Knights of Columbus. Patriots for God and Country. Volume 1 Issue 4 July Master s Update. Continued on page 3. Next District II Meeting

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1 Knights of Columbus Patriots for God and Country Volume 1 Issue 4 July 2017 Next District II Meeting Saturday, Sept 23rd 2017 St Jude Parish Community Center Dewitt Mi Inside Masters Rpt 1 Frier Rpt 2 Ladies Rpt 2 Directors Rpt 4 Color Corps 5 Calendar 7 Exemplification 8 Exemplification 9 Contacts 14 Newsletter Editor: SK Ken Watterson aarrdy@sbcglobal.net Master s Update Where did spring go? With the start of summer there s so much to cover and update! First a huge congratulations to our 55 new Sir Knights that joined the Patriotic Degree during our Spring Exemplification. Included in that group of 55 were five priests! There are so many people that we need to thank in helping make our 73 rd Michigan District II Exemplification a success first and foremost the Sir Knights and Ladies of Monsignor Herman P. Fedewa Assembly #2050, Christopher Sucher Faithful Navigator, for hosting the Exemplification and providing the social hour between Mass and the Banquet. Dave and Ann Russell, Don and Audrey Sucher, and John and Ruth Yanok for proving the leadership needed throughout the weekend to make it a flawless event! To Fr. Karl Pung and Fr. David Howell and the people of St. Patrick s and St. Mary Magdalen for allowing us to invade their parishes and making us feel most welcome. Finally, the Michigan District II Degree Team and District Leadership Team for doing what you do best showing why Michigan District II is the best District in the Order! Officer/Commander Training Plans are being finalized for Officer and Commander/Color Corp training. There will be two sessions held Monday July 24 at the Catholic Community of St. Jude Community Center/Church, 801 N. Bridge Street, DeWitt and Wednesday, July 26 th at St. Mary Catholic Church, 939 Charlotte Avenue, Kalamazoo you are free to attend either session. Both sessions will start with a light dinner (subs) at 6:30 with the Officer and Commander/Color Corp Training starting at 7:00, concluding by 9:00. The Officer and Commander/Color training is open to all officers and members, however handout materials will only be provided for Faithful Navigators and Commanders. Attendance is mandatory for all Faithful Navigators and Faithful Commanders. We will be certifying the Color Corp when we conduct Officer Installation this year, so it s imperative that all Commanders attend this training. Officer Installation/Color Corp Certification please contact me to schedule your Officer Installation and Color Corp certification. As we have done in the past, it is preferred that Assemblies join together so we can save time and travel. Last year s grouping worked very well so please work with your neighboring Assemblies and contact me with a couple proposed dates. I would really like to have all Officers installed and Color Corps certified by the end of September. Annual Assembly Audit it s that time of year again time for your annual Assembly Audit. Audits are to be completed on Form #1315, which is available on the Supreme website under Assembly forms. The audit is due to the Supreme Master, with copies to the Vice Supreme Master and District Master by August 1 st.it is preferred you use the pdf form on the Supreme website and save it as a pdf and submit the form electronically (via to the Supreme Master at fraternalmission@kofc.org, VSM Hall at dhall301@comcast.net, and myself at dabuick45@gmail.com). Continued on page 3

