A monthly newsletter published for the members of Ascension Council #11139 July 2016 Chaplain Rev. Michael Grosch 636-532-3304 Grand Knight Mike Berg 636-532-0063 D.G Knight & Program Dir Alan Politte 314-878-8855 Financial Secretary Dave Copeland 636-532-1534 Chancellor Ramiro Benitez 636-532-1596 Recorder Paul Muzik 636-537-2452 Treasurer Gerard Marshall 636-530-1299 Advocate Bill Lukas 636-537-9801 Warden Cliff Weeks 636-227-6426 Inside Guard Tim Ferguson 636-532-2843 Outside Guard Paul Blase 636-530-0609 3 Year Trustee Mel Trotier 636-530-1496 2 Year Trustee Al Tornabeni 314-956-9958 1 Year Trustee Jerry Lamoureux 636-536-0846 Lecturer Tom Gates 636-532-3708 Membership Director Bill Klein 314-609-2663 District Deputy Bill Meirink 314-821-7272 Grand Knight s Message Mike Berg Well, here we go again with the start of a new fraternal year. As your new Grand Knight, I am really looking forward to working with all of you in the coming year. Following Mel as Grand Knight will be tough and will certainly test the few skills that I have. Having said that, I would appreciate your patience as I get up to full steam. After being in this Council for more than16 years, I have come to recognize and appreciate the values and wealth of talent that all of our Brother Knights contribute to this ever active fraternity of good Catholic men. Please Keep on Keeping On and doing what you have always done supporting the four legs of the Knights: Unity, Fraternity, Charity and Patriotism. Although we are taking the month of July off from the Officers & Directors Meeting and the formal Council Meeting, there is still lots happening beginning with the Smoker-BBQ on the 26th of July, the 5th Sunday July 31st gathering at the 8:00 Mass and the Family Picnic on August 28th. Be sure to invite any friends to the BBQ that may have an interest in the Knights so that they may share in our camaraderie. This will be a great evening out and at no cost to you. We welcome Father Grosch to the Knight Times for the first time this month, as he will be contributing his thoughts for us on a monthly basis. Thank you Father Grosch. Special recognition is due Brother Ron Sharek who was awarded the Knight of the Year for all of his tireless contributions. Congratulations Ron. Kudos to Ron Meier, Al Tornabeni and the Tavern Crew for fulfilling the thirsty needs of all of us at the June 28th Installation Banquet. With the more than 50 events scheduled throughout the year many hands are needed to assist in making each and every event a success. Any Knight who wishes to help with any of these activities is encouraged to contact the appropriate director who would welcome your participation. In Brotherhood, Vivat Jesus Mike Berg, Grand Knight Respect Life Ted Naegel July 23, the Coalition for Life will have their annual fund raiser at the SLU Busch Student Center, at 6:30 PM. The Coalition for Life leads the 40 Days for Life prayer efforts during Lent and in October, as well as year round sidewalk counselors at the entrance to Planned Parenthood clinic on Forest Park Blvd. This year, Ascension is the sponsoring Parish for the Birthright Gala Event, their big fund raiser, to be held at the Ritz Carlton on September 17. Please consult the Sunday Bulletin for more details as they evolve. See the Sunday Bulletin for more Respect Life prayer opportunities. Ascension Parish Respect Life Committee's next meeting is on August 9, starting with the Rosary in the Little Church at 7:15 PM. The meeting will focus on the Silent Auction during the annual Parish festival and other important events for the Fall. Community Director Don Durand Felice Cuores: Next dance is in the Fall.
