May 2017 Voice of the Spirit

IN SERVICE TO ONE. IN SERVICE TO ALL MONTHLY PUBLICATION FOR THE OHIO STATE COUNCIL

“THROUGH HIM, WITH HIM, IN HIM”

YEAR 2 MONTH 11 MAY 2017

2015-2017 1

STATE DEPUTY Brother Knights,

118th State Convention: The 118th Ohio State Convention dates will be Friday, May 26th, Saturday, May 27th, and Sunday, May 28th.

We are very fortunate this year to have as our guest for the weekend the Supreme Council Treasurer Ronald F. Schwarz. Brother Schwarz is a longtime member of the Knights of Columbus and a Past State Deputy of the State of Oklahoma.

The convention will take place at the Columbus Airport Marriott Hotel with the nearby Embassy Suites serving as the overflow hotel.

The 2nd and final call to the State Convention by the State Secretary has been mailed out. Make sure your Council is prepared to register for the State Convention. This convention returns to Columbus but will feature a new location and several other facility changes that weekend. Please as always read over all material sent to you for this convention.

One other note on the convention, we will be electing a new State Warden that weekend. Four Brother Knights have announced their candidacy for the position of State Warden. They are in alphabetical order: State Web Master Robert Gilliland of St. Dominic Fenwick Council #13586 State Membership Director Nicholas Gresko of Brook Park Council #13984 State Retention Director – East Michael Jordan of Campbell Marian Council #3813 State Church Activities Director Jeffrey Kiliany of Leetonia Council #1569

Please make every effort to invite them to a Chapter Meeting or a Candidates Night to hear what each has to offer our State Council.

Culture of Life…

This month I received confirmation that Ohio has added three new Ultrasound Machines to help combat our Culture of Life cause.

Councils responsible for those purchases are as follows.

Msgr. Gerdes Council #3123, Michael A. Ryan, Grand Knight St. Leonard Council #10215, Edward Ponder, Grand Knight St. Hilary Council #14551, David Grajzl, Grand Knight.

On another note Harrison Council #2633 has applied for purchase of an Ultrasound Machine and is awaiting approval of the Supreme Board of Directors.

Ohio to date has purchased 45 Ultrasound Machines to the sum of $600,319.74 raised.

Thank you to all Brother Knights for your efforts to eliminate the abortion procedure.

New Council Development…

Congratulation to the Cincinnati Archdiocese and District Deputy #9 Daniel Warnock upon the institution of St. John the Baptist Dry Ridge Council #16709 A little about membership…

Brothers we are back on track in Ohio; let’s keep the momentum going!

We will have two Membership Incentives working this month. The current month’s incentive, a portrait of our Blessed Mother for those councils meeting the necessary qualifications and a version of an old kids game of TIC TAC DOUGH. Councils, District

Deputies and Diocesan Membership Coordinators will have a chance to win cash prizes based on new membership performance.

Be sure your Council Membership Director is fully aware of the contest and what is at stake for a good intake in new members.

Please see the State Membership Director Nick Gresko’s article for details or look for his Membership E-blasts later this month.

Gross Intake – May 1st numbers (New Member Recruitment) We are currently 40th of 74 Jurisdictions in the Order with a 67.73% of intake goal. To date we have recruited but 1524 new members in the first ten months of the Fraternal Year. This places us 5th among the Division 1 Jurisdictions, but only about 6% behind them. To put this into perspective we should be at 85% of gross intake or 1912 new members.

We will have to continue to step up our recruiting pace to get back on track this month. In real numbers we will need 363 new members per month over the next 2 months to retain our Circle of Honor status.

With just a little extra effort I know that together we can make this happen.

Net

Intake

(New

Member

(Continued on page 3)

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Recruitment less Suspensions and Withdrawals) We are currently 36th of 74 Jurisdictions in the Order with a 73.52% of intake goal. To date we have retained but 1158 of those new members in the first ten months of the Fraternal Year. This places us 5th among the Division 1 Jurisdictions but again just about six percentage points behind. Again to put this into perspective we should be at 85% of our net goal or 1339 members retained.

Net/Net Intake (New Member Recruitment less Suspensions, Withdrawals and Out of State Transfers) We are currently 48th of 74 Jurisdictions in the Order with a 6% of intake goal. To date we haven’t retained 6 of the new members in the first ten months of the Fraternal Year. Again most of losses this month were due to member deaths.

There was an unusual amount of deaths recorded again in April. This again places us 4th among the Division 1 Jurisdictions. Again to put this into perspective we should be at 85% of our net/net goal or +85 members retained.

still need a little work setting up Admissions Degrees in the majority of our districts. Successful Councils, Districts, and Diocese have a good practice of frequent degree work, and I have the records to prove it. This is not the practice as laid out and requested of me rather by the Supreme Knight. We also will need each of those degrees to be productive so everyone may help us reach our goal of 2,250 new members.

A thought on Degree Work: I have attended some degree work throughout Ohio and need to address one observation. An Admission, Formation, or Knighthood Degree is no place for a Stranger, Candidate or Brother Knight in t-shirts and shorts.