2 My brother Knights and Ladies, 2 As you know there is always a push to invite and recruit new members into our Councils. This is important because it means that we are growing; but just having an increase in new members does not necessarily mean, growth. For example over 80 million people identify themselves as Catholics in the United States, an increase of over 30 million since With more Catholics, there could be an assumption that the United States is overflowing with men trying to become priests. But that is far from the truth. Instead, the number of Catholic priests in the United States has seen a drastic decline since 1965, from nearly 60,000 to 37,500 in So even though the objective is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who do not know Him; it is just as important to do the same for those who claim to know Him but do not necessarily follow Him. The same is true for those members of our Councils who say they are Knights but who have fallen away for one reason or another in participating in Council activities or even in practicing their faith. We need to find a way to re-energize these members so that when we approach and invite new members they truly can see we are a growing faith organization; not just in the words we profess but in the deeds we perform. Our motto is In Service to One, In Service to All. Therefore I encourage you to reach out to the one who has not been as active in the past or has somehow dropped off the radar and invite to come to your next meeting. As you know a personal invite goes a long way in letting them know they have been missed. Better yet, tell them you will pick them up to go to the next Council meeting or to help out at the next activity on your calendar. In other words, be in service to all means being willing to walk the talk. Fr. Bob Irish Hello Ladies, Ladies Corner I hope you all have had a wonderful spring and hope you have a fantastic summer given it is just around the corner. God again has Blessed us with all the flowers in bloom and the trees filled with leaves-- painting with perfection our beautiful scenery. Our 73rd Exemplification, held on April 22, 2017, at St. Patrick and St. Mary Magdalen, was a huge success. It would not have run so smoothly without the help of all the wonderful and dedicated staff along with the members of the host assembly. Heartfelt thanks to you all for your outstanding effort to make this another great exemplification for District II. FaithFest 2017 Please mark your calendars for this wonderfulevent. Saturday, June 24th is a Family Festival of Faith Praising God with One Voice. Be assured that the music will bring such spiritual delight to you that it will leave you exhilarated.an outdoor Vigil Mass withbishop Boyeawillalso be celebrated. And to end the evening, the Knights of Columbus are sponsoring the fireworks that will be occurring at dusk it was amazing!!! Please check out all the details for FaithFest 2017 at We hope to see many of you there! Lastly, we are now in the process of finalizing our plans for the fall exemplification that will be held on Wednesday evening, October 18, 2017, in Paw Paw. As soon as all the details are finalized, I will provide this information to all the ladies. Please remember that if anyone has a question, a suggestion, or any concerns, to call me at (517) or me at baldersonm@comcast.net. I am here to serve you and am open to any suggestions you may have. Many blessings to you all~ Monica Balderson

3 Masters UpdateConcluded from page 1 3 Michigan District II s 74 th Exemplification plans are being finalized for our Fall Exemplification being held Wednesday, October 18 th in Paw Paw. Yes a weeknight Exemplification. Our numbers have been low for Fall Saturday Exemplifications due to a variety of competing interests so we ve decided to try a weeknight. The exemplification will be held at St. Mary School, 508 Paw Paw Street beginning with registration at 6:00 pm. There will be a Ladies Program at the local Columbus hall, E Red Arrow Hwy, Paw Paw. Following the Exemplification all the Sir Nights will be joining the Ladies for a light meal and refreshments. Our dress rehearsal/priest Exemplification will be held on Monday, October 16 th at the Owosso Columbus Hall, 1259 E M-21, Owosso. More details and Souvenir Book ad forms will be coming out shortly but mark your calendar and help build the Order by bringing in a new Knight to the Admissions Degree, then take him to a Major Degree so that he s ready to attend the Patriotic Degree in October either in Owosso or Paw Paw which ever location or date works best for him! Provincial Meeting it has been announced that the 2017 Provincial Meeting will be held at Sawmill Creek Resort, 400 Sawmill Creek Dr., Huron, Ohio from September 8 th 10 th. If you are interested in attending, you can make your hotel reservations by contacting Sawmill Creek Resort at , and make sure to ask for the Knights of Columbus special rate. More information will be coming as soon as we have it. Operation Patriotism if you haven t already please submit the funds raised by your Assembly for the Operation Patriotism projects in the Kalamazoo and Lansing Dioceses. We need suggestions for projects for a veteran so please get those to VAVS Director Gus Groat so we can get these completed this summer. Civic Award Applications - I m missing a couple so if you haven t submitted yours please do so immediately with a copy to me. In closing I d like to thank everyone for all the support and hard work over the past fraternal year. From the Wakes and Funerals for our deceased brothers, to Living Rosaries, Ordinations, parades and the most recent pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament (where we were able to give a check for one thousand dollars to the nuns thanks to your generosity) our District remains a shining window into the Knights of Columbus, one in which I m very honored and proud to be a part of thank you! With the start of the new Fraternal year, we all need to look at what we each can do to build the Order and make our Councils and Assemblies better for the future. While our patriotic themed programs are important, our one immediate need is recruiting new members into the Order we need to reverse a very disheartening trend of falling membership in the Michigan Jurisdiction and turn it around with growth especially younger members. If we build our Councils, naturally we will have prospects to build our Assemblies and our patriotic programs. Our goal should be for each Sir Knight to recruit one new member info the Order. Have a safe summer and my God Bless you and your loved ones! SK David Buick MFD

