SPECIAL GOLFERS' EDITION

Welcome to the June 2025 edition of our Council newsletter!

A few quick but important items up-front before we get into the news.

• Our next regular business meeting will be this Wednesday, June 11th, starting at 7:30 p.m. Dinner for $5 will be at 6:30, as usual. All members are welcome. We will be holding elections for Council officers and Corporation directors (see reports of the nominating committees below). All members in good standing (which mean all dues to-date are paid!) are eligible to vote.

• Our 2025 C&B Raffle Drive is well underway. Buy more books at Wednesday's meeting and turn in your stubs soon because your best chance to win a prize is by getting in on the “Quick Start Drawing” on July 20th. See last month's newsletter for full details. Our C&B Chair, Kevin Shea, will also have Baseball "Fund CRAZR" raffle tickets for sale. Similar to the Football Fund CRAZR, each $20 ticket gets you multiple chances to win prizes based on four combined MLB team scores for the first 10 games in August, both highest and lowest scores. Monthly prizes total $3,000! So get in on the fun and help raise funds for great charities in our state!

• NO JULY MEETING: At the present time, we are not planning on holding a regular July business meeting. A number of our officers and other members will be unavailable that week, and the following week is the Feast of St. James. There is going to be a tremendous amount of volunteer help needed for the feast, so please come to the June business meeting on Wednesday the 11th, and sign up to volunteer. We also hope to be able to hold one or more feast volunteer meetings in late-June / early-July. Please watch your email for announcements.

• Jun. 21st (Sat): Kitchen Cleanup - We will be giving our kitchen and outdoor BBQ area a deep cleaning starting at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 21st. Fish Fry and all of the other events we cater in-house eventually take their toll, so we'll be getting everything back into top shape and ready for the summer barbecue season and fall events. There is a lot to do both up in the kitchen and out on our patio, so please volunteer some time if you're able to do so. We have a hall rental that afternoon, so we need to get done by around noon. Lend a hand! "Many hands make light work!"

Council & Corporation Elections - Wednesday, June 11th

Our Council will hold elections for all eligible officer positions at our June business meeting on Wednesday, June 11th, starting at 7:30 p.m.

Please review the Report of the Nominating Committee and Proposed Slate of Council Officers for the 2025-26 Fraternal Year, which appears below. The report explains the rules for additional nominations.

Please speak with GK Rick Kreps or any member of the Council's Nominating Committee if you have any questions about running for any office or about the elections process.

We will also be holding elections for three Home Corporation directors. Please see the report of the Corporation's Nominating Committee below.

All members in good standing of our Council are eligible to vote for Council officers and Corporation Directors. Payment of all outstanding dues and presentation of a current membership card are required to vote.

Don McDonnell Honored with 2025 Founders Award

Our Council proudly presented our "Founders Award" to brother Knight Donald J. McDonnell at our Tenth Annual Founders' Day Barbecue on Friday, May 23rd.

Incredibly well deserving of the honor, Don is a Charter Member of our Council, an Honorary Life Member of our Order, and an active St. James the Apostle parishioner.

Grand Knight Rick Kreps presented the award to Don following a spectacular family barbecue and pig roast. Our Chaplain, the Rev. Robert Quarato, offered a benediction recognizing Don and the other Catholic gentlemen who laid the foundation of our Council, allowing us to continue performing works of charity and service with a fraternal spirit for the last 54 years.

Don gave a brief but moving acceptance speech chronicling how he first joined the Knights in the Bronx in 1959 -- because they had a pool table! After moving to Putnam, he went on to help establish our Council in 1971 along with his fellow Charter Members, including our first Grand Knight, Angelo Trongone, for whom our Founders' Day Award is named. Don mentioned how kind Angelo was and how well he was thought of by his brother Knights.

Before the awards ceremony, our guests enjoyed a lavish feast that featured burgers and dogs, sliced steak, Cornell chicken, sausage and peppers, fresh corn, and other barbecue favorites. And our resident Pigmeister, Rich Dambra, once again outdid himself this year with another best-ever roast pig. Nobody ever leaves hungry!

2025 George Dean Memorial Golf Outing A Real Crowd-Pleaser!

Another memorable -- and very successful -- George Dean Memorial Golf Outing is in the books! We had well over 100 golfers turn out on Friday, June 6th, for a fantastic day of golf celebrated in loving memory of our dearly departed brother Knight, who ran our Council golf outing for many years.

The weather looked iffy but the rain held off until all of our players were off the course. Our golfers enjoyed a beautiful day on the links that included golfer swag, lunch at the course, a beverage cart, and lots of friendly competition and fun.

After shooting a great (or not so great) round, our golfers gathered at the Council for appetizers, cocktails, a hearty filet mignon dinner and dessert, followed by an awards ceremony and lots of great raffle prizes.

This year, the winner of Best Foursome was Anthony Falco, AJ Falco, Ray Kolkmann, and Brian Bellantoni.

Winner of the "Closest To Pin" contest for the Ladies was Kim Heis. The prize for the men's Longest Drive was Jesse Schmidt.

Many thanks to our Golf Outing Committee, chaired by Anthony Falco, for orchestrating another great outing, and for our stellar Kitchen Crew that served up another fantastic dinner. (We heard comments like "Best beef ever!" and "So tender, I could have cut it with a spoon.")

And of course, thanks to the Dean Family, our golfers, our sponsors, our volunteers both at the course and back at the Council, our raffle sellers, our donors of merchandise for the raffles, and everybody else who pitched in to make our major annual fundraiser such a great success.

