Council 9792 History*

Our council was chartered by the Supreme Council on April 28, 1988 and “given the rights to organize and maintain a Council of the Knights of Columbus.” Our first traditional installation was of our founding officers in July 1988.The council was chartered with fifty-four charter members. This was an astounding number given that most councils at that time were formed with forty or less members. So, Holy Family Council 9792 was off to a very strong start!  The official presentation of our charter took place later that fall. Below is the presentation of the charter by Immediate Past State Deputy Fred Elmgren to our founding Grand Knight Joseph Kedzierski. IPSD Fred Elmgren (deceased), was the State Deputy when our council was chartered. He was a member of council 631 in Savannah.

 

As stated above, our council was chartered with fifty-four members.    Our charter is proudly on display in Columbus Hall.  It was in July 23, 1989 that the installation of our second Grand Knight Lou Vargo took place. The photo of that installation conducted by DD Joe Kedzierski is below.  That’s right; Joe had been appointed District Deputy, the first of many from Council 9792. Serving as his Warden was Leo Sanders who later served as GK and DD.

Council 9792’s Second Installation of Officers

The Lenten Season brings to mind another enjoyable service project our council began the first year of our existence. It was the Pasta Dinner on “Fat Sunday” as some would call it. Joe and Mary Costa of “COSTA’S PASTA” had been sponsoring this event for five years. They supplied and prepared all the food and donated all the profits to Holy Family Parish.  On this, their sixth year, our council joined them and helped with the set-up of the hall, serving, cooking, clean-up and promotion. And through the years our wives got very involved in helping as well as this grew into an even bigger event. We worked with Joe and Mary and helped sponsor this event for 25 years.

In December 1988, the first year of our council, two major activities were planned. The first was a service project to honor our Parish seniors and the second was a Council Christmas Party.

“THE SENIOR CITIZENS APPRECIATION NIGHT” was a dinner held in the Parish Center on the second Saturday in December following the Vigil Mass. Members provided transportation for any senior in need. Since the council had no funds to pay for the food, members sponsored the seniors and paid for their meals. Dinner was prepared by our own member Chef Jack Holt. We served the seniors as waiters and our wives assisted us. With MC for the night Jim Gust and piano played by our member Nick Hernandez, we entertained and sang Christmas songs. The event was a big success and we had a lot of fun.

The following year, we continued the program and added some items of interest. The members dressed in tuxes or dark suits to look like waiters carrying towels over our arms as we waited on the tables. Our wives got more involved and added flair with prizes, flowers and surprises. For many years, this was an annual event to which the members, our wives and the seniors all looked forward. As the years went by, this event grew and was always a fun event.

During the first year of our council’s existence, we proudly served our church and community with many service programs. But as the Christmas Season passed and Lent approached, we still needed the fundraiser to support other charitable activities. “BINGO” was the big fundraiser conducted by most organizations back in 1989. However, a couple councils were conducting “CASINO NIGHT” with great success. That seemed to be worth a try for #9792. So, with our Pastors approval, Deputy Grand Knight Lou Vargo as Chairman, we set out on the biggest activity of our new council.

Plans called for 60 members to work the Casino Night set for April 22, 1989. That was just about the entire membership! There would be two shifts that night, (8 to 10 & 10 to 12). We planned to have 18 Blackjack tables, 2 Dice tables, 1 Roulette, 1 Chuck-A-Lug, and a Big Wheel. There was to be ticket & chip sales along with refreshment. Each member was asked to contribute a prize or request one from a local merchant.

We borrowed some equipment and purchased others for this event.. Practice sessions were scheduled and even though this was going to be a busy day and night with set up and event, everyone was excited and looking forward to a successful fundraiser and having fun. And that is exactly what happened. Over 150 high rollers showed up, the fund raiser was a success and we all had a GREAT time! The only question was, “WHEN” do we have the next one? We have since purchased all our equipment and made our own Dice tables. “Casino Nights” were our major fund raisers for several years!

Our council has continued to give our families, our church and our community the rich benefits of our four core principles of Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism. These principles guide our mission of faith-based service, providing aid to the needy, supporting the church, and fostering brotherhood among members. We have donated thousands of dollars to support the sanctity of life, families in need, Catholic education, seminarians support and many other charities and community projects. We have earned the coveted “Star Council” award a dozen times over the years and have provided the parish with help in many ways including providing Honor Guards for Confirmations, ushering at Masses, and setting up for events like our yearly parish picnic.

*Thanks to PSD John Brenner for composing this history of our council!