Please have the respect to the Order and the Ceremonials to dress appropriately. Golf or polo shirts with Dockers type slacks are a minimum dress that should be worn to any one attending these degrees.

Please inform all attending degrees to dress the same.

State Council Finances: At the present time the State Council finances are in good shape. The only liabilities we have to date are the Again on the positive side we are on current “Pennies for Heaven” the plus side and growing. Not in contributions. leaps and bounds but growing as a Jurisdiction; and we still have New State Website feature: another 2 months to recover more of I have instructed State Web Master our losses. With a good membership Robert Gilliland to release the plan and an aggressive approach to needed software to allow Councils to church drives and new council file the Fraternal Survey Form 1728 development we can get back on on the State Web site. The feature track. It does however raise the bar will allow a fillable form with each month now to try to rundown routing to the Supreme Council and State Deputy. Please take advantage and catch up with our goals. of this new feature on our web site.

Keep scheduling those 1st Degrees. As always the best policy please Every District Deputy is required to print a copy to retain for your schedule and conduct a 1st Degree in Council Records. his district every month. Our Degree Page on the State Website should be Lingering Paperwork: “Busting’ Out” and overflowing with Supreme Council records indicate degree information. Right now I see that several councils have not a good number of Admission completed and submitted their Form Degrees scheduled in the month of 185, their Form 365, and their Form April; I should see 83. This tells me 1728. Look for a call in the near

future from someone at the State Council to assist in completing these three forms.

Council contributions to the “Voice of the Spirit”: One feature of this monthly publication needs are events, programs, and human interest events from the local Councils throughout Ohio. Any Council wanting to submit an article of interest to the “Voice of the Spirit” for publication each month should send a finished article and photo if applicable to PSD David Helmstetter. Brother Dave will then edit and decide which articles are to be include in each month’s issue. Brother Dave’s email address is: dhelmstetter@bright.net More names and emails needed: We have the ability to reach every Brother Knight in the state with this monthly electronic newsletter, the “Voice of the Spirit”. If you are a Grand Knight, Financial Secretary, or District Deputy receiving this publication you may obtain a list of email from your council or councils and forward them to State Media Chairman Brother James Maslach at his email address; kofcdd19@gmail.com. Brother Jim will place you on the email list and then be able to receive this publication along with other important and informative memos from the State Council.

In closing…

May God continue to Bless you as you continue to the work you do in Jesus name. Dedicate everything you do for Him to the honor and glory of God and see what changes it will make in your life. God Bless Brothers, have a good month and a better month than the one before.

Let’s all work to “Make Ohio Great Again”.

Bob Collins State Deputy

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STATE CHAPLAIN

Reflections from Our Worthy State Chaplain Father Edward J. Janoch

The Month of May has been associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary for us Catholics for almost two centuries. This is the month where the Universal Church, the Local/Diocesan Church, the Parish Church and the Domestic Church/ Family remembers the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, in public liturgies and private devotions. Masses in honor of Mary, May Crownings, and public and private recitations of the Rosary by the faithful fill our days.

It is not a coincidence that the Month of May is also the month that we remember our mothers on Mothers’ Day. This year, on May 13th, the Church remembers and celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Apparitions of Our Lady to the three children of Fatima, Portugal.

I can still remember, when I was in the seventh grade, we had the school May Crowning and some of us students took home the program of the event and we recreated our own May Crowning in the middle of an open field. In Kindergarten, I remember my grandmother bringing in four, one gallon, Clorox bleach container, filled with daffodils for our morning Kindergarten class’s May Crowning. Also, my home parish of my youth, St. Mary of the Assumption Church, in Mentor, Ohio, also helped to support my devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. I am currently assigned to St. Mary Church, Chardon, Ohio; coincidences? No, a

God Occurrence. Images of the Blessed Virgin Mary are important to me. These items I own include: a life-sized head of the Blessed Virgin Mary from Michelangelo’s Pieta, a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, a statue of Our Lady of Fatima, a Statue of our Lady of Mount Carmel, a picture of our Mother of Good Counsel, a picture of Our dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. I also have many rosaries that have special memories for me.

These include my grandmother’s rosary, the one she prayed with for all her grandchildren and that one of her grandsons would become a priest; my mother’s rosary when she made her first communion; my first communion rosary; a one decade rosary touched to the body of Mother Angelica of EWTN; a rosary blessed by Pope Benedict XVI and another rosary blessed by Pope Francis; a rosary that touched the relic of St. Maria Goretti, when her relics were brought to Columbus, Ohio, in 2015; and the rosary that I received from St. John Paul II when the Seminary community visited Rome in 1999. I also have the rosary that I received at my Admission [First] Degree, on 19 March 1996. I am sure that many of us have statues, Statue of Our Lady of Fatima images and rosaries that at the Site of the Apparitions of 1917 represent our devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. We also know that Lady of the Rosary, many holy the Saints all have a great devotion cards and prayer books that are to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

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Let us participate in the many Marian devotions that are available to us to let our Mother bring us to her Son, Jesus Christ. Make an effort for the month of May to pray the rosary every day, especially within the Domestic Church, the Family. Take advantage of the special events that

will take place this year for the 100th Anniversary of the Apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. Our world needs the Peace that Mary promised would happen if Catholics would pray the rosary daily; using the rosary we received at our Admissions [First] Degree. “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us

sinners. Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

Vivat Jesus!

