This year our council had the privilege of sending two members of our council, Bill Bast and John Steffl, as alternates for the Grand Knight and Deputy Grand Knight. The following is the report prepared by John Steffl for our June Business Meeting and a few photos from the Armed Forces Day car show.
State Convention Report – John Steffl
“Bill Bast and I traveled to Augusta, GA on May 14th through May16th for the Knights of Columbus state convention. It was a wonderful event with a lot of activity.
I want to thank the council for allowing me to represent us as a delegate. I was honored and humbled to be in the presence of so many dedicated Knights who have done so much for the church, country, families, and the order. Attending mass on Saturday evening was wonderful. I could really feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in the room. It was one of those moments when you feel secure that God is in this world with us. It is hard to describe. I believe it comes from the fact that I was surrounded by hundreds of men and their wives who feel strongly about the values of the order. I got a real sense of how much good is done for charity by these men who are called the right arm of the church by the Pope.
Some important facts I got from the meeting that I bring to you:
-There are now over 14,000 Knights in the state of Georgia which is less than 10% of the men eligible to become Knights.
-A large percentage of men (over half) who sign a form 100 and don’t do a first degree within 30 days end up not joining the order.
-Columbian Charities raised over $125,000 this year. With some of that money they purchase 3 ultrasound machines for use in pregnancy resource centers in Georgia.
-Former State Deputy and past Grand Knight, John McGuire, presented a program where Christmas cards will be need to be sent to his son, a priest, in Ramstein air base in Germany. He needs 60,000 cards addressed to GI’s who will be there this Christmas. Hand made cards are better that purchased. It would be great if our council would be able to support this. Cards need to be sent well before Thanksgiving.
-Program awards for the state were announced. I feel that our council could have won at least one award. The key is filling out the submittal form and writing up a short, simple program activity description. Some of the programs that won were very worthy, others while worthy, could have been bested by our council.
-Camp Inspire is a program sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. It is a week long training camp for Special Olympics athletes. It will be held July 12-16th at Fort Yargo State park in Winder. I am planning to help for maybe a day or two. They need 15 Knights to volunteer for the camp. Contact Brother Tom Gruschow 770-570-9255 towegr@aol.com. This is a worthy cause. There was a silent auction at the convention to benefit the camp.
-It was noted that a very rich person, such as Bill Gates, could possibly match the money donated by the Knights of Columbus nationally but he could not match the millions of hours of service donated each year by the Knights.
Bill and I enjoyed a little sightseeing on Saturday. We took in a car show and saw a motorcycle jumping event. This was set up to honor veterans for Armed forces day. During the great dinner banquet Saturday night all veterans were honored by playing the song from each branch of the service.
Next year the convention will be held in Savannah, GA.”