We are men who lead, serve, protect and defend, whether we are giving out Coats for Kids, donating wheelchairs, lending a helping hand in disaster relief efforts, supporting local pregnancy centers or providing top-quality financial products.
On Saturday July 26, 2025, Joe Eubank and Phil Holifield noticed Yvette Gonzales, her husband (Ray), his brother and nephew trimming trees between the church and the Community Center. Of course they jumped right in and worked for about 3 ½ hour each. However, not all the trees on the church grounds were completed on that Saturday; so on Saturday, August 2, 2025, seven Knights pitched in and trimmed the rest of the trees on the church grounds as requested by Yvette. There would have been eight but Jose Valles (a first time Knight Hand) was called away at the last minute. However, Jack Ramsden arrived to sub for Jose. Mike Fitzgerald was the heavy lifter as he operated the extended pole saw – (on loan to us from David Dybala). Hector Rubio also manned a smaller pole saw; but both of them were soaked with sweat.
We ended up trimming 6 trees. Efrain Ochoa and Moises Martinez cut the felled branches into manageable pieces and even salvaged some of the larger pieces for starter wood for the Knight’s smoker.
Of course, all these cut up branches had to loaded onto a truck and deposited in a central location (next to the church dumpster) where Republic Services will pick them up. Eduardo Torres (first time Knight Hand), Jack Ramsden, and Mike Moloughney (also a first time Knight Hand) handled that job. They loaded and unloaded as least a dozen truck loads of branches. Everybody worked together beautifully. It was really hot, so water and Gatorade breaks were plentiful. Fr. Uche stopped by a couple time to give us moral support and gave us a picture opportunity and a much needed break. We finish the job around noon (we started at 8am) and everyone was pretty well exhausted. A little clean-up at the end and the job was done. What a wonderful experience it was to be involved with such a great group of Knights. Thank you everyone.
