July 2005

Greetings, Brother Knights

WELCOME BROTHER KNIGHTS, to the 8^th Edition of our 2005 Newsletter. As of this writing (Thursday the 11^th), temperatures are expected to hit 100° today. Hope everyone is keeping cool. Fellow Knights, if you have not yet been out to see the improvements going on, come on out as the Hall is really starting to look fantastic!!

From Mike Dixon’s Kitchen

Due to the on-going construction, pizzas will be served this month. The schedule will remain the same: social hour 5:00 – 6:00 with dinner at 6:00 and the meeting at 7:00. So come out and enjoy the camaraderie with your fellow Knights.

Grand Knight’s Column

Brother Knights,

Welcome once again to the monthly newsletter. I want to start off by thanking everyone for your thoughts, prayers, and support these past couple of weeks for my wife, Hayley, and I. She has been fighting with a kidney stone, and treatment has been complicated because she is six months pregnant. The doctors were finally able to remove a stone on August 5^th, and Hayley has been doing much better since then. Thank you God and thank you friends!!

Now down to business. The work at the hall (installing the new floor) is coming along quite well, and it is really looking sharp. However, a lot of work still needs to be done. There is more dust being created by this project than anticipated, so there will be a lot of cleaning and wiping to shine the place up once the floor is complete. Thus far, help has been good. So, please guys don’t fizzle out!! We still have quite a ways to go, but the end results will be well worth it. We will do our best to get word out on scheduled workdays for putting everything back together and finishing up. Please help if you can.

Last month, because of my wife’s situation, I was absent from the meeting. This was the first meeting I have missed in the five years I have been your Grand Knight. I have heard several views and opinions on how the meeting went. I don’t know for certain how it went because I wasn’t there. Good or bad, it is in the past and we are not going to dwell on it. We are going to pick ourselves up and move forward. The only thing that I will say is this; in my absence the Deputy Grand Knight, whom the Council elected, is the man in charge. Should he run the meeting differently than I, he still deserves the same respect due his position, as you have all shown me.

In my opinion, the number one problem that we have been experiencing at the last several meetings seems to be the use of Council meeting time to express personal attitudes and emotions towards our brother Knights, and most of these issues have little or nothing to do with Council business. It just wastes time at the meeting and creates friction and animosity between members. So gentlemen, let’s be courteous of each other, and all our fellow Knights. If you have issues with another member, lets get it taken care of before or after the meeting. For the sake of the rest of the members attending the meeting who want to know what we, as a Council, are doing and who would like to get home at a decent hour, everyone must try to keep to the Council business at hand.

I apologize for getting a bit lengthy here. Hope to see all of you at the meeting.

Lecturer’s Column

When Our Lord gave Saint Peter the power to bind and loose in heaven and on earth, He gave His Church the power to open and distribute the limitless treasury of the merits of the sacrifice of Jesus and the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints. An indulgence is a way that the Church dispenses those graces to obtain the remission of the need for purification remaining after a sin is forgiven.

Sin damages our relationship with God and with others. Through the sacrament of Reconciliation, our sins are forgiven by Christ in the person of the priest, but the damage we cause to ourselves as a result of our sin remains and needs healing – this is called “purification” or “temporal punishment.” When we choose to sin, we are accountable for the consequences of that choice. Purification heals us of the remaining damage caused by our sin and may occur either while on earth (through works of mercy, charity, prayer, penance and the offering of suffering) or after death in Purgatory’s purification. As an analogy, think of a broken bone. After the bone is re-set, it is not fully mended until after 4-6 weeks in a cast. Re-setting the bone is like Confession, while the mending time is like temporal punishment.

There are two types of indulgences: plenary (removes all temporal punishment) and partial (removes part of temporal punishment). In this Year of the Eucharist, the Holy Father grants a plenary indulgence. Indulgences can be applied either to oneself or to a Holy Soul in Purgatory, but they cannot be applied to other living persons.

