Oklahoma State Council
of the
Knights of Columbus

Upcoming Events

 

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Annual Clear Creek Monastery Workday Nears

Brother Knights and Ladies:

The 8th annual Monastery Workday and Pig Roast is Saturday, March 6, 2010. The monastery workday is critical to the success of the monastery farm. While volunteer efforts to work on the farm occur all year long, the effort at the workday is critical. Br. Joseph is very dependent on the workday labor.

The planning begins now. Brother Joseph is compiling a list of projects and making up the supplies list. We need additional and new Work Guide volunteers. We need about 40. I know some of the work guides will be returning and some of the work guides need to be relieved. If those guides that need to be relieved will recruit a replacement, the transition would be much more successful.

If you have a group you would like to bring, we need to set up a time with Br. Joseph to go over the project you would like to accomplish prior to the workday. Due to the number of work guides we will need, our work guide training will be moved from a single day to individual or smaller groups of guides setting up a convenient time to meet with Br. Joseph at the monastery.

Send an email to Dan Doyle to volunteer your group or to be a work guide.

Tempus Fugit...Time Flies. Never has this seemed more true to me than the last four months. Melani & I have been to New Haven, we've held our District Deputy Organizational meeting and the Fall Workshops in Okarche and Tulsa. Recently, we attended the installation of our new Vice Supreme Master, Paul Weigl, District Master Gary Hoeffken, and all of the District Masters in the Guadalupe Province. What a privilege to host this event in Oklahoma! We're now one third of the way through this fraternal year and the momentum continues to build. Before we know it, the Silver Rose will be moving across Oklahoma, Melani & I will be traveling to Orlando for the Mid-Year meeting of State Deputies, we'll have our own mid-year meeting of district deputies and the holidays will be here. Soon after, all of the activity surrounding the State Convention commences, councils will elect officers and the cycle begins again.

So let's take a moment to assess where we are in relation to our goals. At the beginning of my term as State Deputy, I asked the State Officers and the District Deputies to support me in setting a new membership record for the State of Oklahoma. Breaking the current record of 533 new members holds a special meaning for me as it was set in 1995: the first year my father was State Deputy. Never before nor since has the Oklahoma Knights of Columbus experienced this level of growth. This record will be broken someday, and I consider it to be a special tribute to the memory of my dad to be the State Deputy in office when it's broken. Even though this goal has deep personal meaning to me, I cannot achieve this on my own. I'm asking every Knight in this state to help us set a new record of 534 new members. Increasing membership in our Order should be a priority for every member of the Knights of Columbus and for reasons much deeper than sentiment or competition. New members bring fresh ideas and new vitality to our councils. As our numbers grow we become stronger! We can be more active in our parishes and communities! The potential is there; only about 10% of the eligible men in Oklahoma are members of the Knights of Columbus. To date, our intake of new members this fraternal year stands at 92. This is a very solid start toward our goal. I look for stronger results in the second quarter as council activities should now be in full swing after the normal summer slow down. Activities increase our visibility and generate interest in our organization.

In closing, I challenge each of you to look around your parish and seek out those eligible men who are not members. Invite them to join us. If you are currently a member but not active in your council, I encourage you to become reacquainted with us; join us when and where you can because the input you provide is uniquely yours. Your involvement will make us better. I thank each of you for the work you do in the name of the Knights of Columbus. Together I believe we can accomplish our goals -- one new member at a time -- if we get started now!

Vivat Jesus,
David Roewe

From the First Lady

Dear Knights and Ladies,

Thank you, ladies, for your generous support to our summer charity Suited For Success (SFS)! Your donations of business clothing, accessories, hosiery, shoes, and purses along with the $70+ dollars in cash brought in by the raffle of the Madonna painting were joyfully received by SFS which provides interview-appropriate attire for unemployed women aged 18-65 – including many single mothers who are trying to escape a life of abuse. SFS was especially grateful for the hosiery in larger sizes, as their supplies had been completely depleted! You were an answer to their prayers!

The Mid-Year DD Meeting is fast approaching (Dec. 4-6). Our State Ladies Auxiliary voted in July to support Ronald McDonald House for our Winter Charity. Please bring your aluminum pull-tabs and one or more items from the list which can be downloaded here to the December meeting in McAlester.

Did you know?
--There are about 1,267 pull-tabs in a pound; pull-Tabs contain a higher quality of aluminum than cans, are more clean and convenient to store. They are also welcomed by our local recyclers.

I am attempting to create an official Oklahoma Knights Heritage Collection. One part concerns our Oklahoma K of C State Pins. If anyone has "extras", from any year prior to 2006, please send them to me. It would be nice to pass the mounted collection to the new state deputy each time the office changes hands. Also, if anyone has any extra photos of past state deputies - perhaps at their installation, or "in action" at events/projects that I could include in an offical State K of C Scrapbook please send them our way, as well. Include any information about the photo and the event. Let's see how far back we can chronicle!

Peace and Blessings,
Melani