Fr. Edward J. Janoch Worthy State Chaplain

Mother of Good Counsel Prayer

By Venerable Pope Pius XII

O Holy Virgin, to whose feet we are led by our anxious uncertainty in our search for and attainment of what is true and good, invoking you by the sweet title of Mother of Good Counsel, we beseech you to come to our assistance, when, along the road of this life, the darkness of error and of evil conspires towards our ruin by leading our minds and our hearts astray. O Seat of Wisdom and Star of the Sea, enlighten the doubtful and the erring, that they be not seduced by the false appearances of good; render them steadfast in the face of the hostile and corrupting influences of passion and of sin. O Mother of Good Counsel, obtain for us from your Divine Son a great love of virtue, and, in the hour of uncertainty and trial, the strength to embrace the way that leads to our salvation. If your hand sustains us, we shall walk unmolested along the path indicated to us by the life and words of Jesus, our Redeemer; and having followed freely and securely, even in the midst of this world's strife, the Sun of Truth and Justice under your maternal Star, we shall come to the enjoyment of full and eternal peace with you in the haven of salvation. Amen.

HOLY FATHER’S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR MAY 2017 Offered in Solidarity with Pope Francis Starting in 2017 the Pope will present only one prepared prayer intention per month, rather than the two presented before this year. He plans, however, to add a second prayer intention each month related to current events or urgent needs, like disaster relief.

Christians in Africa.

That Christians in Africa, in imitation of the Merciful Jesus, may give prophetic witness to reconciliation, justice, and peace.

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This year I will be taking Matters of Faith and Catholic Knowledge from the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It is formatted into a question and answer format. I will give a question or two and its answer to matters of faith that are relevant for this month. For this month the six questions are part of my monthly reflection.

Question 94. What is the meaning of the expression “conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit . . .”?

This expression means that the Virgin Mary conceived the eternal Son in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit without the cooperation of a man. The angel told her at the Annunciation that “the Holy Spirit will come upon you” (Luke 1:35). [See CCC #484-486] Question 95. “. . . Born of the Virgin Mary”: Why is Mary truly the Mother of God? Mary is truly the Mother of God because she is the Mother of Jesus (John 2:1, John 19:35). The One who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and became truly her Son is actually the eternal Son of God the Father. He is God himself. [See CCC #495, 509] Question 96. What does the “Immaculate Conception” mean?

God freely chose Mary from all eternity to be the Mother of his Son. In order to carry out her mission she herself was conceived immaculate. This means that, thanks to the grace of God and in anticipation of the merits of Jesus Christ, Mary was preserved from original sin from the first instance of her conception. [See CCC #487-492, 508] Question 97. How does Mary cooperate in the divine plan of salvation?

By the grace of God, Mary was kept free from every personal sin her whole life long. She is the one who is “full of grace” (Luke 1:28), “the all holy.” When the angel announced to her that she would give birth to “the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32), she freely gave her consent with “the obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5). Mary thus gave herself entirely to the person and work of her Son Jesus, espousing wholeheartedly the divine will regarding salvation.. [See CCC #493-494, 508-511] Question 98. What does the virginal conception of Jesus mean?

The virginal conception of Jesus means that Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Virgin solely by the power of the Holy Spirit without the intervention of a man. He is the Son of the heavenly Father according to his divine nature and the Son of Mary according to his human nature. He is, however, truly the Son of God in both natures since there is in him only one Person who is divine. [See CCC #496-498, 503] Question 99. In what sense is Mary “ever Virgin”?

Mary is ever virgin in the sense that she “remained a virgin in conceiving her Son, a virgin in giving birth to him, a virgin in carrying him, a virgin in nursing him at her breast, always a virgin” (Saint Augustine).

Therefore, when the Gospels speak of the “brothers and sisters of Jesus,” they are talking about the close relations of Jesus, according to the way of speaking used in Sacred Scripture. [See CCC #499-507, 510-511] Question 100. In what way is the spiritual motherhood of Mary universal?

Mary had only one Son, Jesus, but in him her spiritual motherhood extends to all whom he came to save.

Obediently standing at the side of the new Adam, Jesus Christ, the Virgin is the new Eve, the true mother of all the living, who with a mother’s love cooperates in their birth and their formation in the order of grace. Virgin and Mother, Mary is the figure of the Church, its most perfect realization. [See CCC #501-507, 511] Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, USCCB Publishing, Washington, DC, 2006, pp 31-32.

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STATE MEMBERSHIP

Commit to Membership Nick Gresko

Each month I put into my monthly update with all the winners, top diocese and top councils the following statement, “Remember the goal is +250 for the month. Inspector Membership knows we can do it! What are you going to do for May - keep the same from last or go out pound the pavement helping Team Ohio be #1 again? Will your diocese make a leap towards being #1? That is all up to you! There is still 86 councils that still have not recruited a new member since July 1st.

