Call to Order: Grand Knight Greg Peters: November 26, 2024, 7:15pm

·         Total in attendance:   33 Brothers

·         Officers Attendance Report: End of this report

Burning candle memorial:

·         For the Canonization of Blessed Michael McGivney

·         For John Nussbaum

Opening Prayer: Hail Mary by Father Cesar

Pledge of Allegiance: All

Special Guest(s):   

·         Traveling Gavel: Was passed to the GK from Southport Council 12537 Grand Knight SK Thomas J Corbett and Chancellor Michael J Dorner.

Visitors: No additional visitors.

Approval of Minutes from Previous Meeting: Minutes were approved unanimously.

 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 November

·         “For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.” (Gospel for Nov. 10, Mk 12:44) The lowly widow received praise from Jesus because her gift came from her substance and not her abundance. There is much to be said for the “give until it hurts” approach to charity. We ought to give sacrificially, and it is not much of a sacrifice to give away things we don’t use or money we won’t miss. Remembering what Jesus gave us should challenge us to greater sacrifice for others.

·         Challenge by Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William E. Lori: This month, I challenge you to prayerfully examine your level of giving, both of your treasure and your time, and consider whether you are giving as much as Christ asks of you.

Membership Report: Membership Director Michael Brouillette

·         We currently have 210 members in council 12017, we have three prospects (Andrew Perry, Zachary Taylor, & Cisco Tomasino) awaiting ceremonial exemplification into council 12017. We have two new transfers to the council, brothers Silverio Mazzella and Colin Simpson.  An exemplification will be set up after the Christmas season.

Programs Reports: Program Director Larry Greer

·         Faith Director Report: Faith Director John Clyatt (given by Larry Greer)

·         COR (Heart) Program – COR continues to meet the first three Thursdays of the month at 7pm to 8:30pm in the John Henry Newman room.  The group is experiencing really profound sharing and discovery in the scriptures.  I warmly invite others to join us. 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 - Brothers we need at least 4 preferably 6 Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHC) for each Mass.  Whichever Mass you regularly attend, please consider becoming an EMHC.  We also need more brothers for reader and usher.  If enough Knights don’t step up to the plate, we will be forced to give up our quarterly Masses.  As Knights we are called to be leaders of the faithful.  With over 200 Knights in the council this should not be an issue. We had our Mass on 24 November at 730am. The remaining scheduled Masses are February 2 at the 9:30am Mass and June 15 at the 11:30am Mass.  If you are willing to step up, let me know. If we do not get the volunteers this may need to stop.  Please consider helping with this Knight event. 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 - The next films will be: “It’s a Wonderful Life” on December 7.  Pamplets were handed out. We are planning to screen one film per month in 2025. Currently, we have selected the following Saturdays: January 11, February 8, March 8, April 5, May 10 and June 7. The running times of films is around two hours. We welcome any suggestions of films to screen. Running times of films should be around two hours. 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.

·         Youth Friendsgiving- December 4.  December 4^th from 6-7:45pm, Knights to arrive early to cook for youth. Our worthy family director brother John Danchisko is in need of a few more brother Knights that could help with cooking & game activities for the youth.  We would need the volunteers to arrive at 5pm in the parish hall. Please reach out to brother John via e-mail (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or text/call him at 724-825-5831. Please consider donating a couple of hours to support this worthy activity supporting our youth programs

·         Community Director Report: Community Director Ray Repage (given by Larry Greer)

·         Knight’s Breakfast is co-chaired by Joe D’Alessandro, Ray Repage and Bob Stevens , and mentored by Warden George Schadt. Contact Joe D’Alessandro at Cell:  910-352-7607. Our next breakfast is December 1. Let Joe know if you can volunteer to help and/or are supporting so we know how many will be there to set up another successful breakfast.  Help is needed for Grill, Hot Table serving, beverage table serving, set up and clean up. Future Dates- January 5th, February 2 and March 9.

