Grand Knight's Report:

Dear Brothers:

From the messy, cluttered desk of your Worthy Grand Knight ...

Good-bye! So Long! Farewell! And all that… so this is my last article as your Worthy Grand Knight. Written with many mixed feelings, but always with pride.. not at being the Grand Knight, but pride in being a Brother Knight in the best K of C Council there is! Good times and bad, prosperity and diversity…and another Installation ceremony and dinner. Again, how lucky can this Council get?  Vincent P. Esposito is finally the Grand Knight. Well done, sir! Vince has been there  for the past two years helping me, being right at my side, and yes, even holding me back when needed. But never without words of encouragement and support. Vince, I can never thank you enough for all that you have done for me, but know that I am a phone call or a nod away if you need me. For anything. And as I looked around, something else.. all the young guns walking up the aisle. With the exception of my friend PGK, FDD Bob Thomas, and myself, there was nothing but young guys. And that is what makes this Council what it is. Go to another Council’s meeting or event…ask around.. you see a lot of us ‘old’ guys. When I first transferred into 3880, that was something that was so visible… the 3 Amigos…  Leo Ziemba, Freddie DeLance, Rich Partyka .. if anything was happening or anybody was always there, it was those three… they literally made the Council … but now look around … Mike Jasinski, Glenn LaBello, Kevin Scanlon, Steve Starr, Scott Popp, John Scott, Bob Newport, Mike Kebr, Ken Pearson, Matt Martin, Mike Bradley… and I can keep going on and on… new and newer guys join ranks with Vince, Tim Hicklin, okay, and a couple of in-betweeners, like Steve Haugh and Pat Bradley to name a few more. We lost a major dinner a few weeks ago, but not due to anything other than the wrong time of the year… and that will be fixed for next year… but it most certainly was not the fault of the chairman or a lack of workers… they came out of the woodwork to volunteer to help .. as always…

When we did the Gala¸ we constantly astounded the organizers by ALWAYS having enough people on hand to take care of the crowds.. the Gala crew came and ‘helped’ us pour only because we were having fun and wanted in on it… I never had to go looking for workers… Knights always came out for that one.. and NOT just for the free beer!! LOL

Our rep proceeds us…. Which is why recently the head of the German American Police Association in Chicago invited Bob Kampman to get together a small crew to help pour beer at the German Fest… Bob, Ken Artner, Mike Britton, Steve Haugh and yours truly along with several of the wives went and did us proud… and we made some money! AND, we were invited back for next year already.   

The ‘old guard’ of the Jack Venezia Memorial Golf Outing, Jim Kratchovil, Bob Kampman, Ken Artner, and Bob Follmer AND Jill, Mary Kay, Pat and Deanna…  may the Lord PLEASE help me if I should ever forget all that the women of this Council do.. not only to support all of us, but to do so much of the work!!! (Just as the wives of the Ladies Auxiliary under the founding and guiding light of Melinda Popp and Yvonne Scott and Pam Wyman have done…( but I digress ( ha! When don’t I?)) but those founders of the golf outing are now passing the baton to a new generation, but now before they did so very much for this Council… and did it in the name of ‘it needs to be done’, not for any personal glory.. but to help us help others… Charity the main principal of the Knights of Columbus.    

We have stuff going on now, but read that in the other articles… this is my goodbye from the front page… Again to all, an undying debt of gratitude for the always constant and complete support of the members of this Council. And my pledge to sit in back and help where I can.. quietly but available. As PGK Pat Maguire and I talked about last night… sitting in back is good… and I look forward to the reign of this new slate of Officers. Vivat Jesus gentlemen!

Signing off as the Grand Knight, proud to be called Past Grand Knight.. as PGK Bob Modrich always says, “The best title in the K of C!” Farewell and thanks,   

John Stefani,
Grand Knight,
Fr. McCormick Council 3880
GrandKnight@kofc3880.org
jstefani44@aol.com

Deputy Grand Knight's Report:

Deputy Grand Knight’s Rants and Raves.

From the wAndering mind of the DGK.

Brothers,

Sweet summertime finally has arrived. We’ve made it past the winter and spring events we usually host. Now comes the summer and our nations Independence Day celebration. We used to spend hours in the beer garden at the Gala fest but of course that dried up a year ago. Now instead we will be riding a float in the parade handing out candy to all and putting our name in front of the whole city. The parade will be on July the 5^th this year. The parade route will begin at City Hall, proceed south on Dole Avenue and end at Main Beach.  We will have candy on board to hand out and I hear the theme of the float will be a summer picnic.  Let’s hope for good weather on that day and details will follow via e-mail. The council golf outing will be on August 20 at Chapel Hill Golf Club. If enough members sign up we’ll have a shot gun start and there will be dinner afterwards.  We have couple events coming one is a mini car road rally and National Night out. There will be more information on these events later in this newsletter. That will take us into September which starts with the annual Corn Boil on September 4, the Intellectual Disabilities Drive Fund (IDDF) on September 17 & 18. The IDDF is the new official name for the Tootsie Roll drive. Please save these dates aside so you can spend 2 hours of your time collecting for people with intellectual disabilities. The last event of September will be the Johnny Appleseed event hosted by the Crystal Lake downtown Association.