Our Worthy State Deputy and I need these councils to jump on board and bring in a new member. If they did just think what our numbers as a state would look like. A lot of times getting that first member in is all you need to get a few more especially if you promote the Shining Armor Award.

This encourages the new members to bring in a new member and if you make a big deal at your council about it trust me the new members will come!!!

If you need help as a council in recruiting new members please don’t hesitate to ask a State Officer, Your DD or anyone on the Membership Team. Any of these people would be glad to help your council out. That is what we are all here for! Between now and the end of May I want to see

this list at 60 councils that have not recruited a new member. Below you will find all of the Councils that have not recruited a new member as of 5/5/2017 in chronological order by diocese.

Form 450 is like GOLD!!!

District Deputies please make sure within 3-7 days of holding a degree in your District the Form 450 is turned in.

This is extremely important because this allows us to track if Supreme actually processed your Form 100’s! If you took the time to bring in a new member the State Membership Team wants to make sure you get credit for your hard work and effort. The Form 450 can be filled on line at the State Website and then it automatically sends it to who it needs to go to.

Take advantage of this!!!

Form 100’s Within 3-7 days of a degree any Form 100’s should be emailed to the Supreme Council at membershiprecords@kofc.org and the State Membership Director Nick

Gresko should be CC’d on this email at greskon@sbcglobal.net Supreme is able to process the Form 100 much quicker this way and you have a receipt that they were sent in your sent mail.

Plus this saves your council the cost of a stamp every time new members are brought in.

If there are any questions on this please call me at 440-479-0354 or email me at greskon@sbcglobal.net.

New Council Development John Brown

Happy Easter! During this season of re-birth and renewal, I want to remind everyone that councils can also experience renewals and re-births. If your council is not performing at its potential, I will be happy to help. Council Revitalization is not a difficult task. It is essentially a church drive done the right way. If your council is just hanging in there, approach your pastor and explain that you would like to kick-start HIS council. It’s not too late to do it this year.

If the pastor isn’t sure, explain what other councils are doing for their parishes. Remember, it’s not all about money - it’s about serving your parish and the new evangelization of the Catholic Church. If you’re not sure if your council needs revitalized, there’s a very good chance you could use some help. New blood always stirs things up and motivates.

We still have almost two months in this fraternal year, so there’s no time to waste. I hope to see everyone at the convention later this month.

Vivat Jesus!

John 7

Every Council Active by Diocese—5/3/2017 Non Recruiting Council-No Gains for the Fraternal Year Cincinnati (13 of 88) - 14.77% Mike Felerski- DMD Larry Droesch – State Warden Springfield Greenville Fr. Sourd Saint Remy Fr. Anthony Wolf Lasalle Saint Martin Deporres Glenmary Saint Mary Saint Benignus St. Lawrence - Price Hill Fr. Gustav Brotzge St. Isidore

Cleveland (13 of 72) - 18.05% Jerry Nowesnick- DMD Bob Collins- State Deputy 624 1796 2423 3890 4378 5621 5624 5674 10149 14092 14545 14665 16348

Steubenville (14 of 26) - 53.84% Tom Offenberger- DMD Bob Byers- State Treasurer Immaculate Heart of Mary Bellaire Mother of God Fr. Jessing Fr. Frank Patala Toronto Saint. Anthony Our Lady of Peace Saint Mary's Our Lady Assumption Pieta Bishop John King Mussio Saint Francis Cabrini Saint Gabriel

Akron Northeast Brooklyn-Parma Bishop Hagan Southeast Northeast Akron Trinity Don Bosco John F Kennedy Saint Elizabeth Ann Seaton Saint Peter's Saint Vincents St. John of the Cross

Columbus (10 of 73) - 13.69% Keith Dunnigan- DMD Kevin Miller- State Secretary 547 2786 2803 3126 3222 3529 4217 4801 5506 11464 13601 14054 15737

Toledo (16 of 69) - 23.18% Jim Collins-DMD Mark Siracusa- State Advocate 472 1246 1421 1664 1716 2187 2262 4243 5174 5250 5583 9804 11195 11380

Bellevue Rosecrans/Willard Saint John Neuman Clyde Bryan West Toledo Infant of Prague Blakeslee Fr. Deveaux Saint Lawrence Holy Cross Van Wert Walter Keppler Our Lady of Lourdes Saint Joseph Holy Trinity Our Lady Queen of the Most Holy Rosary

DVD Admissions Degree Worthy Grand Knights and Financial Secretaries it is extremely important that you are talking to your District Deputy and that he knows when you are planning these because he needs to submit a Form 450 and this is not happening all the time right now. Please get this information to your District Deputy so that he can do what he needs to do and to insure you get credit for the work that you are doing when it comes to degrees.

