MEETING MINUTES NOVEMBER 2024

MINUTES OF COUNCIL GENERAL MEETING

Dining Room
Monday, November 4, 2024 (due to election day our meeting was held on Monday)

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER at 7:30 P.M.

OPENING PRAYER:  by MARC EVANS

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:  by DAVID YBARRA

OPENING ODE:  by MIKE FITZGERALD

ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS:
(P=PRESENT, A=ABSENT, EX=EXCUSED)

1. CHAPLAIN:  VACANT                             
2. GRAND KNIGHT:  MIKE FITZGERALD:  P
3. DEPUTY GRAND KNIGHT: MARC EVANS: P
4. CHANCELLOR: PAUL RYAN: P
5. FINANCIAL SECRETARY:  PETER PERTA: P
6. ADVOCATE: RUSSELL GULLEY: P
7. LECTURER:   JAMES RUSSELL: P
8. TREASURER:  JAMES SMITH:  P
9. RECORDER: ROBERT NIETO: P
10. DISTRICT DEPUTY: KEBRAN ALEXANDER: EX
11. WARDEN: ADAN LUNA: EX
12. INSIDE GUARD: GAMALIEL HERNANDEZ: P
13. OUTSIDE GUARD: RUSSELL LEROY: P
14. 1^ST YR TRUSTEE:  DAN MURPHY: P 
15. 2^ND YR TRUSTEE:  DAVID DYBALA (JORGE RUIZ): P
16. 3^RD YR TRUSTEE:  TOM GRECO (JAMES RUSELL): P

ARE ALL PRESENT IN POSSESSION OF A CURRENT MEMBERSHIP CARD:  per Outside Guard: Yes

Approve Minutes of the Prior Meeting – The minutes of our October 6^th General Membership Meeting have been posted on the Council’s website. A motion to accept the minutes as posted was made, seconded and approved.

GRAND KNIGHT’S REPORT: by Mike Fitzgerald

New Knights who are attending their first General Membership Meeting: None

Dallas Diocese Chapter Meeting Update by Mike Fitzgerald

Council 8157 was well represented at the Dallas Diocese Chapter (DDC) Quarterly Meeting on Saturday, October 12^th.  Those able to attend were Jorge Ruiz, Marc Evans, Jim Kowalski, and Mike Fitzgerald

The major topic discussed during the meeting was Safe Environment (SE).  Some key takeaways were:

1. All “ACTIVE” members of our Council need to undergo annual SE training and biannual criminal background checks
2. The definition of an “ACTIVE” Knight (as provided to use at the meeting) was any Knight who has participated in a Knight’s event in the past twelve (12) months.  For our purposes, this would include working at the Baseball Concession Stand.  Anyone who has attended a monthly general membership meeting in the past year is considered an “ACTIVE” Knight.The DDC and the Dallas Catholic Diocese are using the same provider for criminal background checks.  The cost of a background criminal check is $15.00 (or $7.50 on an annual basis). 
3. If a Knight is participating in a Parish ministry which requires SE certification, then both annual SE training and biannual criminal background checks are already being addressed; even though you may not be fully aware that biannually criminal background check are taking place.

Holy Spirit Parish has a new Safe Environment Coordinator. Her name is Enedina Ochoa.  She confirmed for me the five (5) parish ministries that the Parish requires be Safe Environment cleared.  They are: Hospitality Ministry, Home Bound Ministry, Faith Formation Ministry, Youth Formation Ministry, and Food Pantry Ministry. If you are a member of one (1) or more of these five (5) ministries, you do not need to get re-certified as you are already certified through the parish office.

Additional subjects discussed at the DDC Meeting were:

The 61st Annual Bob Stras Memorial Basketball Tournament.  With Jorge Ruiz’s help we included in this year’s Council 8157’s Ad picture of Victoria Hernandez’s Aunt in her new wheelchair (Wheelchair Drive) and a picture of me presenting Fr. Uche with the Council’s annual Church Support check of $3,500.

• The DDC current year expenses exceed the funds on hand.  To address the shortfall, the Councils in attendance at the meeting were advised of and voted on two (2) Assessment of Dues proposals. Those proposals were:
  • $1.00 for each Knight in each CouncilSet amounts based on the number of Knights in the Council.  Councils of 50 members or less would be assessed nothing.   With Councils of 200 members or more paying $250.The two (2) proposals were voted on and the 2^nd option was accepted.
  • DDC Clergy Appreciation Dinner will be held on Friday, January 24, 2025, at Council 799 at 7:00 pm.  The eight (8) person per table price has increase this year from $800 to $1,000 with a $100 discount for each Priest) in attendance up to two (2) Priests (having a Deacon attend will not qualify for the $100 discount.).