So as you can see we have a busy summer and early autumn ahead of us.

This article is being written the morning of our new officer’s installation. I want to thank all the brothers who held offices for the past two years. Thanks especially to Mike Jasinski and Bob Wyman for their hard work and help running the council. Both will be stepping aside from the council chairs this year. They may not be in the “chairs” but doesn’t mean they won’t be a big part of our council’s activities. Thanks to John Stefani for his guidance as the GK and now earns the title of PGK the best title to hold in a council. Thank you to the members who have decided to move up in the chairs especially Tim Hicklin, Scott Popp, Matt Martin and Bob Newport. Thank you to members who have taken on new roles in the officers chairs Steve Starr, Kevin Scanlan and Mike Bradley. Last but not least Thank you to Steve Haugh, Pat Bradley, Glenn Labello and John Scott for staying on in your officers chairs.  Thank you all for your help and support.

Vivat Jesus

DGK, Vince Esposito
VPEsposito@comcast.net 

Membership Report:

Major Degree – Major Success!

Once again, our Major Degree was a great success. On May 23, 2010, we had twenty new candidates go through their first degree, and over forty who took their second and third degrees.

In addition to our own council, we were host to councils all the way from Glenview to Melrose Park and out to Hampshire. Over twelve surrounding area councils brought candidates to the degrees.

We would like to welcome the following new brother Knights to our council: Mike Bakalar and Dennis Faulds. These gentlemen participated in taking their first, second, and third degrees.

Brother Knights from our council who also advanced through the second and third degrees were: Ken Pearson, Peter Hall and Jerry Breuss. Congratulations to all!

What was extra special was the fact that the ceremonies of the day were dedicated to the memory of our beloved charter member Jerry Mayer. It was a fitting tribute to a man who has dedicated himself so much to this council and the organization.

But still, the day was not over. Next up was a wonderful dinner served up by our GK, John Stefani and crew. Over one hundred dinners were served and by the portion size, no one went home hungry. Carryout for almost everyone was the norm.

It would be remiss not to recognize all of the wonderful brother Knights that participated in the day’s events. From set up on Saturday, through kitchen clean up on Sunday, the volunteers were absolutely fantastic. Special recognition goes to the First Degree Team of Council 3880 and the John Paul II Major Degree team of Belvidere for their dedication in putting together the day’s events. Our state dignitaries that attended stated that they would go out of their way to volunteer to observe our ceremony again.

Hopefully, our next Major Degree will be back to scheduling in February next year. We’ve learned that while May is a wonderful time of year, it is way too hot to hold the ceremony.

Even still, we have more work to do. Our campaign doesn’t end here. We still need to recruit, recruit, and recruit some more!  Be sure to carry your Form 100 with you and actively look for friends and neighbors that would be worthy to be called Knights.

For more Membership information please contact Rick Kendzior at membership@kofc3880.org or (847) 669-6780.

4th Degree Report:

Bishop Boylan Assembly 0198
4^Th Degree Update.

Bishop Boylan Assembly 0198 4^Th Degree Update.

Greetings Sir Knights, Brother Knights and family and friends! Well, by the time you read this, the Assembly will have installed the new officers for the 2010 – 2011 Fraternal Year.

Please join me in congratulating our new Worthy Faithful Navigator SK Gerard Weber. Gerry is from the Sacred Heart Council 13476 in Marengo. In addition to working through the chairs in the Assembly, he has also served as one the Honor Guard Commanders… you know, the guys in Regalia with the purple capes and chapeaux plumes. Besides walking at the front of the Honor Guard procession, Gerry on one side and SK Don May on the other, the Commanders work with the Bishop Doran’s secretary to schedule all Honor Guards. This not only includes those in which His Grace is present, but in any scheduled 4th Degree Honor Guard.

For Fraternal Year 2009 – 2010, this Assembly stood for 30 Honor Guards. This included Confirmations, Rite to Life Masses and rallies, Ordinations to the Priesthood, First Masses, and too many wakes and funerals. The Honor Guard recently stood such events for our Council. On May 30th, a dozen Sir Knights provided an Honor Guard for His Grace for the sacrament of Confirmation right here at St. Thomas the Apostle. This included Sir Knights of our Council Steve Haugh, Mike Jasinski, Steve Bright, Dan O’Connell and myself, but also joined by 7 other Sir Knights from different Parishes. We also stood in respect for the wake of Lorraine Grygiel, wife of Sir Knight Brother Walter Grygiel. That in itself was a singular honor for us, as both Wally and Lorraine have always been such good friends to this Council, parish and myself. She will be missed. Again, we were joined by Knights from other Councils within our Assembly. Many did not know Lorraine, but as Wally is a loyal 4th Degree Sir Knight, we answered the call.

The Assembly also welcomes Sir Knight Dan O’Connell of 3880 to its Officer’s ranks as he takes on the position of Scribe. Thanks for accepting the nomination, Dan, and we are proud to have you.