Membership Director Bill Klein The Knight Times, July 2016, Page 2 of 7 This month we are officially beginning our 2016 2017 Fraternal Year. As we begin this year, we need to reflect on the idea from our Supreme Council as Brothers we all need to be recruiters to find good Catholic members to grow our organization. Without your effort, we will not be able to continue to grow our membership! As we have said before - think about your friends, relatives or neighbors, who might be good candidates for Knighthood. Invite them to our 5th Annual Smoker / BBQ on Tuesday, July 26th they will be very happy you introduced them to our Knights of Columbus Council! When talking with potential candidates, please remember to ask Has anyone asked you to become a Knight of Columbus? It is surprising how many men respond by saying No. Let s spread the information about what we are and what we do, by asking! For membership, degrees, or, event information please contact Bill Klein, 314-609-2663, or email membership@ascensionkofc.org Council Chaplain Fr. Michael Grosch Thank you for the opportunity to serve you as your Chaplain, and for the invitation to write a little something for the Knight Times. I appreciate the work you do for our parish and our Church, and it is an honor to be with you at Ascension. Speaking of Ascension, it s been a pretty busy place around here lately, hasn t it? A few weeks ago, I went into Msgr. Stehly s office to talk about a few dates I would need to switch on our Mass schedule, and he said, Why don t you close the door... You can imagine my shock as he told me that not just Fr. Mathew, but that he himself would be moving on to a new assignment! I greatly appreciated Monsignor s leadership, so I was very sorry to see him go. Probably many people had similar feelings upon hearing of Fr. Mathew s and Msgr. Stehly s departure from Ascension, and more than a few of us probably asked the question Why? It s hard to build a relationship with a priest, or really anyone, and to see that relationship change drastically. Why would the Church, and why would Christ, ask us to do this? I think ultimately, the answer is detachment. We all know that as Knights and Ladies, parishioners, and baptized Christians, we are all called to cleave to Christ, to keep our eyes on him, and to follow him alone. Our parishes become great places to do that, and priests can be helpful conduits in helping us along the way. The problem comes when our attention starts to subtly and unintentionally shift to one priest or one person more than Christ. Think of it like a musician who starts to focus on the trumpet they re playing so closely that they forget about the music! Certainly it s a great thing to have a close relationship with a priest or to appreciate the ways he has led you closer to Christ. And believe me, it is a blessing for us as priests to come to love our parishes and our people. But we have to always remember that the reason we are here is Christ himself. Sometimes, as difficult as priest transfers can be (for parishioners and priests alike!), it can become a new opportunity for us to remember that Christ is at the center of all we do. Let s try to remember to keep Christ at the center of our lives, of our parish, and of the work we do as Knights of Columbus and Ladies Auxiliary. May God bless Msgr. Stehly and Fr. Mathew in their new assignments, and may he bless Fr. Molini and Fr. Bockskopf as they begin their ministry at Ascension! Council Director Brian Fenili Mid-summer is upon us and that means it is time for the annual Smoker / BBQ on July 26. There will be giveaway items and you don t want to miss a relaxing evening with your fellow Knights. It was good to see many of you at the Officer Installation dinner. Congratulations to our new officers. Finally, let s not forget those men and women who are overseas protecting our freedom. Some good new, one of your servicemen returned home safely and we thank Joshua for his service. Also, James is planning on returning in the next few weeks. This will leave us with one service person, Chris Wagnitz, who is currently serving in Africa but will return stateside soon. We thank them for their service and let s continue to keep all of our Servicemen in our prayers. If you know of any member of our parish serving our country please let Brother Steve Lewis know so they may be included in our Adopt a Platoon program!
