawing at the meeting. Don Watson won $22.00.

After a prayer, the meeting closed at 8:45 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Everett Fritz, II, Recorder