The History of Council 7406

St. Therese Council 7406 was formed in 1979 in Mooresville, NC. There were 30 charter members :

Thirty men and their wives, headed by Mike Sabella gathered at the Mooresville Country Club to celebrate the first installation of officers. Since then over 20 years have passed and members have come and gone, but St. Therese Council 7406 is alive and stronger than ever.

There are too many projects, fund raisers and social functions to name individually, however let us take a trip down memory lane and recall a few warm memories.

The first meetings of Council 7406 were held in the CCD building located next to the Church on Main Street. The floors creaked as you passed from room to room, but nevertheless, it was home. This was also the place that more than one Communion Breakfast took place after the 9:00 AM Mass. There were two ovens, but most of the cooking had to be done on a grill outside the back door in the parking lot due to old wiring in the building. One thing not taken into consideration in the Autumn were the falling leaves that always seems to find their way to the grill. Half the battle was diverting their path as they fell.

A project that kept the Knights busy was Friday night Bingo. This started in the old State Theater that was located downtown on Main Street. You actually had to walk through a T-shirt shop to get to the bingo tables. John Swedenberg graciously allowed us to use the building. This was the only bingo hall that had a slanted floor and a roof that leaked, but it was a start.

Soon afterwards, the Knights moved a little farther north on Main Street and rented a building that became known as the "Bingo Hall". This was the place that housed not only bingo, but wedding receptions, Super Bowl parties, and the annual children's Christmas party which is a tradition at St. Therese that still lives today. With the help of several dedicated Knights and spouses, Bingo earned a handsome sum and enabled Council 7406 to make a healthy contribution toward the building of the existing St. Therese on Brawley School Road.

Our council never had trouble having social events. It started with poker nights in the old CCD building and continued to Ladies night out at a variety of restaurants in the area including the original Western Steer on Highway 150. There were parties at the VFW on Highway 801, cookouts and pool parties at member's houses and dances including ringing in 1980 with a New Years Eve party at the Mooresville Country Club.

Along with all the fun at social activities, one of our strong suits was raising money for charity. Operation LAMB has grown from a few members handing out Tootsie Rolls at grocery stores, high school football games, and the ABC store, to a colossal effort at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, several grocery stores and more locations. Last year over $12,000.00 was raised for the mentally and physically challenged in our community.

Our largest fund raiser to date took place at the Charlotte Motor Speedway this past May, when we drove shuttle buses for race fans. We raised over $6,000.00 in a two week period.

One year an idea was spurred to set up a hot dog stand during a downtown festival. This was a grand idea. With enthusiasm Knights gathered to cook and serve hot dogs and soft drinks. Father Novotny made a batch of his famous flame thrower chili and we were ready to serve the masses. One problem, the masses must have forgotten how to get to downtown Mooresville. As we cooked pack after pack of hot dogs and hear the words that still ring in the air around any Knight's function that involves cooking, TOO MORE PACKS!." we discovered that we were alone for the most part enjoying chili dogs and a few laughs.

The Knights have a great rapport with the altar servers and have taken several groups to the old "Crocket Park" in Charlotte for an O's game. The Charlotte Hornets were also the target of altar server outings sponsored by the Knights. We must mention at this point that very few children were lost during outings. We must pat ourselves on the back for an exceptionally high return rate.

When our parish was ready to move into our present home, the Knights were there to lend several hands. Preparing the grounds for the dedication, erecting the cross on top of the church, working to paint the new rectory, building the playground and funding the equipment, building a walkway to the building, and having the 4th degree preside in full regalia were just a few of the projects that surrounded the new church.

Council 7406 has had numerous St. Patrick's Day parties in the new church. The annual "Fish Fry" around Easter has also become a tradition. One especially memorable fish fry was the one when the cookers caught fire in the barbecue pit. Bob Groshan, one of our retired fire chiefs calmly walked into the kitchen and announced, "We have a fire." At his insistence, we ran out and put out the fire. We then repaired one of the cookers and prepared fish for everyone who was there. We are proud to report that there have been no fires at our fish fry in at least three years.

Other activities and functions include award winning blood drives, headed by Chuck Spanhaurer, cooking for the parish picnic and recognizing the altar servers.

This is a council that has amassed many awards in its history. In our participation of the K of C bowling tournament, we were awarded the "Hands Award". To this day, we have no idea how we achieved such a prestigious award...or what it is for.

We were the council of the year for the State of North Carolina in 1989. I'm sure Father Michael J. McGiveny is looking down from heaven along with the deceased members of our council with smiles and pride. We have come a long way from the days of the old CCD building until now.

GRAND KNIGHTS OF COUNCIL 7406