Coshocton MacGahan New Philadiphia Santa Maria Fr Holtzapfel Holy Trinity Buckeye Lake Holy Family Christ the King St. Mark's Fr. Charles Griffin at St. Peter's

994 1065 2372 2898 10284 13081 13379 13428 13705 15447 15793

Youngstown (20 of 59) - 32.20% - DMD Ken Girt-Immediate Past State Deputy 752 885 1117 1175 1915 3122 3617 3883 4169 5139 6034 8357 10063 12224 15043 16264

Youngstown Canton Wellsville Carroll Warren Kent Niles Louisville Girard Fr. Joseph Gallagher Lisbon Jefferson Fr. Lambert J Andrews Our Lady of Lourdes Saint Peter's Saint Mary's Saint Paul the Apostle Saint Robert Bellarmine St. James St. Lawrence

274 341 507 509 620 1411 1681 2530 2935 3144 4049 4212 4433 4533 5173 5589 11551 11646 14491 14959

STATEWIDE TOTALS 86 OF 387 COUNCILS NOT RECRUITING

22.22% 8

Mission #23: Honor Our BONUS MISSION: TicTac-Dough Mother, Mary Inspector Membership and Chief Collins know how busy you all have been searching high and low for new members. They think we have time for a simple game of Tic-Tac-Dough.

Yes, the Inspector has pulled out a BONUS MISSION for you Brother Knights. See the flyer on the next page for your addition mission...if you so choose.

Worthy Brothers Across the State of Ohio:

Retention is Hope for the Future

The world is resplendent with Spring's increased light and new growth. It is Mary’s month in the Easter season and all of nature rejoices with the Queen of heaven at the Resurrection of the Son she was worthy to bear. During the remainder of Easter time, let us endeavor through the prayers of the Holy Liturgy and the Holy Rosary to deepen our gratitude for the mystery of our Baptismal rebirth in Christ.

Michael Jordon / Bill Wirtz

We know that Mary and her Knights are unstoppable. We learned that early. We know she is to be honored and adored. Let us honor her this month in a very special way.

Let us calling on our Eternal Mother to help us in leading more men and families to Her and Her Divine Son, Jesus. Let the cry of "Hail Mary" ever be on our lips and hearts as we ask for Her blessed intercessions for our families, councils and world.

Please continue the journey into the next fraternal year. We also look forward to sharing it with you for many years to come.

Brothers, this formal Retention Program journey began almost two years ago.

Many thanks go out to all who journeyed together and took advantage of the Retention Activities offered. You have been creative in reaching out to our Brother Knights just as Fr. McGivney would have encouraged.

It’s all about your attention to the needs of our Brothers. Our hope is that sort of love will have positive long-term effects on you, your councils, and the Order.

Michael Jordan State Retention Director-East William J. Wirtz, Jr. State Retention Director-West

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STATE GENERAL PROGRAMS

General Service Program Robert Walsh

The program year has ended with over 300 councils participating.

This is an increase over last year.

Thank you for all your hard work in promoting the Order in your Council, Church, and Community.

Even though the reporting periods are over please continue doing activities that will help you finish Form 7 for the Columbian Award.

There is still plenty of time to turn it in. You have until June 30th to turn it in, but I recommend that you do it as soon as possible in case Supreme has any questions. Remember that you need four Domestic Church Programs. Make sure that the box to the left of your 4 programs are checked as one of these.

The Family of the Month program from Supreme is a great way to honor that special Family in your Council, this would also help you in deciding who your Family of the Year would be in the State program.

But once again, Ohio did not have any Councils participate in March.

Let’s try to improve the State participation in this program.

Church

married couples of the parish — have an opportunity to renew their commitment to their wedding vows.

After the event, councils should host a reception where they can congratulate each couple and thank them for their witness.

Jeff Kiliany Now that this year’s State Program has been completed, it doesn’t mean that your council should stop doing activities until next Fraternal year.

There are many activities that council members can be involved in over these next couple of months. June and July are always busy times for Picnics and Festivals.

A Supreme Council suggested Church activity for the month of June is “FATHER'S DAY RENEWAL OF WEDDING VOWS”, which qualifies as a Supreme “Domestic Church” activity that can be claimed as such on your council’s Columbian Award Form #SP7. Father’s Day is an important time to celebrate the role of fatherhood within the Christian family and is the ideal day to host a Renewal of Wedding Vows. Annually sponsoring this event on the third Sunday of June will serve to make your council visible to the parish community and show your member’s support for all fathers and husbands. During these events, Knights and their wives — along with all the

Looking ahead for in June, Measure Up checks are due on the first, To Supreme, the Columbian Award application, RSVP Refund/Plaque application, form #2683, Annual Report of Round Table #2630, all on June 30th.

As this Fraternal Year is ending

Many councils will be hosting the Silver Rose over the next several weeks.

Here are some suggestions from Supreme Council to help your council in planning your council’s participation in the Silver Rose Program.

• • • • • •

Identify council members and clergy to fulfill the various roles called for in the prayer program.

Instruct the congregation to say the prayers at a moderate pace to ensure the service is truly reverent.

If possible, the choir leader should review the hymns with the congregation before the service.

