The Lake Current - June 2019

Welcome to the June 2019 edition of our monthly newsletter! H ere's a couple of quick notices before we get into the news: Our regular monthly business meeting is this Wednesday, June 12th, starting at 7:30 p.m. We will be holding our annual elections for Council officers and the Corporation Board of Directors. As usual, dinner starts around 6:30 p.m. (There are rumors of filet mignon and other delights saved from the Golf Outing!) There are many activities to plan for and important business news to share with the membership, so all members should attend! Make sure you read all the way to the end, because we've included two flyers for upcoming events by local groups that are well worth your support. First up is the Driscoll Lodge FOP Pig Roast & Clam Bake, which is this Saturday (6/15) at the Brewster Elks. Then there is the Brewster Youth Football Golf Outing on Monday, June 24th. All the info is on the flyers, so check them out and please support these fine (and fun!) events.

Dunkel, St. James Priests Recognized at Founders Day BBQ It was a glorious summer evening as founding member George Dunkel, two St. James priests and a deacon, and several long-time Council members were recognized at our Fifth Annual Founders' Day BBQ & Trongone Award Ceremony on May 24th.

After a great barbecue meal featuring a pig roast, clams, steak, chicken, and traditional favorites from the grill, Worthy Grand Knight Steve Gheduzzi conducted our awards ceremony. George Dunkel was presented with our Trongone Award, named in honor of founding Grand Knight Angelo R. Trongone and featuring a bust of Christopher Columbus. George is a 60-year member who helped found our Council in 1971, and served as the first President of our Home Corporation, 6318 Associates. He is pictured above holding the Trongone Award while being presented with a proclamation for his service from Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell and Putnam County Legislator Carl Albano , also a member of our Council. George also received a proclamation from the New York State Assembly presented by Assemblyman Kevin Byrne , as well his 60-year membership pin. In addition to the Trongone Award, we presented Fr. Szymon Kurpios with a crystal KofC "Award of Appreciation." This is in recognition of his tremendous support of our Council during his service as Parochial Vicar at St. James Parish. Fr. Szymon has been informed that he is going to be reassigned by the Archdiocese, and we are going to miss him greatly!

We also presented a beautiful plaque bearing the Emblem of the Order and the American Flag to Fr. Adolphus Muoghalu , who left St. James parish on May 31st to enter active duty with the United States Army at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, as a Brigade Chaplain. Fr. Adolphus was thanked for his service to our parish and our country, and for his always cheerful presence at our Council events. He too will be greatly missed!

Our awards ceremony also recognized several members for long-term service with special anniversary membership pins. Not all were able to attend, but all will receive their pins. A 40-year pin will be presented to our long-time Financial Secretary Kevin McGuckian , and 30-year pins were awarded to Treasurer Joe Groneman , Arthur Kiernan , Russ Lavan , and PGK/FDD Charlie Grimmer (pictured with GK Steve). A special plaque will also be presented at a future date to Deacon Jerry Cartwright for his over 30 years of devoted service to St. James Parish.

Thanks to all of our members who shopped, prepped, cooked, served, and cleaned up to make this our best barbecue in recent memory. And thanks to all who showed up to enjoy it and celebrate with our members and guests who were honored for their contributions to our Council and our parish. Enjoy some pictures from the evening below, courtesy of resident photographer Harry Gorman . The first picture below shows six Past Grand Knights of our Council (l. to. r. Mike McDonald, Rob Firriolo, Bobby Palazzo, Charile Grimmer, Joe Sinisi, and John Adams) who joined our current Worthy Grand Knight (c.) in honoring George Dunkel (seated).

Council Golf Outing A Hole-in-One! It was another great day for Putnam's golfers and our Council last Friday, June 7th, as we held our our annual George Dean Memorial Golf Outing ! Putnam County Golf Course was in fantastic shape, and the golfers enjoyed a spectacular day on the links that included golfer swag, a delicious lunch, a beverage cart, and lots of friendly competition and fun.

