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KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS MAY 2016

www.kofcohio.org Monthly Publication of the Ohio State Council

Brother Knights,

A little about membership…

We are back on top! We are off and running again in new members. We finished April with an intake of 251 members for an 11.11% intake. We finished 1st place for the month in Division 1 edging out Pennsylvania on the last day by 0.03% (1 member). To date we stand at 85.47% of our Supreme Council membership requirements leaving us with just 327 more to hit our gross intake quota. We rank 23rd of the 74 K of C Jurisdictions worldwide and we rank 2nd among the Division 1 State Councils still slightly behind Florida. The best news is that we are continuing to grow. I don’t like to get too far ahead of myself but we are at +346 Net/Net (intake less suspensions, withdraws, deaths, and

out of state transfers) and we are beginning to show new growth in Ohio. This places us 2nd in the Order slightly behind Louisiana (33 members). With the good recruiting months we have had Ohio is over the 58,000 member mark. Today we stand at 58084 members strong. Thank you to everyone who is working to make this happen. Grand Knights and Membership Directors please keep membership the foremost priority in every one of your councils throughout this great state of Ohio. We have begun to show an increase in the number of councils recruiting and bringing in new members. To date about 85% of the Council's around the state have recruited a new membership and are working to place Ohio in the Circle of Honor. If the State of Ohio is to improve our membership status and grow as a jurisdiction we need the other 15% or

roughly 70 councils to step up and begin recruiting. A new member from each of those councils would make a significant impact on our bottom line today. We are all on the same team and all in the game together. I need a firm commitment from all involved to make this happen. We are again looking for some opportunities again in May. There are still a lot of prospective members just waiting to be asked or need to be contacted. Inspector Membership has some incentives in April for Councils that bring back into the Order three reactivated members. There is no rumor anymore. The State Deputy and Inspector Membership have issued an additional three month Membership Program Contest for March, April, and May. Many of you have seen it on the Super Cash Bonanza Road Show Meetings. It’s called “The Land of 1,000 Members”. Watch us on Facebook or get signed up for our social media blitz for this new membership incentive.

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CHARITY - UNITY - FRATERNITY PATRIOTISM

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Supreme Council has announced the requirements for earning VIP Bonus Points for the second half of the Fraternal Year. See your Grand Knight, District Deputy, or State Membership Director Nick Gresko for details. Supreme Knight Carl Anderson by a unanimous vote of approval from the State Deputies gathered in San Antonio approved the Supreme Per Capita Star Council Incentive Plan for another year. Achieve Star Council status at your council and be exempt from Supreme Per Capita payments for one year. Growth in new membership brings new Brother Knights, new ideas, and new energy into your councils. Please get on track with your councils membership program and sign up a new member today. If you haven’t brought in a new member this year please take a moment and ask yourself why. Congratulations to the March Membership Contest winners and all who brought in a new member that month. Contest winners should be listed in State Membership Director Nick Gresko’s column. New Council Development… Rumor has it that State Warden Larry “Grass Hopper” Droesch and his Diocesan Team are about ready to file paperwork for a new council in the Archdiocese; as Brother Droesch says “Woo Hoo”. Just in case you’re wondering…we’re not done yet. Some thoughts on degree work…and its working! Please continue to schedule frequent degrees. Our requirement is one Admission (1

st) Degree

per District per month, statewide. I see the results of these frequent degrees already paying off in our membership numbers. Every District Deputy is required to schedule and conduct an Admissions (1

st)

Degree in his district every month. Today Ohio scheduled for April. I don’t believe there are enough posted to handle the expected new membership load across the state. Plan out your degree schedule, the candidates will come.

Please post all (1st, 2

nd, 3

rd, 4

th) degrees

on the State Website. The degree posting page should be overflowing with scheduled degrees. There should be a minimum of 80 1

st Degrees per month

posted on the State Website. District Deputies you need to post degree work in your district. If you schedule them they will come. If you post them others can see them and they will come too. District Deputies and Grand Knights please continue to file the Degree Exemplification Report Form 450 and Form 450C. This form enables the State Council to track a new members progress throughout Ohio and insure that new member has been recorded and credited for your council at Supreme Council. Please continue to remind your candidates about the proper attire when they come to take any of the degrees. A candidate in t-shirts and shorts is just not an acceptable dress for a candidate making a degree. They should be dressed at the very minimum some type of Dockers or dress pants and a polo shirt or dress shirt. Again more Squires Congratulations... The Squires continue to gain in membership throughout Ohio and are ranked second in the Order. They are 3rd stateside with a 72 member intake and a net intake of 62 new members. Great Job Squires! Circle of Mary… Marysville Council #5534 will invest a “Circle of Mary” for young women at their council this coming May 15

th.

