All posts by Fred Struck

Hello, My name is Fred Struck. I live in Sacramento California. I am a member of St. George Melkite-Greek Catholic Church where I am know as Reader Fred. I have been the Reader at St. George's since 1988. I am also a Past Grand Knight in the Knights of Columbus Sacramento Council 953.
Events, Membership

Autumn Social Mixer

On Thursday October 18, 2012 at 6:30 pm Council 953 will be holding an Autumn Social Mixer. This is being put on by our membership director as a recruiting aid. Please bring any Catholic Gentlemen you know who would be a good candidate to join our order, along with wives or girl friends. Appetizers, drinks, adult beverages, and music provided. A shirt with a collar is required.

An event flyer is available.

For more information contact Lewis Munoz membership (at) kofc953 (dot) org or leave a message at 916-736-0953

Church, Community

Public Square Rosary Crusade will take place on Oct. 13 at noon across U.S.

On Saturday, Oct. 13 at noon, the Public Square Rosary Crusade will be held in 8,000 public squares across the nation, where Catholics will be praying for our nation. This annual event is sponsored by “America Needs Fatima.”

The goal of the crusade is to counter the destructive secular agenda, asking God to guide every aspect of our society. As human efforts have failed to solve America’s key problems, we ask God’s immediate help for our nation’s leadership. He will hear our prayers, especially if we pray the rosary of his Blessed Mother. Without prayer, and specifically the rosary, we will not find solutions to our nation’s many problems. The location is the corner of Sacramento State University, in front of their sign, at the corner of “J”.

Parking will be in the Knights of Columbus Parking Lot (if we have permission–Need Dominic or Frank Phillips to get permission!) at 11:30 am. We will then proceed to the location on foot. We have to be “on time” for the 12:00 noon “start” time…

Community, Council

Tootsie Roll Drive

On Saturday and Sunday, October 13th and 14th, we will be holding our annual “Tootsie Roll Drive” at St. Mary’s Church following all the masses. On Saturday and Sunday, October 20th and 21st, we will be holding our annual “Tootsie Roll Drive” at Sacred Heart

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the event, this is a fundraiser, the proceeds of which go to local charities which provide support for individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families. Briefly, following each mass, members of the council are stationed outside the doors of the church with a supply of Tootsie Rolls. The Tootsie Rolls are handed out to any member of the congregation who would like one and voluntary donations are collected from those who wish to give. This event has been held at St. Mary’s and Sacred Heart Churches for many years and is well known to and enjoyed by the parishioners.

I am asking for volunteers to participate at one or more of the five masses at St. Mary’s. We ask that, if possible, you leave the church immediately or shortly after receiving communion to allow time to proceed to your assigned door and pick up your apron, donation can and a supply of Tootsie Rolls. Your time spent participating in this event should be no longer than 10-15 minutes after each mass.

Please email or telephone me at (916) 456-4345 if you can help out at this event.
George Mills

Insurance

Membership Growth is Everyone’s Goal

The membership blitz is a tried and true way for councils to increase their numbers. We see these pushes often in March, in celebration of Founder’s Day, and again in October. These drives are successful because brother Knights are more visible than normal, during and after Masses and at special events. We remember to ask each and every Catholic gentleman to join our ranks for the good of the Church, community and Order.

At the beginning of the fraternal year, we set our eyes on the goal of achieving the Star Council Award. This means running many successful and varied programs throughout the year and using this activity to spread the word about the Order. This will bring in new members.

Don’t forget the strength of our life insurance, long-term care and annuities products is also a selling point of membership. For more than 128 years, our insurance has been “your shield for life.” Our ratings are among the best in the business. For the 18th consecutive year, the Knights of Columbus insurance program has earned Standard & Poor’s highest rating, and for the 37th consecutive year, A.M. Best Company has given us its highest financial strength rating.

I can help not only in explaining to prospects our outstanding insurance products, but also on the many other benefits of becoming a knight. I am happy to be an advocate for the Order and for our council. Even better, I can help you feel more comfortable in making the membership “sale” to prospects yourself.

As your professional Knights of Columbus insurance agent, I look forward to helping us grow in fraternity.

To contact me with regards to any of your insurance needs, please call my office at (916) 482-9044 or e-mail
me at stephen.cooper@kofc.org
By Knights … For Knights ….
Stephen Cooper
CA Lics #0H90754

Grand Knight

Grand Knight’s Message September 2012

My Brother Knights and their Families;

Our council is making improvements, in all aspects. Our website, hall, membership recruitment, meetings,
outreach, and retention. These are only a few topics that we are working on to expand and improve our council. We ask for fresh- out of the box- thinking to impact not only our council, but our community. If you feel that you have a skill set, ideas, or remember things that worked in the past that may help us, please let us know.

We are having a mixer on October 18th to prospective knights who’d like to get to know our council and it’s members. This is similar to an open house to practical catholic men who are curious about the Knights of Columbus. We’ll network, have appetizers and enjoy each others company, as well as answer any questions that we are asked. Though the concept of an open house is not new, it’s been quite some time since we’ve approached this method. The best way to recruit new Brother Knights is through you.

Our meetings will now be run according to that day’s agenda. If you have topics that need to be discussed, please bring it up at the officers meeting prior to the general meeting. All items not on the agenda will be tabled for the next officers meeting. We all have things that occupy our time and recognize (and appreciate) you making time to attend our meetings. The least we can do is conduct it in a speedy & organized fashion. We appreciate your corporation on this matter.

Look for our website updates, pro-life blogs, upcoming events, and links to our facebook and twitter pages. Our officers are working hard for our council and for you. One of our new ideas is to start a “Knights in need” fund, which will directly benefit our council’s Brother Knights in need. These types of ideas come about from Brother Knights socializing with each other in casual conversations. Please feel welcomed and come join us, your conversation may very well  spark our councils next big idea!

Go! Make a difference.
Ricardo Saldana
Grand Knight council 953

Community, Council

Zippy Bun Booth

Knights serving zippy buns at St. Mary's FestivalThe annual St. Mary’s Parish Festival was held August 19th and, as usual, the council turned out to operate the Zippy Bun Booth.  The volunteer turnout was the best I’ve seen in years with all the shifts completely filled.  The booth ran out of both bread and beef at about 6:30PM and would have shut down at that point except for the unbridled enthusiasm of Brother Dale Edwards who, in scraping the bottom of the barrel, so to speak, was still churning out zippy buns with what was probably last years aus jus fixin’s.  Anyway, the day was a success ( the take is not immediately available, but will be reported as soon as I have it) and I want to gratefully thank all the brothers who pitched in and churned out the sandwiches for hungry customers.
They are:  Floyd and Maureen Wells, Dick Cutting, Matt Lucien, Darin Hunter, Rupert Ventenilla, Terry Corcoran, Dale Walton, Dominic Ielati, Bill Sheean, Alex Kachmar, Rudy Nagle, Dale Edwards, Bill Renard, Al Piccardo, Fred Struck and Frank Phillips.  Special thanks goes to Fred and Matt who sat around for an extra hour and half Saturday morning waiting for the tables to show up, Darin who took three (!) shifts, Co-chair Terry who was there most of the day until his leg let him down and Dale, Bill Renard and Rudy who stayed after their shift to strike the booth.
Knights serving zippy buns at St. Mary's FestivalAnd then there’s Brother Dave Carboni who’s in the kitchen at 6:00AM cooking up our aus jus which makes the zippy buns what they are.
If I’ve missed anybody, please let me know and I’ll make sure your names are plastered all over the Knight Letter.
THANKS to all.  See you next year.
George Mills
Chairman
Zippy Bun Booth