The Lake Current February 2020

Welcome to the February edition of our Council newsletter! Here's a couple of quick (but important!) notices before we get into the news: Our regular monthly business meeting is this Wednesday, February 12th, starting at 7:30 p.m. We'll be serving a home-cooked dinner for only $5 starting around 6:30 p.m. We will be presenting St. James School with a significant donation from the Men's Beefsteak proceeds! As always, there are many activities to plan for and important business news to share with the membership, so all members should attend! Fish Fry Staff Meeting: If you're part of our fantastic Fish Fry Crew -- or would like to be -- please join us for a very important staff meeting in on Monday, Feb. 10th at 7 p.m. We always need extra help in our dining room, serving customers, and helping with cleanup at the end. Our Fish Fry ran really smoothly last year thanks to a lot of hard work and planning. Let's do it again! All of our staff members' input is crucial to making it work!

Conference to Honor PGK Anthony Pelliccio Feb. 23rd! Every year the Westchester-Putnam Conference of the Knights of Columbus honors a Knight who has given exemplary service to the Order and the Conference. At this year's 33rd Annual Brendan Toohey Memorial Mass and Breakfast , the honoree is our own Past Grand Knight Anthony Pelliccio! Please come out on Sunday, February 23rd for 10 a.m. Mass at St. James the Apostle Church, followed immediately by a great hot breakfast at our Council. The price is only $15, or $10 for children under 14. Tables of 10 are available for $150. Each year the host council gets to pick a charity to receive the proceeds from the breakfast. This year we'll be making a donation to the St. James the Apostle School ! Come to show your support for Anthony and our Parish School! Please feel free to invite your family, neighbors, and friends to join us in honoring our very worthy Brother Sir Knight! Please make your reservations with GK Steve by February 17th.

A Record-Breaking Beefsteak! It was sold-0ut and the best one yet! Our Fifth Annual James "J.O." O'Neill Memorial Men's Beefsteak Dinner on Saturday, January 11th broke all previous records! More than 150 beef-loving men were on hand to enjoy unlimited delicious food, excellent football playoff games (on our all-new HD projection big-screen!), and lots of fun and good company. We were honored to have our clergy -- Monsignor Martin, Father Szymon, Father Tveit, Deacon Scott and Deacon Art -- along with numerous dignitaries from Putnam County on hand to enjoy the Beefsteak and support our fundraising efforts. After an awesome filet mignon dinner, we raffled off a bunch of fantastic gift baskets and held our 50/50 raffle. Then the bidding began in our very successful live auction. All to raise even more funds for charity. We are thrilled to report that thanks to the support and generosity of our guests, along with the hard work of our volunteers who pulled out all the stops, we were able to raise enough to make a $9,000 donation to St. James the Apostle School ! We'll be presenting the check to Principal Maura Crawford at our general business meeting on Wednesday, February 12th. Our good friend, reporter Eric Gross, turned up to cover the event for the Putnam County Courier, and wrote a very fitting article. (Click here - subscription required.) Eric included a quote from our own Brother Knight James O’Neill, Jr., expressing his appreciation: “My dad always believed in giving back. What a great tribute to a man who spent his life assisting others. Mom and I are so appreciative of the Knights of Columbus and others who are here remembering my father.” Enjoy some fine photos of the event courtesy of our resident photographer, Sir Knight Harry Gorman, and Eric Gross:

All Fired-Up: We Burned Our Mortgage! After concluding the festivities at our Men's Beefsteak on January 11th, a group of Brother Knights assembled on the back patio on that unseasonably warm evening to conduct a ceremonial burning of the mortgage on our building! We could think of no better person to have the honor of feeding the pages into the fire than our long-time Corporation Treasurer (and now-retired, long-time Council Treasurer) Sir Knight Joseph Groneman . The assemblage included current and former Home Corporation officers and directors, as well as Council officers such as our Worthy Grand Knight and several Past Grand Knights.

The collective, institutional memory of the group spanned many decades. Speakers recounted the numerous sacrifices made over the years to acquire and keep the building up and running for the members, and how close we came to losing the building during hard times.

Everyone agreed that we are now all benefiting from the foresight, hard work, planning, stewardship, and persistence of our past and present Council and Corporation leadership, who have brought us to the high level of financial security that we now enjoy. All were optimistic that this will be our one-and-only mortgage burning ceremony because we will never need another mortgage!