Congratulations to those Brother Knights and District Deputy #49 Duane Lord in making this possible for the young women of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. Supreme Council Icon Program… The Holy Family Icons are now circulating and we have begun the Icon Tour through Ohio. Hopefully the four icons will circulate through the State of Ohio as planned. Look further to the State Website for the schedule and when the icon will come to your district. Please take full advantage of this prayerful opportunity within your council and parishes.

State Council Financials… State Secretary Brother Kevin Miller, State Treasurer Robert Byers, and myself are working on preparing the State Council Financials for audit by Blue & Company, LLC to be ready for the State Convention. All financial materials have been sent to the auditing firm and are being reviewed by them. Paperwork and more paperwork… We are just a little behind in filing some of the Supreme Council paperwork. To date 39 Councils have yet to file Report of Officers Form 185. This was due last summer right after your council elections. The Report of Service Personnel Form 365 was also due at this time. To date there are 53 Council who have yet to file that report. The Fraternal Survey Form 1728 was due the end of January and 45 Councils are now late in filing this report. The Council Audit Form 1295 for the 2nd half of the Fraternal Year is now overdue to Supreme Council. The six Diocesan Coordinators along with the District Deputies have been instructed to clean up this backlog of paperwork by months end. Please make every effort to work with these Brother Knights and assist them in completing this task. “Town Hall” Meetings… The State Deputy “Town Hall” meetings are over for this fraternal year. These meeting have proven to be a great place to learn about the working of our Order, Church Drives, programming and membership recruiting. Look for another round of “Town Hall” meetings statewide to begin this August in the Steubenville Diocese shortly after we return from the Supreme Convention. Special Lapel Pin… I have been working with Vice Supreme Master Donald Hall to produce a special lapel pin for any 4

th Degree member who

brings in a new member and get him through his first 3 degrees. Our 4

th

Degree Sir Knights are always looking for ways to increase not only their membership but the State Councils as well. The final details of the pin have been finalized and are in production. It is an attractive pin that I believe any Brother Knight would be proud to wear. Look for a

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form here in the “Voice of the Spirit” that will enable to you obtain this pin provided the requirements have been met. WWW.KOFCOHIO.ORG The State Website is up and running for the five General Program grading periods. Yes we have had some web issues but to my knowledge they are minimal. All problems to my knowledge have been worked out with Webmaster Brother Gilliland on a person to person basis. Remember our website is still a bit new and not everything it is capable of doing is in place. With this said and confident in the working of the Website thus far Brother Gilliland has given District Deputies the ability to view all of their respective councils programming. Brother Gilliland is also working on the State Chaplain’s Page, the State Deputy’s Page, links to video productions on the Supreme Website, State Council Website tutorials, and better information to our Membership Inquiry Page. We have added the ability of the District

Deputies and Grand Knights to use a fillable 450 and 450C Degree Report Form on the Website. Filing of this form on the State Website will generate a copy to the Supreme Council, State Membership Director Nick Gresko, and to me. Look for this form under the “Forms Tab” at the top of the Website page. If this proves successful and reliable it is just a precursor to a fillable From 185 and Form 365 this June. Look for a more complete and informed website in the months ahead. I will be personally meeting with Webmaster Gilliland to go over every aspect of the site to see where we can make an improvement. If you have any issues please address them to me and I'll get with you and Brother Bob to get them resolved. Super Cash Bonanza… The 2016 Super Cash Bonanza Campaign is underway. State Treasurer “Farmer Bob” Bob Byers and his “Road Show” Team did a great job of presenting the campaign to the membership. Nearly 110,000 tickets were sold in the 1

st phase of the

campaign. Look for more in the State Treasurer’s article.

State Convention 2016… Grand Knights and State personnel the 117

th Annual Ohio State Council State

Convention is just around the corner. All of the arrangements are being finalized. The Cleveland Convention team is hard at work to make sure everything comes off just right and everyone has a great time at the convention. The 117

th State Convention will take

place the weekend of May 20, 21 and 22 a week prior to Memorial Day weekend at the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in Sandusky, Ohio. Please take the time to read and look through the information provided to you in the first two mailings. Many of the enclosures are date sensitive. In closing… May God continue to Bless you as you continue to the work you do in Jesus name. Dedicate everything you do for Him to the honor and glory of God and see what changes it will make in your life. Bob Collins State Deputy

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Insurance Corner Patrick Murphy Knights of Columbus Named a 2016 World’s Most Ethical Company

The Knights of Columbus has been recognized as a 2016 World’s Most Ethical Company® by the Ethisphere® Institute, for the third consecutive year.

One of only two in the life insurance category, underscoring the Knights’ commitment to leading ethical business standards and practices.

