Call to Order: Grand Knight Greg Peters: Aug 27^th, 2024, 7:18 pm

·         Total in attendance:   46 Brothers

·         Officers Attendance Report: End of this report

Burning candle memorial:

·         For the Canonization of Blessed Michael McGivney

·         For the repose of the soul of Brother Knight Fiorenzo Bugnatto

Opening Prayer: Hail Mary by Grand Knight Greg Peters

Pledge of Allegiance: All

Special Guest(s):  District Deputy Gene Ziemba and Field Agent Marty Yakimovich 

·         District Deputy Gene Ziemba congratulated the council on doing such a great job. He is stunned by the level of activity by our council. He encouraged members to see Program Coordinator Larry Greer to get involved. He congratulated our council on our Bocce Tournament win.

·         Field Agent Marty Yakimovich presented the traveling 2024 Bocce Tournament Plaque to the members of the team. The plaque will reside here for the next year.

·         Field Agent Yakimovich gave a presentation on the work of the Field Agents. He is one of 1200 Field Agents for the K of C and has been doing this for 25 years. He gave a brief talk on the work of the Field Agents in supporting Brother Knights and their families through the insurance/investment opportunities through the K of C, which is a highly regarded and funded program nationwide.

Visitors: Welcomed two visitors. One is a transfer member, Tony Rovano, to our council. The other is Spencer Podolski who is considering membership. WGK Peters had each tell a little about themselves.

Approval of Minutes from Previous Meeting: Minute of the May 28^th, meeting were approved.

 Financial Reports:

·         Treasurer Report: Treasurer Bud Tascone
Financial statement is available upon request. Our financial status is very strong and there are no issues.

Chaplain Report:  Supreme Chaplain’s Monthly Challenge for August

·         “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” (Gospel for Aug. 4, Jn 6:27)  Before the Fall, God put Adam to work tending the garden. Good men work hard to provide for their families, including their material wants and needs. These temporal necessities, however, must never become our highest priority. Our first obligation is to seek the path to eternal life — for ourselves and for our loved ones. Jesus, the Bread of Life, is the food that will endure.

·         Challenge by Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William E. Lori: Our Founder, Father McGivney, worked tirelessly to serve God and man. I challenge you to pray the novena to Blessed Michael McGivney this month, during which his feast day takes place (August 13).

·         Questions for Reflection: Does your goal of attaining heaven for yourself and your loved ones come first in your life? Do your efforts focus excessively on temporal needs and pleasures? What more can you do to ensure that your primary mission is to prepare yourself and your family members to enter the kingdom of heaven?

Membership Report: Membership Director Michael Brouillette

·         New membership continues to be strong. We exemplified five Anglo members and three Latino members in July!  There are currently six men who have registered online and are awaiting exemplification to our council. There are three additional gentlemen who have expressed a desire to commit to the Knights and who are currently working through the registration process.

Programs Reports: Program Director Larry Greer

·         Faith Director Report: Faith Director John Clyatt

·         COR (Heart) Program - COR will recommence Sep 5^th at 7 pm in the John Henry Newman room. We will continue our prayerful study of scripture. We will be using Men of the Word with a focus on Lexio Divina.  As the weather becomes a little more bearable, I would very much like to put together some kind of retreat that involves a day or overnight in nature that includes food, fun, fellowship, prayer, formation and, if I can swing it, a Mass in God’s greatest cathedral, nature.  Fr Ian van Heusen from the student center at ECU is willing to support.  If this sounds like something you’d like to be a part of let me know.  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , 719-393-2870.

