Brothers:

I want to thank all of you that have been so instrumental in the success of our council.  In fact our council is probably one of the most active in the State of North Carolina.  There are many Brother Knights that work almost every event and others that help when they can.  I know there are other Brother Knights who would like to get involved but don’t know how to get started or who to contact.  Please give me a call — we can discuss what you enjoy doing and then get you involved in an appropriate event.  My home telephone number is (704) 663-6454.

I will leave you with this thought from Winston Churchill, "All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word.  Freedom, Justice, Honor, duty, Mercy, hope".

I wish all of you a very Christ-filled Christmas and a Happy New Year.

May God bless you and your families.

Brother in Christ,
Gary Tadvick, GK

As we prepare ourselves for Christmas, please remember the only reason we have this festive Season. It is His birthday, the beginning of His life that will free us from the penalties of Original Sin. When sending out your Christmas cards, greeting friends, neighbors and strangers, express yourselves with "Merry Christmas" not "happy holidays". Keep the Christmas spirit alive and well by using the word "Christmas" in all your greetings, spoken or written.

From your Council officers and all who devote time and energy to our Council, best wishes for a wonderful, happy and Blessed Christmas and may your New Year be filled with His blessings

GK Tadvick announced that Chris Baker and his family were chosen as the Family of the Month for their work in LAMB, the Pumpkin Patch and just about every other activity our Council has. In all of our programs, Chris was joined by his family, helping all of our programs achieve success. Mark Daly was given the Knight of the Month award primarily for his work as director of LAMB.

A First Degree has been planned for January 14. If you have any potential membership candidates, please have them complete their form 100 and submit the completed forms to Sir Matthew Reilly as soon as possible.

Brother Reilly has noted that the membership drive continues. He has asked all Knights to do their utmost to bring more men into the Council. For those who were given contacts to call, he has asked that each person be called and a report sent to him, once again, as soon as possible.

There was a discussion of making a concerted effort to contact the Hispanic men in the parish concerning membership. The possibility of some current members attending the Spanish Mass on Sunday afternoon and talking with these prospective members was met with a positive reaction. Brother Stewart McLamb is in charge of putting together the effort.

Sir Stewart McLamb reported that the village of Bethlehem is rising at the Brawley Mansion, getting ready for those who will walk through the village on December 8, 9 and 10. Help is still needed to assist in the construction and if you can spare some time, call Brother Stewart. Hammers, saws and just a little knowledge is needed as we join with eight other churches in building this special Christmas project in an effort to "Bring Christ Back Into Christmas. If you can help, especially on the days of the "walk-through", give Stewart a call.(704/662-0140 (Work) or 704/902-5456 (home). You can also contact him at stewartm@corencorp.com.

Brother Chris Baker reports that the Pumpkin Patch final number came in at $1,601 and that includes $180 in "pie profit". A number of Knights helped make the overall pumpkin project successful this year, from unloading the pumpkins to cleaning and selling them. A big help came from the Faith Formation group in selling the pumpkins and carrying them to the buyers’ cars.

After the pumpkin sale, Brother McLamb and his merry bakers made 62 pies and sold them after Masses the weekend of November 17-18. The chef hat award goes to Stewart and the Knights who helped bake. The making of the pies was from "scratch" — cutting up the left-over pumpkins, separating out the seeds and rind, cooking and flavoring the "meat" in addition to the baking and selling.

On Tuesday, December 10, our usual meeting will be replaced by an Advent Meditation Service in the church, starting at 7:30. Following the service, our Council will host a reception in the PLC for all those who attend the service. To make this successful, we need your attendance and ask that you bring an appetizer or dessert. If your last name starts with the letters A-M, please bring an appetizer to share. N-Z families are asked to bring a dessert. Also, wear your name-tag and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a form 100 in your pocket.

Sir Ed Kane, our insurance representative and former GK, modeled his new Council shirt during the business meeting on November 27. The shirt is from the possible new supplier of shirts, hats and jackets. Ed looked great in his $23 maroon shirt with yellow lettering and the KofC emblem embroidered on the shirt’s left breast. Ed will ask the supplier to return to one of our future meetings so she can take orders from other Knights who want to "wear the colors".