The recognition is awarded based on a company’s performance in five key areas: ethics and compliance program; reputation, leadership and innovation; governance; corporate citizenship and responsibility; and culture of ethics.

This is something we can all be proud of.

This is something that makes us different.

Our Ethical commitment impacts all areas of our business.

Ethical Selling

We agents are held to high ethical standards.

We sign a Code of Ethics which commits us to putting our members first, and to make sure they have all the necessary information to enable them to make an informed decision.

Ethical Business

As indicated by the “World’s Most Ethical” award, we are

committed to ethical business practices.

We believe these have helped us become and remain successful.

Ethical Investing

Catholic-based investment strategy that prevents us from investing in companies that participate in lines of business that run contrary to Church teaching.

We are honored that the Ethisphere Institute has yet again acknowledged our ethical commitment. It is what makes doing business with the Knights of Columbus truly different.

Patrick Murphy, FIC General Agent K of C

8857 Cincinnati Dayton Rd. Suite 3 West Chester, OH 45069

Phone: 513-847-1306 Cell: 513-284-6911 Email: patrick.murphy@kofc.org

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Reflections from State Chaplain Father Edward Janoch, State Chaplain

How do we honor the Mother of God in this month of May? Every culture influence by the Catholic Church has some tradition or ritual to remember the Mother of God. Even secular cultures and civil entities remember mothers with a day in honor of them. Here in the United States we have May Crownings, Living Rosaries, Masses and Holy Hours to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Dictionary of the Liturgy entry for “May, Month of Mary” says: he month of May is the “month that the piety of the faithful has especially dedicated to our Blessed Lady,” and it is the occasion for a “moving tribute of faith and love that Catholics in every part of the world pay to the Queen of Heaven. During this month Christians, both in church and in the privacy of the home, offer up to Mary from their hearts an especially fervent and loving homage of prayer and veneration. In this month, too, the benefits of God’s mercy come down to us from her throne in greater abundance” (Bl. Paul VI: Encyclical on the Month of May – Mense Maio, #1). This Christian custom of dedicating the month of May to the Blessed Virgin arose at the end of the 13

th century. In this way,

the Church was able to Christianize the secular feasts that were wont to take place at that time. In the 16

th century,

books appeared and fostered this devotion. The practice became especially popular among the members of the Jesuit

Order—by 1700 it took hold among their students at the Roman College and a bit later it was publicly practiced in the Gesu Church in Rome. From there it spread to the whole Church. The practice was granted a partial indulgence by Pius VII in 1815 and a plenary indulgence by Ven. Pius IX in 1859. With the complete revision of indulgences in 1966 and the decreased emphasis on specific indulgences, it no longer carries an indulgence; however, it certainly falls within the category of the First General Grant of Indulgences. This pious practice has been especially recommended by the Popes. Ven. Pius XII made frequent references to it and in his great Encyclical on the Sacred Liturgy (Mediatior Dei) characterized it as one of the “other exercises of piety that although not strictly belonging to the Sacred Liturgy are nevertheless of special import and dignity and may be considered in a certain way to be an addition to the liturgical cult: they have been approved and praised over and over again by the Apostolic See and by the Bishops In his encyclical, Bl. Paul VI used the Month of Mary devotion as a means of obtaining prayers for peace. He urged the faithful to make use of this practice which is “gladdening and consoling” and by which the Blessed Virgin Mary is honored and the Christian people are enriched with spiritual gifts.” (Mense Maio, #2). There are no official prayers or rites for

this practice. Many churches have a daily recitation of the Rosary in public or some other prayers in honor of Mary, including the crowning of our Lady’s statue. For private use, one can follow the format of a Liturgy of the Word: entrance chant, opening prayer, Scripture reading, and brief reflection or homily, with a concluding prayer of invocation. The only necessary element is that Mary be honored in a special way. Lang, OFM, Rev. Jovian P., Dictionary of the Liturgy, Catholic Book Publishing Co., New York, 1989, pp 420-421. What are our councils doing to remember Our Lady during this month dedicated to her? I hope that councils are planning, if not already, to be reciting the Rosary either before or after Sunday and/or Daily Masses. I hope that councils are being asked to be honor guards for parish May Crownings. I hope that the Supreme Council’s Building the Domestic Church is being utilized to help our families to be Holy Families like Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. I hope that councils are honoring mothers, grandmother, godmothers and all those who have acted like mothers to us, on Sunday, 8 May 2016. I hope that all Knights are having some private family rituals dealing with honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary during the month of May. I hope that councils will recite the Rosary on Sunday, 29 May 2016, as part of the Supreme Council’s Fifth Sunday of the Month Rosary. This day also happens to be The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, so many councils will be participating in Corpus Christi Processions. The activities are endless that councils can do to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary. “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.” Vivat Jesus!

