The Sword in
the Stone By DGK Bryan B. BandongWe 're all too familiar with the legend of how young Arthur extracted the Excalibur from the stone, and in so doing vaulted him into kingship. Arthur, with the purity of his heart and unmatched courage, was the only one who could pull the sword. Together with his mythical knights and their thoughtful planning around the famed Round Table, Camelot flourished under his leadership. The "Sword in the Stone" doctrine of a natural-born leader is all but a legend! Everyone could be a leader given the opportunity, the proper stimulus and the right situation . This holds true for every brother knight in the Knights of Columbus Pleasanton Council! Ask any previous officer and director. We've had brother knights stepped up to the plate during times when our Council was in dire need of a leader. But there are times, too, when it gets to be a little discouraging when many of our brother knights stop short of being the leader and simply offer their help. Our Council does appreciate any help it can get. But for the sake of succession and continued existence, our Council will need new leaders with their revolutionary ideas to adapt to the changing times and demography of our Church and society. The months of October and November breezed by so quickly. October, being one of the more busy times for our Council, was a good test of our Council's vitality early in the Columbian Year. I would like to express my sincerest appreciation to PGK Rich Garcia for coordinating the PGK Recognition Dinner, the Tootsie Roll Drive, and the two Donut Social events in conjunction with our church's Hospitality Sunday and Open Forum Sunday. Chancellor Rob Csongor boasts of not missing a single churchgoer during the October Parish Census, which this year offered the challenge of not only having five weekends for the census but also with the additional Youth Mass at 6:30 pm Sundays. And, as in previous years, PGK Dave Melander and his crew of brother knights donned our Santa Rita thoroughfare with red ribbons symbolic of our Council's, along with the City of Pleasanton, stand against chemical substance dependence (drugs, alcohol, tobacco products, etc.). Thanks again, Dave! November tested our brother Knights' physical strength delivering food baskets to several households in Pleasanton for the annual Thanksgiving Food Basket on the 21st. I guess our country's bullish economy this year translated to a huge collection of food - I can't remember having so much goods in the past six years that I've been a part of this event. Bro. Ernie Freeman's (a.k.a. Deacon Freeman) plug -in on his experiences with the food basket as a Knight of Columbus in his November 14 Sunday mass homily also helped with this cause. I hope our brother Knights have some more strength left for the Christmas Food Baskets which will be held on December 19. Please contact GK Ron Silva if you would like to help in this event . PGK Mike Machi & Sons coordinated again our second Parish Breakfast of the year on the 28th. Our Children's Christmas Party will be on December 3 at St. Augustine Church Hall. Bro. Brian Casey, who's been chairing this event for a good number of years now, will be coordinating this one again. Please offer your services to Brian. On December 11, there will be a Blood Drive at the St. Augustine Church Hall classrooms. Financial Secretary Greg Jones (484-3379) is chairing the event for the Knights of Columbus and he is looking for volunteers to man the donor sign up tables after every Sunday mass on December 4. Finally, it's never too early to start thinking what services you can offer for our Annual Crab Feed to be held on January 15, 2000. Please call either GK Ron Silva or me if you're interested in helping in this major event for our Council. This year, our Council will go on cyberspace on http:\\www.kofc6043.org. Check it out and please provide feedback to Bro. Mike Machi, Jr., who has offered his skills to be the Council's Webmaster at no cost. The cost to our Council will just be the fee to the Internet provider and server to maintain our homepage. Bro. Mike is looking for suggestions and some help, too, with the website. If you have some ideas, please contact him at 925-455-8070, or vial email at machi@home.com. Happy web surfing to all! Have a wonderful Holiday Season!! |