·         Blankets for the Homeless Donation: Led by brothers Ron White, Keith Lorenzetti, and Talin Germain we handed out 100 blankets, socks, gloves & handwarmers at Good Shepherd on November 6th. Brother Tim Kroll is tentatively scheduling a similar distribution for December 10 at First Baptist in downtown Wilmington. Brother John Bolger will schedule distribution of 24 blankets to the Ashley Veteran House in December.  Watch for email with sign up genius.

·         The Catholic Citizenship Essay Contest is designed to encourage the youth in our community to become active citizens grounded in their faith.  The final judging was done by Larry Greer, Joe Hellmann and Bud Tascone.  First place winners in each of three groups received $200 each, second place winners $100 each and an overall top winner received an additional $100.  Bud Tascone 570 351-8076, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. did an outstanding job with this effort.

·         Blood Drive- December 26^th Our next drive is December 26, and I said that correctly - December 26 from 11 until 4. 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. I will discuss at the monthly meeting to see if I can get a couple of Knights to help. The goal is only 22 units, so we are not expecting a big turnout. Contact Ron White at 910-395-5990 if any questions.

·         NC Disaster Response- The Knights are entering their third week supporting relief efforts from Hurricane Helene. Council 12017 has supplied manpower for collections at the church, manpower for Catholic Charities in Wilmington to accept/store hurricane relief supplies and will deliver supplies for the third trip tomorrow. Rick Lewis, our state secretary advises that soon the knights will transition to rebuilding and cleaning affected areas. This effort will take months to years to complete, we are in support for the time it takes for these affected areas to return to normal life.

·         Life Director Report: Life Director Michael Breit

·         Life March- Will occur the first or second Saturday in February in Long Leaf Park.  Stay tuned for more info.

·         Prayer vigil supporting Life: A reminder of Wednesday's 9–10am at the corner of 17 Street and Hospital Plaza Drive. It lasts about an hour. Best contact is Larry Geer: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. cell- 910-471-1574

·         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)  

·         No report- The GK mentioned that the Special Olympics Polar Plunge will be in February.

·         Knights on Call: Mike Alexander This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. cell 910-200-9683 Program to help others.  If you want to join this group or if help is needed anywhere just send the info to Mike and he will send e mail out for volunteers. Knights on Call currently at 155 hrs. YTD.

Fourth Degree Report:  SK Larry Greer

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

·         Monthly meetings on the third Tuesday at 7pm.  Location is being rotated among parishes.  Go to the site for details - https://kofc2017.org/  Next meeting is January 21 at 700pm at 1074’s Council Chambers at St. Mary.

·         Wreaths Across America program is now in full swing. Wreaths can be purchased for veterans’ graves at any National Cemetery.  Wreaths will be placed on graves at Wilmington National Cemetery on Saturday, December 14 at 12 Noon. Stay tuned as we may need help the 13^th to unload the trucks. Cost of a wreath is $17. Assembly uses this as a fundraiser and gets $5 back for each wreath ordered. To order wreaths, or to sign up with helping to place wreaths on graves go to: https://wreathsacrossamerica.org

·         Burgaw Christmas Parade- Burgaw Christmas Parade, Saturday December 14, joined by Hamstead Assembly 12281. It starts at 5:30 pm. https://kofc2017.org/

·         Ashley House Shoe boxes- Shoe Box for Soldiers – SK John Bolger gave example at meeting basically socks, toiletries, gloves, etc. for the Veterans. Need by third week in December.

Financial Secretary Report: SK Cary Newman

·         Financial Secretary Newman reported on budget update (attached).

·         Membership dues- will be sent out 15 December.  $35- please send in ASAP so we do not need to waste money and time on re-engaging each Knight.  If required, follow up contact will take place in January.  Please pay ASAP!

·         State raffle tickets- will be sent out in January $5 per ticket.  We get half the proceeds so participate as much as possible.  It is a great fundraiser for us as a Council. 