Mary, most holy,

Ora pro nobis! [Pray for Us!]

Theotokos, [Mother of God]

Hear our Prayer,

Ever-Virgin,

Regina Caeli [Queen of Heaven]

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Saint of the Month St. Bernardine of Siena May 20

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“Every Grace granted to man has three degrees in order; for by God it is communicated to Christ, from Christ it passes to the Virgin, and from the Virgin it descends to us.” - St. Bernardine of Siena In the year 1400, a young man came to the door of the largest hospital in Siena. A plague was raging through t he city so horrible that as many as twenty people died each day just in the hospital alone. And many of the people who died were those who were needed to tend the ill. It was a desperate situation -- more and more people were falling ill and fewer and fewer people were there to help them. The twenty-year-old man who stood there had not come because he was ill but because he wanted to help. And he brought not new patients but young men like himself willing to tend the dying. For four months Bernardine and his companions worked day and night not only to comfort the patients but to organize and clean the hospital. Only at the end of the plague did Bernardine himself fall ill -- of exhaustion. But that was Bernardine's way -- whatever he did, he put his whole self into it. Immediately after he recovered he was back caring for the sick -- but this time, he was responsible not for a whole hospital but one person -- an invalid aunt. Yet for fourteen months she got his full attention. Throughout his life, he put as much energy into caring for one person as for hundreds, as much commitment into converting one citizen as to preaching to a whole city. After his aunt died, Bernardine started to think about where his life should be going. The son of a noble family, he had been orphaned at seven and raised by an aunt. We are told as a young person that he hated indecent talk so much that he would blush when he heard it. Even his schoolmates hesitated to make him so

uncomfortable but apparently one adult citizen thought it would be a great joke to needle Bernardine. In a public marketplace he stopped Bernardine and started to talk to him in a shameful way. But if he had thought to get away with his cruel trick, he was surprised when Bernardine slapped him in the face. The man slunk away, shamed in front of the very crowd he'd been trying to impress. Bernardine, who had come to Siena to study, threw himself into prayer and fasting to discover what God wanted him to do. One might have expected him to continue his work with the sick but in

1403 he joined the Franciscans and in 1404 he was ordained a priest. The Franciscans were known as missionary preachers, but Bernardine did very little preaching with because of a voice that was weak and hoarse. For twelve years he remained in the background, his energies going to prayer or to his own spiritual conversion and preparation. At the end of that time, he went to Milan

on a mission. When he got up to preach his voice was strong and commanding and his words so convincing that the crowd would not let him leave unless he promised to come back. Thus began the missionary life of the one whom Pope Pius II called a second Paul. As usual, Bernardine through his whole self, body and soul, into his new career. He crisscrossed Italy on foot, preaching for hours at a time, several times a day. We are told he preached on punishment for sin as well as reward for virtue but focusing in the end on the mercy of Jesus and the love of Mary. His special

devotion was to the Holy Name of Jesus. Some who were jealous denounced him to the pope by saying he preached superstition. Silenced for a short while, Bernardine was soon cleared and back to preaching. Bernardine refused several cities that wanted him as bishop but he was unable to avoid being named vicar general of his order. All his energy during that period went to renewing the original spirit of the order. Soon, however, Bernardine heard the call to go back to preaching which consumed his last days. As a matter of fact, even when it was clear he was dying, he preached fifty consecutive days. He died in 1444 when he was almost 64 years old. Prayer: Saint Bernardine of Siena, words were very important to you. You spent most of your life speaking the golden words of Jesus' mercy and his Holy Name. And you abhorred words that were shameful. Pray for

us that we may always choose to speak Jesus' name with reverence and choose words of love over words of shame. Amen catholic.org

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Membership Nick Gresko, State Membership Director

Can You Smell Circle of Honor We are at the home stretch of this fraternal year. Once this article comes out we will have a little under 2 months left in this fraternal year ending June 30, 2016 to achieve Circle of Honor as a State with the 10% bonus, the highest honor a State Council can get from Supreme Council. We need to bring in 577 members before June 30

th to

accomplish this. We are right where we need to be and it has been 7 years since we have achieved this award under past State Deputy Larry Moegling in the 2008-2009 Fraternal Year. Let’s break this 7 year drought and make this happen this year!!! Below I’m going to focus on non-recruiting councils, Land of 100 Members, Star Council requirements, where each council is at and the Form 450C, Form 450 and Form 100’s

I need HELP From Non-Recruiting Councils

There is still 62 councils that have done the same thing month after month since July 1

st. Do you know what the same

thing they have done? If you said they have not recruited a new member yet you would be 100% correct. Our Worthy State Deputy and I need these councils to jump on board and bring in a new member. If they did just think what our

numbers as a state would look like. A lot of times getting that first member in is all you need to get a few more especially if you promote the Shining Armor Award. This encourages the new members to bring in a new member and if you make a big deal at your council about it trust me the new members will come!!! . I’m hoping that we can have this list down to less than 30 by June 1

st. Below you will

find all of the Councils that have not recruited a new member as of 5/1/2016 .

