Goal is to keep at least 1 years newsletters on this page
Current news letter
   May 2012 The Dixon Council 690 Newsletter is a monthly publication of 12 consecutive issues by the Knights of Columbus. 506 W. 3rd Street, Dixon, IL 61021 Website: www.kofc690.com Issue #5 GRAND KNIGHT’S MESSAGE: Brother Knights & Families, As May comes around on the calendar, the Annual Knights of Columbus Convention will be held, and Don Trent, myself, and several other Brother Knights will be representing our fine council. Please say a prayer for all of us and for a successful convention. Also, May is “Right to Life” month, so please remember all the unborn whom need our prayers and support. Remember the “Memorial Day Draw Down”. If every Knight buys a ticket and or sells one, we’ll have no trouble selling all 250 tickets available, which will lead to our biggest annual fundraising event. As always, I would like to extend my sincere “Thank You”, to all Brother Knights, families, and friends, who show our communities what the “Knights of Columbus” are all about. For these and all other events “Please come join us and bring a Brother Knight with you”. Remember, our website is an excellent source for up to date council news, so “Please check the K of C website often for information on these and other events, as well as other interesting links”. www.Kofc690.com Also, if you wish to receive your newsletter by email, please go to the website and let the webmaster know and he will be glad to accommodate you. Thank you and God Bless, Vivat Jesus! Tom Burkardt Church Corner with Fr. Mike A little more reflection and quiet… The Chinese word for “busy” is composed of two characters: “heart” and “killing.” When we make ourselves so busy that we are always rushing around trying to get this or that done or over with, we kill something vital in ourselves, and we smother the quiet wisdom of our heart. When we invest our work with judgment and impatience, always striving for speed and efficiency, we lose the capacity to appreciate the million quiet moments that may bring us peace, beauty and joy. As we seek salvation through our frantic productivity and accomplishments, we squander the teachings that may be present in this very moment, in the richness of this particular breath. In the Book of Ecclesiastes, there is a proverb: “Better one hand full of quiet than two hands full of striving after wind.” Unpracticed in the art of quiet, we hope to find our safety, our belonging and our acceptance by increasing our levels of accomplishment. But our frantic busyness actually makes us deaf to what is good, helpful, healthy and sacred, both in ourselves and in one another. God, according to the thirteenth-century mystic Mechtid of Magdeburg, is not only fatherly. God is also mother who lifts her loved children from the ground to her knee. What a wonderful image for all of us to ponder and linger with. Maybe, we can allow for some quiet and allow for our God to pick us up and let us rest on God’s knee and just be with God. If there is a need to share, do so quietly and peacefully. Maybe our heart needs this rest and our lives will be better for it. Fr. Mike CALENDAR OF EVENTS: **Sunday April 29th- Council 690 Corporate Communion Mass & World Day of Prayer: St. Patrick’s Church at the 8 am. Mass. Pews will be reserved up front. Please plan to attend and also the Breakfast afterward at the KC Hall, put on by Kathleen Knack and crew. Join in the fellowship. **Monday May 7th- Council 690 Business Meeting- Doors open at 6:30 pm. Meeting is at 7:30. Hear the reports from all the happenings in May. The annual elections will be held at this meeting. Please plan on attending and bring another Knight with you. **Monday May 14th- Home Association Meeting- Doors will open at 6:30 pm with meeting at 7:30. All are welcome. Bring a fellow Knight with you. Come and see our new roof and air conditioner. There may be even a few more additions. **Monday May 21st- Council 690 Scramble Supper- Doors open at 6:00 pm. Meal is at 6:30. Plan on attending and as always, bring a fellow Knight and family with you. Our speaker for that evening will be Cheryl Robinson from Sterling Public Schools. She will be speaking on Suicide Prevention. She will speak right after meal. This is a big problem for many, so come down and learn about this subject. **Saturday May 19th- Bonanza Drawing and Pork Chop Dinner- $8 will get you a 1 pork chop dinner; $10 will get a 2 pork chop dinner. It is sure to be second to none. The menu is Pork Chop, potato, salad, veggie and dessert. See how well our new grill cooks those chops. Bonanza Drawing will be at 8 pm. Please come down and support your Council 690. **Saturday May 19th- Council 690 Cemetery Clean-up Day: Volunteers please meet at the Cemetery at 8 am. See Foreman Pat Gorman to be assigned a job. If you have a trailer, please bring it to help haul branches and trimmings. Monday May 28th- Memorial Day and Council 