Collect prayer books after the service to be sent to the next council.

No money should be collected nor should any social activity be held in conjunction with the service.

Additional copies of the prayer

remember that Council Elections are starting, and turn in all your paper work by June 30th.

There is still time to increase membership this year to help with next year’s programs. Thank you for your hard work that has been done and will be done in the future. books and prayer cards used in the program can be ordered from the Supreme Council Fraternal Services Department.

Finally, we want to be sure that your council has 4 qualifying Church activities to list on your Supreme Columbian Award Form #SP7 which will go towards achieving Star Council.

You may use the same activities that you reported on your State “Through Him, With Him, and In Him” Program, but they must reported again to Supreme Council. Please call or e-mail with any questions. I will be happy to assist you and your council.

It has truly been a pleasure serving as your State Church Director these past 2 years. I want to thank all of the councils for participating in the State Church Program and for all the great activities that you have submitted in the Church Program.

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Community Tom Forsthoefel

The end of the fraternal year is coming up and it is time for the councils to do a final “once over” on your council’s activities for the year. So, review if you have completed all your activities for the following areas: Church, Community, Council, Culture of Life, Family and Youth. Also, it’s now time to complete and submit your Columbian Award Application (SP7).

The report can be found on the Supreme Website (kofc.org). When completing this report remember to be

adding items towards Building a Domestic Church. This part of the Columbian Award has been changed by the Supreme Office and therefore is necessary to receive credit for the report. Your council must list 4 items under each of the areas listed above.

Even if your council did not submit these activities throughout the year to the state website you can still add them to the Supreme Report for all the activities your council has completed.

If you are having trouble retrieving the report forms, contact your district deputy and he can supply you with the forms. The deadline to the Supreme Office is June 30, 2017 so please don’t delay in getting this report completed.

We have just started the month of May and your council still has time to continue working on its membership as well. For my council, we have two Form 100’s to be read at our upcoming regular business meeting. Once we get these two members into the 1st degree we will have reached our 100% goal for membership for the 2016 – 2017 fraternal year. Every council that works hard at recruiting new members should be able to attain their 100% goal. Let’s all finish the fraternal year of 2016 – 2017 with a strong finish. I hope to see all of you at the upcoming State Convention in Columbus, Ohio.

Family

Stewart Vetter

Youth

Mike Nau The Substance Abuse Awareness Poster Contest is over. State winners are as follows: •

Age 8-11: Alcohol Awareness winners is Masen Welling, Bryan, Ohio

•

Age 8-11: Drug Awareness winner is Kailee Thiel, from Bryan, Ohio

•

Age12-14: Alcohol Awareness winner is Aquilina Cordic, from Bryan, Ohio

•

Age 12-14: Drug Awareness winner is Grace Strickland, from Xenia

Thanks to all the Councils that took time to submit reports during the year. Thanks for all the great events.

I'd like to thank all the councils that nominated a Family of the Year. Some of the write ups could use some work but most of them are fantastic. You can see that the words don't do justice to how highly that family is regarded by your council and the officers. Picking the diocesan winners and overall state winner is always hard and once again it wasn't easy. Thank you for making it difficult. That means you are recognizing the best families out there.

The culmination of the fraternal year is our annual convention. This year we are at a new facility in Columbus with scheduling changes and a few surprises. If you are not excited, you should be. This is going to be a great and ground breaking convention. You, the councils, have done all these great activities, donated time and money, and now you deserve a fun filled weekend of recognition. That's what convention is. We acknowledge the outstanding councils and individuals through out the state. It's also a great opportunity to "borrow" ideas from other councils and to make, or renew, the friendships that builds fraternity across the state. If you don't think you are in the running for a state award, that's ok. You can still walk away a winner. We will draw the Cash Bonanza winners that weekend too. Not to mention the great drawings in the hospitality rooms. Plus, the squires will be doing prize drawings. As my wife says, "Momma likes cash money". I look forward to seeing you all there.

I'd like to thank my brothers on the state team for their friendship, guidance, support, and a whole lot of fun. I'd also like to thank all the district deputies for their service and their support of the state program. Being asked to be a district deputy is an honor reserved for the best Knights and we truly have the best of them in Ohio.

Keep up the good work and take time to report those great activities under the Youth Program.

See you at the State Convention.

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Culture of Life Brett Gissel

Throughout the year we have done much to improve the Culture Of Life in the State of Ohio. The summer is not a time to take off.

If you are involved in prayerful and peaceful protests in front of abortion clinics, keep up the good work. If you are not yet involved, find a group that is doing this and work with them to learn what to do, protest with them, and possibly increase the presence at the facility. Remember to always obey state and local laws.

The USCCB Fortnight For Freedom runs from June 21 to July 4.

This can still be used for your Columbian Award application for this fraternal year. “In this time of increasing polarization in our culture, we can contribute to a better understanding of this issue in a way that respects all people. We can speak with friends and neighbors about religious freedom and work to clear up misconceptions about it.”