4 4 District Executive/Lansing Assistant How are you spending the summer months? Is keeping active in the Faith and the Order part of your summer plans? Many times the summer finds Assemblies slowing down with few activities and not much going on. Summer is a great time to increase the fellowship between the Assemblies, the Councils and your Parishes. Picnics, Family Fun activities, work projects centered aroundfellowship are all excellent ways to increase our presence within the Parish community. The goals are simple be sure our Assemblies are seen as part of the Parish community as are the Councils, be there to support the Parishes with our good works, and to set a great example of why men would want to join the Patriotic Order. Summer is also a great time to invite a brother Knight back to the Parish that you have not seen at Mass in a while we need to be sure to keep our Faith alive and be sure we are reaching out to those who have fallen away from weekly Mass. It seems the Fall Exemplifications are a long way, but it will be here before we know it. Each member of the Patriotic Degree needs to invite men to join their Assembly, so start asking now and have a Form 4 in your pocket for when he says YES. Have a great summer and God Bless you and the USA. Jim Kraus DD, PGK, PFN

5 Senior Marshal Here are some questions for the navigators and color corps commanders. Did you remember Flag Day on June 14? Did you have a flag retirement ceremony or some other appropriate service to recognize the occasion? Did you lead your parish s Corpus Christi procession? Do you have the opportunity to do something for Independence Day, July 4? Activities such as these give your color corps greater exposure than the typical Corporate Communion. I see the most important service the color corps can provide is to stand guard at the casket of a deceased sir knight and participate in his funeral Mass and burial service. I have received the most heartfelt and sincere words of gratitude following these services from family members of our deceased sir knight. I am sure many of you have had the same experience. With this in mind, we must make every effort to put our best foot forward at these times. That includes getting maximum participation by our color corps. The fact you may not know the deceased is not a reason to not attend the service. If that were the case I would have probably missed these services for the first five or six years as a color corps member until I recognized the deceased member. I am sure we all would want a good turnout of color corps at our visitation/funeral to show support of our family members. Please consider this at the next call-out for a deceased sir knight. Following the election of assembly officers there will be training sessions. I look forward to seeing the assembly commanders at this training. If there is anything they would like to see in this training feel free to contact me as soon as possible so I may incorporate it into the training. Look for call-outs for Faithfest on June 24 for the outdoor evening Mass with Bishop Boyea and the Knights of Columbus baseball game for vocations in Lansing on Friday, August 11. At the ballgame we will perform under the critical eye of old color corps members in the stands, those Knights of Columbus we hope will join our color corps soon, and the very young we hope will join the Knights of Columbus when old enough. Numbers, proper regalia and precision movements will be expected. As always, should you have any questions about the color corps, about procedures, or desire training contact any of the district marshals. We will gladly help in any way. We can observe and make comments or recommendations or we can conduct training with your color corps. 5 Fraternally, SK Bill Currie Senior Marshal Sirs Knights and Ladies of District II I just returned from the VA in Battle Creek, which I delivered about a half a pickup load of supplies to the homeless veterans. The ladies of Council 575, Battle Creek, got together and gathered these items. I havened heard anything about other assemblies doing this. So, if you have, please send me an itemized list and approximate value so I can make the proper paperwork out to submit so we get proper credit for it. If we don t do this, we will not get credit for the dollar amount or the hours it took to gather these items, so please keep me informed. I have not heard any information about our fund raiser that is due September 1 st. Please keep me informed on how you are doing so I can get some idea of the money being raised. Remember if you see a veteran in need, don t hesitate to go over and ask him or her how you can help. Don t forget to thank them for their service, for protecting our freedoms. We are one the very few countries that have the right to worship without government interference. Men and women have laid down their lives for the right of that freedom, as well as many other freedoms we enjoy. If ISIS had their way they would kill all Christians, and we cannot let this happen. Our veterans and military don t take the summer off, so please, don t you. Gus Groat VAVS Director (269) In God We Trust