Safe Environment Rollout by Jorge Ruiz and Russell Leroy

The program has started in 4 districts in the northern part of Dallas Country. The Councils must provide a current roster of each Knight’s name, phone number, and e-mail address. A spread sheet is created and then is uploaded to the database. The Knight then receives an e-mail to consent to the background check and an e-mail to do the required annual SE training. Each Knight will watch an SE training video and learn terminology and answer questions. For our Council, the new SE requirements will probably start sometime in early 2025. To clarify, the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus has always stated the following policy: all Knights must comply with the requirements of the diocesan Safe Environment program.

Russell Leroy is the Safe Environment coordinator for our Council. We will have a SE committee that will serve as a response team should an incident take place. Russell has a list of all Knights that are already SE trained through the parish.

Mother Cabrini, The Movie by Fred Ciarochi

Mother Cabrini is the patron saint of immigrants. Her feast day is November 13, 2024, and her movie will be shown in the gym. It is free! Please attend and invite others

Financial Secretary’s Report – Peter Perta:

• Membership:  240
• One Knight, Dan Schneider, transferred to Mansfield Council
• Star Council Quota: we currently have 5 members; out quota is 14
• Dues Collected: 73%
• We received reimbursement from Supreme for our RSVP program; we provide $500 each to five (5) seminarians, and we receive $100 reimbursement from Supreme for each seminarian.
• We qualified for a $200 reimbursement form Supreme for our support of the parish’s Food Pantry.
• We have paid out 4 of the 5 scholarships; one student deferred for now but will attend school in January
• We have a New Honorary Life Member:  Mike Fitzgerald
• Knight in Need Fund stands at $5,200

Treasurer’s Report – Worthy Treasurer, SK James Smith. James advised the Council of last month’s ending balance, the overall deposits made this month, the overall expenditures for this month and the resulting ending balance.

Program & Committee Reports

Programs

4^th Degree Clergy Appreciation Dinner- SK James Smith will take place on November 14^th at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 and everyone is invited to attend.

Knight Hands by Allen Reitmeier

Since our last meeting, Knight Hands has completed eight (8) projects.  They are as follows:

1.  Loaned out a wheelchair to Annette Jewett at the request of the Church   This was the wheelchair I retrieved from Elsa Estrellas. 
2. Installed a new gate, straightened a section of fence and trimmed trees for Nancy Amorella. Thank you, Mario Luna, Jesse Radillo, Juan Gomez and his two boys (Damien and Jose), Jesus Aguirre, Joel Lopez, and Moises Martinez.  We worked 25 man hours and had material cost of $112.48 – and just a little blood from Moises and Allen
3. Remodeled the kitchen for Louise Utley to accommodate a free-standing stove.  Thank you, Jorge Ruiz, Hector Rubio, and David Dybala.  We worked 18 man hours and spent $118.90.  She wanted to pay us; but I refused because she doesn’t have enough money to buy a stove.  Read the story on our website. If anyone has a working electric free standing stove they want to get rid of; let me know. 
4. Mike Moloughney picked Jesse Ann Nobles from Union Station and drove her home – 2 man hours
5. Replaced a fence and built and installed a new gate for Karina Salazar.  Thank you to John Espree, Antonio Razo, and Jack Ramsden.  We worked 20 man hours and spent $168.76 on materials
6. Built a 15’ fence for Ernest Brewer. Thank you to Mario Luna, Jesse, Radillo, and Hector Rubio.  We worked 13 man-hours and spent $200.14 in materials.
7. Loaned out a wheelchair to Treasia Chaves – Thank you, Hector Rubio.  1 man hour.  We ran out of wheelchairs to loan; Jim Kowalski contacted Bill Weber and he agreed to give us three (3) new ones to loan out as needed.  We now have the three (3) wheelchairs in the gymnasium balcony. Thank you, Jim Kowalski.
8. Installed a dishwasher and replaced a non-working garbage disposal for Cynthia Salone Poole.  Thank you to Juan Luis Ramirez and his nephew Derek.  They worked 9 man hours and spent $193.48 in materials

We have now completed more than 500 Knight Hands projects since our first one in May of 2010.  We would like to commemorate this event with a well written story about Knight Hands to be published on our website, the Texas Catholic, Columbia magazine and possibly even the Dallas Morning News.  Writer, Jeff Miller, was recommended, and he has agreed to write the story after an interview with Allen soon. Allen said, “I’m not going to take away all of Jeff’s thunder; but I will say that during those 14 years, 106 Knights participated in Knight Hands projects and we worked approximately 6,910 man hours.  If you want to know how many times you participated, speak with Allen.  Congratulations Council 8157!  We currently have three (3) more projects in the pipeline.