Consider whether you feel we have an equal playing field for people of faith, the right to practice faith in business, Catholic adoption agencies and humanitarian services are being forced to compromise on beliefs or cease operations, and if immigrants are able to get the pastoral care they need.

These are all examples of how religious liberty is at stake. Work with you pastor on programs you can do to pray for religious freedom, bring awareness to others about these infringements, and how you can help change the laws to keep these from growing. Some examples of activities you can hold are a Memorial Mass for SS. Thomas More and John Fisher on

June 21 (vigil) or June 22 (their Feast Day) to open the Fortnight For Freedom, have a speaker at your council to talk about religious liberty, or an outreach event to promote the Fortnight For Freedom. The USCCB also has resources on this.

One of the best programs for getting the most out of your money is the Ultrasound Initiative. This can cost well over $10,000 for a council and a lot of work and planning go into raising the funds to place another machine. The summer is as good of a time as any to hold a fundraiser for an ultrasound machine. Your council can also partner up with other councils to fund one of these valuable life saving machines. Supreme Council will pay for half of the cost of the machine I was pleased to see councils holding

diaper drives for pregnancy centers this year. As one council pointed out, it was a fairly easy program on man hours. Contact a pregnancy center to see what their needs are. If their need is for something other than diapers, hold the drive for that item instead.

Promote the diaper drive and why there is a need for them for 2 weeks.

Remember, diapers are a need for families that are making a financial decision between life and death for their child. Setup a predetermined collection location at church before Mass and have a few members staff it

to collect donations. Aside from collecting the needed items, there are people in action doing something to help these families. The more people actively involved, the more you may be able to engage in other projects or even our Order. After the collection, have a member or two (more if you really need it), bring these to the pregnancy center. It does not take a significant amount of man hours, but it gets people engaged and provides a need for families that feel forced into making life or death into a financial decision.

In your planning for the 2017-18 fraternal year, please also consider holding an activity associated with the National Day Of Remembrance For Aborted Children on September 9 or the Order Wide Day Of Prayer For The Unborn Child, which is held on or around March 25 to coincide with the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. When planning the latter, note that the date frequently gets transferred due to Holy Week and the Octave of Easter.

If you need help in coming up with Culture Of Life programming, please contact me. The guide I use for Culture Of Life programming is what I have found on Supreme’s website.

The activity should be one that focuses on “defending the right to life of every human being, from the moment of conception to natural death” and involve volunteering, educating, advocating, donating, and praying.

This should be your guide on what constitutes a Culture Of Life program.

If you have any questions about Culture Of Life programs, please contact me at BrettGissel@gmail.com.

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STATE WEBSITE & SOCIAL MEDIA

You’re One Click Away Robert Gilliland

Columbian Award (Form SP-7) due by June 30, 2017 to Supreme Council. This date is a Friday and I strongly recommend that you submit it prior to June 30, 2017 so that Supreme Council can receive it in time and process it accordingly.

When you completed the Columbian Award form (#SP-7), you will have three options. First, you can simply save the data and come back to complete the form in the event you do not have all of the information by clicking on the “Save Form” button at the bottom of the page.

there can be multiple Domestic Church activities conducted in a single category. Please visit kofc.org/ domesticchurch for a list of qualifying programs.

2. Submit the Annual Survey of Fraternal Activity (#1728). New Secondly, you can print the Columbian councils instituted after November 1 of Award form on your printer after saving the current fraternal year do not need to any changes you have made on the form meet this requirement. by clicking on the “Print Form” button on the bottom of the page. When you 3. Submit the Service Program print out the form, a PDF document of Personnel Report (#365). the Columbian Award form with all of You want to make sure that all the programs selected in the program If your council conducts a featured requirements for the Columbian Award fields filled in will be downloaded to program in any category, ensure that are completed before sending in the SP- your computer. You can then print out the program’s minimum requirements 7 form. the PDF document on your printer (see are met in order to receive credit for all form image below). four activities in that category. The Worthy Grand Knights and Worthy minimum requirements for each Financial Secretaries, I am publishing Lastly, you can submit the completed featured program are located in the this article again to make sure that all Columbian Award form by clicking on Surge with Service (#962) manual.

Councils are aware of how easy it is to the “Submit Form By Email” button at submit the SP-7 form online with the the bottom of the page. When you click If your State website. This article will go into Submit, a PDF document of the Council did more detail about how your Council can competed form is sent to Supreme not participate submit the Columbian Award (SP-7) Council, The State Deputy, your District in any online through the State website and it Deputy, and a copy mailed back to program will be electronically submitted to yourself. category Supreme Council, the State Deputy, described in your District Deputy, along with a copy You can save the Columbian Award the form or you don’t have four form at any time and come back to it programs selected for a program e-mailed back to yourself for Council to continue filling out the remaining records. category, leave the program field at eh information, again saving the “Please Select” and it will leave the information until you are ready to Note that you must be a Council field bank on the SP-7 form (the default submit the form.

