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Abbot Pennings Council started with a planning meeting held on April 11, 1954 lead by Louis De Broux and Mark Rehrauer. A committee of the following men was set up to establish a new council and recruit the necessary number of men to get a council started. They were Arthur Gnewick, Robert Franken, Alfred Vanden Heuvel, John Kehoe, Vic De Cleene, Adolph Janssen, Maurice De Broux, Jim De Broux, Mark Rehrauer, Lawrence Willems, James Franken, Louis De Broux, Patrick Ariens and Ernest Kolb.
The next nine months were not easy. However, after a lot of organizational work, recruitment effort and planning, on January 23, 1955 the First Exemplification of the Council was put on by Council 617 from Green Bay and Council 3955 came into existence. Members from the Seymour, Green Bay, Marinette and the Manitowoc were in attendance to show moral support and good wishes.
The first officers were:
Grand Knight - Louis De Broux
Deputy Grand Knight - Adolph Janssen
Chancellor - Robert Lee
Advocate - A Vanden Heuvel
Warden - Vic De Cleene
Recorder - James Cuene
Treasurer - Harold Frisque
Fin. Sec. - Mark Rehrauer
Guard - Ernest Kolb
Guard - Wally Stengal
Lecture - Maurice De Broux
Trustee - Don Butz
Trustee - Jim Dillon
Trustee - Herb Cuene
Chaplain - Fr. Tom Wagner
The new officers were installed on February 7, 1955 by the Manitowoc Degree Team while initiating 12 new members.
Over the next several months bi-monthly meetings were held at the VFW Hall. The dues structure was set, corporate communions planned, and a retreat program set up. In April 1955, Fr. Tom Peters became the Chaplain of the Council. Encouraged by GK Louis De Broux membership grew to over 120 during the next two years. A charter celebration banquet was held on May 22, 1955 at St. Mary’s Parish Hall. In October 1955 Abbot Killeen gave his permission to name our Council after Abbot Bernard Pennings. That same October our Council held its first Columbus Day celebration. On November 7, 1955 a resolution was passed to name our council Abbot Pennings Council. However, it was not until May 7, 1956 that the Supreme Council gave notice that the name change was made official.
In the ensuing five years under the guidance of Grand Knights Adolph Janssen, Vic De Cleene, Stan Rupiper, Jim De Broux and Harry Macco the Council continued to grow and develop an excellent fraternal program consisting of movie nights, retreat weekends, Landing Day banquets, Christmas parties hard times parties, and card parties for members and their families. There were ladies nights, clergy nights, pre-Lenten parties, sports nights, costume balls, dances, family picnics, father and son nights at the GB Blue Jay baseball games, and Christmas parties all published in a six month calendar of events sent to each member. On a more serious note Council members realized that Knights of Columbus should be extending Catholic moral and social values into the community and did so by sponsoring the radio family rosary, “Know the Truth” TV program locally, put pamphlets about the Ten Commandments in the Catholic Schools, and held essay contests on moral and social issues of the day in the local Catholic Schools. They gave annual Christmas gifts to the Sisters teaching in the Catholic Schools in De Pere, sponsored a Boy Scout Troop and honored the outstanding Mass servers in De Pere area Catholic Parishes with Bibles. In 1956 a blood donation program was put in motion as well as a committee to visit sick members. A “Forget-Me –Not” program was set up to send cards to members of the Armed Services. In 1958 our Council won its first Star Council award. Our current monthly bulletin, “Knight Lites”, was written by Gary Pollatz in January 1959 and has been published each month since then. Our Council was taking in many new members thru the use of creative recruitment measures like fishing trips, big buck contests, Braves trips, and sports teams. A very successful blood donors program was instituted in 1959 by Charter GK Louis De Broux. Fr. Raymond Heitpas was our Chaplain at the time and gave many stirring talks on the moral issues of the day.