690 Annual Drawdown- It’s Drawdown time again. We give away $7250 in prizes by selling 250 tickets. Tickets are $50 each We need to sell all 250 tickets. Plan now and start selling. Groups of people can split a ticket. News and Views: * Winner of the March 500 Bonanza drawing was Jim McCoy. Ticket sold by Jim McCoy. Door prize went to Nancy Cleary. Keep that book of tickets with you at all times. The Bonanza Raffle is in need of more ticket sellers. Whether it is 1 book or 20, it all goes to good cause. Please contact Tim Stover for tickets. Please continue to help to make this raffle even more successful. * Please all welcome our new Bishop Elect David J. Malloy. The announcement was made on March 20th by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano. * Council 690 is proud to announce that our roof is now complete and our new heater/ air conditioner is installed. We also have a new water heater. Add all this to a new grill and we sure have gotten a lot done. Thanks to Farley’s Appliance and Boss Roofing from Rock Falls. They did a great job. There will be more work done in the near future. Please watch and or come to next meetings for announcements. * Congratulations to Maggie Higgs and Jordan Saunders on the birth of Averee Unelle Saunders. She was born on March 20th. Averee is grand-Daughter of Peg (Patrick) Higgs and Great Grand-Daughter of Barb (Dave) Higgs. * Please pray for Ashlyn & George Whaley Sr., Ralph Contreras, Chuck & Bill Burkardt, Leo McGinnis, Austin & Betty Sensenig, Judy Mendel, Mary & Walt Fassler, Ken Clausen, George Gallant, Pat & Michael Schrauth, Rita Conroy, Laura & Barb Mahan, Ron Quirin, Chuck Mossey, Henry Dixon, Mitch Riley, Joe Wolf, Adam Devine, Ray Burian, Annie Norton, Darrell Robbins, Jerry Farley, Donna Sharkey, Sarah Schnake, Maggie Higgs, Charles Becker, Bishop Doran, Bishop O’Neil & all we may have not mentioned. Please also pray for repose of the Soul of Max Holter and the Souls of all the deceased Knights of Columbus & their widows. * Please check out our new website: www.kofc690.com * Bob Brophy recently made a $100 donation to the roof fund. Thank you for the donation. Happy May Birthdays: John Bailey Anthony Baratta Joseph Brady Joseph Bruenig Robert Brophy Mark Eykamp Dean Friel Peter Hermes Daniel Kutz Patrick Lessner Jason Nelson Joseph Sandschafer John Schulien Jeff Stauter Happy May Anniversaries: Paul & Jeanette Sereg Ken & Judy Mendel David & Julie Contreras Mike & Gayle McGrail Jim & Laura Schrock Dennis & Donna McCoy Jim & Jane Grove Sherwood & Mary Pat Dixon William & Sandy Kelly John & Diane Schoaf Jim & Marlene Quest Mark & Carol Applequist Jerry & Kay Farley Richard & Mary Ann Koenig Roger & Carla Hill Jim & Ann Coffey Keith & Christy Adams If we missed your birthday or anniversary, or if it is incorrect, please contact the Grand Knight with correct information. * Tony Cook would like to thank the 19 Knights that helped him with the Ken Nelson Sausage cooking. All went very well and Council 690 Home Association collected $400 for the hard work! * Don Trent has scheduled our Red Cross Blood Drive for Tuesday, December 18th, 2012 from 12:30-5:30 pm. Please plan out your giving to be able to give at the KC hall in December. *The Father Boland Assembly 4th Degree marched in the parade. 11 Sir Knights represent the 4th Degree. Thank you all. * Council #690 made the following donations at the last meeting: St. Anne’s-$1500, St. Mary’s-$1500, Food Pantry- $200, St. Vincent DePaul- $200, Loaves & Fishes- $200, Habitat For Humanity- $200 & Gianna’s House- $200 for a total of $4000. *Bill Burkardt has volunteered to again be the Chairman of the BBQ Raffle. This is a great possible fund-raiser for our Council as $10 of every book of 15 tickets, stays at the Council. Plus, you get a chance to win some good $ prizes. Please try hard to sell these tickets when you get them. If every member of 690 sells just 1 book, we could raise $3000. I cannot think of an easier way to raise this amount. Tickets will be coming soon. * Dick Koenig motioned at the last meeting to have a 50/50 drawing at all our meetings. The proceeds are to be held until end of year to make a payment to roof fund balance. The drawings are to continue until roof is paid off. Motion carried. * Starting at this year’s Draw-down, we will also be giving free soda to those who want it at the event. * There will be another Cemetery Clean-up this year. It is scheduled for May 19th at 8am. The rain date will be May 26th. We had a good turnout last year. A few more hands would surely be appreciated though. * Sir Knight David “Patrick” Gorman was recently honored as he received the “Greg Langan Award for Outstanding Local Historian”. Congratulations Patrick! * Congratulations to George Schneider as he is married on April 21st. Best wishes and Good Luck George! Thank our sponsors for support: Jones Funeral Home, Love’s Floor Covering, Sauk Valley Vendors, Oliver’s