Council Free Throw Contest Another Slam Dunk! On Monday, January 20th, we once again participated in the Order's basketball Free Throw Contest for youth. We had an outstanding turnout, with 85 participants ages 9 to 14. In addition to running the competition in the St. James School gym, we also gave the competitors hot dogs and ice cream to nosh on. The Girls Winners were Emily Johnfor, Caroline Ward, Morgan Johnson, and Caroline Arrigale. The Boys Winners were Steven Frick, Matthew McNerney, David Atticus Hubbs, Andrew Jarmack, Markian Bumbar, Christian Jarmack, and Russell Hammond. They will go on to the District-level competition on Saturday, February 22nd. Congratulations to all of our winners, and best of luck advancing! Thanks to our Youth Activities Chairman, Worthy FS Mike Rama, for once again running the event with GK Steve, and to our volunteers - Phil Larkin, Denis Hanrahan, John Crecco, Andrew DeStefano, DGK Ralph Fleischman and his son Colin - who helped out with the competition and food service.

Fourth Degree News Are you a Third Degree member looking to advance to the highest level of membership in our Order? There will be a Fourth Degree Exemplification held on Saturday, April 4th , at the Crowne Plaza in Suffern. Please contact GK Steve if you are interested in participating. Applications are due soon! MEETING NOTICE The next meeting of the Fourth Degree Sir Knights of Mother Cabrini Assembly will be Thursday, February 20th, at 7:30 p.m. at our Council. We hear that Faithful Captain Ted Czerniewski, PGK, will be cooking a special meal for all of the Sir Knights. Faithful Navigator Vincent LaRusso will be bringing membership cards for all who have paid their dues, and you can also pay your dues at the meeting. He also reminds everyone to please bring in your stubs and payments for the Night Out on the Sir Knights Year of Dinners Raffle . They'll be picking the winner for February at the meeting. All Sir Knights should attend!

Bartenders (Still) Needed! Our Home Corporation is putting out the call to members who may be interested in tending bar in our lounge. They are particularly looking to fill a shift on Fridays from 4-7 p.m. Please speak with Anthony Falco for more information. Fr. Szymon News - Thanks to everybody who responded to our Grand Knight's special message in last month's Lake Current by sending letters to the Archdiocese in support of Father Szymon's incardination. Acknowledgments have come in from the Vicar for Clergy, Bishop Edmund Whalen. We continue to hope and pray for Father Szymon's success and continued ministry in our parish and our Council! Thanks also to everybody who turned out for our great Super Bowl Party on February 2nd. We had another AMAZING pot-luck buffet courtesy of many of our creative and generous guests! This year's game was a good one, and the evening was a fun time to be with friends (new and old) and family, and to share a delicious feast. Our new HD projector, larger screen, and new sound system got rave reviews. West/Put St. Patrick's Day Parade - Sunday, Mar. 8: Come march behind our Council banner in Mahopac on Sunday, March 8th. We are proud to once again be a prime sponsor of this parade, which is the third largest in New York State and is in its 44rd consecutive year. This parade is meant to recognize and celebrate Irish culture, heritage, and pride for those who have emigrated here from the Emerald Isle, the Irish-American community, as well as those who are Irish in spirit! There will be numerous organizations, bands, clubs, patriotic groups, Irish dancers, and a vast array of participants showing their support of the Irish community. As always, we will have a corned beef luncheon and reception at our council after the parade with live entertainment. This event is one of the highlights of our social calendar, so don't miss it! "MARCH MADNESS" Comedy Dinner Theater - Saturday, March 21st: Join us for another great night of comedy dinner theater hosted by Fran Capo with Feature Emcee Mike Calcagno, and Headliners Chris Roach and Joseph Anthony. Doors open at 6 p.m.; dinner served at 7 p.m.; showtime is 8:30 p.m. Your $75 ticket gets you open bar, appetizers, catered hot buffet dinner, dessert and the show. Advanced ticket purchase is required! For tickets, contact: Bobby Palazzo 845-216-1997 or Charlie Grimmer 845-222-7392. Join us for the 19th Annual KofC Westchester-Putnam Chapter Annual Awards Gala at noon on Sunday, March 29th, at Mulino's at Lake Isle in Eastchester. Your payment of $65 per person includes a cocktail hour, dinner, dessert, wine, beer and soda. These have always been a lot of fun, the food at this new venue is fantastic, and you're sure to want to come out for a great afternoon of fine dining and dancing to honor a worthy member of our Council. (We will announce our honoree at our February business meeting.) Reservations are due soon, so please let GK Steve know if you're coming ASAP.

Remember, a full calendar of events can always be found on our website: carmelknights.org under the Upcoming Events tab. And don't forget to "like" our Facebook page for up-to-the minute announcements, photos, event listings, and items of interest.

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