From The
District Master
To:
Worthy Faithful Navigators and Sir
Knights all
From: Sir Knight Michael Kingman, Master of the Fourth Degree
Thanks
The 4th Degree Exemplification
on January 16th was a resounding success. At the
beginning of the year I challenged all of our Faithful Navigators
especially those in the Southern Region of Arizona to meet or beat a
goal of 100 candidates. The new Sir Knights added to the Patriotic
Degree in Arizona was 99 new Sir Knights. You are all to be
commended in meeting the challenge.
Much like last year we had some visiting
dignitaries with us, Supreme Master Larry Costanzo, Past Supreme
Knight Virgil Dechant, Supreme Director of Ceremonials, Gary Nolan
and 8 newly appointed Vice Supreme Masters. Like last year they were
duly impressed with the John Kingsley 4th Degree Team and
the job they did. As always it makes me proud to be part of this
great team.
The success of an exemplification takes
much time and effort to make it a success and it is no different
now. I want to take the time to thank Exemplification Chairman SK
Pete Karculias and the Msgr. James T. Weber Assembly 2152 Sir
Knights, wives and friends for putting on such a great
exemplification. From the Friday Night Chili Cook Off to
Registration, the Ladies Luncheon and the Saturday Banquet, fun was
had by all. For those of you who attended I hope you took the time
to thank them for a job well done. I also want to take the time to
thank Jerry De Puma and his wife Janet for hosting the District
Master’s Hospitality Suite you did a great job and made everyone
feel right at home. To Joyce Fleck and the ladies that helped out at
the Ladies Luncheon, thank you for the wonderful job done. We
received a lot of compliments on the luncheon and how much fun was
had. To the Color Corp team from the Henry
Miller Assembly 2308 and of course to Marshals Antonio Otero, Robert
Holsinger, Kevin McCarthy, and CCC Chris Holsinger for helping out
in the Ante-Chamber.
Let us not forget to welcome the 99 new
Sir Knights to the Patriotic Degree of the order of which one was a
Priest.
Next Exemplification
Our next 4th Degree
Exemplification will be on June 5, 2010 and will be held at the
Sheraton Crescent Hotel in Phoenix Arizona and will be hosted by
Rev. Msgr. Paul Koscielniak Assembly 2736. The Honoree for this
exemplification will be the IPSD Stanley Schroeder. Stan has
contributed much to the success of the Knights of Columbus in
Arizona and we are honored to have him accept our invitation to be
our Class Honoree. Registration packets have already been sent out.
We will have information on the 4th Degree website.
Click HERE for details..
I am asking all Faithful Navigators to
get with your Comptrollers and make sure you get the Form 4’s
submitted by May 23, 2010. I am also asking all our Sir Knights and
their families to make this a weekend in which you come and meet
your Brother Sir Knights and share ideas and get to know each other,
after all one of the principles of Our Order is Fraternity and what
better way is there than to socialize with one another and family.
If you can I ask you to please stay at the hotel on Friday and
Saturday as they have given us some great rates and sign up for the
Saturday night dinner. I would love for you to socialize with our
Class Honoree IPSD Stan Schroeder, State Deputy Herb Maddock,
Supreme Master Larry Costanzo and Vice Supreme Master Jerry
O’Connor.
Last year at the June Exemplification we
brought in 218 new Sir Knights and this year I am challenging the
Arizona District to bring in 300 new Sir Knights. This may seem like
a large number but if we work with the 130 plus active councils and
have each council provide us with just 3 candidates each we can
easily meet this goal. I am asking each Faithful Navigator and or
his representative to attend each of your councils, business
meetings and start the recruiting process over the next 3 months. I
know that this is a surmountable amount but let’s do our best and
see what we can do.
Last year we had 600 attend the Saturday
Night Banquet and hopefully we will have just as many if not more.
So make your room and meal reservations soon. Don’t be left behind.
Fraternal Survey Form 1728
Just a reminder to those assemblies that
have not submitted your Annual Fraternal Survey Form to Supreme, the
form is past due as of January 31, 2009. If you submitted
electronically you need to make a copy of the form and send a hard
copy to Supreme as they are having some issues with getting the
forms. Please submit asap.
District Assembly Bi-Annual Meeting
When: Saturday March 27, 2010
Where: Corpus Christ 3550 E. Knoll
Phoenix AZ
Time: 8:00am to 3:00pm
Purpose of meeting
-
Review meeting minutes of last
Bi-Annual Meeting
-
Review any resolutions for changes to
the By-laws
-
Selection of 3 recommendations for
Master
-
Election of Master’s Audit Committee
All Faithful Navigators must attend as a
delegate or his alternate and one delegate for each 100 members or
major fraction there of. If an Assembly has over 100 members then a
delegate will need to be voted upon in February or March time frame.
