Knightly
News
Address: St. Joseph/ St. Raymond, Columbian Squires Circle #3847 Council #6850, Assembly #2644
P.O.
Box 970, Raymond, NH 03077
Brothers,
This past weekend, Father Mike spoke at all the Masses about the importance of taking time out from our busy lives to thank our Lord for the many Blessings we have and to show our love for Him, which He is truly deserving.
We were all invited to spend time with the Lord at Friday Adoration which opens at 7:00A.M. each Friday and runs until 7:00P.M., except the first Friday of each month when we have a 24 hour opportunity to drop by and spend some quiet time.
We are truly Blessed to have a strong spiritual leader of our Church. Father Mike really enjoys teaching us so much about our wonderful Catholic faith. I urge my Brother Knights to take the lead and be a shining example to our Church community by taking this opportunity to spend some time in Friday Adoration and discover what a rewarding experience it is, this time spent with our Lord. I believe you will find it is also a relaxing way to unwind after a busy week.
During the evening of the first Friday of the month, Father Mike also offers a Healing Service at which time “catchers” are needed. If any of you have spare time, please volunteer.
Also this past Sunday, I traveled along with our Deputy Grand Knight and District Deputy to Rochester to attend the state winter quarterly meeting. Greg Taillon, our State Secretary announced his intentions to be our next State Deputy. The voting for all state officers’ positions will take place at the yearly convention in May, which will be at the Crown Royal Plaza in Nashua. All Councils were urged to hold a membership “blitz” sometime around Founder’s Day which is the end of March. Our annual Founder’s Day pilgrimage to the Connecticut headquarters and museum is scheduled for March 29. See me for details if you are interested.
The Granite Award Dinner is March 17.You can now go on line to our state website at http://www.nhknights.org/ to check out the candidates who have been nominated for this year’s award. As the Grand Knight, I have the responsibility to cast our Council’s vote. Let me know if you have a favorite choice.
We have finalized the budget (finally) for this fraternal year and it is included in this newsletter. Please review it, as we will be voting on it at this month’s business meeting.
Thank you to all of you who took the time to fill out the fraternal survey. I am in the process of finishing up and submitting the report to state council.
Coming up, we have the Winter fest the weekend of February 17/18, please contact chairman John Ste. Marie as soon as possible if you would like to help out. A Blood Drive is scheduled for Monday, February 19, contact Joe Lessard at 895-4539 or Ron Metevier at 895-2889 if you have time to volunteer. On Saturday, the 24th, we will have our annual Retreat at St. Frederick’s in Kingston, the Senior’s Appreciation Dinner is Sunday February 25 at 1:00P.M.and later that evening a First Degree will be held at 7:00P.M. in the Church Hall. As always, many helping hands are needed to support our numerous events, hopefully we will see a lot of our Brother Knights come out.
Please pray for our Parish, Father Mike, all religious men and women, all our military personnel stationed around the world and for Peace on Earth in our lifetime.
Vivat Jesus'
Dave Biron
5 Mark Haussman 11 Timothy Sweeney
12 Thomas E. Tripp 14 Jacob Denoncour
16 Daniel G. Bennis 16 Rev. Michael S. Taylor
17 George Bryant Sr. 17 Peter Vincello
February 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd Rosary Devotion 7:00PM
February 2nd First Friday Adoration 7:00AM- 7:30AM (Saturday-24 Hrs)
February 2nd (Friday evening) Healing Service 7:00PM
February 3rd First Saturday Mass 8:00AM
February 4th Squires’ Sunday Mass 8:00A.M./ Meeting 9:00A.M
February 8th Officers’ meeting 7:30PM
February 9th, 16th and 23rd Adoration 7:00AM-7:00PM
February 10th Squires’ Dinner 5:00PM
February 11th Business Meeting 9:00AM
February 15th Project Planning meeting 7:30PM
February 17th 3rd Annual Winterfest 8:00AM-10:00PM
February 18th Winterfest Awards-noon Church Hall
February 21 Ash Wednesday
February 24th Annual Retreat at St. Frederick's 9:00AM
February 25th Fourth Degree Assembly Meeting 9:00AM
February 25th Seniors’ Appreciation Dinner 1:00PM Church Hall
February 25th First Degree Church Hall 7:00PM
Family of the Month for January 2007---Bruce & Tammy Aquino Family
Former Chief Squire Mike Cabral turned 18 during the month of January. He has decided to further his travel into the Knights of Columbus in February. The last Squires Dinner went well with about 90 people attending. Their next dinner for February will be chicken pot pie and sheppard pie. Please continue your support in attending these dinners. They were able to sell 31 Christmas Trees in December and handing over $60 to Fr Mike to be placed in the Fuel Assistance Fund. A few of the boys helped with the Free Throw Contest held on January 21. The Squires on February 4 will be bowling along with the Genesis.