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.

·         Our current Roundtable coordinator Gerardo Andrade has decided to step down at the end of the year to focus on both his family and businesses. Brother Gerado helped to grow the Latino council to 21 members that participated in three major fundraisers for the Hispanic community. He has provided excellent leadership and will be missed. In January the Latino Roundtable will begin meeting on the 2^nd & 4^th Thursdays of each month. Their first action as a roundtable will be to elect a new Roundtable coordinator, a deputy coordinator, and a newly created position of membership chairman. We currently have one prospect and six additional candidates that have expressed interest in joining the roundtable.

Miscellaneous:

·         Habitat for Humanity home build is coming to our council. November 2nd we had (7) volunteers help with our first Habitat for Humanity project build. Special thanks to brothers Jay Curley, Talin Germain, Tim Kroll, Dan Rockwell and Ron White for their participation in this worthy community service event. I also want to thank Nicolas Breit (son of brother Michael Breit) for participating. We will be looking at a second project in Q1. Looking for new member participation in this team building effort to help those in our community. We need 10 people for each event (can also be family members or friends).  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. Next home will be built at 708 Swann Street, Wilmington. We are waiting for permits.  Sign Up Genius will be put up as soon as we get the permits-Chancellor Ron White 910-395-5990

·         The 200 Club- To date we have had only 30 members sign up for this important fundraiser. We discussed this in the past officer’s meeting and are now proposing starting with a 50 club membership. With 50 members we will have 11 monthly drawings for a $50 payout, a yearly grand prize of $250, and an end of year party for participants. This would generate $1000 for LAMB. I also met with Fr Greg and he is willing to review options to help the council support the important fundraiser for LAMB. If interested, please make checks payable to: “Knights of Columbus Council 12017” and include “200 Club” in the memo line.  Mail your checks to: Cary Newman, 1119 Ullswater Lane, Wilmington, 28405 or submit your check at the council meeting.

·         Christmas Tree truck offload- Christmas trees will be delivered November 29 at St Mark. Volunteers should plan on arriving to unload at 8:30am. Just takes a few hours. 

·         Assemble Christmas Manger- The placing of trees and construction of the manger will happen Tuesday December 3 after the morning mass at 930am. Volunteers will be led by SR Knight Mike Alexander and Knights on call.

·         Council Christmas Dinner- 3pm on December 15 at the Bone Fish Grill on Market Street. We already have 84 participants and so it is closed out! Contact the GK if you want to be on a waiting list if someone cancels. 

·         Eucharistic Revival: Scheduled for January 3 & 4. Knights will cook hotdogs on Saturday January 4. Lunch will be served from 12:30-1:30pm.

Grand Knight’s Report: GK Greg Peters emphasized the following:

·         Was already distributed through email.  He emphasized many points in these minutes. 

Old & New Business:

·         Christmas Caroling: Scheduled for Saturday December 14 to visit area assisted living facilities. Bus will depart St Mark 2pm and return in time to sing for the departing 5pm mass parishioners. Cost is $30 person, $60 a couple. SK Tim Niggel will be sending out a bus RSVP for those that plan to participate. We need participation or this event could get cancelled.  Please participate.  Here is the sign up genius site: https://signup.com/go/Whniaao

Good of the Oder:

·         Knight of the Month –

·         Family of the Month – Tim and Celeste Kroll- they are also the State winner of family of the month and will receive a plaque.  Congratulation!  This is a big deal. 

Prayers for Brothers in Need:

·         Names in the Prayers Book and for Sean Duncan’s wife and PGK Paul Gigliotti  

·         For the Canonization of Blessed Michael McGivney

Next Meeting: January 28 at 7:15pm

Closing Prayer: Prayer for Father McGivney was led by Father Cesar

Meeting Adjourned: 7:50pm

Minutes completed by Recorder: SK Sean Murphy