Closing Out The Year…
The Knights were busy in December, helping spread the Christmas Cheer…
- The Annual “Keep Christ in Christmas” campaign with signage, reminding everyone to keep Christ in Christmas.
- Operation Santa Clause-Helped in collecting and distributing toys for children.
- We also assisted in the decorating of St. Elizabeth Parish, which included building the manger for the outdoor
Council Christmas Party
Was held Sat, Dec 15 at the Kimberton Golf Club. A good meal and good time was had by all. Entertainment was provided by “Frank Sinatra” (and he sounded very good). Unfourtunately, it seems like no one remembered to bring a camera… Thanks to Bob Hayes for hosting again this year.
Chance Of A Lifetime (COAL)
The annual COAL campaign ticket sales wrapped up successfully again this year thanks to Brother Jim Redding’s organization. The drawing is to be held Sat Dec 8.
Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Brother RJ Dawson, who organized the event for our council then shared some information and background on Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He also shared an amazing, personal story of the power of devotion, prayer, faith, and healing. We all left with packets for personal Enthronement in our homes. As RJ reminds us to remember the 11th Great Promise…”Those who propogate this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be effaced.”
If you missed the event, please see RJ for more information or visit The Enthronement Ministries Website.
Collection Drive for Birthright at our November Council Meeting
Brother Ray Williams organized a Collection Drive for Birthright at our November Council Meeting. Members brought in various items for 1 year olds (approx.), which were needed by Birthright of Chester County. Ray then delivered the items the following week to a very appreciative Birthright group.
Pro-Life 40 Days For Life
A nationwide Pro-Life effort was held recently, called “40 days for life”. Locally, the effort was centered at the Abortion Clinic known as West Chester Planned Parenthood. A peaceful, prayerful event, people were stationed outside the clinic continuously (24 hours a day, each of the 40 days) from Sep 26 through Nov 4. Knights were asked to take shifts of one hour or more over the duration of the 40 days. Brother Ron Murphy was actually there everyday in the wee hours of the morning, and he shared some reflections on his experiences:
Remembrances of 40 Days for Life
For those of you who participated in the 40 Days for Life I was known as the 1:30 guy. I signed up for all 40 days in the early morning hour knowing it would be an up and down journey. The event started with a kickoff Mass at St. Peter and Paul’s which was concelebrated by four priests. Afterwards we had an ecumenical service at Planned Parenthood in West Chester where we were greeted by the heavy metal thrash blaring out of the windows from the pro-choice apartment next door. The minister quipped:”Well they know we are here” and “Wow, a soundtrack from Hell”. We wouldn’t be deterred.
We met with thumbs-ups, honking horns, curses, blasphemies and the like. My first few days Bill Wohlegemuth, the vice-president of the Pro-Life Coalition of West Chester spent time with me during his three-hour shifts. Later on Jo Christof the president of said coalition stayed a little longer on her shift to pray with me on day 30. I was blessed one night to spend my whole hour conversing with Father Lee from St. Peter and Paul’s; I’ll never forget that night.
One of the first nights a girl driving a van with two gentlemen in the back puffing cigarettes stopped to inquire what was going on. She asked for literature which I immediately gave her. I thought she would throw it out the minute she started driving away but I followed her with my eyes for two blocks; there was no sign of trash thrown out the windows.
I was blessed to meet a lot of the fervent pro-lifers from the neighboring parishes. One morning a construction worker from Philly asked to pray with me before we got to know each other. Another night two gentlemen from Media spent three hours; but I was most impressed by the man from St. Andrew’s parish in Philadelphia who just exuded faith in the Lord. He was able to get the two next door neighbors– two girls totally pro-choice to have a dialogue and actually pray with us.
My most popular story which most of my friends have heard many times concerned an African American man stopping to ask what I was doing. He said he had just visited a paralyzed friend in the area and was driving back to Philadelphia on gas fumes. I offered him twenty dollars for gas immediately and he got out of his car impressed with such charity. We talked about God and religion for a half-hour before he confided his real name was Joshua. (Little did I know that at the Jericho March on the final day the Gospel concerning Joshua would be read.) I don’t think this was a scam, he was just drinking every word about God I could give him. When I went home that day I put my last five dollars into an instant lottery ticket which paid off 50 dollars. God paid me back more than two-fold.
One Saturday night I had come after visiting Padre Pio’s shrine. He is my favorite saint; while there I purchased a votive candle to St Therese de Lisieux. When I arrived at Planned Parenthood there were two girls huddled together I don’t know if it were because of the cold or out of fear. I told them about being at Padre Pio’s shrine and they were so startled; St. Pio was their favorite also. They were using Padre Pio rosary beads and we proceeded to tell all our favorite St. Pio mitacles and stories. Upon my lighting my votive candle to St. Therese the other girl said, “O my God, my name is Theresa”. I told them I thought coincidences were God’s fingerprints in my life.
On the Saturday night before Halloween, it was a very lively time. The two girl neighbors were accompanied by two gentlemen, one of whom held court with myself and Tom Holman of St. Agnes’s about cases of rape being acceptable reasons for abortion. One collegiate even went so far as to support abortion as a way to control the world population. But after the other gentleman finished partying he came back to me very abusively. He did however comment on my patience and commended me for standing up for my beliefs. He still left as pro-choice but we agreed that apathy was worst.
