Welcome to this special "America 250" July 2026 edition of our Council newsletter!

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

• There will be NO regular business meeting for July. Due to the absence of many of our officers and the upcoming Feast of Saint James, we are unable to meet this month. Our August meeting will be on the usual second Wednesday of the month, August 12th.

• VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! We still need help staffing the many areas our Council takes charge of at the Feast of Saint James, which is Thursday 7/9 and Friday 1/10, and Saturday 7/11 from 6-10 p.m. See the item below for more information.

• We will be holding a brief Feast Volunteers' Meeting on Tuesday, July 7th, at 7:00 p.m. in our Council hall. We'll cover the final plans for prep and setup on Wednesday 7/8 for all three nights of the Feast, and for cleanup after the Feast on Sunday morning.

• As we celebrate 250 years of the incredible experiment in constitutional republicanism that we call the United States of America, please see the special message from our Supreme Knight, Patrick E. Kelly, at the end of this newsletter.

Council & Corporation Election Results

At our business meeting on June 10th, our Council held elections for all eligible offices. The following members were elected to serve for the 2026-27 Fraternal Year:



• Grand Knight: Richard Kreps
• Deputy Grand Knight: John Crecco
• Chancellor: Peter Carey
• Recorder: John Petriello
• Treasurer: Richard Dambra
• Advocate: Michael McDonald, PGK
• Warden: Michael O’Brien
• Guards: Adam Brandt, Stephen Crecco, Daniel Dolenk, Louis Noble, Michael Vrabel
• Three Year Trustee (2026-2029): Steve Gheduzzi, PGK PFN

All of the officers were elected by unanimous vote of the membership present.

The position of Chaplain is appointed by the Grand Knight, Deputy Grand Knight, and Trustees. We are honored to have our Parish Pastor, the Rev. Robert Quarato, continue to serve as our very active Chaplain, and are grateful for his participation and presence at our meetings and functions.

Our Financial Secretary, appointed by the Supreme Knight, will remain Michael Rama.

The Grand Knight has appointed PGK Tim McDonald as our Lecturer, and continuing as Trustees are PGK Rob Firriolo (One Year) and PGK Ralph Fleischman (Two Year). All offices became effective on July 1st.

Please join us in congratulating all of of our new and returning officers, as well as Mike Karlsson, Bobby Sleight, and George Kane, who were re-elected to three-year terms as Directors of our Home Corporation, 6318 Associates, Inc. They will serve three-year terms ending in June 2029.

The Feast of Saint James: July 9, 10 & 11

The 2026 Feast of Saint James is back on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, July 9th, 10th & 11th.

This year the rides are back along with other amusements from an outstanding new vendor. And all of the other great food and attractions you love so much will be back, so bring the whole family!

There will be three special Masses at 5 p.m. immediately before the Feast begins each evening. On Thursday, the Mass will Honor Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. On Friday, the Mass will honor St. James the Apostle. And on Saturday, there will be a Vigil Mass with Cardinal Dolan celebrating his 50th Anniversary of Priestly Ordination.

As always, our Council members and Ladies Auxiliary are being called upon to staff many areas and fill many roles. We need volunteers! Please see our prior email with volunteer info by clicking here.

Grave Marker Dedicated for Otto Romanino

Members of our Council and Ladies Auxiliary gathered at Raymond Hill Cemetery on a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning for a ceremony to dedicate and consecrate a Knights of Columbus grave marker for Sir Knight Otto J. Romanino, who passed away last December.

The June 13th ceremony was led by our Chaplain, Father Quarato, and Grand Knight Rick Kreps, during which both the marker and headstone were blessed, and prayers were offered for Otto and all of our departed brother Knights. Members of Otto's family joined us, and his son Eric offered a heartfelt reflection on Otto's life and love of the Knights.

The emblem is made from durable cast aluminum and bears the Knights of Columbus Emblem of the Order, with an attached flag holder. It joins a marker lovingly donated by our Ladies Auxiliary remembering Otto's love of marshmallows (if not eating them, then throwing them.)

The KofC grave marker we installed by Otto's headstone is just one of many that our Council has purchased and installed for our departed brother Knights interred in local cemeteries. Thanks go out to our Memorial Committee headed up by PGK Steve Gheduzzi for making sure that they are not forgotten.

Summer Blood Drive Nets 85 Units!

Our 2026 Summer Blood Drive on June 28th was another great success, collecting 85 units of blood. That is a very good number, especially considering that the drive was on Sunday, with shortened hours, and at the start of the week with the Independence Day holiday.

Our Council is proud to sponsor this drive along with FOP Driscoll Lodge 704 and local members of the F.D.N.Y.

Over the last several years, we've held our summer blood drive at the end of June because summer is always a slow time for donations, and blood is always in demand this time of year. Once again, we found ourselves in a severe blood emergency. And once again, we did what our community needed when they needed it!

Lead organizer Denis Hanrahan extended his thanks to everyone who pitched-in by promoting the event, setting up, escorting donors, breaking-down, and cleaning up.

Join us in thanking Denis for all of his continuing hard work and dedication to this important cause, to all who volunteered, and of course, to all those who made a donation of blood to help save others' lives.

Your next opportunity to donate or volunteer will be at our Winter Holiday Blood Drive, which should be in late-December of this year.

Fourth Degree News

MEETING NOTICE

There will be NO JULY OR AUGUST MEETINGS of Mother Cabrini Assembly.

ASSEMBLY NEWS

At the June 18th meeting, the membership of Mother Cabrini Assembly re-elected Sir Knight Michael Vrabel from our Council to lead the Fourth Degree as Faithful Navigator for the 2026-27 Fraternal Year.

The full election results and list of officers may be found on the Assembly Officers Page.

• Appreciating our Ladies Auxiliary: After their meeting on June 25th, the men of our Council treated our fabulous Ladies Auxiliary to a barbecue dinner to express our appreciation for all that they do for our Council and our community. On the menu were smashburgers, pulled pork sliders, mojo chicken over arugula vinaigrette, Caprese salad, tossed greens with pears, chevre & candied walnuts, along with other BBQ favorites and capped off with a sumptuous dessert of gourmet brownies, fresh fruit salad, and other delights. Thanks to all who volunteered to make the dinner special for our very special Ladies.

• Please see the special message below from Supreme Knight Patrick E. Kelly.

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 and Instagram for up-to-the minute announcements, photos, event listings, and items of interest.