Baseball Tournament

The season and all tournaments are now complete.  The concession stand is cleaned and winterized.  There is very little in stock – we sold out most of the stuff during the tournament on the 19^th and 20^th of October. During that tournament, 56 games were played on that Saturday and Sunday.  There is a story on our website that I would like all of you to read because it recognizes the 28 Knights and Knights’ wives  that worked at a feverish pace to keep up with the line at the concession stand.  In particular, I want to recognize Larry Balagna for pinch hitting for someone who couldn’t make their shift.  I want to thank Russell Leroy for just appearing without being scheduled to see if we needed help (and we did). A special thank you to Tony Almanza who worked two (2) consecutive shifts because the lines were very long, and he just wanted to help.  And thank you Vicki Tovar (Robert’s wife) for being a terrific snow cone maker.  That in no way minimizes the contribution of the other 24 Knights and Knights’ wives who worked during the tournament.  Thank you all and for your gigantic efforts I can report that we had gross receipt of $9,889.03 for the October 19^th and 20^th tournament. For the entire Fall Baseball Season, our total gross sales were $16,820.14 and after all expenses, we banked $10,134.91.  Way to go Council 8157! 

Thanks to all the Knights and family members who helped with the Baseball Tournament: Robert and Vickie Tovar, Frank Salazar, John Espree, Keith and Mary Archer, Steve Zehnder, Barry Barksdale, Moises Martinez, Jesse Zuniga, Juan Gomez and his 2 sons,  (José and Damien,), Paul Ryan, Robert Nieto, Trevor Edwards, Peter Perta, Larry Balanga, Marc Evans, Tony Almanza, Miguel Hernandez and his son, Benjamin Hernandez, Russell Gulley, Russell Leroy, Mario Luna, John Owen, and Allen Reitmeier

Church Activities – SK David Ybarra – October 20^th Parish Breakfast.  Our last Parish Breakfast for this year will be on Sunday, December 1^st.  This will be the last breakfast for 2024. Special thanks to the Knights who showed up and helped. This includes John Espree, Lou Lemons, Efrain Ochoa, Jesus Medina, Frank Salazar, Mario Luna, Jose Montoya, Barry Barksdale, Jim Kowalski, Mike Fitzgerald, John Owen, Jack Ramsden, and Russell Leroy.

Faith – Marc Evans – The Bible study on “Jesus and the Eucharist” -7 attendees (all Knights) were able to attend the first Bible study group on Saturday at 6 a.m. The next Bible study meeting will actually be the Knight fellowship meeting on 11/09/2024. The next actual Bible study will be on 11/23/2024. Please invite other men from the parish to attend.

Family – José Montoya –No report as José is travelling.

Community – Dan Murphy is having a Veteran’s Dinner honoring our veterans. Dan will be the Master of Ceremonies. This event was last done in 2014 so we are bringing this event back to Holy Spirit Parish. The spaghetti dinner will take place after the 5 p.m. Mass on Saturday, 11/09/2024 The Catholic Daughter’s of America are sponsoring this event. The dinner is free for the veterans and their spouses. The dinner is $5 for all others.

Life  – In Mike Moloughney’s absence, Mike Fitzgerald led us in praying three (3) Hail Marys to end abortions.

Those Hail Marys were for:

1. First Hail Mary – for the Unborn
2. Second Hail Mary – for the moms of those unborn babies – that they allow their babies to be born.
3. Third Hail Mary – for those in the abortion industry that they turn away from evil and seek the face of God.

Admissions Committee – SK Jim Russell  The Admissions Committee met with a total of 3 potential candidates. Two candidates are Zac Cazares and Eleazar Suarez.  Tonight, we interviewed Morris Curley. He is single and new to the Parish. The Admissions Committee recommended these three (3) gentlemen to be approved for membership. A motion was made, seconded, and the motion passed.

Awareness Committee – Vacant

Council Activities – Vacant

Health Director – Dr. Robert Nieto – No report

Recruitment – SK Jim Kowalski -Jim said if you have invited someone and they completed a Form 100 but they never got to meet with the Admissions Committee, please call them. Father Christian has now formally joined our Council!  Special Olympics will take place on Friday, November 8^th from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Retention – SK Paul Ryan

Safe Environment – SK Russel Leroy -discussed earlier in meeting

Unfinished Business 

None

New Business 

Happy Birthday to Robby Zablan who turned fifty (50) today!

District Deputy –SK Kebran Alexander -absent

Field Agent –Eben Fernandez -absent

Good of the Order:

            Knight of the Month- Jim Ouimet (October)

            Family of the Month- Frank and Lourdes Salazar (September)

Prayer Requests – Let’s pray for Noe Garza, Raymond Ortiz, and for our First Responders and our military

Closing Prayer

Closing Ode

50/50 Meeting Drawing – #6837 Doug Karpan

50/50 Membership Drawing – $273 Nelson Zavala  -not present

Meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.