Grand Knight or Council Financial value) in that field if you have change Secretary to access to this form. the program and want to remove it from You must check the box to the left of the SP-7 form. the activity if it is to be considered for From the Main Menu, Select Forms, the Domestic Church Activity (see then at the bottom of the Forms page, You can download the PDF of the images below). under “Council Forms”, click on Columbian Award directly from “Council Administrative Forms”.

Supreme Council’s website at Per the Columbian Award: http://www.kofc.org/un/en/forms/ In order to qualify for the Columbian council/columbian_awardap_p.pdf Award, your council must: Once the Council Administrative Forms 1. Annually conduct and report at least If you have any problems, or need any four (4) major involvement programs page comes up, select the tab that says help, please feel free to email me at in each of the sections.

“Form SP-7 Columbian Award”. bobgkofc@gmail.com.

Additionally, a minimum of four (4) of these programs must be designated as Domestic Church activities. Domestic Church activities can be attributed to any category and Copies of this form need to be submitted to the State Deputy, your District Deputy, and a copy for your Council records. Your Council should get this in sooner than June 30 in case Supreme Council rejects anything on the SP-7 form.

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INSURANCE

Our Beautiful Wives and Mothers May is the month designated to remember the Mothers in our lives. The Knights of Columbus Insurance is able to help you show gratitude and protect those special women.

Mothers take care of the families that we hold so dear; so why not take care of the Mothers when they need it the most. Father McGivney sought to protect Widows and Orphans, imagine how the widow would fare if her loved one did not have life insurance coverage when they passed. She would be faced with heartbreak and financial uncertainty.

With Knights of Columbus life insurance you can give her something precious – guarantees. You can guarantee that she will be covered should something happen to you. The policy proceeds will be able to assist your beneficiary and give her piece of mind that is unmatched.

And of course, all of this from a Catholic Company you can trust; The Knights of Columbus.

James Valent General Agent, Ohio

PENNIES FOR HEAVEN

2016-2017 Pennies for Heaven Campaign – Final Report The 2016-2017 Pennies for Heaven Campaign was completed on April 29, 2017 and Ohio Knights raised a grand total of $113,520.01. This total includes contributions from 195 out of our 382 active councils in Ohio, or 51% participation. And the total includes contributions from nine assemblies, one chapter and one general agency.

There was an increase in the number of recognition awards with two awards for the “$5000 Club” and 37 awards for the “$1000 Club”. These will be awarded at the state convention later this month.

Here are the final totals for each diocese: Cincinnati Archdiocese – $12,485.95 Columbus Diocese - $55,031.61 Toledo Diocese - $18,883.78

Cleveland Diocese – $14,091.30 Steubenville Diocese - $6,289.46 Youngstown Diocese - $5,997.91

Thank you, Brothers, for all your hard work for seminarian support and vocation awareness. Keep praying for an increase in vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and religious life.

Thank You and Vivat Jesus, Ken Girt Immediate Past State Deputy

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SUPER CASH BONANZA

Plant the Seed to Grow CASH for Charity The 2017 Super Cash Bonanza Charity Campaign

The Second and Final Harvest is coming up and are you ready!!

The tractor is warming up and we are expecting a great first crop.

Remember, that your harvest is due to “Farmer Bob” Byers by May 13.

Significant income for charity can be earned by your council (far surpassing the basic rebate of $2.40 per ticket), but you must adhere to the “rules” as presented in the information booklet.

Some rebates require meeting attendance, while others require meeting First Phase and Final Phase quotas. Here are some of the key points: •

A minimum of two members from your council must attend the Diocesan Ticket Distribution Meeting. The two-member requirement does not include the District Deputy, State Directors and Chairs, or a State Officer to qualify for these rebates.

•

The sold tickets and one check from your council must be sent to the State Treasurer by the published deadlines. The turn-in date is Friday, May 13 (2017). Your council must meet this deadline with the required number of sold tickets per member in order to qualify for the different rebates.

•

Most methods of shipping are acceptable. UPS, FedEx or the US Postal System all have good record of timely delivery of small packages. Please do not send your package by a method requiring my signature.

These often go back to the delivery agent’s warehouse and await pickup. Please use durable-strength envelopes or cartons to avoid damage during shipment.

•

Please make every effort to have all of your council’s tickets submitted by the second turn-in deadline.

Tickets brought to and delivered at the convention might create a processing problem. With the drawing taking place that weekend, there is very little time for late arrivals. We cannot guarantee your rebates on tickets received more than a few days after the final turn-in date of May 13, 2017.

Extra materials and tickets can be obtained from your District Deputy or Diocesan Officer. Any questions concerning the 2017 Super Cash Bonanza Campaign should be directed to me, Robert Byers, State Treasurer and Chair, by email at robert_byers@hotmail.com or by calling me at 740-706-0044 cell or 740-373-7154 home.

Plan early, promote, and partner! We are here to help you work toward the success of the 2017 Super Cash Bonanza charity campaign at your local council.

Thank you to all my brother knights for helping me “Plant the Seed and Grow CASH for Charity.” Additional information is also available on the Ohio State Council state website at www.kofcohio.org.

Fraternally,

Farmer Bob Bob Byers, State Treasurer

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