I just want to make you aware that the council received the Intellectual drive check form the State Treasurer on Monday of this week for $4080 which will be presented to Madison City Schools on Monday December 12.

Also, Tom Hart and I delivered a $100 check to the US Marine’s Toy for Tots campaign yesterday.

Please remember that dues are now being collected and if you have not paid please do so now. As always if you are experiencing a financial or medical problem please let me know and we can waive your dues for the year.

Fraternally,

Danny Garcia
Grand Knight
St. John the Baptist Council No. 10232

What:  Council supporting the Huntsville Galaxy of Lights event at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens.  This has become a annual event for the council and it is  a lot of fun.

When:  Friday December 16^th

Time:  4:30pm  please be prompt!

Where to meet:  Entry to the event will occur through the Garden’s main entry gate located off Bob Wallace and just past the elementary school.  You will enter though this gate and upon reaching the road leading to the gift shop you will bear right and park.  We will be meeting in the education building located to the right of the gift shop.

What to bring:  Please be weather alert!  The event goes on rains or shine so please dress appropriately.  Please bring a dish to share with the rest of the brothers.  The council will provide fried chicken and a couple of sides.

What will we be doing:  We will be doing such tasks as traffic control, collecting entry fees from the cars entering the event, collecting food bags from those bringing them, counting money, eating, etc.

How many volunteers do we need:  We need at least 20 brothers to show up to help.  In order to have enough folks to rotate through the jobs so that everyone can get a turn doing a little bit of most of the jobs.

Please RSVP with you willingness to help!

Fraternally,

Danny Garcia
Grand Knight
St. John the Baptist Council No. 10232

We will be needing your help this coming Saturday morning beginning at 8am in order to take care of the lights in the Church Sanctuary. We will be using a lift this year which will hopefully make the task easier and safer to accomplish.

Please meet in the Church Sanctuary on Saturday morning December 10th at 8:00am. We need approximately 10-12 men to show up to help with this activity.

Fraternally,

Danny Garcia
Grand Knight
St. John the Baptist Council No. 10232

No doubt that by now you know that the council has made a serious commitment to support the 1st Saturday Mass and Devotion in the parish chapel and we have kept that commitment for the last 19 months. Some of you may remember that several years ago I implored the council to untie the mooring lines and set sail for deeper waters, leaving the safety of port behind. Doing so demands faith. It takes faith to live the unique association that we share as members of the Knights of Columbus.

Being a member of the Knights of Columbus is more than just camaraderie; it is being involved with your community; it is supporting your local Catholic Church, while enhancing your own faith. To do all these things well we must be men of faith. Take a lesson from the episode in which St. Peter gets out of the boat and walked on water to Christ. As long as he kept his eyes on Christ, he was doing fine. The winds, the terrible storm that was raging, and the darkness did not bother him. But the moment he got distracted, and turned his gaze from the Lord he begins to sink. Let us not resign ourselves to remain absent or non-committal when it comes to our faith.

To see men well grounded in their faith is an awesome thing and can have a profound impact on how we see the world. I encourage all of you to open yourselves to this opportunity by attending the 1st Saturday Devotion this coming Saturday December 3rd with Mass beginning at 8:30am in the parish chapel, which will be followed by an hour of meditation before the Blessed Sacrament and at 10:00am we will meet in the choir room for our Male Spirituality discussion.

We will finish our discussion on how the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous parallels the spiritual journey. We had great discussion last time and if you missed that session, it is set up so you can step right in this time.

Thanks again for your continued support, with a little effort we could fill the chapel to overflowing!

Fraternally,

Danny Garcia
Grand Knight
St. John the Baptist Council No. 10232

I would like to take this opportunity to inform you of the council’s Intellectual Disabilities Drive results for this year. Our current (as of today) balance in the ID account is $5157.71. We will send $5100.00 to the state in the next few days of which $4080.00 will be distributed to the Madison City Schools for use in their special needs programs. We managed to raise $1100 more this year versus last year.

I would like to personally thank you for assisting with the drive this year. I know that several of you worked more than one 2 hour shift and your contribution did not go without notice. I also want to thank Brother Richard Weber ID drive who worked to coordinate this event for the council. Our site captains who deserve much praise and thanks for making sure that our sites were constantly manned during the drive weekend Krogers – Paul Dube, Walmart – Gerald Kaney, Dollar General – James Cook, Staples – Pat Kallus, Star Market – Richard Weber. Very special thanks also go out to Maria Kilgore with Madison City Schools, and all of the teachers and students that assisted with the drive. We could not have done this without your help.

Again, thanks again for all the support that you provide to our council and our community.

Sincerely,

Danny Garcia
Grand Knight
St. John the Baptist Council No. 10232

I want to extend my best wishes for a happy Thanksgiving to the entire Council 10232 family.

This is a uniquely American holiday of gathering together to give thanks for our personal and collective blessings. Thanksgiving gives us the time to stop and reflect about what is really important to us in this life; just how precious and fragile it is, and to not waste what time we are given with the special people in our lives. For myself, as I am sure it is with you, it is the gift of family and friends that are the true riches in my life.

Whether you have planned a grand feast surrounded by friends and family, an intimate candlelight dinner for two, or a simple frozen dinner or takeout, it is not really the food, but rather who we share it with that counts most of all, and to me, this is the true value and meaning of Thanksgiving. I give thanks for you all of you, friends and close loved ones. You have touched my life in many ways and I consider myself a very wealthy individual for this.

Please remember our men and women who are serving our country and can’t be with their loved ones this year.

Have a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday!

Sincerely,
Danny Garcia
Grand Knight
St. John the Baptist Council No. 10232

WHAT: Council selling magnet this weekend after all Masses.

WHEN: This weekend November 19 and 20.

How Many Men Needed: Minimum of 3 men for each Mass.

Thanks for all your support.

Danny Garcia
Grand Knight
St. John the Baptist Council No. 10232