In 1960 the council began formulating a Teen-Age Code of Ethics Program which came to fruition in 1961 and 1962 and gained wide acclaim throughout Northeastern Wisconsin. Students from the two area Catholic High Schools, Abbot Pennings and St. Joseph’s Academy, along with KC members, parents and others got together and developed a code of behavior that would set standards for teens to live by. It was presented to the Bishop of the Green Bay Diocese and he approved it. Cards with the code on them were printed and distributed to school children throughout the Diocese of Green Bay and beyond. The neat thing about this program is that it was enthusiastically defended and practiced by many teenagers and their piers. Fish fries, costume balls, a rifle team that competed at St. Norbert College and many other events highlighted the beginning of a new decade for our Council. Also, of importance, the creation of a First Degree Team by the GK, Pete Renkens. Starting in October 1960 our Council began holding its meetings at St. Boniface School. As in the late 50’s, the Council continued its youth programs of supporting the scouts, honoring the Mass servers, helping with scholarships to Abbot Pennings High and donating Christmas gifts to the Sisters teaching in the Catholic Schools in De Pere. The retreats continued with good participation as did the corporate communions and Cy Bushmaker saw to it that our council participated in the annual State Bowling Tournament every year. A big event was the Second and Third Degree sponsored by our Council December 11, 1960 in St. Boniface Gym. Another important event in 1960 was the implementation of the Packer Ticket Raffle Program to help fund the Council Charity fund. Throughout 1961 and 1962 with Jim Baeten and Jim Manders as GK’s our Council grew to over 200 members as respect for the KC’s grew in the community due to the success and results of our programs to help the youth and needy in the area. The reins of Financial Secretary were turned over to Arnie Vanden Langenberg in 1961 and the first District Deputy from our Council, Vic De Cleene, was appointed that same year. Fr. Donald Burkhart became our Chaplain in 1961.
Since 1957 our Council was interested in keeping Sundays holy and in 1962 we spearheaded a movement to stop all shopping in De Pere on Sundays to keep Sunday a day of rest in the Lord. Over 20,000 flyers concerning this were distributed in De Pere and stores were picketed. This was in keeping with the general tone of what our Council was doing at that time. We were making the community aware of Catholic ethics with our annual essay contest in Catholic schools, providing scholarships for Catholic education in the area, continuing to support the “Know The Truth” broadcasts, and started putting up a “Keep Christ In Christmas” billboard in De Pere. It was at this time that fundraisers, such as the Packer ticket raffle and selling programs at Bishops Charity Game, started to fund our charities. These efforts proved to be very successful. In July 1963 our Council began holding its meetings in the Legion Hall on Michigan St, in E. De Pere. We received our second Star Council Award in 1963. In July 1964 Fr. Gerold Kempen became our fifth chaplain and proved to be a wonderful spiritual leader along with giving many practical ideas to improve our Council’s operation.
During the tenures of Grand Knights Gordon George, Vince Mc Cabe, Mark Rehrauer, all these beneficial programs continued with the addition of a Children’s Christmas Party and food baskets given to the poor at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Participation in retreats, Corporate Communions, Columbus Landing Day celebrations, steak fries at the fairgrounds and like events remained strong with special interest in day trips to Door County and other areas of interest. Participation in the State Bowling Tourney was on the rise. The Council was also becoming more active in the community through its youth programs. Helping at the Abbot Pennings Basketball Tourneys, selling ads in the tournament programs, the continued success of the essay contest, the Mass server awards and support of students wishing to go to Abbot Pennings High were indicative of this. In fact the “Teen Age Code Of Ethics” Program was still very much alive and influencing kids for the better. After much deliberation, planning and effort, a Council Directory was printed in August 1964 sponsored by local advertisers and the proceeds used to fund the Neuman Center and other charities. In May 1966 our Council began holding its meeting at the Congregational Church building on Reid St. in W. De Pere.
