Knights of Columbus Charity Golf Tournament Saturday, July 12, 2025.
On June 21, a 5:30pm mass at St. Andrew's Cathedral in Little Rock was concelebrated by Bishop Anthony Taylor and the priests who were being honored - those who had attained 25, 50, or 60 years in the priesthood and those who had retired.
In his homily, Bishop Taylor referenced the feast day of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, while both comparing and contrasting the saint's life with that of the priests in attendance. One very obvious difference was the breadth of life experiences, since St. Aloysius died at the age of 23 from the plague contracted while serving in a hospital, only five years after he had joined the Jesuit order.
On Thursday, August 4, our Council will host a SEMINARIAN EVENING. In attendance will be about 30 Seminarians along with Monsignor Scott Friend, Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Little Rock, and perhaps two or three additional priests.
The format will be similar to our regular first Tuesday of each month meetings with the following two exceptions: 1) wives of brother knights are invited as many have asked to meet the seminarians; and 2) dinner will be a cookout by our kitchen staff with a menu of hamburgers, Polish dogs, beans, cole slaw, and Father Bill's ice cream.
The evening will begin at 5:00 with the rosary. The dinner charge is $7.00 per person for knights and their spouses. The refreshment bar will be open like normal meetings.
Knights attending should advise Art Morissette as is done for regular monthly meetings, but they must include their wives, if they are attending.
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| Grand Knight Dave Johnston (l), new knight Bob Highland, and Membership Director Mike Welsh. |
Membership Director Mike Welsh is to be commended for his leadership and tenacity in achieving the goal. Mike's recruitment committee included: Ed Cudworth, Dave Johnston, Ed Miller, Bill Nosek, Jim Passe, Ray Peters, Milt Spaniel, Tom Thornton, and Bill Welch. With Field Agent Randy Schnoebelen's work and Grand Knight Bill Welch's stewardship, the Council is well positioned to earn another Star Council Award.
The Council's 1st Degree Team must also be recognized for its willingness and flexibilty in holding exemplifications on short notice. The June 26 team consisted of Buddy Dixon, Mike Frantz, Mike Kerwin, Gerald Krawczynski, Ray Peters, and Tom Yerina.
Lecturer Bob Honzik has scheduled the following programs and speakers for council meetings through January, 2012:
July 5 – Changes to Hot Springs Village Declarations by Tom Arwood
August 4 – An Evening with Monsignor Friend and Seminarians
September 6 – Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival by Dan Anderson, Director
October 4 – Human Side of Casa: How Aid is Awarded and Who Receives It byDianne Brady, Director of Stewardship and Development, Diocese of Little Rock .
November 1 - Memorial Mass and Dinner, no special program
December 6 – Difference in Today’s Veterans vs Those of Previous Wars by Leotis Nichols from Central Arkansas Veterans’ Health Services
January 3 – St. Stephan Charitable Fund by Founder, Steve Hotho from St. John’s Parish in Hot Springs
Remaning 2012 programs are not yet set, but the DVD Padre Pio da Pietretcina - A Saint of Our Time will be shown during an open month.
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The primary activity that took place at this meeting was the installation of the new officers for the 2011-2012 Fraternal Year.
Other key items of interest were:
- Father Bill Elser was named Knight of the Month for May, and was presented with a $500.00 check from the Council to be given to a seminarian in honor of Father's 25th Anniversary as a priest.
- Family of the Year, for the second time, was Ed and Claudia Keearns.
- John Bodensteiner was named Knight of the Year.
- Ron Boudreaux presented the Second Place Trophy, won by our Council at the State Knights of Columbus Golf Tournament.
- The new Grand Knight Dave Johnston presented outgoing Grand Knight Bill Welch with a plaque, a Past Grand Knight pin, and a Council 10208 Knights of Columbus cap.
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| Pictured with Miss Arkansas International (l-r): Bill Welch, Dub Green, Bob Rodgers, Tony Shields, Bill Nosek, Roger Witcraft, Milt Spaniel, and John Bodensteiner. (not pictured - Jerry Bertrand, Dick Biddle and Father Elser.) |
The Knights of Columbus has long been a supporter of this event, not only financially, but most visibly with an honor guard leading the athletes into Bison Stadium and by sponsoring the Olympic Town, which consists of a number of games and activities for the athletes when they are not competing in their scheduled events.
Brother Knight Lee Borne, a charter member of local Council 10208 and Past State Deputy, was instrumental in getting Olympic Town established as a supportive function of the Summer Games, and the knights from Hot Springs Village have been an integral part of the games ever since. Unfortunately, the 55 other councils in Arkansas have not chosen to support Olympic Town. This year, for example, there were only two other knights in attendance, one of whom, Ray Patrick, is the coordinator.
Of the 23 volunteers from Sacred Heart of Jesus, there were eleven Council 10208 knights with eight of their spouses in attendance. Led by Dub and Geri Green, many arrived Thursday afternoon to help set up the games, and several stayed through Saturday noon to take down. For prizes the council donated 3,500 tootsie rolls left from the 2010 Campaign for People with Intellectual Disabilities.
To view pictures from the Special Olympics, click on Photos and the Special Olympics gallery.
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St. John’s School, as we all know is experiencing financial problems and needs help in order to continue as the only Catholic School in this area. The Churches and the Knights of Columbus in the area are currently running a campaign to solicit money to aid in the elimination of the large deficit they have experienced this fiscal period.
At the meeting Rosemary Miller presented the School with a check for $450.00 from the Donnie Miller Memorial Fund. A like amount from the Memorial fund was donated by our 4th Degree Assembly to the State Seminarian Program. A check in the amount of $2000.00 from the Council was also presented to the school.
These donations were greatly appreciated by the school, but they only represent approximately one percent of the total amount required to cover their current deficit. I know our Parish and our fellow Knights especially, will do all that is possible to make the current drive to aid the school a success.
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| Pictured following a clean-up effort at Elizabeth Barry's residence: (front l-r) Pat Perilloux, Ed Miller, Don Levac, John Bodensteiner; (back l-r) Jim Passe, Dave Witchger, Tom Auel, Bob Bowman, Mike Frantz; (not pictured) Tom Thornton and Marvin Young. |
While most of the work has been done in the Village itself, the case management requests have come from outside of the Village following the “One Stop Assistance” event, which DRT case managers and one interpreter helped staff. The case manager coordinator also visited a number of individual households outside the Village to assess damage and evaluate requests for assistance. Also, the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM) has asked the Sacred Heart Team to investigate several requests for assistance near Royal, west of
Hot Springs.
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| Grand Knight Bill Welch and Past Grand Knight John Bodensteiner display the award to the membership. |
This award covers a period from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011 which means that it takes into consideration the input from two of our Council periods (2009-2010 and 2010-2011). To all the Officers, Directors, Chairmen, Volunteers, this is your award, in recognition of what you accomplished during this period.
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| 2011_Montserrat_April_17-19 |
The title of the retreat was The Manhood of Jesus of Nazareth, and the Retreat Master was Father Joe Tetlow S.J. a favorite among those men who had previously attended one of his retreats. He was assisted by Father Edmundo Rodriguez.. Tom Yerina served as captain of the local group.
St. Alberto Hurtado S.J. stated, "Retreats are a call to our deepest generosity. They do not move us through fear, nor do they try to frighten us. Retreats are for souls that wish to go higher, and the higher the better." A Montserrat retreat will ask you to look at your relationships with God and your family, friends, Church, own life world, and own self. It is a time of listening to the whispers of God, heard only when you grow quiet.