Sign Up For Our Summer Blood Drive - Sunday, June 29th

*** PLEASE MAKE AN APPOINTMENT ***

*** VOLUNTEERS NEEDED ***

Along with FOP Driscoll Lodge 704 and members of the FDNY, join us for our Summer Blood Drive set for SUNDAY, JUNE 29th, at the Daniel O'Brien VFW Hall, 32 Gleneida Ave (Rt. 52), in Carmel from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. 

In the summer months, the demand for blood increases but the number of donations declines. So as usual for this time of year, the blood supply is at a critical level!

As with previous drives, we encourage donors to make an appointment. To make an appointment online, please click here and visit the NY Blood Center Donor Portal.

To schedule an appointment by phone, please call: 1-800-933-2566.

We need VOLUNTEERS throughout the drive for escorting donors and for monitoring the canteen. Most importantly, we need volunteers for set-up at 8:00 a.m. and for break-down / clean-up at 6:45 p.m. If you can donate and hour or so, please click here and send Denis Hanrahan an email to let him know what time you're available, and he will coordinate the time slots. 

Just in time for summer, donors will receive a fabulous and fashionable NYBC t-shirt! We are also very happy to announce that a PINT-FOR-A-PINT is back. For your donation of a PINT, you'll get a coupon for a PINT of fermented draft beverage, or a pint of carbonated sugar water, from our friends at Fiddler's Green Pub.



We hope you can join our members and our friends in this absolutely critical blood drive.

FYI: Donating blood is a safe, simple, and satisfying experience. Your donations help give life to the millions of Americans each year who require blood transfusions during surgery, after an accident, or because they have a disease that requires blood components.

There are many different ways to donate lifesaving blood products, including whole blood, platelet, plasma, and automated red cell donation. The process usually takes about 45-60 minutes.

You may donate if you are at least 17 years old (16 years old with written consent from parent or legal guardian), weigh at least 110 pounds, and are in good health.

Contact Denis Hanrahan at (845) 225-3048 or GK Rick Kreps at (845) 225-6318 for more info, or visit www.nybc.org.

AND PLEASE REMEMBER TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT!

The Feast of Saint James - Thursday, Friday & Saturday, July 17, 18 & 19

The 2025 Feast of Saint James is back on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, July 17th, 18th & 19th.

We will need even more Council volunteers this year! We'll need help with the casino, beverage sales, in the Sausage Connection and Polish food booths, staffing the attractions, and in other roles. Speak with our Grand Knight about how to get involved.

Members interested in dealing cards in the casino should speak with PGK Bobby Palazzo, who will train you to be a great dealer. We need more dealers!

For those wishing to volunteer in other areas, the Volunteer Sign-Up Book will be available in the Parish Office next week.

Volunteers for Putnam C.A.P. Needed

As we mentioned in a special e-mail blast to members last month, volunteers are needed once a month to assist Putnam C.A.P., our County’s food pantry, with unloading and loading food product. They need our help every second Thursday of the month. 

The next need for assistance will be Thursday, June 12th, at 10:00 a.m.

A regional food pantry truck will deliver food to the Putnam County garage located at 526 Gage Road in Brewster (just off Doansberg Rd., right before Green Chimneys). There, volunteers will load two box trucks provided by the Sheriff's Office and Local 60.

Volunteers will then proceed to C.A.P.’s main office located at 121 Main Street in Brewster, where the food will be unloaded and brought into the C.A.P. facility. 

To participate, you should be able to bend and lift at least 25 pounds. In total, the whole process should take about two hours. This will be an all-weather event. 

If you're willing to lend a hand on June 12th, or if you would like to be listed for possible future opportunities to volunteer, please contact Denis Hanrahan by text at 845-300-0428 or email d_hanrahan@msn.com, or contact Pat Barry by text at 845-661-3226 or email Ptbarry@hotmail.com.

Your help in assisting members of our community in need through this very worthwhile charitable organization is very much appreciated. To learn more about Putnam C.A.P. and explore other ways to help, click here.

Fourth Degree News

MEETING & ELECTION NOTICE

The next meeting of Mother Cabrini Assembly will be Thursday, June 19th, at our Council. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m.

The Assembly will also be holding elections for all eligible officer positions. Get active, get involved, and consider taking an officer's position in our Fourth Degree Assembly!

All Fourth Degree Sir Knights are welcome and encouraged to attend. All members in good standing (which mean all dues to-date are paid!) are eligible to vote in the election for officers.

• Jun. 17 (Tue): Ladies Appreciation BBQ - We can use some help in the kitchen and on the grills, and with serving dinner to the Ladies Auxiliary, on Tuesday, June 17th. This is an opportunity for our Council to show our appreciation for all that our Ladies Auxiliary does for the Council and our community. Our format change last year to a BBQ was so well received that we're doing it again, starting service at 7:00 p.m. Prep and setup will begin around noon. Speak with GK Rick or PGK Rob Firriolo if you're interested in helping.

• Fly the Flag on Friday 6/14! Flag Day, also called National Flag Day, is a day honoring our national flag. The holiday commemorates the date in 1777 when the United States approved the design for its first national flag. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14th as the official date for Flag Day, and in 1949, Congress permanently established the date as National Flag Day. Each year the United States President delivers an address that proclaims the week of June 14 as National Flag Week, and all Americans are encouraged to fly U.S. flags during that week.

• And finally, don't forget that Sunday, June 15th, is Father's Day! Fatherhood has its origins in God, who chose to reveal Himself to us as Our Father, sending his only Son for the sake of our salvation. Fathers therefore have a special role “in revealing and in reliving on earth the very fatherhood of God” (Familiaris Consortio 25). Father’s Day is an appropriate time to recall the essential role of fathers in the life of the family and in building a culture of life. It is also an opportunity to highlight spiritual fatherhood, which all men are called to embrace. Enjoy "A Father's Day Reflection" by clicking here.