Along with those incredible happenings a few things put my faith to the test if I was doing the right thing being there in the face of the enemy. On Halloween Saturday a Grim Reaper walked by with no face and saying no words. How scary! Later a man drove up in an expensive car trying to put down his power window to talk to me. I thought he was a supporter. I told him he looked a lot like Wolfman Jack. Then with an evil glare he said I should not be at this place. I could just imagine this was the devil incarnate. At our midpoint celebration we participated at the recitation of the rosary (sponsored by America needs Fatima) at the West Chester Courthouse. We were totally drowned out initially by the war protesters with the revving of their motorcycle engines. On later evenings my pre-mentioned votive candle to St Theresa was spit out and finally smashed to bits. That was very disheartening. But during one of our meetings we were told to go see the movie “Bella”.
I was recharged after seeing this pro-life movie, a movie though that could stand on its own merits as a movie. The following day during our Jericho March marking our final day of the event a plane pulling a banner advertising “Bella” was seen overhead. Coincidence? I believe coincidences are God’s fingerprints in my life. I think you can see God wanted me to be there; just one of many involved in 89 locations in 33 states. –Ron Murphy
2007 Blood Drive
Springton Manor – Potato project
Family Picnic
Project Stake Pull
Chester County Cares Lunch
Great fun and smiles, door prizes and great food were to be had on Thursday June 14th the event date for Chester County Cares day in West Chester. A number of Knights of Columbus volunteers from our council # 13141 arrived early to supply superhuman, energy strength and wisdom in delivering and setting up tables and chairs for this annual fundraiser. If you’ve never taped a plastic table cloth to a six x 8 table this is a chance of a lifetime to experience hands on and use your creative skills to keep them down!
Food was supplied by our local Outback franchisee and several volunteers from the company dished out delicious crab cakes and baby back ribs and vegetables. No one left hungry! There were lots of beverages and desserts and everyone had a great time. There were also a lot of terrific door prizes to be had which included bicycles, and assorted baskets filled with all types of goodies. Surprisingly one of our Knights, Tony Elefante won a small two wheeler bicycle which would make any knight jealous to have! Tony is now off to the Manayunk races!! We wish you well Tony!!
The Chester County Cares program benefits local families within the county with food and a variety of human resources for those in need. We are proud to have had the opportunity to participate in this caring program and wish to thank all of those Knights and their families who made it for making it possible!
Parish Clothing Drive for Covenant House
Click here to see pictures!
Fourth Degree
- Pat Donoghue
- Denis Forrest
- Bill Shields
Postal Workers Food Drive for the Lord’s Pantry
The Postal Workers Food Drive (Sat, May 12th) for the Lord’s Pantry was a great success. The Knights were very well represented for both the first shift and the second shift. In fact Knights stayed for the clean up and were among the last to leave. Jan Leaf and all her co-workers at the Lord’s Pantry expressed their great thanks and appreciation to all the Brothers that were able to help out. They were really impressed with all the hard work put forth by the St Elizabeth Knights of Columbus.
You all did a great job! Thanks to BK John Magee for organizing our participation.
Here’s how the event worked: The Postal workers picked up donations from their customers. As each truck finished their routes, they dropped off all collections at the Lord’s Pantry. All donations were then checked for current dates (non-expired), then sorted by category. As the sort bins filled up they were weighed, and then taken to the storage area. All told, the final statistics are pretty amazing: Exton Postal workers collected 3,102 lbs of food + Downingtown Postal workers collected 8,773 lbs of food = Almost 6 Tons
Annual Golf Tournament
We want especially to thank those who sponsored holes for the event:
| P.J. Reilly Contracting | acac Fitness Center | |
| Immaculata University | Eagle Tavern & Inn | |
| Ruggiero & Company | Rodstar Productions | |
| Montesanno Bros. Catering | Casal Corp./ the UPS Store | |
| Eagle Hardware | Wake Technology Services Inc. | |
| Jerry & Eleanor Parsons | Ed Linaugh & family | |
| First National Bank of Chester County | Jamie Bilbow – Dave Bortner |
We also want to thank the donors of the prizes for the raffle:
| Kimberton Golf Club | Brickside Grille | |
| BK Elliot Rosado | Somerset Nursery | |
| BK John Batt | OnSite Management | |
| Home Depot | Larry Brooks | |
| Modell’s Sporting Goods | Acme Markets | |
| Croppers Markets | The Golf Zone | |
| Smaltz Harley Davidson | Guinardis Markets | |
| BK Jeff Ciardi /D’Ambrosios | Domino’s Pizza |
Special thanks to:
- Grand Knight Jim Smith for arranging for setting up the sports memorabilia from all the pro and semi pro teams.
- Joe Burns Beverage for the on course refreshments.
Next year’s outing is already in the works and we anticipate more golfers, more prizes and more fun. Until then, BK Skip Valentine Outing Chairman. Click here for pictures!
PA Association of Retarded Citizens (ARC) Collection
Beef and Beer Social
Held Sat, Apr 28 in the Parish Social Hall, it was a night of socializing, dancing, food and drink. This Parish event was well attended and everyone seemed to have good time. The Knights were glad to serve as bartenders for the evening.
Bus Trip to New Haven, CT
Communion Breakfast
The 2007 Council Basketball Free Throw
