Saint William of Vercelli Council 4064

New Year’s Eve Party !!

Brother Knights – Vivat Jesus

I want to wish all my Brother Knights of Saint William of Vercelli a Very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving.

Jack Washbourn, DD # 84

Annual Council 50/50 Raffle Underway

Our 2009 50/50 Raffle has been kicked off. Tickets have been either hand delivered or mailed to Council members. This is our main fundraiser for the Council and we’re asking that every Knight do his best to sell his 10 tickets. We have a number of events scheduled over the next month or so where tickets can be sold. Please do your best to help the Council. If you need additional tickets please call Jim Simpson.

Marian Devotional Area Fundraiser Nears Closure

The Marian Devotional area landscaping is pretty much complete–we just need to wait for the seed to grow in the outlying lawn area and the annuals to be planted in the spring!  Last week, the children from our Religious Education classes joined the Knights in praying the rosary in the newly restored area.  It is wonderful to be able to pray together before our monthly meeting and it is a special joy to share that devotion with our parish children.

We have collected $3,500 from our members as of this writing (October 12, 2009).  We will of course be happy to accept any further gifts which might bring us to our $4,000 goal.  All the Knights of our council are to be commended for their prayers and gifts in support of this wonderful project.  It will be a great source of peace and devotion for our parish and community.

MI Drive a Huge Success

This past weekend’s MI Drive was a huge success raising nearly $4,000 over the three day run.  Our chairman, Steve Brown, did a great job of organizing and lining up corners & storefronts at which we could solicit donations.  While we could certainly have used even more man-hours of help, we did get great cooperation from our members.  This marks the first time in recent history that we have held a 3-day MI drive in the fall–our Columbus Day weekend MI drive has been a 1-day (Saturday) event.  Fall weekends seem to find our members (particularly those with young families) much more busy than the spring drive over the Palm Sunday weekend.  We all understand the difficulty of squeezing out time on such busy weekends and appreciate that family is a priority.  We are grateful for all the efforts made by all of our members on whatever activities they are able to commit themselves to in service to our order and the community.

We should look forward to disbursing these funds at out next regular business meeting on November 2, 2009.  I hope to see all of our members there– Rosary at 7:20 p.m.; business begins at 8:00 p.m. in lower Zepf Hall

MI Drive This Weekend

This weekend is our fall MI Drive.  This semi-annual drive held on Columbus Day weekend in the fall and Palm Sunday weekend in the spring is a hallmark Knights of Columbus event and our chief source of financial support to provide assistance to the mentally impaired in our community and across the state.  Our chairman, Steve Brown has put a good deal of time and effort into securing permits for collection at major intersections and at local storefronts.  Steve has had a fair response to his several emails, but many time slots are still open for assignment.

Together we form the body of Christ.  As the body of Christ, we can bring healing, comfort, and the good news of salvation to a suffering world.  This weekend, I am asking you to be the hands of Christ reaching out with our collection can to solicit funds.  I am asking you to be the hands that take the donations to the rectory basement where it will be sorted, counted, and deposited.  We will be the hands that give comfort to those mentally impaired brothers and sisters who need our help.

For each hour you spend on a corner, we can hope to raise around $50.00 for the Mentally Impaired.  If each of our Brother Knights could find just 2 hours this weekend, we could raise over $10,000.00.  Please try to squeeze time out of you busy schedule this weekend to help in this work.  Be the hand of Christ reaching out to a world in desperate need of His healing touch.

Follow this link to our online interactive spreadsheet on Google Docs.  There is a separate tab in the spreadsheet for each location and time slots for each day which you can fill in.  Just find an empty time slot that fits your schedule and put your name in it.  The spreadsheet is updated in real time, so you know up-to-the-minute where we need help and where we are covered. Here is the link:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AgnCm8Io9A-CdFpzZDJ1R0NIVnBPVGI2RWN1Y2tzVGc&hl=en

Thank you for all you do to build up the Body of Christ.

Team “Patriotism” Takes Early Lead in “Fantasy Council” League

Manager Jerry Schultz can be very proud of his “Fantasy Council” team as Team PATRIOTISM leads the league after our first month of scoring.  As of September 30, 2009, team PATRIOTISM had accrued 38 points for their participation in council activities such as the monthly meeting (2 points per member), corporate communion (3 points per member), working the monthly breakfast (2 points per member), and working a shift at the Texas Hold’Em tournament (2 points per member).

Jim Simpson and his team “Sacred Heart” are on the heels of team Patriotism with 35 points.  Team “DIGNITY” managed by Vern Weisenberger is in third place through our first month with 30 points.  The balance of the standings are as follows:

• “HOSPITALITY” (Jack Jamieson, Manager)                      25 points
• “VERCELLI” (Terry Morano, Manager)                               21 points
• “COLUMBIAN” (Todd Diffenderfer, Manager)                   18 points
• “FRATERNITY” (Greg Zerber, Manager)                             17 points
• “EVANGELISM” (George Garcia, Manager)                        16 points
• “McGIVNEY” (Mike Godfrey, Manager)                               13 points
• “VOCATION” (Scott Champine, Manager)                           12 points
• “CHARITY” (Mike Brisbois, Manager)                                10 points
• “HOLY CROSS” ((Steve Brown, Manager)                          10 points

With the fall M I Drive coming up this weekend (1 point per man-hour), the spaghetti dinner (2 points) on Saturday, October 17th, and the Fish Fry ( 2 points) on Saturday, October 24th, there are plenty of opportunities to score points for your team.

