Welcome to the February 2025 edition of our Council newsletter!

As usual, a few quick but important items right up-front:

• Our next regular business meeting will be Wednesday, February 12th, starting at 7:30 p.m. Dinner for $5 will be at 6:30, as usual. All members are welcome.

• Sing Your Heart Out at our Valentine's Day Karaoke Night! - Warm up those vocal chords, pick out your song, and come down to the Council on Friday, February 14th, for a fun-filled night Valentine's Day Karaoke. Featuring the sensuous song stylings of the sublime Soulmates! Song suggestions include "Love Stinks," "Stop Dragging My Heart Around," "You Give Love a Bad Name," "Love Hurts," and of course, "My Funny Valentine." The fun starts at 8 p.m.!

• Admission Degree - Friday, February 21st - We are hosting the Exemplification of Charity, Unity and Fraternity on Friday evening, February 21st. Candidates should arrive at 6:00 p.m. properly attired. The degree will begin at 7:00 p.m. and takes approximately 30 minutes. Food will be served for our new members and the members observing the degree. Any current 1st or 2nd Degree member is encouraged to attend and ascend to full Knighthood in our order! Please consider attending in support of, and to welcome, our newest brother Knights.

• Thanks to all who turned out for the St. Pat's Parade Grand Marshal Installation Dinner on Friday, February 7th. Our Council is one of the prime sponsoring organizations of the parade and as usual, we had several tables full of Knights and Ladies Auxiliary for the festivities at Centennial Golf Club. Special thanks to all of our members and Ladies involved with the parade committee, including PGK Mike McDonald, Ladies Auxiliary Past Presidents Maria Barry and Gail Silke (also a past Grand Marshal), and Bernie Cummins.

• Fish Fry Fridays begin March 7th! - There will be a brief staff meeting / planning session for Fish Fry in on Monday, February 24th at 7 p.m. in our Council Hall. All are welcome to attend and join the Fish Fry Crew! We always need help in a variety of capacities and locations, each Friday night for six weeks in Lent.

• Help Wanted! Our Home Corporation is looking for bartenders to keep our lounge up and running to serve our members and guests. They are also looking for trade professionals to assist with the addition to the back of our building. If you are interested in helping out in any capacity, please speak with Corporation President Mike Tomassi or Vice President Anthony Falco.

Beefsteak Blowout!

Our Ninth Annual James "J.O." O'Neill Memorial Men's Beefsteak Dinner on Saturday, January 18th, was another sold-out afternoon of great food, great football and great friendship!

More than 130 hungry men got their fill of our signature charcoal grilled filet mignon as we gathered in our only annual "just for men" event to watch the NFL playoff games and enjoy the company of our brother Knights and friends.

We were honored to have our parish clergy -- Father Quarato, Father Father Tran, and Father Carlolan, and a special visit from our good friend Father Szymon -- along with numerous local dignitaries -- on hand to enjoy the Beefsteak and support our fundraising efforts for St. James the Apostle Parish.

Pictured here cutting the dessert cake is brother Knight Jimmy O'Neill, son of the namesake of our event, James J. "J.O." O'Neill.

Thanks to the support and generosity of our guests and donors, as well as to the hard work of our volunteers, we are going to be able to make a substantial donation to the parish, to be announced at our February business meeting. We plan to present our donation at our March business meeting.

Join us in thanking all of our guests and donors, and in sending a big shout-out to our Beefsteak Crew -- who did the shopping, set-up, prep, cooking, serving, and clean-up -- for another outstanding effort. At Beefsteak it's "All about the Beef" and we're still getting compliments about this year's offering. Nobody left disappointed or hungry!

Tickets On Sale for Comedy Night - March 29th

Make your reservations for another fun-filled night as comedy dinner theater returns to our Council on Saturday, March 29, 2025.

A THREE HEADLINER SHOW FEATURING:

TOMMY GOOCH - Straight from his Dry Bar special! A regular at the world famous Broadway Comedy Club and headlined at the Borgata in Atlantic City.

ROB FALCONE - A regular at Las Vegas and Atlantic City's best casinos, he's also been on "Orange is the New Black," "Blue Bloods," "Law and Order," "The Sopranos," "Third Watch," Comedy Central, USA's "Up All Night," NBC's "America's Talking," films including "Spiderman 2" and Off-Broadway in "Tony and Tina's Wedding."

PATTY ROSBOROUGH - Co-host of Comedy Central's "Short Attention Span Theater" with Jon Stewart (1990-93) and as seen on Showtime, A&E, VH1, and the BBC’s "The World Stands Up"; performed at the "Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival"; Winner of NYC's prestigious "Charlie Award" and the "Ladies of Laughter Comedy Competition." Also a regular at the Borgata in Atlantic City and NYC's best comedy clubs.

For only $100 you'll get an outstanding show, a full hot buffet dinner with appetizers and dessert catered by Luigi's Famiglia Cucina, and an open bar! Doors open at 6 p.m., dinner buffet starts at 7 p.m., and showtime is 8 p.m.

Advanced reservations and ticket prepayment are required to hold your seat. For tickets, please contact Bobby Palazzo at 845-216-1997 or Charlie Grimmer at 845-222-7392.

Fourth Degree News

MEETING NOTICE

The next meeting of Mother Cabrini Assembly will be Thursday, February 20th, at our Council. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. All Fourth Degree Sir Knights are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Please return your stubs and money for tickets sold for the Assembly's 2025 "Night Out on the Sir Knights" Year of Dinners Raffle. Additional tickets will be available at the meeting.

All members should have received their dues mailing by now. Please let FN Seamus Baker or FC Andrew DeStefano know if you have not. Your prompt payment of dues helps keep our costs down for followup mailings and allows the Assembly to continue its many worthwhile patriotic activities and donations.

• Mar 1 (Sat): "Game Night" - Save the date for what promises to be another great Council event. Details TBA.

• Mar. 9 (Sun): West/Put St. Patrick's Day Parade - Come march behind our Council banner in Mahopac as we continue to proudly serve as a prime sponsor of the third largest St. Pat's parade in New York State, now in its 48th year. It recognizes and celebrates 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 with live entertainment at our Council after the parade. This event is one of the highlights of our social calendar, so don't miss it!



• Mar. 23 (Sun): 22nd Annual Westchester-Putnam Chapter Awards Gala - Join us in honoring a very special brother Knight and Ladies Auxiliary member at Mulino's at Lake Isle in Eastchester from noon to 5 p.m. The cost is $100 per person, which includes a fantastic cocktail hour, dinner, desert, wine, beer and soda. Contact GK Rick ASAP if you would like to attend. Reservations are due by March 7th and pre-payment is absolutely required! Watch for a future announcement of the honorees.