·         Quarterly Knight’s Mass - Our next Knight's Mass will be September 21^st at the 5:00pm Mass.  The schedule for the rest of the fraternal year is November 24^th at the 7:30am Mass, February 2^nd at the 9:30am Mass and June 15^th at the 11:30am Mass.  We need at least six brothers to step forward to become Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and an additional six to become readers.  Both positions require registering and getting "trained" by parish staff.  Without more brothers registered we are really over taxing the few that are currently signed up.  I would like to have a beefed-up roster by the end of August in order to plan and schedule the entire fraternal year. I will be reviewing the current positions at the council meeting.   Please prayerfully consider this. If you would like to be vetted for reader or extraordinary minister let me know and I will get you connected with the right folks.  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , 719-393-2870.

·         Family Director Report: Family Director John Danchisko

·         Faith on Film Series (Movie Night)- 2024 - “Restless Heart” was successful on August 10. 45 in attendance and raised $181 before expenses.  We will split profits with the parish. The next two films will be:  “Chariots of Fire” on October 19th and “It’s a Wonderful Life” on December 7.  We are planning to screen one film per month in 2025. Currently, we have selected the following Saturdays: 1/11, 2/8, 3/8, 4/5, 5/10 and 6/7. The running times of films is around two hours. We welcome any suggestions of films to screen. Movie Night is a joint effort of the Knights and the Adult Faith Formation group.  The name “Movie Nights” has been rebranded as “Faith on Film Series”. For any questions/comments , or to volunteer to help, reach out to: Joseph C. D’Alessandro, 910-352-7607, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

·         Coats for Kids - We will have a church collection for "Coats For Kids" at St Mark on the weekend of September 7th & 8th following all Masses. We will only be soliciting cash donations from the parish.  I have posted the Signup Genius link below. All slots are full except we still need help at the 1:30pm Mass. Please consider signing up to help with table collections as well as personal donations to help support this incredible charity. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B4FABA82DA3FE3-50577578-coats

·         A St. Mark Elementary School Golf Clinic, hosted by the council will be held at the First Tee Golf Center at Wilmington Municipal Golf Course on September 20^th at 4:00pm. This is a free clinic for Kindergarten to Grade 5 students. This clinic serves as an introduction/teaching clinic for students to build responsibility, perseverance and confidence. A list of participants will be sent from St. Mark Athletic Director Leigh Lewis.

·         Community Director Report: Community Director Ray Repage

·         Knight’s Breakfast is co-chaired by Joe D’Alessandro, Ray Repage and Bob Stevens, who are mentored by George Schadt This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. cell 910-540-4700.  Joe D’Alessandro by cell: 910-352-7607, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Our next Knight's Breakfast is Sept 8th. Let Joe know if you are volunteering so we know how many will be there to set up another successful breakfast.  Help is needed for the grill, hot table serving, beverage table serving, set up and clean up. Our future dates are 10/13, 11/10, 12/1, 1/5, 2/2 and 3/9.

·         An Evening in Paris will be held on September 28^th after 5:00pm Mass in the Parish Hall. Cost is $15 per person, and $5 per person under age 12. All proceeds go to Cape Fear region charities, Neighbors in Need and Blankets for the Homeless. This is a joint fundraiser in coordination with the Knights of Columbus and St. Vincent  de Paul  Society – Our Lady of the Rosary Cape Fear Conference. Special guest appearance of a Cordon Bleu chef.  The menu: Boeuf Bourguignon, quiche, French bread, Assortment of French pastries and cheese. French music and door prizes.

·         Life Director Report: Life Director Michael Breit

·         The months of September, October and November are Focus on Life Months!

·         Prayer vigil supporting Life - A reminder of Wednesday's 9:00am vigil at the corner of 17^th Street and Hospital Plaza Drive. Best contact is Larry Greer: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. cell- 910-471-1574

·         Life Line Pregnancy Support Center Donation - Our council has made its annual donation of $2,000.  The donation was presented by Michael Breit and GK Peters on the Feast Day of Mary Magdalene, July 22.

