Brother Knights,

     The 2011-2012 Fraternal year will be ending soon, and our Council has been truly blessed.  I thank all our Brother Knights who have been active in or lead  our many charities or events.  Your time and efforts are greatly appreciated by your Brother Knights and all those lives you  have touched by your service.

      At our June General Meeting (June 5, 2012), we will be electing new officers for the 2013-2013 Fraternal year.  The installation of these new officers will take place July 17, 2012 at 7:00 PM at the Hall in place of our Business Meeting.  I thank these Knights for stepping up and taking these leadership roles.

     Our Council Chaplain, Fr. Ken Riley, will be starting a new assignment with in our Diocese.  We thank Fr. Ken for his service and support of our Council.  We wish him well in his new role as Judicial Vicar and Moderator of the Curia of the Kansas City-St Joseph Diocese.

     A Few Reminders:

• General Meeting 8:00 PM, June 5, 2012
• May Knight of the Month- Jim Buchanan
• Corporate Communion-St. Gabriel's   July 29,2012
• Re-Dedication Brunch - July 29, 2012 
• Council 3414 Officer Installation-@ the Hall   July 17,2012  7:00PM

Take Care and God Bless,

Mike O'Neil

Grand Knight

Final Degree for Fraternal Year

On June 5th we will exemplify the First Degree for the last time during the current fraternal year. We will conduct the degree at 7:00 PM on that evening and then our council meeting will follow at 8:00 PM. If you have any candidates be sure to have them arrive by 6:30 PM.

Our membership efforts this year have been somewhat hampered by the need to clean up our delinquent membership accounts. The suspension of any member because his dues have not been paid is an unfortunate situation but sometimes it just must be done. For every person we drop that adds one more to our quota to achieve the Fr. McGivney award for increase in membership numbers. Since it looks like we will have 15-20 members suspended this year the ability to get Star Council is not very promising. However, next year we should be ready to go like gangbusters.

Have you asked anyone lately to join the Knights? If so, thank you for keeping the dream alive, if not, why not?

Different life stages, changing needs

You may have a long-range expense for which you are saving, such as college for your children. You may be concerned about a comfortable, worry-free retirement. You may want to protect your ability to earn a living. You may wonder if needing costly long-term care will deplete your hard-earned assets. You want to have something to leave for your wife, children or grandchildren.

At some point you may have had all of these needs on your mind. Over time, these thoughts make way for others as your needs evolve, your finances change and you get older. What is important to you at age 20, may not be at 30, or 45, or 65. What is the best way to be prepared for these changes before they happen?

One of the easiest ways to be financially ready for changes that come with different life stages is to meet annually with your professional Knights of Columbus agent, and address the needs that his analysis uncovers. This can help you be ready to face the financial challenges and issues on the road ahead.  

During that annual visit, I'll take the time to review your needs, goals and budget. I'll update all beneficiaries on your policies and be sure your coverage meets your needs. I'll recommend a program of life insurance, long-term care, disability income insurance and guaranteed retirement products that will help you rest easy at night.

Whatever your needs, whatever your concerns, whatever your stage in life, I can help.

Contact me today to learn more.

June is here and summer has started with the kids out of school and the start of several summer vacations. The Auxiliary has started our summer with the election of new officers. They will be installed in July.

Our new officers are:

President - Sheila Van Keirsbilck

Vice President - Kathy Altenhofen

Secretary -Jean Diebold

Treasurer - Kathy Gaston

Sergeant of Arms - Carolyn Volker

We want to thank the past officers for all the time they dedicated to the Auxiliary.

***** Mark your Calendars for July 8th for our Summer Picnic/Ice Cream Social Dinner. It is an old time menu with Fried Chicken, Potato Salad, Baked Beans, Cole Slaw, and Corn on the Cobb, followed with Watermelon, Homemade Fruit Cobblers and Ice Cream. Happy Hour starts at 5:00 p.m. with Dinner at 6:00 p.m. The price is $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for children.

We would like to invite the wives of our new Knights to come and join our Auxiliary. We meet on the 3rd Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the Knights' Hall. We are planning to host a Recruitment Tea this summer to introduce ourselves and inform the wives of what we do and how we support the Knights. If you are interested to know more, call Sheila Van Keirsbilck (734-2382) or email: sheila_van@yahoo.com. We would love to hear from you!