After shooting a great round (some greater than others), our golfers came back to the Council for appetizers, cocktails, a full filet mignon dinner and dessert, followed by an awards ceremony and lots of great raffle prizes. Congratulations to brother Knight Bobby Sleight for shooting the lowest score. He is pictured above holding the Dean Trophy joined by golfing partner Adam Brandt , GK Steve (far right) and Anthony Falco (far left). Many thanks to our Golf Outing Committee, especially our tireless chairman Anthony Falco , for pulling off another great outing. Thanks also to the Dean Family , our golfers, our sponsors, our unbeatable council catering crew , and everybody who pitched in to make our major annual fundraiser such a great success. Enjoy some pictures from the golf course taken by our talented in-house photographer, Harry Gorman:

Puchalski Awarded Putnam County Veterans Medal Sir Knight Martin Puchalski was among the first group of local veterans to receive the Putnam County Veterans Medal in a special ceremony held on June 6th - the 75th Anniversary of D-Day - at the Historic Courthouse in Carmel. Marty, a Carmel resident, is a Korean War veteran and an Honorary Life member of our Council, with 48 continuous years of service in the Knights of Columbus. He is pictured here with Putnam County Legislator and Deputy Chair Toni Addonizio , who presented him with his medal. Putnam County first awarded a service medal a century ago, in 1919, to veterans returning from World War I. Last year, the County Legislature established the Veterans Service Medal Advisory Panel to update the design of the medal, create an application procedure, and organize ceremonies for the award of the medals to Putnam County's military service veterans.

The first group of 24 veterans to receive the award served in World War II and/or Korea. There will be additional ceremonies later this year honoring Putnam residents who served in Vietnam, the Cold War, Bosnia, the Gulf War, and the War on Terror.

Welcome To Our Newest Members On May 17th we held First and Second Degree Exemplifications in our Council chambers that welcomed nine new members: Ryan Dall Nils Demme Jon Melarczik George Murphy John Nucolovic John Ondreicka Joseph Pellegrino Thomas Peterman Steven Spoerle Please make a special point of welcoming them to our Order and our Council, and encourage them to get involved and bring their families to our many events. As usual, our in-house Degree Team executed the ceremonials with the all of the beauty, dignity, and poignancy which make them so special to the candidates and all of the members who come to witness them. Special thanks to SK Mike Yodice and SK Anthony Falco for catering a delicious meal for all of us after the degrees. We are planning to host another First and Second Degrees on Friday, July 12th. Candidates should report by 6:30 p.m. properly attired . The First Degree will begin promptly at 7 p.m. followed immediately thereafter by the Second Degree. For those looking to complete their journey to full knighthood in our Order, we are in the process of confirming a Third Degree Exemplification to be held in our Council chambers on Sunday, July 28th at 3 p.m. Members wishing to sponsor a candidate, or any Catholic gentlemen wishing to participate in any of these ceremonies, should contact Chancellor Mike Bock or GK Steve Gheduzzi for more information and to ensure a place in the degrees. It is very important that our current members attend these degrees in support of our newest members. All sponsors of the candidates should make a special effort to escort their candidate to the degrees and be on hand to support them throughout the ceremonials.

Appreciation for our Ladies Auxiliary The men of our Council expressed their gratitude to our Ladies Auxiliary by cooking and serving a filet mignon dinner just for them on May 17th. This is the third consecutive year that we've held our "Ladies Auxiliary Appreciation Dinner," and judging by how it is received by both our members and the Ladies, it promises to be a tradition to be carried on for many years to come. Our Ladies Auxiliary continues to thrive and grow. They manage to pull off one successful fundraiser after another, such as their recent Sunday bingo games, Night at the Races, and murder mystery dinner theater. Men of our Council who have not done so already should encourage their wives, adult daughters, and other women in their family to join our Ladies Auxiliary and get in on all of the fun. Contact President Maria Barry or speak with the GK for more information. After the dinner, the Ladies threw a surprise baby shower for Ladies Auxiliary Vice President Ailisha Bolduc Noah. Congratulations Ailisha! Enjoy some pics from the evening, below.