Food Pride, Loop Barber Shop, Dixon Metal Specialties, Drifter’s Saloon, Farley’s Appliances, Burke’s Irish Realty, Burkardt Gas, Slim n’ Hank’s Body Shop, Hammitt State Farm Insurance and Flowers Etc. * Our roof fund balance is currently at $3375 including the donation from Bob Brophy. If you would like to donate, please send to Knights of Columbus, PO. Box 90, Dixon Il. 61021. We will be putting a page on the website for hall rental information. It will have a calendar of events and rentals, as well as costs of bar-room and entire building and contact numbers. The Knights are trying to utilize the hall for more events. We have such a beautiful building and we offer a complete event experience, including bar, kitchen and event hall. Please help us and participate in the events we offer to you and the public. If you are interested in hall rentals or know someone that might be, please contact the Knights Hall at 288-1821 or Tim Stover at 288-2984. John Bailey’s Corner Dear Brother Knights, The following letter written by Br. Knight Mel Murphy, PSW ,PGK, regarding our wonderful hall building & was given to me 13 years ago. Today, as our Council commemorates and celebrates the 55th anniversary of it’s founding, I would like to share this Historical Information. Not all Councils have their own facility, or the means to maintain one, so that is why it is important for us to support our socials and or functions at the hall. Enjoy reading! Fraternally, John Bailey, FDD, PGK, PFN September 4, 1999 To all members of Knights of Columbus Dixon Council 690 This is a bit of history that was handed down to me from members that went on before and after I became a KC member in May 1939. A big house with a big front lawn was purchased on the corner of Madison Ave and 3rd Street by Dixon Council 690 in 1926. Interest bearing bonds were printed by Dixon National Bank from One thru One Hundred twelve and sold to the public with number 1 to 75 at $100 each and 76 to 112 for $50 each for a total of 9,350.00. This was the down payment on the house and the balance was mortgaged at Dixon National Bank in 1926. Three young members were issued enough KC insurance from Dixon National Bank as owner and Beneficiary to pay off the mortgage if any one would die .The Dixon Knights of Columbus Home Association, a separate corporation was established to pay the insurance premiums. It seemed like a sound idea but times were tough in the 30’s and the Dixon Council members could not pay the premiums on those policies and could not continue to pay interest on the building bonds held by different individuals and all seemed to be lost. In time the insurance policies were surrendered for their cash value to pay off the mortgage at Dixon National Bank. The Building Bonds issued by Dixon National Bank were declared obsolete because the Association had defaulted on the interest payments to the bank. Now the building bonds became the only lean the bank had for security as First Mortgage on the KC Property. In 1956 a drive was started by the present members to convince the people who were in possession of these outstanding obsolete KC Building bonds that were declared by the courts to have no value only to the bank. Dixon National Bank needed the KC bonds to be turned in and canceled for a clear title. Some bond holders turned their Bonds in to the bank to be canceled to help out the Knights of Columbus. Many members bought some of the outstanding bonds that were in the hands of people who wanted any amount to turn them in to the KC. Many of the bonds were lost or stolen and could not be accounted for. Yet it was not enough for the KC Home Association to get a clear title. President Henry Lovett of Dixon National Bank would give the KC a clear title to the KC property if 5 members, John Slain, Paul Green, Jim Corken, Joe Murphy and Mel Murphy, would pledge their homes for extra security because the Knights of Columbus were not in the position to pay off the outstanding building bonds issued in 1926. Their homes became the extra security until the KC Home Association became solvent enough by leasing the front lawn to the Standard Oil Company for a gas station with a bankable lease. In time, the Dixon Council Knights of Columbus 690 raised enough money to buy a bank cash bond to protect the five members interest in the KC property. The bank released the five members from the obligation for the title of the new building. Then the bank cash bond was turned over to the Financial Secretary of KC Council 690. Fraternally yours respectfully, Mel Murphy- Past Grand Knight 1943-1944 Knights of Columbus # 690 Memorial Day Draw-down May 28th, 2012 Doors open at 2pm. The drawing starts at 3pm. Only 250 tickets will be sold with 52 winning tickets. Tickets are $50 each. To get a ticket, call Gary at 994-1368 or Tim at 288-2984 or call the Knights Hall and leave message. Lunch will be served: Hot Dogs, Brats, chips, Pop and keg beer.  |