The Knight Times, July 2016, Page 3 of 7 For the Good of the Order Thomas Gates There will be no speaker at the July general meeting due to the annual smoker/bbq. Family Director Ron Meier Just wanted to advise every one of two Family Events coming up shortly, both of which have accompanying fliers at the end of this newsletter. The Family Picnic 2016 coming up Sunday August 28th at Faust Park. Guaranteed to be a GREAT time. Also, Family Night at Busch Stadium coming up on Saturday October 1st. On this day the Cardinals promotions will be giving away a David Eckstein Bobblehead Doll, 2017 Cardinal Magnet Schedule and Fan Appreciations Weekend. So mark your calendars for these two awesome events. Widows of Knights Awareness In keeping with the theme of Fr. Michael J. McGivney, we as Brother Knights need to always keep in touch with the Widows of our Brother Knights that have fallen into Eternal Rest and are now with our Lord in Heaven. We will as Brother Knights always make sure our fellow Brother Knights' Widows are aware of events taking place within our Supreme, State and Council levels by supplying them with Literature, Magazines and publications referencing the Knights and the work, projects and events taking place. These notifications will include monthly publications, emails and invites to various Knights functions throughout the calendar year. I ask for help and your assistance to make everyone aware of these Widows so they will be properly placed within our mailing lists or email groups, keeping these widows aware just as if their spouse's (Our Brother Knights) were still with us today. Let s not forget them. Church Director Jim Buehrig Monthly Rosary We will be saying the Rosary for the intention of the unborn and any special intentions that are requested. You, your family and friends are welcome and encouraged to join us. We meet in the Little Church at 7pm before our normal meeting. July 26, 2016 6:30pm Rosary Led by Ted Naegel in Little Church prior to BBQ. Please mark your calendars and participate in the following upcoming Church events: Father Michael J. McGivney 1852-1890 Thursday Eucharistic Adoration Volunteers Please check your schedule to see if you can give Jesus One Special Hour a Week- The Knights have committed to have at least 2 people for devotion to the Blessed Sacrament every Thursday during the hour of 9am to 10am, in the Little Church. Thanks to all who have committed an hour to our Lord, I m sure you found it very peaceful & satisfying: Please sign in at the back of church as K of C when you visit during our hour! Bereavement Program Remember to contact Rich Kastel, if you experience the death of an immediate family member at richard.kastel@ascensionkofc.org or 314-359-9330. Wednesday Evening Group All are welcome at 7pm, check parish bulletin or contact Chris Foeldi for more info at: cfoeldi@ascensionchesterfield.org Men s 50 Minute Fellowship-Thursday - Weekly 50 Minutes of Scripture Study and discussions Thursday mornings after early Mass in Parish Hall behind the Little Church. Discussions end before 8:00am for a great start to your day! All men of the parish are welcome, for more info contact Chris Foeldi at: cfoeldi@ascensionchesterfield.org Men s Saturday Awakening Group Join this gathering every Saturday at 6:30am to 7:45am for breakfast, prayer and fellowship. All men of the parish are welcome, come join the group any Saturday, contact Larry Cramberg at larry.cramberg@ascensionkofc.org Summer Vacations Everyone traveling this summer remember to take the family rosary and share your good times with the Lord, travel safe and enjoy your family time. There are many available websites to assist you with finding churches and mass times while you travel, so please don t take a vacation without the Lord. Youth Director Roy Avery No report this month.
