Maine Knights of Columbus: Awards for Church Activities

ANNUAL AWARDS FOR CHURCH ACTIVITIES
MAINE STATE CONVENTION
ROCKPORT, MAINE APRIL 18-20, 2008

Knights of Columbus councils conduct activities throughout the year in five program areas. church, community, council, family life and youth. Within each of the five program areas, one project is chosen for the "Supreme Award." Additionally, four projects are chosen as "Outstanding Activities" in each category. Two of these awards go to larger ("A") councils and two go to smaller ("B") councils. Here are the 2008 winners in the category of Church Activities. Presenting the awards were Church Activities Director Mike Gagne and State Deputy Robert King.

In the Spring of 2007, Fr. Daniel Greenleaf, Pastor of Holy Cross and Holy Family Churches and our council chaplain asked our council to take on the project of remodeling and combining Holy Cross convent and Holy Cross rectory into offices for Cluster 17 Parish of the Diocese of Portland, Maine which is now called The Catholic Center. Half of the building was the residence for three nuns and the other half was the rectory for the priests. The nuns and priests have since moved to other residences. The project consisted of tearing down walls, rewiring electrical wires, rerouting phone and internet cables, building walls and doorways, painting, staining and plumbing. This was followed by the washing down of ceilings, walls, floors and curtains. Upon completion, the first floor now houses the offices of the following churches: Holy Cross, Holy Family, St. Patrick and St. Joseph. There are two offices on the second floor which are utilized by different church groups of the Cluster. Three priests, Fr. Daniel Greenleaf, Fr. Nathan March and Fr. Michael Seavey have offices in the new Catholic Community Center. The cluster business manager, treasurer, several secretaries and a receptionist also have offices in the new building. Six members of our council and six members of our ladies auxiliary put in many hours for several months to complete this project. The crew worked Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Fridays from 8 a.m. until noon. Our council donated over 2222 man-hours of their time and the ladies donated 110 hours. At a reasonable low-end rate of $30 per hour to hire professional carpenters, plumbers and electricians, it is estimated that our council saved Cluster 17 and the Diocese of Portland at least $69,960. Several of our council members and their families donated $1,500 worth of material such as paint, wood, carpet, linoleum and electrical items. This brings the total savings to an estimated $71,460!!

OUTSTANDING ACTIVITY, "A" DIVISION
WESTBROOK COUNCIL # 2219 - WESTBROOK
-ST. ANTHONY'S 2007 CHRISTMAS FAIR-

The parish of St. Anthony's in Westbrook held its 2007 Christmas Fair over the weekend of October 26, 27 and 28. This annual event is a much needed and major fund raiser for the parish. The funds raised support its many outreach programs and also helps to pay the bills. This year, the event was coordinated and organized by Russ Champagne, our grand knight, and his wife Lisa. There were 20 people that meet every month to plan this event. The fair included knits and crafts, baked goods, kids' games, several raffles, a magic show and many other activities and events. Realizing how important the funds from this annual event are to the parish, many members of the Westbrook Council #2219 stepped up to offer their time and support. The areas that the Knights worked include preparing and serving breakfast on Sunday morning and a turkey supper on Saturday evening. At the turkey supper, there were over 300 people served! The knights also worked on running the 50/50 drawing throughout the weekend and were there for setup and cleanup. The fair brought in over $22,000 throughout the course of the weekend and netted over $16,000! This event not only was a great success in regards to the money raised, but was also a great community builder for the people in the parish. It was nice to see so many people come together working for a common cause. The weekend was very busy and tiring, but was very rewarding for all that were involved.

OUTSTANDING ACTIVITY, "A" DIVISION
COUNCIL #12652, LEWISTON
-ORDINATION RECEPTION-

Lewiston Council #106 was asked to host a reception immediately following the ordinations of three priests at Saints Peter and Paul Basilica. 800 people were expected to attend the ordinations and reception. Council # 106 asked our council to assist them in setting up the church reception area and prepare and serve the food. A meeting with Council #106 was held to decide what we could do to assist. It was decided that our Council #12652 would make ham and egg finger rolls, meatballs with sauce, potato salad and a vegetable salad. A crew from our council ground the ham and prepared 350 ham finger rolls as well as boiled eggs to prepare 200 egg finger rolls. We also prepared a large vegetable salad. Potatoes were cooked and prepared to make a potato salad. We also cooked and prepared two large batches of meatballs in tomato sauce. We provided four of our coffee makers. Six ladies from our ladies auxiliary and five of our members, all dressed up in white shirts/blouses and pants/skirts to help to serve the food, beverages and make certain supplies were adequate on the buffet tables. Our fourth degree assembly also provided five honor guard members for the ordination. Two of our members also volunteered to be parking lot attendants for the occasion. It was nice of Council # 106 to ask us to assist them. It was a great feeling of fraternity to see two councils working together within our parish cluster on this project.

OUTSTANDING ACTIVITY, "B" DIVISION
COUNCIL # 2625 - DEXTER
-HERMITAGE NUNS SUPPORT-

A number of years ago, our council was approached with a request to help support two Hermitage nuns in the St. Albans, Maine area. These nuns have absolutely no financial support other than monies they can earn from donations or the sale of crafts which they make. In return, Sisters Emmanuel and Margaret Mary offer daily prayers for our knights and their families throughout the year. This year, our council donated $50 per month to each sister to help in some small way to offset the expenses associated with both sisters maintaining their own separate hermitages. Also, several brother knights helped Sister Margaret Mary with finishing up the carpentry work to her new addition. Our council is proud to support these two dedicated women of Christ.

OUTSTANDING ACTIVITY, "B" DIVISION
COUNCIL # 13486- WATERVILLE
-CURSILLO 50TH ANNIVERSARY BANQUET-

The Cursillo Movement of Maine asked our council to put on a banquet for the 50th Anniversary of the Cursillo Movement. The meal consisted of turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, cole slaw, biscuits and rolls. The parish youth group provided drink service to the diners and the knights served the meal. The banquet was preceded by an anniversary Mass at which Bishop Malone was the celebrant. Dinner was served to over 180 people and was followed by an Apostolic prayer service. The profits were shared among the knights, the youth group and the Cursillo group. The knights donated a large portion to support the parish soup kitchen.