June 2021
As we come to the end of another Columbian Year and we prepare to start the new year, I would like to take this time to reflect on the last twelve months and all of its challenges as well as blessings. When I accepted the nomination to be Grand Knight last March of 2020, I could have never imagined the changes that we were going to face, both as a council and a community. We had to learn how to conduct our meetings virtually via Zoom while still trying to interact with our fellow brother knights that were so accustomed to meeting in person. While adapting to the constantly changing safety protocols, our community was facing unrest and our council was called upon by the Mission Parish to help guard and protect the Mission grounds and its statues/relicts. A number of brave, strong knights from our council responded to the call by standing guard at the Mission all hours of the day and night. It was an honor to have the opportunity to stand with our fellow brothers and help protect our place of worship.
We were very limited in our options for fundraising and parish events throughout the year, but our council made the best of the situation and thought of events that could be completed during the worldwide pandemic. A new fundraising event we started was to sell Christmas Cards during the Christmas Season. This was a great success and we will continue to have this fundraiser in future years. The council was able to have the annual Lenten Fish Fry Dinners, although it was conducting in a completely different manner this year due to the pandemic regulations. It was great to see our brother knights come together and adapt to the constant changes and still be able to make the events a success for our council and the parish community!
As we prepare for the new Columbian Year, I am honored to be able to help lead the council as Grand Knight for a second year. I look forward to being able to bring back some of our traditional events, such as the Oktoberfest and also having a number of membership drives to invite other Catholic men to join our council and participate in all the good work that we do for each other, the parish and the community.
Vivat Jesus!
WGK Brian Carr