The Knight Times, July 2016, Page 4 of 7 4 th Degree Liaison Reports The St. Louis Assembly, 565 Jerry Lamoureux I would like to thank our Past Grand Knight, Mel Trotier for the opportunity to serve as 4th Degree Liaison and the St. Louis Assembly for the opportunity to serve as an officer this past year. This will be my last TKT article in that role as Sir Knight Peter Nicastro has agreed to take over as your Liaison. Congratulations to Sir Knight Pete Bruggeman for being named Ascension s Honor Guard Knight of the Year at our Council s Installation Banquet on June 28. Thanks to everyone who attended the Chalice Presentation for Sir Knight Gordon Bud Murrell on Sunday July 10, 2016 at Ascension s 10:45 a.m. Mass. Our Chaplain, Fr. Grosch was the Celebrant and we had 9 Honor Guard dress out for this special event. The St. Louis Assembly will be hosting a fundraiser BBQ at Seven Holy Founders on Saturday July 30, with proceeds going to the Assembly's patriotism fund. Gary Lottmann is organizing. Traditional St. Louis BBQ fare will be served and the Assembly is looking for both worker help and families coming to enjoy the food. To sign up or for additional information, call Gary at 314-968-3787. Here is a message from Our New Faithful Navigator, Steven Thompson: I thank outgoing Faithful Navigator Michael Koehler for leading us over the past two years. During the next year, we plan to start expanding our activities to bring them closer to you and to engage you in them. With that said, please send me your concepts for events. Our primary area is patriotism, but could also include family activities or faith enrichment in cooperation with our Faithful Friar Msgr. Borcic. We will also be asking for host councils for some of these events. We like to be in closer communications between your council and our Assembly. We will be requesting that each council chose a 4th Degree Liaison. We have 950 Sir Knights and would like to better inform and engage our Brother Sir Knights in our Assembly and Honor Guard. Here s to a great new fraternal year 2016-17. Steven Thompson 314-781-1205, swthompson210@sbcglobal.net Annual Honor Guard Picnic is Saturday August 6, 2016 Noon-5pm at The Daughters of St. Paul Pauline Books & Media, 9804 Watson Rd Crestwood MO 63126. For additional details and to RSVP your meat preference contact Joe Miller at 314-660-8587 or email joseph1971miller@yahoo.com Future Meetings: Looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our meetings on the second Wednesday of the month at 7:30 p.m., the next scheduled meetings are on July 13 and August 10. We meet at Seven Holy Founders Parish Hall, Gravois at Rock Hill/Tesson Ferry Roads. Refreshments are always served with fellowship after the meetings. If you have any questions on our Fourth Degree or the Honor Guard, don t hesitate to contact Peter Nicastro: e-mail Peter.nicastro@ascensionkofc.org Thanks again for all you do! The Holy Spirit Assembly, 3588 - Charlie Williams Hello fellow knights of Ascension. I cannot express how much I appreciate Grand Knight Mike Berg invitation to me to serve as the 4th Degree Liaison for the Holy Spirit Assembly #3588 for the coming year. I look forward to working with all the officers, and you, the members of Ascension Council #11139. I congratulate Joe Burleski for the great job he was doing not only as the 4th Degree Liaison but for the enormous task of Faithful Captain in the Holy Spirit Assembly. As Joe had previously mentioned our assembly meeting will be on the 4th Wednesday of each month. We are still meeting at different Churches in our 9 Parishes that make up our Assembly. Our next meeting will be held at St. Joseph Parish Church and will begin at 7:00 p.m. I encourage any 4th Degree members to come to that meeting just to meet our members and officers and get a feel for our mission and hear of the many activities we are discussing and those that are being implemented. One activity that has just been started is the Holy Spirit Choir. We presently have close to 30 members and the wives are invited to join also. We made our debut at the White Retreat on July 3rd. There was a military retreat that week-end and we had the pleasure of providing the choir for the Sunday mass. It was a very emotional mass and we sang military music for the attendees. We then provided the choir for July 4th mass here at Ascension. It s a different approach to express our appreciation to our military while practicing our Patriotic purpose as members of the 4th Degree. If you have any questions about the activities of the Holy Spirit Assembly or wish to discuss anything about our mission as 4th Degree Knights please feel free to contact me at charles.williams@ascensionkofc.org or you can call me at 314-852-1785. I look forward to hearing from you.