About Our Fantasy Council
We had discussed having officers  “draft” council members whom they would be responsible for encouraging to attend meetings as a means of improving participation at meetings and other council activities.  I thought as long as we were “drafting”, why not have some fun and form a “Fantasy Council League”.  Like fantasy sports leagues, we have created a number of teams each “managed” by an officer.  The officers have ‘drafted’ their players from among the general membership and will work throughout the year to keep their team informed and motivated to become increasingly active in council activities.  I have assigned point values to a number of activities which we would like to particularly emphasize this year to motivate each team to friendly ‘co-opetition’ in pursuing our objectives.  Together we can create a council which others only imagine possible in their wildest fantasy. Good Luck!   —  Tom Convery, GK & Fantasy Leaugue Commissioner

Points to be awarded to the team for:
Members present at business meeting (2 points)
Members present at planning/social meeting (2 points)
Work at Texas Hold-Em Tournament {Sept 20, 21, 22,23} (2 points)
Work MI Drive October 9 & 10, 2009 ( 1 point per hour)
Sell Quota of Fall Council Raffle tickets (10 points)
Members participating in breakfast, pasta dinner, KofC Bingo night, other sponsored event (2 points)
Help with Shelter Week Breakfast on April 3rd, 2010 (2 points)
Members turning in a completed Form 100 (3 points)Member recruiting a new member -after 1^st degree (10 points)
Members obtaining  advanced degree including 4th degree  (4 points)
Attend Corporate Communion  (3 points)
Attend Right-to-Life Dinner March 25, 2010 (5 points)
Attend Men’s Catholic Conference (5 points)
Participation in service project(s) (1 point per hour)
New insurance members (5 points)
Entire team present at a meeting (‘*’ members excluded) (10 points)
Members attending a 1^st degree ceremony (2 points)
Donate Blood (3 points per pint)
Knight of the Month/Family of the Month (5 points each)

Corporate Communion Well Attended

We celebrated our quarterly corporate communion this morning at the 9:00 a.m. mass.  All of our “Corporate Communions” are excellent opportunities to join our brothers and their families and be reminded both as individuals and as a service organization that the Eucharist is the “Source and Summit” of our faith.   I encourage you to attend all of our scheduled quareterly “Corporate Communions” ( Dec 27^th,   Mar 28^th, and June 27^th) .

This Sunday we had 30 brother knights and their families sitting in the reserved pews on the front right-side of the church.  Afterward, we  gathered in the Activity Center for a group photo of our council.  The Fourth Degree members in their tuxedos and baldrics seated in the front row gave the picture particular charm.

We had reserved the back room at the Big Boy in Walled Lake for anyone who was interested in  relaxing  and having breakfast with the families of our council after mass and the group picture.  We had a nice crew of 14 families share breakfast.  A good number of us were too full of coffee, donuts, and other treats enjoyed at Marge Shackett’s retirement reception following mass to fill up on breakfast as well.

Our next Corporate Communion is scheduled for December 27th at the 9:00 a.m. mass with the back room at Big Boy to be reserved again afterward.

Marian Devotional Area Landscaping Project Nearly Complete

The donations from our members to support the Marian Devotional Area Landscape restoration have been coming in steadily since the appeal began  two and a half weeks ago.  As of today, we have recieved $1,180.00 which has been matched by leadership gifts to bring our total toward the project to $2,360.  Any members who have not yet contributed and would like to support the project are asked to send their checks (payable to Saint William) to: Jim Simpson, 2116 Palmer Drive, Wixom, MI   48393.  Sue’s Lanscaping is more than halfway to completing the project and we would like to get the landscaping completed and paid for in the coming week.  Make your donation this week to release the rest of the matching funds!

August Family of the Month: The Monfettes

With so many of our Brother Knights pitching in to help at various council-sponsored activities and with so many families pitching in to help, it can be difficult picking a “Knight-of-the-Month” or “Family-of-the-Month” in our council.  One family stood forth from the rest this past month from my perspective:  The Monfette Family.

Of course, Ted is almost  always on hand extra early to keep Jack Jamieson company in setting up the kitchen for our monthly parish breakfasts.  And Ted attends our meetings consistently and enlightens us with his presentations as “Lecturer”.  This month, the Monfettes were a force to be reckoned with though as Todd Monfette (a Brother Knight) pitched in at our August breakfast.  (Both Todd & Trevor Monfette were in town for September’s breakfast as well.)

Ted’s lovely wife, Suzanne, who is present at most family events was busy is August helping to organize a retirement party for Marge Shackett who retired as St. William’s Youth Minister on august 31 after 26 years.  Properly thanking Marge will be impossible, but Suzanne is busy together with others who have been involved in Youth Ministry planning an event to show our appreciation.

For the consistent involvement and contributions over several decades, we honor the Monfette Family, but for their specific efforts of the past month, we thank them and name the Monfettes as “Knights Family of the Month” for August 2009.