Cincinnati (6 of 82) - 7.32% Mike Felerski - DMRD Larry Droesch – State Warden Mother Seton 3376 Msgr. Kuenle 5239 Lasalle 5621 A.J. Schulte 6144 St. Lawrence - Price Hill 14545 Msgr. Robert J. Von Kaenel 15424

Columbus (7 of 71) - 9.86% George Jones- DMRD Kevin Miller- State Secretary Columbus 400 Discovery 1341 Ascension 4324 Fr Holtzapfel 10284 Saint Elizabeth 11193 Saint Leonard 12641 Holy Trinity 13081

Cleveland (13 of 72) - 18.10% Jerry Nowesnick- DMRD Bob Collins- State Deputy Painesville 947 Lakewood 2643 Newburgh 2816 Bishop Hagan 3126 Southeast 3222 Fr. Mahon 3541 Saint Pius X 3822 Medina 4168 Magnificat 4498 John F Kennedy 5506 Fr. Mitchell Cieslik 8369 Fr. Maruskin 10936 St. Cyprian 14714

Steubenville (9 of 26) - 34.62% Tom Offenberger- DMRD Bob Byers- State Treasurer Bellaire 1246 Fr. Frank Patala 1716 Toronto 2187 Saint. Anthony 2262 Saint Catherine 4590 Saint Mary's 5174 Pieta 5583 Saint Gabriel 11380 Our Lady of Carroll County 15401

Toledo (12 of 69) - 17.39% Jim Collins-DMRD Mark Siracusa- State Advocate Fremont 591 Saint John Neuman 1117 Fostoria 1197 Port Clinton 1750 Bryan 1915 Msgr. Leo W Frye 2642 Sacred Heart 2850 Montpelier Sacred Heart 5226 Saint Anthony 10299 Saint Jerome’s 11450 Saint Clement 13636 Our Lady of the Holy Rosary 16264 Cathedral

Youngstown (15 of 58) - 25.86% Mike Jordan- DMRD Ken Girt-State Deputy Canton 341 Wellsville 507 Carroll 509 Warren 620 Conneaut 627 Louisville 2530 Newton Falls 3350 Mantua 3766 Fr. Lambert J Andrews 4433 Msgr. Lavelle 4571 Fr. Coan 4658 Saint Peter's 5173 Saint Dominic Fenwick 13586 OLPH Aurora 14186 St. James 14491

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4 MORES: MORE Knights bring MORE hands

& hearts, to raise MORE funds and to

evangelize, doing GOD’S good works

helping MORE people in need!

Form 450 and Form 450C is like GOLD!!! District Deputies please make sure

within 3-7 days of holding a degree in

your District the Form 450 is turned in.

Grand Knights and Financial

Secretaries the Form 450C should be

sent in within 3-7 days of doing a

degree. This is extremely important

because this allows us to track if

Supreme actually processed your

Form 100’s! If you took the time to

bring in a new member the State

Membership Team wants to make sure

you get credit for your hard work and

effort.

These should be filled on line now

at the State Website and then it

automatically sends it to who it

needs to go to. Take advantage of

this!!!

Form 100’s Within 3-7 days of a degree any Form

100’s should be emailed to the

Supreme Council at

membership@kofc.org or to

membershiprecords@kofc.org

Supreme is able to process the Form

100 much quicker this way and you

have a receipt that they were sent in

your sent mail. Plus this saves your

council the cost of a stamp every time

new members are brought in. Also,

please make sure that every part of

this Form 100 is filled out or the Form

100 will not be processed. Just this

month we had over 25 Form 100’s that

were processed extremely late

because of this. We can’t afford for

this to happen in these last three

months when we are trying to achieve

Circle of Honor!!!