Beefsteak Donation Made to St. James Parish Our Lady of the Lakes Council has made a donation of $3,500 to St. James the Apostle Parish to help fund its ongoing capital projects. These funds were raised at our Fourth Annual James "J.O." O'Neill Memorial Men's Beefsteak Dinner, which we held on January 12th, 2019. GK Steve Gheduzzi presented the check on behalf of the membership to Father Szymon Kurpios at our May regular business meeting. Fr. Szymon expressed his deep gratitude to our Council for the donation as well as for all of the work we do for the parish. Our Worthy Grand Knight in turn thanked all of the members who work to put on the Beefsteak, and those who support it by attending, donating raffle prizes, and bidding in our auctions. We'll be doing it again next January, so don't miss it!

Fourth Degree News MEETING NOTICE The next meeting of the Fourth Degree Sir Knights will be Thursday, June 20th at 7:30 p.m. at our Council. Mother Cabrini Assembly will be holding elections for officer positions. All Sir Knights should attend!

Annual Summer Blood Drive - June 28 Give the gift of life by donating blood! Join us, the Driscoll Lodge FOP, Putnam's Bureau of Emergency Services, and Putnam's FDNY members, on Friday, June 28th, from 2-8 p.m. , at the Carmel Veterans of Foreign Wars hall, located at 32 Gleneida Avenue (Route 52). Volunteers are needed for setup at noon and cleanup at 8 p.m., as well as throughout the drive. Donating blood is a safe, simple, and satisfying experience. Your donations help give life to the millions of Americans each year who require blood transfusions during surgery, after an accident, or because they have a disease that requires blood components. There are many different ways to donate lifesaving blood products, including whole blood, platelet, plasma, and automated red cell donation. The process usually takes about 45-60 minutes. You may donate if you are at least 17 years old (16 years old with written consent from parent or legal guardian), weigh at least 110 pounds, and are in good health. For your pint you'll receive good stuff including a coupon for appetizers at Applebee's restaurant in Southeast, the much cherished NYBC T-shirt, and a chance to win tickets to see the New York Mets! There will be food (hot and cold buffet) and refreshments on hand for your replenishment. Contact Denis Hanrahan at (845) 225-3048 or GK Steve for more info. Please consider helping us with set-up starting at noon, cleanup at 8 p.m., or any time throughout the drive.

Let Us Know How You're Doing! Our Council has traditionally had one or more members tasked to gather news about our members who may be sick or experiencing difficulties or life changes of one kind or another. Our Council officers want to make sure that no member ever "falls through the cracks" and goes unnoticed when they could use our support and prayers the most. PGK Mike McDonald has volunteered to be our Council's point of contact for member news, which he will share with the Grand Knight and other officers and members, as appropriate. Please email Mike or call him at (845) 629-4651 if you know of any members, or family of members, who are sick or in distress, who have recently passed away, or who are in need of our help in any way. Feast of Saint James - The annual parish feast will be Thursday, July 17th through Saturday, July 20th. As usual, our Council will be running the casino games and in charge of adult beverage sales, along with helping out in a variety of capacities including security, accounting, and food sales. This year, to volunteer to work the casino bar, you can only sign up at our Council -- see GK Steve or PGK Rob Firriolo to reserve a slot. To help out in other capacities, please sign up in the volunteer book in the parish office. Also, once again, we need more card dealers! Anybody wishing to deal in the casino should speak to Bobby Palazzo. He will train anyone who wants to learn how to deal, or help you improve your skills prior to dealing at the feast. Flag Day is Friday, June 14th! This is the day that commemorates the adoption of our national flag by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. Don't forget to fly the American flag on your home and business, and show your love for the greatest nation in the history of the world! Reminder: Mets Excursion - Saturday, June 29: If you're coming with us on Third-Annual Jimmy O’Neill Memorial NY Mets Baseball Trip, get your payment into Bobby Palazzo now. For more info you can contact him at (845) 216-1997.

Remember, a full calendar of events can always be found on our website: carmelknights.org under the Upcoming Events tab. And don't forget to "like" our Facebook page for up-to-the minute announcements, photos, event listings, and items of interest.

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