The Lake Current - April 2024
Welcome to the April 2024 edition of our Council newsletter!

A few quick but important items up-front before we get into the news.

  • Our next regular business meeting will be this Wednesday, April 10th, starting at 7:30 p.m. Dinner for $5 will be at 6:30, as usual. All members are welcome.

  • We have scheduled an Exemplification of Charity, Unity and Fraternity for Friday, May 3rd at 7 p.m. If you know of a Catholic gentleman wishing to join our Council, or if you are a First or Second Degree member wishing to attain full Knighthood, please speak with Chancellor John Crecco or GK Tim McDonald.

  • We are hosting the Northern Westchester-Putnam St. Patrick's Day Parade Awards Ceremony in our Council Hall on Friday, April 12th, starting at 7 p.m. We are proud to announce that we are the winners of the Grand Marshal - Judge's Award, which is presented in loving memory of Letitia Driscoll.

  • Bartenders wanted! Our Home Corporation is once again putting out the call for bartenders to take shifts in our Lounge. Speak with Vice President Anthony Falco if you are interested.
  • Our Lounge's Draft Beer of the Month is Blue Point Toasted Lager (5.5 % ABV / 28 IBU). Hailing from the brewery in Patchogue, Long Island, this classic American amber lager uses six different grains to perfect a balanced flavor of malt and hops, and a special proprietary lager yeast that gives Toasted Lager an exceptional, long-lasting smooth finish. Give it a try!
Fish Fry 2024 Sets New Records - AGAIN!

Our Council's wildly popular Lenten Fish Fry wrapped up its TENTH YEAR on Friday, March 22nd, once again setting all-time records for number of meals served and numbers of orders.

We also set a new Fish Fry record for the amount of money available for charitable donations. A list of worthy recipients will be discussed at our upcoming general business meeting.

Over its six-week run starting the Friday after Ash Wednesday, the 2024 Fish Fry Crew filled 595 orders, serving over 1,560 meals, to help our Council members and fellow parishioners fulfill our Lenten obligation of abstinence from meat and also to raise funds for charity. Our Crew worked hard to ensure that every meal was carefully sourced, cooked to order, and served hot and fresh using only the highest quality ingredients.

We continued to expand our menu offerings of both regular items and weekly specials. This year's new addition - and biggest hit - was Crab Cake Sliders, breaking all previous records for a weekly special. We brought back other favorites like Sole Piccata, salmon over farfalle pasta with peas in a pink sauce, Lobster Mac & Cheese, New England Clam Chowder with bread bowls, and Fish Tacos. And we added the Captain's Platter and Coconut Shrimp & Chips to our regular menu of weekly options.

Our Council is grateful to all of our loyal Fish Fry supporters, many of whom placed orders all six weeks. We also welcomed many new customers from places as diverse as Danbury, Pawling, Mohegan Lake, Granite Springs, Stormville, Wappingers Falls, Yorktown Heights and Fishkill.

And of course, we send a great big shout-out to the members of our dedicated Fish Fry Crew who planned, shopped, schlepped, prepped, maintained the order website, took orders, cooked, served, cleaned-up, cashiered, and ran the order desk every week. We once again had new members step up to help this year, and we could not have done it without everybody's help.

Even though Fish Fry is only one night a week, the work that goes into it takes place literally every day of the week leading up to Friday night. Without these tireless workers -- upstairs in the kitchen, downstairs in the dining room, shopping in multiple stores, and working from home on computers -- none of this would be possible.

Even though they're exhausted, the Crew looks forward to doing it all again for us in Lent 2025! FISH YEAH!
Chapter Awards Gala Honors Steve Gheduzzi and Allison Keating

On Sunday, March 24th, our Council and Ladies Auxiliary proudly honored two very special people, who have made innumerable contributions to their respective organizations, at the Westchester-Putnam Chapter Annual Awards Gala, held at the beautiful Mulino's at Lake Isle in Eastchester. We filled three guest tables and once again made ourselves known as the most spirited and active council in the Chapter.

The Council honored Sir Knight Steve Gheduzzi for his 15 years of devoted service, including as our Grand Knight and as a Trustee, Home Corporation Director, First and Second Degree Teams member, Chairman of the C&B, Free Throw, and Altar Server Committees, and as Faithful Navigator for Mother Cabrini Assembly #1572. Steve is also well known as a chief in our Kitchen Crew, earning such nicknames as "Frymaster," "Captain Cod," and "The Codfather."

Our Ladies Auxiliary also conferred well-deserved honors upon their Past President, Allison Keating. Allison's contributions to the auxiliary are well known and too numerous to mention. She presently serves on their Executive Board as Vice President, where she continues to help lead the Ladies in the many great things they do for our Council and our community time after time.
Comedy Night Leaves Crowd in Stitches

Top-name comics played to a packed house for a sold-out night of food, fun, and laughs at our Council's last comedy dinner theater on Saturday, March 23rd. The incredibly successful event raised thousands of dollars for two very worthy charities, Tunnel to Towers and United for the Troops.

