Welcome to the November 2024 edition of our Council newsletter!

As usual, here are a few quick but important items up-front before we get into the news.

• Our next regular business meeting is Wednesday, November 13th, starting at 7:30 p.m. All members are welcome. We'll be serving a delicious dinner for members at 6:30 for only $5.

• This is your last chance to get in on the big 2024 C&B Raffle! The Final Drawing for the big prizes will be on Saturday, December 7th. First prize is $25,000, Second Prize is $10,000, Third Prize is $5,000, and there are ten $1,000 prizes. We are only a small number of ticket books away from being eligible for the first-tier bonus. So buy some more! Speak with our C&B Chairman, Kevin Shea, for more information and to get your raffle books.

• The annual Westchester-Putnam Seminarians' Dinner is Sunday, December 1st, 2:00 p.m., at Fr. Grady Council in Port Chester. Our Council is taking at table, so speak with WGK Rick if you wish to attend. The support of our seminarians -- our future priests -- is more important now than it ever has been, so please support this important event!

Awards Presented to Worthy Honorees at "The Annual"

Our 53rd Annual Dinner Dance & Awards Ceremony on November 2nd was a wonderful night of food, fun, and celebration of the people that make our Council so very special. Our new venue -- Mill Creek in Hopewell Junction -- was simply fantastic, with outstanding food, a first-class open bar, and excellent service.

Sir Knight Tim McDonald was presented with the very well-deserved "Knight of the Year" Award for his countless and tireless contributions to our Council. Tim was also recognized with the Past Grand Knight Award for his two years of service in that office.

As is our tradition, donations were collected to purchase wheelchairs for persons in need through the American Wheelchair Mission. We broke all prior records, raising an incredible $6,500 -- enough to purchase 43 wheelchairs -- in honor of PGK Tim.

This year's very worthy Family of the Year Award was presented to The Dambra Family -- Rich, Chris, Richie and Matt. Worthy Treasurer Rich was previously a Knight of the Year award recipient.

Worthy Grand Knight Rick Kreps presented Service Awards, name badges, and lapel pins to our new officers, including our Chaplain, Fr. Quarato, Deputy Grand Knight John Crecco, Chancellor Peter Carey, and Recorder John Petriello.

WGK Rick also gave special awards to SK Anthony Falco in recognition of his dedicated service to the Council in the office of Lecturer from 2016 to 2024, and to Kim Crecco, for her leadership as President of the Ladies Auxiliary.

Our Home Corporation, 6318 Associates, gave very well-deserved awards of appreciation to two brother Knights who work so very hard to keep our Council in great shape-- usually behind the scenes and without many noticing: SK Mike Vrabel and Pat Barry.

Lapel pins recognizing special anniversaries were also announced and will be presented in the near future to the following members who were not present:

SK Vinny Callahan - 60-year member

Bill Forbes, PGK - 40-year member

SK Charlie Grimmer, PGK - 35-year member

SK Jeff Harrison - 30-year member

Ladies Auxiliary President Beth Kane presented special service and appreciation awards to Deb McDonald, Michelle Grotto, Eamon Cummins, and PGK Rob Firriolo.

In addition to the presentation of the awards, GK Rick thanked the members of the Dinner Dance and Journal Committees, who all worked so hard to pull together an enormously enjoyable event. Once again, Deb McDonald stepped up and took the lead on the souvenir journal, which allows our Council and our community to offer personal messages of congratulations to the honorees.

Holiday on the Lake / Christmas Village - Sat. Dec. 7th!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Here's the run down on the many fun holiday events taking place in Carmel on Saturday, December 7th! See the flyers below for more information.

• Start your day off with some Christmas shopping at the St. James Parish Annual Christmas Bazaar in the school gym from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.



• Our Ladies Auxiliary is hosting their fourth "Our Christmas Village" which starts at 2:30 p.m. There's loads of fun for the whole family inside our Council Hall with "Story Time / Cookies and Milk with Santa," "Kids' Candy Bingo," and Children's Crafts. Visit more than 55 high-quality vendors in the huge, outdoor holiday market, and enjoy the offerings from the Hudson Valley's finest food trucks, all in the county parking lot behind our building, until 9 p.m. Please see the flyer below. Bring the whole family!



• The Ladies are also hosting another great Chili Cookoff, where our local First Responders can vie for the title of "Best Chili in Town"! Proceeds will be donated to the winner's charity of choice.

• Our Council will once again provide a free Children's Christmas Party with dinner for our members' families starting at 4:30 p.m. Adults will enjoy a pot-luck dinner, so please bring a dish for the community table. Santa will be attending, so please bring a gift (value $20) for each child you bring, for Santa to distribute. RSVP to Grand Knight Rick or Anthony Falco at anthonyfalco17@gmail.com or (914) 907-4802 if you are attending.