July Meeting

· Bought Joseph Schieffer’s hog (Chris Schieffer’s son) as a community good will gesture

5^th Sunday Communion Breakfast

Our Communion Breakfast on July 31^st had less than half the normal attendance. Those who did attend helped themselves to a generous supply of donuts!! After visiting among members and their families, work was commenced on the hall.

Thank you Members

As stated above the Hall renovations have commenced. What has been accomplished thus far is as follows:

Monday, starting at about 4:00 PM, ten ambitious hard working Knights completed the first stage of the hall renovation. That evening all appliances and some cabinets were removed from the kitchen area. The old VCT tiles were removed with the exposed concrete completely cleaned and ready for new floor installation. These nine men (and one woman) completed all this in a mere one hour 15 minutes!! Thanks goes out to:

On Tuesday, a group of Knights again arrived for work detail at the hall at approximately 4:00 PM, they also returned to finish up their work on Wednesday. Tuesday evening ceiling tiles were replaced, vents cleaned, all tape and wire removed from the ceiling, light lenses cleaned and/or replaced, light frames repaired, and trim removed from walls. Thank you to:

The ladies removed items from the kitchen walls and prepared them for painting. Thank you to:

A very special thank you goes out to Ed & Barb Huber, who are not members but who came out and gave a couple hours of their time (Ed is a brother of Barb Mennemeyer).

During the day, the drain in the kitchen floor was sawed out and a new drain installed. Thank you hard workers:

Jerry Heitman, Todd Mack, Chris Metze, and Jack Wilke removed trim boards along walls. Virgil Mennemeyer is routing and making proper trim out of present boards. Trevor Mack, Dave Mennemeyer and Justin Niehoff helped with trim board removal. Dave Mennemeyer used his truck to deliver trim boards to Virgil. Steve Wubker, Randy Leitman and Mike Flynn removed the stage.

Team Captains & Calling Committee Meeting

Since our last Council meeting, meetings were held with the Calling Committee and with the Team Captains. We are happy to report 100% attendance at both meetings. A lot of good input was received from the captains for team realignment and hopefully that will be completed within the next 60 days. The Calling Committee was activated and they will be assisting the team captains in notification of work assignments or special notices.

Ball Season

Dave Mennemeyer says Thank You to all the workers that have in any way contributed to another successful ball season. Barring any rainouts, the 2005 season will be over next week.

The next Ladies Auxiliary meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 12^th. Thank you Ladies for all the hard work you do!!

With over 1500 life insurance companies doing business in North America, you can be proud that the Knights of Columbus, your organization, is one of only six companies that hold all 3 of the following designations.

3) Assigned the “Seal of Approval” for ethical practices by the Insurance Standards Marketing Association (ISMA). With a record breaking year in 2003 of over $50 Billion of life insurance in force, along with over $9 Billion in assets, makes Knights of Columbus second to none.

Call Tom Massman, 636-456-1446 today…this year over $315 million in dividends will be disbursed for 2004 to it’s insurance & annuity holders.

--------------------------------------GET YOUR SHARE in 2004---------------------------------------

However, with the Knights of Columbus and your children, it usually means about $20,000.00 with guarantees for the future.

IRA & 401-K plan rollovers, fixed account with guarantees & lifetime income option.

Call me today…(636) 456-1446 be sure to leave a message if I’m not in the office.

We want all of you members to feel important in this Council. This could not be the Council that it is and is going to be without your full participation. We need your ideas and input. Please come to the meetings and be important. The meetings have been designed to socialize beforehand and be productive during the meeting. Any information you would like to get in the newsletter, please contact Mike Flynn (366-9934 or 314-568-8234) prior to Friday before the meeting.

Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe summer. Enjoy the upcoming Labor Day Weekend. And please remember school will soon be back in session and kids will be out and about early mornings on their way to school. Please keep an eye out for our children and be extra vigilant in your driving. Thank you and God Bless!!