The Knight Times, July 2016, Page 5 of 7 Smoker & Barbecue July 26 th The 5th Annual Men s Smoker & Barbecue is slated for Tuesday, July 26th 2016. This is our council s largest Knights gathering of the year and a chance to see & mingle with some old & new Brothers. This event has also become a major recruiting source for new members. If you know someone interested, bring them along. We will be featuring the Chuck Wagon Barbecue Grill that Jimmy Bland made famous and the Barbecue talents of the Dirty Dozen cooking crew again this year. Our motto is if they won t let you eat it at home it will probably be here for you. Anyone interested in joining the cooking crew, organizing games or planning on attending please contact: Al Tornabeni at 314-956-9958 alan.tornabeni@ascensionkofc.org or Mel Trotier 636-530-1496 melvin.trotier@ascensionkofc.org. Annual Awards Banquet June 28, 2016 Joe Gegg Award presentation to Vicki Wilding Recognition Award presentation to PGK Mel Trotier by GK Mike Berg
The Knight Times, July 2016, Page 6 of 7 Pete Bruggeman receiving the Outstanding 4th Degree Honor Guard recognition for 2016 Bill and Barb Klein receiving the Outstanding Family Award for 2016 Coming Up This Month (view online) 7/17/2016 Adopt a Platoon / Meal-a-Month 7/17/2016 Parish Breakfast 7/25/2016 Saint Louis Chapter Meeting 7/26/2016 Smoker BBQ 8/8/2016 Officers & Directors Meeting
The Knight Times, July 2016, Page 7 of 7 Ascension Council #11139 230 Santa Maria Drive Chesterfield, MO 63005 PHONE: (636) 532-3304 FAX: (636) 532-3518 E-MAIL: info@ascensionkofc.org Al Tornabeni receiving the June Knight of the Month Award Ron Sharek receiving the Knight of the Year Award Did You Know? We re on the Web! See us at: www.ascensionkofc.org For the 2015/2016 Fraternal Year - Ascension Council contributions total $49,636.74 As a reminder, requests for charitable donations and support can be made by submitting our Council s Contribution Request form. Forms can be found on our Council s website: www.ascensionkofc.org. Our Council supports many charitable organizations. Thank you!
For all Knights, men of the parish, and anyone interested in the Knights of Columbus Night s Events 6:30 p.m. Rosary for the unborn 7:00 p.m. General K of C Meeting-15 minutes max. 7:15 Barbecue Come for one or come for all! When: Tuesday, July 26 th at 7:15 p.m. Where: The grove behind the Little Church What: A social get together with burgers, brats, Italian sausage, and refreshments Bring your horseshoes, washers, radio, or accordion and a raffle will be in the mix. Cost: It s on us! We are hoping for a large turnout. Please let us know if you can attend so we can prepare adequately. Please call or e-mail: Al Tornabeni 314-956-9958 alan.tornabeni@ascensionkofc.org or Mel Trotier 636-530-1496 melvin.trotier@ascensionkofc.org
Knights of Columbus Family Picnic Date: Sunday August 28, 2016 Place: Time: Faust Park - Main Pavilion 15185 Olive Blvd Chesterfield, Mo. 63017 Picnic will begin at 12pm, Food served promptly at 1:00pm. We are asking everyone to bring a covered dish to share. Council will provide the Main Course & Drinks. RSVP to Ron Meier by email at tsr.meier@gmail.com or Ron s cell at: 314-409-1521 There will be games for the kids and adults and plenty of fellowship.playgrounds and Clean Restrooms are next to our pavilion. So bring your entire family out to the Park on Sunday August 28th. Promises to be a GREAT time, guaranteed.
MISSOURI STATE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS FAMILY BASEBALL OUTING TICKET ORDER FORM ST. LOUIS CARDINALS VS PITTSBURGH PIRATES SATURDAY AFTERNOON OCTOBER 1, 2016 GAME TIME 3:05 PM Right Field Loge Gate 1 Ticket Price is $25.00 (Note: $5.00 from each ticket will be donated to Cardinal Glennon Children s Hospital K of C Wing) LAST DAY TO ORDER TICKETS IS SEPTEMBER 15, 2016 NUMBER OF TICKETS DESIRED $25.00/TICKET=$ CHECK# NAME ADDRESS TO WHOM TICKETS SHOULD BE SENT You will receive your tickets approximately 1 week before the game PLEASE PRINT NAME: ADDRESS: CITY STATE ZIP TELEPHONE: Make all checks payable to: MISSOURI STATE K OF C There will be no refunds after September 15th RETURN THIS FORM AND YOUR CHECK TO: Bill Schulte 572 Plymouth Terr. Dr Eureka, MO 63025 636-938-3439 bandbschulte@att.net IF YOU HAVE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS PLEASE CALL Bill Schulte