Land of 1,000 Members May is our final month of the Land of 1000 Members membership Drive. There is not a better time than now to bring in a new members because recruiters and councils all can bring in some serious cash. The state could give out $10,000 + at the end of May. This could be some great extra cash to spend on vacation or make a home improvement that you have been putting off and how your diocese and Council are doing with one month down in the Land of 1000 Members

STATEWIDE TOTALS

62 OF 375 COUNCILS NOT RECRUITING

16.53%

DIOCESE 2/29/2016 5/2/2016 Totals Goal Pct

Cincinnati 361 497 136 264 52%

Cleveland 319 422 103 177 58%

Columbus 282 381 99 183 54%

Steubenville 56 79 23 47 49%

Toledo 268 394 126 215 59%

Youngstown 115 142 27 114 24%

Grand Total 1401 1915 514 1000 51%

Star Council Requirements and How is Your Council Doing The Star Council Award is Comprised of the following 6 items: 1. Father McGivney Award for membership growth by June 30

th Founders’

Award for insurance growth by June 30th

2. Columbian Award Report Form #SP7 for well-rounded council service programs and activities by June 30

th

3. Your council must submit the Annual Survey of Fraternal Activity (#1728) by January 31

st If not done still turn in and it will count.

4. The Service Program Personnel Report (#365) by August 1st If not done still

turn in and it will count. 5. Remain in good standing with Supreme Council assessments paid by June

30th

Only requirements numbers 4 and 5 can be turned in late to Achieve Star Council. The other ones must be done on the date given or earlier. How is Your Council Doing? See the list on the next page.

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9

10

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For some reason, Supreme is NOT updating the lists of councils missing the 1728 and 365. If your council is close to achieving Star Council, PLEASE verfiy that you have submitted your 1728 and 365. Please have your copies handy in case our state deputy has to consult with Supreme. COUNCILS NOT SUBMITTING ANNUAL

SURVEY OF FRATERNAL ACTIVITY

Form 1728:

00360 00400 00620 01272

01411 01747 02661 03891

04498 04533 04590 04658

05621 11354 11828 12756

13081 13379 13586 13636

14342 14491 14545 15036

COUNCILS NOT SUBMITTING SERVICE

PROGRAM PERSONNEL REPORT

Form 365:

00360 00400 00620 00627

01117 01716 01991 02050

02072 02935 03350 03564

03737 03891 04049 04169

04180 04224 04433 04437

04558 04590 04658 04790

05371 05483 05621 05674

05764 05834 06426 08064

09804 10149 10299 11150

11369 11551 11626 11649

11650 11915 12310 12539

13081 13289 13614 14342

14545 14603 15573

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Retention Mike Jordon (East) / Bill Wirtz (West)

Retention Has Its’ Basis in Love Brothers, let us start by saying, “We love you.” As Knights this is our goal every day and the very reason we do what we do. Love is sharing our faith and putting it into practice. The Knights of Colum-bus enable we men of faith to pool our resources within an infrastructure devel-oped to be flexible and efficient, and to encourage participation of all members. Therefore, Retention of all members is essential to sharing that love.

Some of our tasks, as part of the State Retention Team, include conservation efforts of members in the process of ei-ther suspension or withdrawal. These are two “critical periods” that have new applicable conservation procedures put into effect on 1 July 2015, the beginning of this fraternal year. The State Reten-tion Team has embraced the new proce-dures and doing our best to apply them. Consequently, the actions of the State Retention Team are meant to comple-ment the efforts of the Financial Secre-taries, council Retention Teams, and the District Deputies. Councils need to know we will never work against estab-lished processes, and that the new pro-cedures do not replace what the council and DDs are currently responsible for. We ask the councils to be patient and communicate openly with the State

Team as we work through our new con-servation procedures. We know you have done your best to retain our mem-bers, but Supreme has afforded us one more opportunity to share the love. We also want to recommend the coun-cils get way out in front of Retention by contacting every member of your council on a regular basis. Please don’t wait till some are two years behind in their dues. Call them several times a year and let them know they are needed and im-portant to the mission of the Knights of Columbus. They joined the Knights to make a difference, so let them. Please allow the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with the love needed to guide our actions and complete our mission. For questions and assistance please don’t hesitate to contact your Ohio State Council Retention Directors.

Membership Mission #11 The world is resplendent with Spring's increased light and new growth. It is Mary’s month in the Easter season and all of nature rejoices with the Queen of heaven at the Resurrection of the Son she was worthy to bear. During the remainder of Easter time, let us endeavor through the prayers of the Holy Liturgy and the Holy Rosary to deepen our gratitude for the mystery of our Baptismal rebirth in Christ. We know that Mary and her Knights are unstoppable. We learned that early. We know she is to be honored and adored. Let us honor her this month in a very special way. Let us calling on our Eternal Mother to help us in leading more men and families to Her and Her Divine Son, Jesus. Let the cry of "Hail Mary" ever be on our lips and hearts as we ask for Her blessed intercessions for our families, councils and world. Click the logo to see the May video!