• Starting at 5:45 p.m. on Saturday, we will make our way over to the Paladin Center parking lot to line up for the Parade of Lights (steps off at 6:30), with our very own parade float. We need marchers! Come and march behind our Council banner and with our float! We'll once again be handing out thousands of glow necklaces to the crowd along the parade route. Help us assemble them before the parade and then hand them out as we march!

• There are many other events going on in this year's Holiday on the Lake, including Hayrides with Santa, trolley rides, live music, Chowder Fest at Cornerstone Park, choirs and a Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony honoring veterans in Cornerstone Park, and lots of other festive activities. Please see the flyer below for more info.

Fourth Degree News

The next meeting of Mother Cabrini Assembly will be Thursday, November 21st at our Council.

The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. All Fourth Degree Sir Knights are welcome and encouraged to attend the meeting.

SK Otto Romanino a "Veteran of Distinction"

On Saturday, November 9th, brother Sir Knight Otto Romanino was honored by New York State Assemblyman Matt Slater at Carmel Town Hall in the Veterans of Distinction ceremony.

Members of our Council, including Deputy Town Supervisor Frank Lombardi, turned out in support of Otto and the other veterans who were honored on the weekend before Veterans Day.

We thank Otto and all of our United States military veterans for their service!

The First Thanksgiving in America was a Catholic Mass!

And it happened 50 years before Plymouth!

Enjoy this interesting bit of holiday history from Aleteia courtesy of St. James the Apostle Religious Education!

Did you know that the first “thanksgiving” meal in the United States was actually not celebrated by the Pilgrims in Plymouth, but rather by Spanish settlers, in what became Florida? And that first “Thanksgiving” was Eucharistic!

“When the first Spanish settlers landed in what is now St. Augustine on September 8, 1565, to build a settlement, their first act was to hold a religious service to thank God for the safe arrival of the Spanish fleet… After the Mass, Father Francisco Lopez, the Chaplin of the Spanish ships and the first pastor of St. Augustine, stipulated that the natives from the Timucua tribe be fed along with the Spanish settlers, including Don Pedro Menéndez de Aviles, the leader of the expedition. It was the very first Thanksgiving and the first Thanksgiving meal in the United States.”

The Spaniards, with food that they brought with them on the ship, prepared the communal meal. According to records, the meal would have consisted of salted pork, garbanzo beans, ship’s bread and red wine.

This account of the first “thanksgiving” reflects what was found in Father Francisco’s memoirs. In it we read, “the feast day [was] observed . . . after Mass, ‘the Adelantado [Menéndez] had the Indians fed and dined himself.’”

The feast celebrated by the Spaniards was that of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s birthday, a day in the Church calendar that follows nine months after the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary on December 8 (which just happens to be the patronal feast of the United States of America).

The meal “may have also included Caribbean foods that were probably collected when Menéndez stopped to regroup and resupply at San Juan, Puerto Rico, before continuing to Florida… If the Timucua contributed, it would likely have been with corn, fresh fish, berries, or beans.”

Additionally, before the Mass was celebrated, “Father Francisco López, the fleet chaplain…came ashore ahead of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the leader of the founding expedition, and then went forward to meet Menéndez holding a cross… Menéndez came on land, knelt and kissed the cross.”

This historical event reminds us that the Eucharist (from the Greek that literally means “thanksgiving”) is the primary way to offer thanks on Thanksgiving Day, followed by a meal shared in a spirit of fraternity. Let God be a central part of your holiday! As Americans this is our heritage, one that we hope to pass on to the next generation.

• The next Mass where the intention will be for deceased members of our Council will be on Sunday, November 17th, 10:00 a.m., at St. James the Apostle Church.

• Nativity Scene Setup & Council Christmas Decorating: Nov. 30 (Sat.) - We need two crews this year -- one at the Council and one at the Rectory. One crew will meet outside the St. James the Apostle rectory at 9 a.m. to set up the parish nativity scene. We will need the usual tools and equipment including ladders, screw guns, a socket set (or two), staple guns for the roofing membrane, etc. The second crew will meet at our Council to decorate the tree and hang the outside decorations. It's always a good time, so join in the fun!

• Our Council's Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony will be Tuesday, December 3rd. All over the world, Knights of Columbus Councils gather together on the first Tuesday of December to "Light Up for Christ" by illuminating their Nativity Creche or Christmas tree. Our Council joins in this celebration of the upcoming birth of the Christ Child with light refreshments and some caroling around the tree. Bring the family and your best singing voice for this very informal - but very fun - annual Council tradition. Gather at 7 p.m.; caroling at 7:30; tree lighting at 8 p.m.!

• Adult Christmas Party: Dec. 21 (Sat.) - Save the date for our Annual Christmas Party which starts at 6 p.m. Enjoy a fabulous (and free!) dinner prepared by our Kitchen Crew and desserts from our Ladies Auxiliary. Cash bar. Bring a supermarket gift card for the less fortunate in our community so that they too can enjoy the blessings of Christmas through the St. James Food Pantry.

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