FOURTH DEGREE NEWS
Thanks to those Brother Knights and families that helped out with the float for the Raymond Christmas Parade. We were awarded 1st place for our float. Thanks also to those Sir Knights who were Honor guards at the Midnight Mass.
God Bless,
Dave Hamilton FN
COUNCIL NEWS
During the last business meeting, a concern was brought up on how long our meetings were taking to cover everything within an hour and a half. We need to be out by 10:20 so that the room can be set up for the 1st Grade Religious Education class. Further investigation is taking place to see if there is another time to hold our meetings. We received a letter from the Sisters of the Holy Cross asking for a donation to help with the cost of building a new elevator. The Council is looking at a fundraising project to support this cause. The Granite Award is set for March 17, 2007. There are seven nominations for this award. You can go on line at the State website http://www.nhknights.org/ to view the nominees. Please do so and report your choice to GK Dave Biron so that he can place a vote for our Council. We had a good return of the Fraternal Surveys for 2006. The
GK, DGK, and our DD attended the Quarterly Meeting in Rochester. By the end of June 2007 our Financial Secretary David Hamilton will be ending his term. This position is appointed by our Grand Knight. Please contact Dave 642-8970 if you would be interested in holding this office. We have several candidates waiting for their 1st Degree. A Degree will be held in the month of February. A new budget was put together and a copy was handed out at t he business meeting. A vote will take place in the near future to accept the budget. Activities for the month of February are: Blood Drive, Winterfest, Council Retreat, and the Senior Appreciation Dinner. The Trumpet Mass schedule has changed. We are waiting to receive the new schedule. $292.00 leftover from the holiday food baskets was given to Fr Mike and $250.00 was sent to our Seminarian. Gil Burelle informed our Council that there will be an air show at Pease on August 18, 2007. Ron Metevier and Mike Annis are Chairing the 100 Club to help raise money for the Benevolent Fund. A fundraiser is being planned to help assist our Brother Knight Bruce Aquino and family to help defray the cost of their medical bills for their son who was injured in a serious car accident. A Letter was read by Peter Hubby by his daughter asking the Council to purchase a case of Girl Scout Cookies to be sent to the Troops in Iraq. A motion was made and passed to purchase 1 case of cookies. A motion was made to place an add into the Granite Award Programs for $30.00 and passed.
ON THE SERIOUS SIDE
LET IT REALLY SINK IN
- THEN CHOOSE
John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always
has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he
would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"
He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, John was there
telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, "I
don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"
He replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices
today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a bad
mood. I choose to be in a good mood."
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose
to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.
Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their
complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the
positive side of life.
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes, it is," he said. "Life is
all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice.
You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.
You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice
how you live your life."
5I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start
my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a
choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that
he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a
communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he
was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.
I saw him about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he
replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins... Wanna see my scars?"
I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind
as the accident took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was the
well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter," he replied. "Then, as I lay on the
ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could
choose to die. I chose to live."