Brother Knights,

     On March 10th, our knights marched with pride in the Northland Snake Saturday parade.  Our Council was led by St. Patrick himself (Tom Maschler), a strong 4th Degree Honor Guard contingent, 3 motorcycles, our banner, the Santa Maria (towed by Joe Robertson) and the "Tootsie Roll" walking Knights.  A big thank you goes out to Fred O'Halloran for organizing our participation in this event.

     A few reminders:

• If you are a bingo worker and cannot work on your teams assigned night, please find a substitute
• The bingo blue team still needs workers
• Please keep our hall clean.  Be responsible.  Take some time before leaving the hall to make sure it's neat and clean (floor, kitchen, trash, personal items, etc.).  Let's adhere to the old saying "leave it better than you found it".
• April 3rd - 1st Degree 7:00 PM

    General meeting 8:00 PM

     March 2012 Knight Of The Month - Dan Brink

Take Care and God Bless,

ACTIVE MEMBERS ARE OUR LIFEBLOOD

I write this article one day after participating in the second and third degree exemplifications at Good Shepherd Parish in Smithville. Congratulations go out to five members of our council who completed their degrees and are now full members in our order. The five are: Michael Cash, William Cowper, John Emley, John Hiatt and Andrew Quintero.

Two of these gentlemen were initiated into the knights just last month. Along with John Hiatt and Andrew Quintero we also had Ronald Cash take his first degree on March 6th. We welcome all of our new members and hope they will take the bull by the horns and be active in the council.

Our council is in a good position to be very strong and a force for good in our community and parishes therefore new and active members are our lifeblood. That is why membership recruitment is so very important. We must keep the vision and the dream of the Venerable Fr. Michael J. McGivney alive.

There will be first degree on April 3rd starting at 7 PM at our council why not come early and observe the first degree.

Snake Saturday Parade was a great success.  We had good support from Council members and Honor Guard.  Our St. Patrick (Tom Maschler) was interviewed by Channel 4 News and aired over the weekend. For the second year in a row we won a $100 prize so again thank you to all of the Knights who participated.  During the parade we honored Harry Baker for all of his years of work with the Knights and specifically with his dedication to the Snake Saturday Parade.  Below is the PR release read at the parade. 

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 The Knights of Columbus Council 3414

The Knights of Columbus is an organization of Catholic men serving their parishes, local communities as well as national causes.  They were founded by a young priest in Connecticut in 1882.  From these humble beginnings, the Knights have grown to a membership of over 1.8 million strong in 14,000 local councils throughout North America, Guatemala, Philippines, the Caribbean and Poland.   As an organization, the Knights raise and donate over a $150 million a year to many charitable causes.  The Knights perform over 70 million volunteer service hours a year.   Sixty percent of the contributions go for projects at the community level, many involving youth activities.  Some of the better known charities are:  Special Olympics, the Global Wheelchair Mission, Habitat for Humanity, Food for Families and Coats for Kids.  Locally the Knights support several food pantries, conduct the annual Ident-a-Kid program during the Gladfest festival, award scholarships to high school and college students, sponsor kid's athletic competitions and conduct the Tootsie Roll campaign benefitting  people with Intellectual Disabilities.   The Knights of Columbus principles are: Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism "The Knights want to dedicate their entry to the memory of Harry Baker.  Harry was not only an integral part of the Snake Saturday Parade, but he was a long time member of the Knights Council 3414, a 4th degree knight, and a former grand knight."

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Some people believe that ethics in business is a contradiction in terms. They think that in order to be profitable, a company and its leaders must abandon morality and embrace the dark, greedy side of capitalism.

At the Knights of Columbus, we know this business model is incorrect. As a Catholic organization, we understand the value and importance of our core beliefs and the original mission of Father Michael J. McGivney. In fact, much of the strength and financial security we provide to members and their families can be attributed to our ethical, moral standards.

These standards are visible throughout the Order, from our fraternal programs and support of the Church and its teaching to the investment strategy of our assets.

"What sets us apart is what Standard & Poor's refers to as the 'very conservative' approach we take in managing our $16 billion in assets," said Supreme Knights Carl A. Anderson in his 2010 address at the Supreme Convention. "We place 'a very high value on the society's reputation'."

This means carefully planning when it comes time to invest. Our professional staff researches all transactions to insure that they fall in line with Catholic values. If a transaction makes them uncomfortable, they don't make it.

"We exclude any company engaged in activity that conflicts with Catholic moral teaching: companies directly involved in abortion, contraception, human cloning, embryonic stem cell research, for-profit health care that pays for any of these, or pornography," said the Supreme Knight. "There are many companies in the pharmaceutical and communications industries that would undoubtedly provide excellent returns for us, but which are not in our portfolio because they engage in research and development or programming in ways that violate the sanctity or dignity of human life."

In the end, the Knights of Columbus investment strategy is motivated by morality and not money-making. Yet, each year we remain profitable, increase our assets and stay dedicated to this vision that will keep the Order sound financially for generations to come.

"Faithful Catholics have choices when buying life insurance," said the Supreme Knight. "But they know that at the Knights of Columbus their policy is supplied by an insurer that shares their moral and ethical values and is guided in all of its investment and sales practices by those values."

To learn more about our products, contact me today.

March was an exciting month for the Ladies Auxiliary.  The corned beef and cabbage dinner on March 11 was a great success.  The meal was delicious.  On Saturday, March 24 the Auxiliary was host for the 4th Degree Exemplification Ladies Tea at the Airport Hilton.  The ladies enjoyed our speaker from Rachel House, the trivia game and cupcakes.  All are invited to our Taco Dinner May 6 at the Knights Hall.  Will have more information later.

Kathy Gaston

President