Just
the Facts . . . Brother Knights By DGK Bryan B. Bandong The recent financial Council Audit exercise we had at Bro. Joe Asbury's home this past September 17th prompted me to look closer into our council's membership profile. Incidentally I must commend Bro. Greg Jones for volunteering to serve as our new Financial Secretary - much to the relief of Joe Asbury (who had served 3 years running now) and to the salvation of our PGK Brad Schieferstein, once himself a Financial Secretary but just couldn't quite shake off our Council's dependence on him on this yearly audit event. It seems like Brad's been doing this for eternity now. And there it was that audit night with Greg patiently and attentively learning the tricks of the audit trade from Brad while some of us acting trustees present that night continuously munched on finger food and gulped sodas as we wait for our chance to sign the audit report. When I got home that night, I got interested in our Council's distribution of degrees. After updating my roster, the figures that came out are shown here to the right in graphical form. We have 160 active members, which include 6 member priests. There are 137 members that live in the Tri-Valley area within comfortable distance in the sense that they are not too far to inconvenience their drive to our charitable venues. The other 28 are outside a 50-mile radius and/or out of state. Of the 160 active members, 21 are Past Grand Knights including those who have transferred into our Council. One would infer here that we have enough manpower to carry out our activities if we can rely on everyone giving a few hours of their time in a year! There's also this continuing need to initiate new members due to the growing demands of our church (both St. Augustine and St. Elizabeth Seton) and community for volunteers and charitable acts. Our distribution of degrees is quite impressive since we have more than 50% of the membership holding at least a 3rd Degree. Of course, we still desire to get the remaining 1st and 2nd Degree holders up the ranks. For a member to hold an office , he should have at least a 3rd Degree and has been with the Knights for a year or more. There are no additional fees required, just an afternoon to be allotted for the degree exemplification. For those interested in advancing to higher degrees , please contact GK Ron Silva (846-9543) or me (426-7832). 1st and 2nd Degree members could hold directorship positions (Church, Council, Family, Youth, Community) and serve as chairmen of Council events and activities. With such membership quantity and quality, I believe our church and community can count on the Knights of Columbus Council 6043 for years to come! More Facts - Parish Breakfast I There was quite a turnout at the Parish Breakfast on September 26 held in honor of our parish guests from Pleasanton's Sister City in Tulancingo, Mexico. Thanks to the savvy coordination of PGKs Mike Machi and Joe Jones assisted ably by the Machi Brothers of Keith, Mike (Jr.) and Kevin, the preparation and serving went smoothly and more! Watch out Denny's or IHOP!! Thanks also to GK Ron Silva, PGKs Jerry Annicchero and Rich Garcia, John Rabada, Larry Jackson, and Lance Ruckteschler for helping out. If I left out somebody, my apologies... Finally , October is a real busy month for us. It starts with the PGK Recognition Dinner on the 2nd at Dublin Fishery (6:30 pm). Please call PGK Rich Garcia (846-5301) for details. Rich is also coordinating our Tootsie Roll Drive in church on October 15-17, while PGKs Mike Machi and Dave Melander are working on solicitations from business organizations. And of course, for the entire month of October, we are charged with the Parish Census for every mass, including the new 6:30 pm Sunday mass. Please call Chancellor Rob Csongor (484-5415) if you would like to help with this census. Then on October 23-30, we'll be part of the annual Red Ribbon Week. And if this is not enough, everyone gets to wear their costume for Halloween ! |