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I would like to thank the Brother Knights from this great State that read the “Through him, With Him, In Him” Program and maxed out the program. We did have 218 Councils report at least one program. In May is the election of Officers, a good way to learn the chair is to start with being a Program Director at the Council, consider helping out your new Officers by volunteering to be a Director. Remember to submit your form #185 report of Council Officers, and #365 Service Program Personnel Report. Have you been working on your SP7 application for the Columbian Award? If you have completed the application send it to Supreme right away, but no later than June 6

th. Also double

check on your Star Council requirements to make sure they have been met. Please check with Supreme to make sure that they have received both applications. I will be looking forward to seeing you at the State Convention. Come and enjoy the Friday Night Party, and remember our Fallen Brothers at Mass on Saturday.

General Programs Bob Walsh, General Program Director

Church Jeff Kiliany

The deadline for submitting In Memoriam submissions from councils who had deceased members has passed. Thank you to all the councils who took the time to send me your deceased members from this past year. They will be remembered at our “In Memoriam” Mass at the State Convention Saturday morning May 21, 2016. Now that this year’s State Program has been completed, it doesn’t mean that your council should stop doing activities until next Fraternal year. There are many activities that council members can be involved in over these next couple of months. June and July are always busy times for Picnics and Festivals. A Supreme Council suggested Church activity for the month of June is “FATHER'S DAY RENEWAL OF WEDDING VOWS”. Father’s Day is an important time to celebrate the role of fatherhood within the Christian family and is the ideal day to host a Renewal of Wedding Vows. Annually sponsoring this event on the third Sunday of June will serve to make your council visible to the parish community and show your member’s support for all fathers and husbands. During these events, Knights and their wives — along with all the married couples of the parish — have an opportunity to renew their commitment to their wedding vows. After the event, councils should host a reception where they can congratulate each couple and thank them for their witness. Many councils will be hosting the Silver Rose or the Holy Family Icon over the next several weeks. Here are some suggestions from Supreme Council to help your council in planning your council’s participation in the Holy Family Prayer Program.

Once you find out from your jurisdiction’s Marian Prayer Program chairman when your council is scheduled to receive the image, consult your chaplain and/or pastor about the service and set a location for the prayer service to be held.

Identify council members and clergy to fulfill the various roles called for in the prayer program.

Representatives of your council should attend the service at the council from whom you will receive the image and bring the image to your council.

Instruct the congregation to say the prayers at a moderate pace to ensure the service is truly reverent.

If possible, the choir leader should review the hymns with the congregation before the service.

Collect prayer books after the service to be sent along with the image to the next council.

No money should be collected nor should any social activity be held in conjunction with the service.

The grand knight should record the council’s program in the log book that accompanies the image before sending it on to the next council.

Additional copies of the prayer books and prayer cards used in the program can be ordered from the Supreme Council Fraternal Services Department.

Finally, we want to be sure that your council has 4 qualifying Church activities to list on your Supreme Columbian Award Form #SP7 which will go towards achieving Star Council. You may use the same activities that you reported on your State “Through Him, With Him, and In Him” Program, but they must reported again to Supreme Council. Please call or e-mail with any questions. I will be happy to assist you and your council.

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Culture of Life Gary Anderson The following is from KofC.org: On Thursday, April 28, 2016, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson spoke at the United Nations as part of a panel discussion sponsored by the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See. The panel discussion focused on human rights abuses and the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East and throughout the world. Other speakers at the session included Father Douglas al Bazi, missionary Sister Maria de Guadalupe and Melkite Catholic Archbishop Jean-Clément Jeanbart of Aleppo, Syria. Archbishop Jeanbart will speak on the genocide being waged against his people and the future of Christianity in the Middle East on Sunday, May 1, at St. Mary’s Church, 5 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven, Conn. For more information visit the Christians at Risk web site.

The panelists united with the supreme knight in sharing their powerful testimonies and insights of personal experiences relating to the atrocities that have occurred in the Middle East. Now that genocide has been officially declared by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and world organizations as a result of such documentation as the nearly 300-page report produced by the Knights of Columbus, an appeal to the international community for concrete actions needed to help persecuted Christians was echoed by panelists. For the supreme knight’s complete speech at the United Nations, please click here. Fortnight for Freedom 2016 From June 21 to July 4, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will host its annual Fortnight for Freedom under the theme “Witnesses to Freedom.” In support of this theme, the USCCB will highlight 14 men and women around the world who bear witness to authentic freedom in Christ. As faithful Catholic American citizens,

we encourage your council to work with your pastors to be fully engaged in this special celebration. For suggestions on simple activities, please visit the USCCB’s Fortnight for Freedom website. Additionally, we encourage you to share the USCCB-produced 10-minute video on the importance of religious liberty that is available on the website. This could be done at a council meeting or as part of a larger parish or community celebration of the fortnight. You can also order Knights of Columbus religious freedom signs (13”x 20”) for use at any rallies or marches for religious freedom sponsored by your council or held in your area. The signs say “Respect Religious Freedom” (#10041) and “Defend the First Amendment” (#10042). Order online at Knights Gear or send a Supply Requisition (Form #1) by mail or fax (1-800-266-6340) to the Supply Department. The cost is $10 per 100 signs, which includes shipping and handling. Completion of this activity would satisfy Culture of Life Activity #46, Stand Up for Religious Freedom.