·         Monday night Football pool/raffle - This fundraiser generates all of its funds through sale of the Monday Night Football Pool booklets. The Football Pool is being advertised in the Church bulletin and electronic media, from the last weekend in July through the first weekend in September.  For $20 the purchaser has a chance to win $50 in each of the twenty games of the season (17 Monday Night games, two championship games, and the Superbowl; Each pool has 100 positions so for each game your chance of winning is 1 in 100). No knowledge of football is required; we do all the work; the winners just get a check in the mail. The proceeds are slated to go to a number of Life program initiatives. The largest share goes to Life Line Pregnancy Center, and Room At The Inn through the K of C ASAP program. (ASAP stands for Aid and Support After Pregnancy and helps mothers and babies by supporting pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes.) Also planned for support is a jail ministry which ministers to both inmates and staff, covering the costs of the Wilmington March For Life, and various other Life activities throughout the year.  As you can see, this is a big undertaking, and it won’t happen without the fundraising. We need YOU to help make this a success by selling the $20 booklets to as many friends, family, and acquaintances as possible. We “grease the skids” so to speak by giving the seller a free booklet for every ten booklets sold. The first game is September 9th so there’s not much time until the first game. You don’t even need to have the booklets in hand to start selling. You don’t even need to think of it as a football pool either but just as a weekly drawing for $50 over twenty weeks. Surely YOU can think of selling or buying ten booklets. WE STILL HAVE 100 BOOKS WE NEED TO SALE!  PLEASE HELP! Contact our Life Director Michael Breit at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Greg Decker at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we’ll see that you get the booklets quickly.

·         LAMB Report:  LAMB Director Tim Niggel This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. cell 910-470-5490 (cell preferred)     

·         Lamb collection tables were set up Aug 17th and 18th.  There were also tables set up at Food Lion in August.  We collected $1,800 at Food Lion and $2,940 at the Church collections, for a total of $4,740. Thanks to all Knights involved.  Keep checking all the info on our website and signup is on our website - https://kofc12017.org/  Please support this worthy program.

·         Knights on Call: Mike Alexander

·         Contact Mike ,cell 910-200-9683, if you want to join this group or if any help needed anywhere.   Program to help others.  Knights on Call YTD – 132.75 hours. 8/5/24- Steve Tabor worked helping parishioner return from the hospital - 3hrs. 8/8/24 - Steve T., Joe Ferro and I helped St. Marks school assembling desks and lockers for the gym - 5.25 hrs. each. Total 15.75 hrs.  Just send your info to Mike and he will send e mail when help is needed, and you just volunteer or not.

Fourth Degree Report: SK Greg Decker and Larry Greer

·         Monthly meetings on the third Tuesday at 7pm, usually at Saint Mark’s Parish Hall.

·         The assembly website is at https://kofc2017.org/.

·         Faithful Navigator, Frank Bio This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. cell 910-899-8946.

·         Next 4^th Degree Exemplification will be held on October 12^th in Raleigh. See Greg Decker for completing required paperwork which needs to be done soon, in advance of the Exemplification date.

·         In the process of completing Flag Instruction at the two Catholic elementary schools. St. Mark was on August 26^th and St. Mary’s is on August 28^th.

·         A 4^th Degree Bocce Challenge is on September 15^th at Empie Park. Assembly 2017 will be playing against Assembly 3952 for Bocce dominance of Eastern North Carolina.

Financial Secretary Report: SK Cary Newman

·         Semi Annual Financial Audit of the Council was submitted on August 18^th, and everything balanced, which is a credit to the work of past FS Greg Decker and Treasurer Bud Tascone. This audit confirms that the accounting of money flow and membership within the council complies with the standards established by Supreme. Congratulations for a job well done!

·         A question from the floor was raised as to why LAMB collection funds were not shown in the budget.  The simple answer is that funds collected for LAMB go directly to a special LAMB account.

·         FS will send out an informational email to give members a quick explanation/tutorial on the structure of the budget, since time did not allow for this at the council meeting.