Assemblies shall have the right to elect alternates for the Faithful
Navigator and for any delegates to which they are entitled.
Assemblies shall pay the
expenses of their representatives and delegates to the District
Assembly meeting.
Membership
The challenge is on! Colorado District Master Joseph
Tafoya challenged Arizona District Master in membership. He stated
that Colorado would beat our district in membership and make us eat
crow. I do not care to eat crow nor do I think that we in Arizona
want to come in second to the Colorado District.
This brings me to the membership goals
set by Supreme for our district. Arizona needs to bring in at least
372 new 4th Degree members into our ranks. But I think
that Arizona can do better. Last year we brought in 462 new Sir
Knight and I see no reason why we cannot attain 500 new Sir Knights
this fraternal year.
In the outlying areas if you have some
potential candidates that will not or cannot travel call the
District Master and we can discuss alternatives.
I am in the process of working with our
Bishops to establish March or April as the “Year of the Priest” and
work to have special 4th Degree Exemplifications
throughout the State of Arizona in order to provide the opportunity
for our Clergy who want to join the 4th Degree but have
been unable to do so due to their weekend duties. More to follow
In Arizona we have the
potential of starting 3 new assemblies this fraternal year. One in
Anthem, associated with Council 13719, Vail, Councils 7521 and 14230
and Buckeye, Council 9467. Vail Council 7521 will be conducting an
Organizational/Open House meeting to solicit the 30 members needed
to start a new assembly. Buckeye is scheduled to have their assembly
ready to go by mid June at the latest.
Programs
Programs are lacking in
many ways. For instance we have 2862 assemblies yet only 287
assemblies sent in their paper work for the Civic Action Award. I
know that many assemblies do not like tooting their own horn but how
else can we tell what your assemblies are doing. Your members
deserve recognition for their efforts and hard work. It only takes
four assembly patriotic events to qualify, so let’s make sure we
submit our paper work and be recognized for all that you do.
Arizona Civic Award
Winners
San Xavier Del Bac Assembly 14 FN Rudy Cavolina
Sun Cities Assembly 1673 FN Gerald J. Thomsen
Fr. Juan De Padilla Assembly 1989 FN John A. Bock Jr.
St Fracnis of Assisi Assembly 2058 FN Octavio C. Perez
Fr Henry Miller Assembly 2308 FN Gerard C. DePuma
San juan Diego Assembly 2836 FN Dennis E. Russell
St Timothy’s Assembly 3029 FN Larry Becker
Other programs to get
involved in are
-
Serving Those Who
Served (VAVS) - working with the VA and other veteran
organization in support of veterans.
-
Wheels for Vets -
Raising funds to purchase wheelchairs for our vets in Arizona,
who do not meet the VA requirements.
-
Flag presentations
at schools covering, Flag protocol, history of Pledge of
Allegiance, demonstration on folding and the distribution of
handouts.
Other projects that we
are working on at Supreme level are; creating a new pin that will
incorporate emblem of the 4th Degree and the flag of
one’s country. Create 4th Degree website, Eliminate paper
work by mailing out CD’s to Faithful Navigators instead of packets.
Wheel Chair Fund Drive
The Wheels for Vets project has been a
great success and we now have enough funds to pay for the
wheelchairs that were sent to us earlier in the year and to order
110 more chairs so congratulations to all of the assemblies and
councils that donated to this worthy cause. On behalf of the
Co-chairs FDM Armand Brooks, DD, Sir Knight Pete Karculias, and FDD,
FDM Jim Maino we thank you for your support. This project is now
over and we will be delivering the 110 wheelchairs we are about to
order when they are received in about 90 days.
We have delivered 20
wheelchairs to the Veterans Hospital in Tucson and 15 wheelchairs
were shipped to Sierra Vista, to assist the VA in that part of the
state.
Put there are other needs
that we can get involved in so if you need any documentation to
assist you in running a successful drive please contact Dan Moberg
as he is willing to come and assist at one of your fund raisers as
well. When funds are raised checks should be made out to American
Wheelchair Mission and mailed to the following. Just let me know
what the check number will be and the amount of the check.
Dan Moberg, PGK, PFN, FDD
American Wheelchair Mission
2600 E. Seltice Way Suite A172
Post Falls, Idaho 83854
208-457-0745
dmoberg@amwheelchair.org
Reminder of the Goals of the Patriotic Degree
Stand firm in support of the Order
Stand firm and support our Country
Stand firm and support our Faith
Stand firm and support the Legacy of Knighthood
Yours in Christ
Michael H. Kingman
Arizona District Master, IPSD
John H. Reddin Province
Glory and Honor to God and Duty to Country |