6 6 District Exemplification Assistant Worthy Sir Knights and Lovely Ladies, here it is almost the season of summer in the Great State of Michigan. The time when many Michigander s will be spending their time enjoying the unlimited resources of this place we call home. When even those orange barrels hindering your three to four hour drive to that favorite destination, seem a little less annoying and the trip a little faster as you are envisioning your upcoming weekend. Yes, Michigan is a Great Place to Visit and a better place to call home. Summer is also a time when we as members of the Largest Catholic Men s Organization in the World need to remember that our Council and Assemblies sustainability are still our responsibility. If you are taking the time to read this article it can be assumed you are brother that does care about the organization, but are you willing to help move this fraternal organization into the next phase? Are you willing to recruit one new member in the next year and mentor them to a Sir Knight in the Patriotic Degree of the Order? Our State is quickly dropping in membership we are fast approaching numbers below 66,000 Knights of Columbus members in a State. Michigan is recorded as having over 2.28 million registered Catholics (based on 23% of the state population of 9.93 million). Sustainability of our order is more than number of members it is about the ability to participate in the Corporal and Spiritual works of Mercy. About mentoring our youth into the Catholic Faith, it is about being there during time of trouble and hardship, it s about doing the things most men already do but doing them as a Knight of Columbus. It is about WWJD (What Would Jesus Do), did he not send a few to educate the masses? Did he not ask us to continue his work, did he not die for our sins so we may be saved? Are you willing to take the challenge and mentor your replacement in the next 12 months? The District II Master is working on plans for the fall exemplification(s) in the month of October, intended to be on a week night. Although it seems like a long time away in reality those three to four months will be by in no time, so I encourage you to partake in the honor of adding to your Council and Assembly sustainability by advancing a Brother Knight of Columbus member to the status of a Sir Knight in the order. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at r.lamay@mikofc.org. THANK YOU in advance for all your hard work as a member of Michigan District II, Patriotic Degree of the Order. SK Rich LaMay Membership is a Process, not an event. Now is the time to start talking to the many 1 st, 2 nd and 3rd degree Knights in our councils and getting them excited about the 4th Degree. Make a plan by designating council liaisons who will communicate to their councils information about the exemplification as well as report about their progress in the membership process. Do not wait till the last minute to get the required funds and to vote the candidates in. Commitment is everything.. SK Gayle Meeks

7 Michigan District II Schedule 7 Calendar June 24 Kalamazoo Ordination, St. Augustine Cathedral, Kalamazoo June 24 Faith Fest, St. Francis Retreat Center, DeWitt July 24 Officer/Commander-Color Corp Training St. Jude s, DeWitt July26 Officer/Commander-Color Corp Training St. Mary s, Kalamazoo August Knights Family Night to Celebrate Vocations Cooley Law School stadium, Lansing September Provincial Meeting Sawmill Creek Resort, Huron, Ohio September 23 District Meeting, St. Jude s DeWitt October 16 Fall Priest Exemplification, Owosso October 18 Michigan District II 74 th Exempli9fication, Paw Paw No October Diocesan Meetings due to Exemplification, may be scheduled for November based on need. January 15, 2018 Lansing Diocese Meeting, St. Jude s, DeWitt January 24, 2018 Kalamazoo Diocese Meeting, St. Mary s, Kalamazoo March 10, 2018 Michigan District II Biannual Meeting, St. Jude s DeWitt April 21, 2018 Michigan District II 75 th Exemplification, TBA May 2018 TBA Living Rosary, State Capitol Hats, Sweat s, Golf Shirts, Jacket s, etc.. "we also sell women's blouses" SK Gaylend and Lady Mary Ann Meeks skgaylendmeeks@gmail.com We sell several styles and colors of golf shirts plus the light blue cotton shirts.. In addition we carry sweaters in various colors. They all have the double emblem on the front. We sell them at various functions and the proceeds go to District 2. Sweatshirts in many sizes and colors..

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14 Michigan District II Hunters Crossing Bath, Mi Knights of Columbus Hennepin Province This Newsletter is published to our Website at by the 1st week of every odd Month. Please contact SK Ken Watterson at if you have any questions. Contact Information Executive/Lansing Assistant Sir Knight Jim Kraus at or Kalamazoo Assistant Sir Knight Kent Weiss at or VAVS Program : Sir Knight Gus Groat at or jngroat@gmail.com Color Corps: Sir Knight Bill Currie at or curriewmm@aol.com Membership: Sir Knight Gayle Meeks at or skgaylendmeeks@gmail.com Communications: Sir Knight Ken Watterson at or aarrdy@sbcglobal.net For all other questions: >> after addressing them with your Faithful Navigator << Master Sir Knight David Buick or dabuick45@gmail.com (Please remember the Chain of Command and check with your Assembly contacts first.) Our NEXT District II Meeting Sept 23rd St. Jude Community Center DeWitt