Latino Roundtable: 

·         GK Peters reported. The Roundtable meets every 4^th Thursday of the month in the Juan Diego Room at 7:15pm immediately after Mass. The Caballeros of Colon are an important new organization within our council. Their first full year as a “Latino roundtable” was 2023. During that year they held two large fundraising events.  The first was a car wash and the second was a Taco Luncheon.  The Caballeros decided to use those funds to support children in need as they return to school. On Thursday, August 1, they presented Fr. Cesar with 40 gift cards worth $50 each for a total of $2,000 to support those children preparing for school.  Many thanks to the parishioners who supported their fundraisers.

·         The Latino Roundtable will host a car wash at St. Mark the weekend of September 15^th . They will be washing cars after the 9:30, 11:30 and 1:30 Masses. Donation requested of $10 per vehicle. Proceeds will go to support charitable and community programs within the Hispanic Community.

·         Geronimo Santamaria is becoming the new Co-Chair of the Hispanic Roundtable.

Miscellaneous:

·         Knights Brewery Night – Purpose - Fraternity especially getting to meet our new Knights.  Brothers Brewery Night was held on August 26^th at Ten Pin Alley located at 127 College Road.  23 Brothers attended. Future dates will be planned. Everyone come enjoy the fraternity!  Brother Joe Damitz is the lead.  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 910-409-2640

·         Council Shirts – All initial order shirts have been distributed.  The next order for council shirts will probably be placed sometime in the Fall. Order forms will be sent out in September. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Jack Murphy This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

·         Bocce - Mike Alexander cell 910-200-9683  St Marks team is #1!!!   We'll start Bocce games back up September 4 at Empie Park.  We will be the host for next year’s tournament. The Traveling Trophy/Plaque was presented at the beginning of our meeting. Contact Mike if you would like to join the team.

·         Blood Drive- December 26^th . The American Red Cross Blood Drive on July 29^th was a success as we had 30 units against a goal of 30 units.  40 Brothers helped. Thanks to Brother Fran for stepping up as Co-Lead and holding down the second half of the drive. Our next drive is December 26th, and I said that correctly - December 26th. We have to take advantage of the gym while school and sports are out of session. Please look ahead and see if you can drain some cholesterol on the day after Christmas. Thanks to Brothers Cary and Jack for manning the check in table. Contact Ron White at 910-395-5990if any questions.

·         Volunteers Needed for Lion’s Pride 5K on Thursday, September 12^th - The Knights of Columbus will be manning a grilling station, pouring beer, and assisting with parking as part of this fundraiser for St. Mark’s Catholic School & Church to be held on Thursday, September 12^th  at the school. A signup genius will be forthcoming. Grilling food (hot dogs & rolls) is being donated.  Beer will also be donated; we just need to pour it into cups for those over 21. Grilling station (5:00-7:30 pm/4 or 5 volunteers) and beer tent (5:30-8:00 PM/ 4/5 volunteers )will be set up in the School Parking lot. Parking Assistance (4:00-6:30/ 4 Volunteers). Contact: Jack Murphy, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it./Cell: 508-237-9511

·         Habitat for Humanity home build is coming for our council. Signup Genius will be posted when our volunteer Saturday is scheduled. Looking for new member participation in this team building effort to help those in our community. All safety gear provided. If you want to bring your favorite tool belt, feel free, but tools will be provided by the site foreman. We will schedule multiple days, so if you can’t make one, please volunteer for another. We need 200 volunteer hours on a build. Usually one Saturday per quarter. Home will be built in New Hanover County. POC- Ron White 910-395-5990

·         Stewardship Weekend- August 25th, 31st, and September 1st. We will need support manning our K of C table.  This event showcases the organizations in the Church and helps us with recruiting.  Signup Genius has been sent out and help is still needed from 7:00-9:00 am and 11:00am to 1:00pm on September 1^st . 