The crowd of comedy lovers started the evening with an open bar and a delicious Italian dinner catered by Luigi's Famiglia Cucina. After dinner, everybody enjoyed a three-headliner show emceed by Rick Morgan (Resorts International, Carolines NYC) and featuring the talents of comedians Fran Capo (National Comedy Hall of Fame), Chris Monty ("Kevin Can Wait," "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2") and Joey Kola ("The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," The Late Show with David Letterman," "The King of Queens"). A great time was had by one and all!

Thanks to PGKs Bobby Palazzo for organizing yet another great comedy night at our Council, and thanks also to the volunteers who helped set up and break down!
Cash Bingo for Charity on Sunday, April 21st

Our Ladies Auxiliary presents another fun afternoon of Cash Bingo on Sunday, April 21st.

Doors open 1 p.m. First game is at 2 p.m.

Your $35 (if prepaid!) gets you admission and all-nighters. Extra Specials and Bell Jar tickets will be sold.

Reservations ONLY through Eventbrite. Click here to make your reservation.

Walk-ins will pay $40 at the door -- if there are any remaining seats.

Proceeds will be donated to worthy local charities and causes!

There will be a concessions table, but feel free to bring your own snacks. Complimentary coffee and tea will be available.

No persons under age 18 permitted.

Contact ladieskofc@gmail.com to reserve or with questions.
Fourth Degree News

MEETING NOTICE

The next meeting of Mother Cabrini Assembly #1572 will be Thursday, April 18th, at our Council. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. All Fourth Degree Sir Knights are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Please bring in your ticket stubs and payments collected from your sales of the Assembly's 2024 "Night Out on the Sir Knights" Year of Dinners Raffle. Please make sure to send in your 2024 dues payment if you have not already done so.

NEWS UPDATE

The next Fourth Degree Exemplification for our district will be on Saturday, April 27th, at Our Lady of Lourdes Council (18 Hallock Dr., Washingtonville, NY.) Completed applications (Form 4) and banquet reservation forms are due to the District Master by Saturday, April 13th.







  • This year's Brendan Toohey Breakfast is Sunday, April 21st, in Mahopac. After the 9:00 a.m. Mass at St. John the Evangelist Church (221 E. Lake Blvd), breakfast will be served in the Parish Meeting Hall. The Westchester-Putnam Conference will be honoring Chapter President Chris Crozier for his many years of distinguished service to the Conference and Chapter. Proceeds will be donated to St. John's. The cost is only $20 and families are welcome. Speak to GK Tim McDonald before April 12th if you wish to attend.

  • Volunteer for Special Olympics! Members of our Council joined brothers from other councils and other organizations as volunteer support staff for the Hudson Valley Special Olympics Time Trials held at Mahopac High School on Saturday, April 6th. The Knights of Columbus has a unique partnership with the Special Olympics and has helped disabled athletes train for and compete in games around the world. There will be another opportunity to volunteer on Saturday, April 20th, at the Special Olympics Regional Spring Games held at West Point. This is the premier event of the year for Special Olympics athletes in our area. Volunteers should arrive by 8:30 a.m. and will be done before 5:00 p.m. In advance, please contact Chris Cohen at cohenc@pcaobus.org or 202-213-6110 if you are interested in helping out with this very rewarding volunteer opportunity.

  • May 4 (Sat): Derby Day / Knight at the Races - Watch the Kentucky Derby, enjoy Derby Day festivities, and then wager on real horse races at our own "Knight at the Races." Watch our social media sites for more information.

  • May 24 (Fri): Ninth Annual Founders' Day BBQ & Trongone Award Ceremony - This is always a great way to kick-off summer, with an incredible feast for the whole family (including our fantastic pig roast!) and with our tribute to a member who has provided exemplary service to our Council over many years. Save the date!

  • Jun. 7 (Fri): George Dean Memorial Golf Outing - Get your foursome together and consider taking a sponsorship. Click here to download the handbill or find it online here. Print it out and make your reservations, and take your sponsorships, today!

  • Donate your Columbia magazine for a good cause! After reading your monthly KofC members' magazine ("Columbia"), please consider donating it for distribution to others who may find it of interest. Thanks to the efforts of Sir Knight Dennis O'Connor, and with the assistance of our brother Knight Sheriff Kevin McConville, the magazine will be distributed in the Putnam County Jail and in other locations in our area. Give your magazines to Dennis or look for a box to drop them in, in our Council hall. Please tear off the portion of the cover with your name and address to protect your privacy.
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.