Community Tom Forsthoefel The end of the fraternal year is coming up and it is time for the councils to do a final “once over” on your councils activities for the year. So review if your council has completed all of its activities for the following areas: Church, Community, Council, Culture of Life, Family and Youth. It is now time to complete and submit your Columbian Award Application (SP7). The report can be found on the 2015 – 2016 Serge with Service Kit CD your council received at the beginning of the year from the Supreme Office. It is a two page report that can be completed fairly easy. Your council only has to list 4 items under each of the areas listed above. Even if your council did not submit these activities throughout the year to the state website you can still add them

to the Supreme Report for all the activities your council has completed. If you are having trouble retrieving the report forms, contact your district deputy and he can supply you with the forms. The deadline to the Supreme Office is June 30, 2016, so please don’t delay in getting this report completed. We have just started the month of May and your council still has time to continue working on its membership as well. Growth of a council depends on new members entering the councils with fresh new ideas. Even if your council was just started in the past couple of years, keep working towards the goals of new membership in completing your council activities. Let’s all finish the fraternal year of 2015 – 2016 with a strong finish. I hope to see all of you at the upcoming State Convention in Sandusky, Ohio.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May she Rest In Peace. Amen. Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, PCPA 20 April 1923 + 27 March 2016

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You’re A Click Away—State Website Bob Gilliland Printing out the Council SP-7 Form!!! This month, Councils can begin processing their Columbian award (SP-7) forms. The SP-7 form can be submitted online through the state website or printed out for mailing to Supreme Council, the State Deputy, the Council’s District Deputy, and a copy for the Council records. If submitted online, all of the above named recipient will receive an electronic copy of the SP-7 form. In either case, the SP-7 form will contain the selected Council program activities for the current fraternal year. The access to this form is available to Grand Knights and Financial Secretaries and allows the Council to select four (4) programs from each of the program categories (Church, Community, Council, Family, Culture of Life, and Youth). Please feel free to email me at BobG@sceinet.com if you have any questions. Thank you.

Measure-Up Celebrates 40

th

Anniversary Goal is $425,000 Harding Christ & Larry Droesch Forty years ago an Ohio Knight of Columbus had the vision to help people with developmental disabilities. He was the late Brother Knight Bob Sears, who would go on to be elected State Deputy of the Ohio State Council. His dream was the Measure-Up Campaign, which has become Ohio’s “flagship” project. This year’s goal is to raise more than $425,000 for distribution to agencies which assist our special citizens with developmental disabilities, said State Warden Larry Droesch, the 2016-2017 Measure-Up chairman. In addition, he’s looking for participation from at least 75% of Ohio’s councils. Because of the 40

th Anniversary, a

special effort is asked of each council: GIVE $40 X 4 (= $163) more, over what you gave last year! This will help us

exceed our goal and honor the dream of PSD Bob Sears! Extra fundraisers and collections (i.e. pass the hat at a meeting) in this last month are encouraged for councils to meet this special effort. The 2016 Measure-Up Campaign will officially be conducted on the weekends of April 29-May 1 and May 5-8, but can include other fundraising dates. Measure-Up is a charity whereby Knights are asked to put on those bright yellow and red vests and stand on street corners – or wherever – holding special containers and seeking contributions from the general public. In turn, Knights give a special ruler to those who contribute. Droesch also encourages councils to conduct other fundraisers and do such things as receive permission, for instance, from pastors to solicit collections after Masses. Councils are asked to send one check with their total collections, making it payable to Knights of Columbus Ohio State Council and mailing it to: Larry Droesch, 1758 Prairie Rd., Wilmington, OH 45177. Eighty per cent of the collected funds will

be returned to the councils for their charitable contributions to agencies of their choosing. The other 20% is distributed by the Knights’ Ohio Charity Foundation to statewide agencies which assist those with developmental disabilities, and for the purchase of those special rulers which are given to the councils. Special recognition will be given to councils that excel in the campaign:

Highest total dollars collected by a council.

Highest total dollars collected per member by a council.

Highest total dollars collected by a council in each state program division.

Highest total dollars collected per member by a council in each division.

All councils collecting a 25% increase over their 2015 collection total.

Complete information and special forms are included in the 2016 Measure-Up booklet which has been distributed to Grand Knights and is on the State Website.

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