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Brother Knights

I would like to thank the council for giving me the opportunity and privilege of serving for the next year.

During the next 12 months we will face many challenges as well as many opportunities to move our Council forward in a new direction.  I will need the help and support of many of our members in order to achieve this goal.  My thank you, goes out to Good Shepard parish for allowing us hold our monthly meetings there.

Supreme as well as State officers have told us the revised direction of the K of C is to serve as an arm of the Parish priest within a Parish.  It seems that they want each Parish, where possible, to have an active K of C within the Parish.  Our Council draws members from many parishes on the south side.  There in lies our challenge.

The returns to date from our Cross and Compass survey tells us our members want another building with a possible bar facility.  The Reality Board is currently moving in that direction.  Our question is?  Can we do both….

Currently there are roughly 56 councils that have buildings in the state.  The average age of a member in our state is 59.  In our council the average age of a member is close to 70.

About one third of our membership is honorary/lifetime members over 70.

If we look at the four tenants of our order, Charity, Unity, Fraternity, and Patriotism, in my opinion having a building strengthens our ability for Charity and Fraternity.

Having a building gives us additional opportunities to build our fraternity as well as additional opportunities to hold functions for charitable events.  Our council has a long history of supporting a variety of charitable events.  I would like to see that continue.

With that being said, if we have a building it will have to be one that can be self supporting with a business plan that will generate enough revenue to assure this will happen.  We can not allow a new building to once again drain our assets.

As I see it, our goals for the next 12 months should be as follows:

  1. Complete relocation
  2. Increase membership
  3. Renew membership participation
  4. Renew Council functions
  5. Increase community awareness of our Council

I will need the support and input from many members if we are to achieve this.  I am always open for help and suggestions by phone, email or in person..

Respectfully submitted

John Hasty
Grand Knight

Knights of Columbus logo

Knights of Columbus
Msgr. James M. Downey Council 3660
511 E. Thompson Road
Indianapolis, IN 46227

MASS of Thanksgiving

Brother Knights:

As we approach the sale of our building, Fr. Todd will be saying a Mass of Thanksgiving at the Council on December 12 at 7 p.m. in the Big Hall. For those who may not have email that you know, kindly give them a phone call to inform them of this event.

The Council will have cookies, coffee and tea following the service.

Sincerely,
Pete Arcamo
Grand Knight

Brother Knights,

On August 6th, 4 members from the Council (and 2 significant others) attended the Fishing Rodeo at Gibault. Gibault is amazing facility as well as a very humbling experience. The kids have very interesting stories; but sadly many of these kids are just happy to have someone come and show them a few moments of attention. I would hope that if we continue going there; that next year we could get 15-20 brother knights to attend. We were very fortunate this year as we were able to get $1500 in donations; which paid for 120 Fishing poles and allowed us to give a modest donation to Gibault.

It is September, which means our first Breakfast is Sunday, September 11th. We can use all the help we can get, so those of you who haven’t helped for a while; even helping for a couple hours can be significant.

We are also having a Spaghetti Dinner on September 21st from 5p-7p, and again help is needed.

Keep your calendar open for the K of C Family Picnic which will be October 1st from 2p-5p at the Council. Also in October we will be participating in the Door of Mercy and October 10 is the Living Rosary. Speaking of the Rosary we will be hosting a Rosary each month when there are 5 Sundays, next one being October 30th.

The sale of the building is proceeding awaiting the Zoning approval process for the purchaser. A subcommittee has been established to determine what this Council is going to be, where we relocate and if we build, lease or go to a Parish. Their first meeting was on August 16th with a productive meeting establishing Focus Points and establish a starting point for the committee. The Members of this committee are: Dick White, Art Berkemeier, John Szostak, Jim Milharcic and Mike Dugan.

Scott Crossen, Matt Crossen and Tim McCarthy have volunteer to start the process of inventorying the building. After this is completed and we know exactly what we have and the condition of the items; we will be better able to decide what we can keep and what we can sell/auction off.

We are looking at making the Cross & Compass monthly again. With the sale of the building and many items of discussion coming up; I feel we need to keep the members as update as possible. In the mean time please look at the K of C website https://kofc3660.com/. The site is still under construction but have a calendar of events. If nothing else, I will establish a blog or time line of information.

As it has been mentioned many times before; we need more input and more participation from the membership. I would ask each of you to think back to why you became a Knight. The Council still has a Mission; despite leaving our current facility and each of you are needed to succeed. From the Brochure “Why should you become a Knight”

If you are interested in helping those in need, serving your parish, growing in your faith, or having access to top rated insurance to protect your family. Then the Knights of Columbus is for you.

Charity is the first principle of the Knights of Columbus. Knights are men who get things done. We volunteer to serve our parishes and our communities. We work together….

Respectfully submitted,
Pete Arcamo
Grand Knight