My Brother Knights and Families:

September was a fabulous month for our Council, highlighted by one of our highest attended events in recent memory, Mexican Night. More than 175 guests filled the hall for an evening of great food, great fun, and amazing charity. With the help of a very generous hall board donation (Thank you Mr. Mills) we were able to write a check to Clara’s House for more than $2,000 dollars. But the real excitement of the the evening was watching our council come together and reach out to a broader community of people. It is truly a spectacular sight to see Knights and their families surrounded by so many other guests raising money for a very worthy cause. A big thank you to Brother Greg Wolfe who has extended the tradition of Mexican Night for another year and is quickly turning it into one of the premier events on our calendar.

October now brings us into Fall and the gateway to the Holidays. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are all shrouded in tradition and splendor, but lets not forget that the holidays can be a very difficult time for many people. Remember to reach out and embrace those who have lost loved one recently, or who may be estranged from their families. The holidays are a magical time for most children, but for those who do not have a stable home or a permanent family the holidays can be just another reminder of a very difficult situation. Therefore, I would like to propose that we organize a toy drive in the month of November that we can then present as a Council to a very worthy recipient such as the Sacramento Children’s Home or Loaves and Fishes. Please bring your ideas to the next business meeting where Terry Corcoran and Dave Carboni will be serving Zippy Buns and Potato Salad. We can fill our stomachs and then devise a plan to fill the stockings of some very worthy kids in our community. There is no better opportunity to further our first mission of Charity then during the holiday season.

If you are looking for an excuse to get back involved with the Knights, then look no further then Octoberfest coming up in a couple of weeks. Tom Nulk and Steve Mills co-chair one of the finest menus on the calendar with a remarkable selection of great beer, and a festive atmosphere complete with traditional German singing. I can honestly say that I have never attended Octoberfest, but as Grand Knight I am really looking forward to finally participating and seeing what all of the hype is about. This is always one of the most well attended events on the calendar, and it would really be amazing if we could match the incredible turn-out we had for Mexican Night. I encourage each and every one of you to bring yourself and invite a few friends so we can keep this amazing streak of successful dinners going this Columbian Year.

As always if I, or the Knights can be of any help to yourselves or your families please let us know. As a Council I would really like to help Dave Carboni and the Hall Board paint the exterior of the Hall. We really need to come together as a Council and set a date to get this done. If anyone is looking for a very easy way to volunteer a little time and elbow grease this is the perfect opportunity. I look forward to seeing all of the familiar faces this month and hopefully a number of unfamiliar faces who feel like saying hello.

Most Sincerely,
Bryan McKrell
Grand Knight, Council 953

My Brother Knights and Families:

My heartfelt thanks goes out to our brother Knight, Al Piccardo, for his amazing Tri-Tip dinner fundraiser last month. By any measure it was truly a major success. Coming off of his hip replacement surgery, which required brother Al to lose nearly 100 lbs, I was somewhat concerned that the event might be sparsely attended. Quite to the contrary it was packed with nearly 140 guests. There were at least 12 Model A vintage
Ford’s parked out front which added a certain element of class and splendor to the event, and as Brother Greg Wolfe stated at the Officer’s Meeting, “that quite possibly was the best food we have ever served at a Knight’s Dinner.” I could not agree more. To top it off, Dave Carboni introduced all of the guests to “Pesto Alfredo” sauce, and the evening proceeds nearly tripled our budgeted fundraising projections for the dinner. Well done Brother Al, you are a true shining star for the Council and I can’t wait for the Giant Shrimp Feed.

Of course our next big Fundraiser is fast approaching with Mexican Night taking center stage on September 24th. This is a big event for our Council because it is our first donation to Clara’s House, an organization that is close to our hearts as Brother Knights, but even closer to our mission as Catholic’s looking to help those who our most vulnerable in our Society. If you are not able to attend the event on the 24th, try and donate a raffle item, tell your friends and family to try and attend, and say a prayer for Brother Greg as he pulls the entire event together and generates a big donation for a very worthy charity!

And it should also be noted that the Sacramento Bee, and probably a number of other news organizations, reported that the Knights of Columbus commissioned a portrait of Mother Theresa which will now hang at the Vatican after her canonization ceremony on Saturday. Saint Theresa is certainly someone to admire and learn from, and I look forward to invoking her name in some of our meetings this year in the hope that she will pray for our success and efforts as an organization dedicated to Charity. As our compass always points to charity, so too must our first order of business always be dedicated to this cause. If you know a few fellow Catholics who are interested in being charitable, invite them to one of our monthly dinners. If nothing else, they will certainly enjoy the food, and the beer along with getting to hang out with all of us.

Most Sincerely,
Bryan McKrell
Grand Knight, Council 953