I will also remain as the Faithful Comptroller for another year. Our next meeting will be held at Holy Apostle’s on Wednesday, July 14th.

Hope to see even more of you at the Assembly meetings, and please talk to me or Mike or Dan or Steve or Steve or any of the other 30 plus Sir Knights in our Council about becoming a 4th Degree Sir Knight!  Check out the updated webpage when you can.

http://www.maxpages.com/bba198

Give me a call or send an e-mail 815 679-6596  KofC0198Comptroller@live.com 
or grandknight@kofc3880.org 

Peace!

SK John Stefani,
Faithful Comptroller,
Bishop Boylan Assembly 0198
JStefani44@aol.com

Pro-Life Report:

Pro-Life News Items

• Florida’s governor Charlie Crist, who is running for reelection as an independent, just vetoed a bill that would have required women seeking a first trimester abortion to have an ultrasound mammogram performed.  Crist previously had campaigned as being Pro-Life before he left the Republican party to run as an independent.  Now he finds it expedient to reject the Culture of Life.  The rationale behind the bill is based on the usual reaction of women previously intending an abortion, after they see their baby in their womb as a living person with identifiable fingers and toes, to change their minds and reject abortion.

• Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, while working as a lawyer in the Clinton administration, wrote a memo to urge President Clinton to oppose a ban on assisted suicide and partial-birth abortion.  Kagan is likely to be questioned about these matters when she testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee as part of the confirmation process.

• NARAL, a top pro-abortion organization is pushing an amendment which Senator Roland Burris of Illinois added to a Senate Armed Services Committee bill that would require U. S. military base hospitals to offer elective abortions to those servicewomen who request them.  The current policy bans abortions at bases because they are run with taxpayer dollars      

Phil Weyna, PGK
Pro-Life Chairman

Boy Scouts:

On My Honor…

“On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country…”

These are the first seventeen words of the Boy Scout Oath.  If you think about it, it sounds a lot like the principles of the Knights as well. 

I am sure many of you completed the entire oath which is a total of forty words in length yet says so much about what these young men stand for and  the ideals they are striving to attain.  In this world we live in, with temptations at every turn and trouble always around the corner, we should take pride that Father McCormick Council has had a long history of supporting not only Troop 127 but also Pack 127. 

Right now, between the two groups, there are about 120 boys participating in the Scouting program.  Each of these young men has started on a path to be an upstanding citizen of the United States of America.  As we celebrate the 234th birthday of our Nation, let us also celebrate that we are doing what we can to build a future that is bright and strong for our great country.  God Bless America. 

The Scouts of Pack and Troop 127 thanks Council 3880 for your support and wishes you a very safe and happy Independence Day.

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight. 

Chancellor's Chats:

Wow! Where did the Fraternal Year go? It seems like yesterday that we elected the 2009-2010 Fraternal Year Officers. Now the 2010-2011 Officers have been installed and we both celebrate the beginning of a new Fraternal Year and say good-bye to last year.

We have a lot of work to do in this coming year. Most importantly, we need new members and need to replace certain directorships because three have decided to join the officer cadre. The open Directorships are:

• Family—formerly headed up by Kevin Scanlan

• Council—formerly headed up by Steve Starr.

Other directorships may become open and if you are interested in helping the council, please contact any of the incoming officers.

Next, for this coming Fraternal Year, I would like to thank Rick Kendzior for agreeing to be our Membership Chairman once again. Rick did a stellar job last year, but we need YOUR help in bringing in new members. It’s as simple as asking a friend who is a Practical Catholic! In my collegiate days being in a Fraternity, we always talked about bringing in new members who you think are better than yourselves. By thinking in that vain, our council will grow and become stronger.

Lastly, I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to Grand Knight, John Stefani for his two years as our council leader. John kept a strong fiscal approach to our council finances along with FS, Steve Haugh and outgoing Treasurer, Bob Wyman.  Thank you gentlemen.

And now to thank and offer my full support to our next Grand Knight, Vince Esposito. It is through his ideas that we have recovered dollars lost due to events being cancelled. I look forward to learning tons from you, Vinny, and having a lot of fun at the same time.

Vivat Jesus, Tim Hicklin

Ladies Auxiliary:

The Ladies Auxiliary’s next event will be the Family picnic after the Family mini golf 7/25 at Lippold Park, Please come and golf with us than bring your picnic basket and blanket and we will spread it on the grass and have a family picnic with our immediate and our Knight families. Save the date!

 Please don’t forget about our spot at the Johnny Appleseed Sat. Sep 25. So all ladies should have some crafts so far. If help is needed or idea suggestions, please contact me at 815/477/1018 or scottpopp1@sbcglobal.net everything needs to be homemade that we will sell. Any questions please just let me know.

We will be helping the Knights with Phone calls for the upcoming Blood Drive on July 17, if you are able to help and have not told me already, please again call or e-mail me, the more we have the less names will be on each of our lists.

Thank you all and God Bless!

Melinda Popp