·         An Evening in Paris - Date: September 28, 2024; Time: After 5:00 PM Mass; Location: Parish hall. Cost: $15 per person ( $5 per child under age 12).  All proceeds to go to Cape Fear region Charities and Neighbors in Need and Blankets for the Homeless.  Hosted in joint coordination of Knights of Columbus & St Vincent de Paul - Our Lady of the Rosary Cape Fear Conference.  Special guest appearance of a Cordon Bleu chef. Menu: Boeuf Bourguignon, quiche, French Bread, assortment of French pastries and cheese. French music and door prizes.

Grand Knight’s Report: GK Greg Peters

·         SK Peters received a Thank You note from Fr. Cong thanking the Council for the gift cards he has received.

·         NC State Office has recognized Jeff Watts – Family of the Month.

·         Geronimo Santamaria is becoming the new Co-Chair of the Hispanic Roundtable.

·          Membership: The July Exemplifications yielded a net gain of (5) new Anglo brothers and (3) new Latino Brothers into the Council. The 2024-2025 goal for our Council was (12) new brothers. Currently we are at 67% of Star attainment goal. We currently have (6) new prospects registered online with the state and picked up two promising candidates during the past Stewardship weekend Campaign. Our formal Fall membership drive is the weekend of October 5^th & 6^Th . However, GK plans to work with the Church to establish an exemplification in September for the prospects on record. As of August, our Council has 204 members making us one of the largest Councils in eastern North Carolina.

·         Blankets for the Homeless: Congratulations to Brother Tim Kroll. Tim and his wife Celeste single-handedly solicited the largest donation yet received for our greater Wilmington blankets program in the amount of $1,623.

·         GK Peters encouraged all to participate in Blankets for the Homeless Fundraiser September 28^th This is a joint fundraiser in coordination with Council 12017 and the newly formed St. Vincent DePaul – Our Lady of the Rosary Cape Fear Conference.

·         Columbus Day Dinner is cancelled. The Columbus Day Dinner scheduled for October 5^th has been cancelled since it would have occurred one weekend after the joint fundraiser with St. Vincent de Paul. We will offset the fundraiser proceeds by picking up four additional breakfasts scheduled for 11/10, 12/1, 2/2 and 3/9.

·         Habitat for Humanity Featured program under community. Worthy Chancellor Ron White will update the Council regarding plans once dates are known.

·         GK Peters encouraged everyone to support the upcoming  Hispanic Roundtable Car Wash on September 15^th .

·         Traveling Gavel will be presented to our council at our next council meeting on September 24^th.

·         GK Peters thanked Brother John Clyatt for providing refreshments, chicken salad and the fix-ins, for the members for fellowship at the conclusion of the meeting. Donations are gratefully accepted and appreciated to offset Brother Clyatt’s costs.

Old & New Business:

·         Vote for 2024-2025 Budget Approval –Budget was passed unanimously.

·         An Evening in Paris joint fundraiser showcasing St Vincent de Paul Society September 28^th . Supporting blankets for the homeless and other Cape Fear Charities and Neighbors in need.(see above)

·         Habitat For Humanity (see above)

Good of the Order:

·         Knight of the Month for May – Shawn Duncan

·         Knight of the Month for June – Keith Lorenzetti

·         Knight of the Month for July – Geronimo Santamaria (GK will present at Hispanic Roundtable meeting)

·         Family of the Month for July – Cary and Sabina Newman

·         Knight of the Year – Greg Decker

Prayers for Brothers in Need:

·         Names in the Prayers Book

·         For the Canonization of Blessed Michael McGivney

·         Brother John Clyatt requested prayers for  his 21 year old son who has Crohn’s Disease and is recovering from a difficult surgery.

Next Meeting: September 24th at 7:15pm

Closing Prayer: Prayer for the Canonization of Blessed Michael McGivney was led by GK Greg Peters

Meeting Adjourned: 8:45 pm

Minutes completed by Substitute Recorder: SK Jack Murphy