Grand Knight, Tom Basche, suggested the Council directory be used to call members for saying the rosary at wakes—thus our first calling tree. During this time several locations to hold our meetings were scouted and bid on as this situation continued to concern our members. In February 1967 we made our first step into the arena of holding a public event for profit---a bowling tournament that netted a profit of $52.80. In May 1967 we began visiting the Tomah VA Hospital one day each year to wheel veterans to Mass on a Sunday morning. This program continued for 25 years. Throughout the mid-to-late sixties Grand Knights, Tom Basche & Bill Vande Hei, oversaw Council members continue their efforts to encourage fraternalism with mixed couples bowling tourneys, Landing Day Banquets, steak fries at the Fairgrounds, fish fries for profit, and family events such as the Memorial Mass spaghetti dinners. Community involvement was on the increase with teenage dances sponsored by the Council, continued support of the Neuman Center Project, and involvement in the Silver Knight Award from its inception in June 1967. The previous programs to help the needy at Thanksgiving and Christmas, rewarding Mass servers, provide scholarships to local students were further evidence that our Council was coming into its own. In July 1967 Mark Rehrauer became the second member of our Council to become a District Deputy. The Packer ticket raffle was becoming a very successful fund raiser and a new project emerged in December 1968—the first Christmas tree sale run by Ray Jaeger and Glen Virtues. They made $375.
During the fall of 1968 and spring of 1969 Abbot Pennings Council along with the De Pere VFW bought land and constructed a club house at 600 N. 10th Street in De Pere. Jim Baeten, Dick Baeten, Bill Vande Hei, Clyde Romenesko, Louis De Broux and Jerry Fritsch made up the KC Building Committee. The De Pere Columbian Inc. came into existence as the holding entity of our share of the combined ownership of the property and building. A House Committee was set up to run the operations of the clubrooms. As the building project was in progress the Council, led by Hollis Vieux and Charlie Laehn, spent many hours working on the project and still had time for putting on a Circus, starting a wake service program, helping at the Abbot Pennings School Picnic, having a hay ride for members and their wives and participating in the KC State Traveling rosary devotion. The grand opening of the new clubhouse was October 25, 1969 and our first celebration there was a New Year’s Eve party with over 150 in attendance. As the Council progressed into a new decade, many of the programs beneficial to the youth and the needy in the community continued and the ways to fund them were found in the newly established Christmas tree sale, the advent of the KC Softball Tournaments which were started by Dick Baeten and fish fries open to the public at our Clubhouse. In 1970 Fr. John Schmidt became our Chaplain. In September 1971 Ignatius Gorenc became our Financial Secretary.
In the early 1970’s under the leadership of Jerry Fritsch, Jim Hoffman, Dick Baeten and Glen Virtues the new clubhouse arrangement with the VFW flourished with events by both organizations and commercial events to pay for the upkeep of the building. These events included fish fries, spelling bees, booyahs, bingo games for members and wives, Corporate Communions and the now famous Landing Day Banquets, Tom & Jerry Parties and New Years Eve bashes for the members. Funeral dinners, bridal showers, weddings and parties for the public supervised by the House Committee proved to be good sources of income to support our new Clubhouse. We were still involved with the youth of De Pere through our annual donations to the Abbot Pennings High Scholarship Fund, donating book covers to local Catholic grade schools, establishing the first annual youth bowling tourney at Century Lanes in April 1972, supporting a chaplain at the scout camp, starting an annual Knowledge Contest in 1971 and donating to the Christ Child Society. Our involvement in the community increased as our reputation for helping others gathered momentum and our membership was now 245. We now held an annual softball tourney, Christmas tree sale, a very successful Packer ticket raffle which all generated the necessary funds to support these programs. Also included were donations to the needy at Christmas, the Sacred Heart Center, and a family in dire need. In 1972 Fr. Roger Vanden Busch became our Chaplain and over the next 4 years proved to be an invaluable spiritual leader of our Council. We started the annual sponsorship of the Minor Baseball League in the spring of 1973. In February 1973, just after the Roe v. Wade decision, our council sponsored a Pro-life event at St. Norbert College that attracted over 900 people in support of life. In the summer of 1973 we started the annual Booyah cooking for St. Joseph’s Parish Picnic. In April 1974, under the leadership of GK Lee Van Dyck, our first Las Vegas Nite was held to raise funds for our charity fund. That same spring we held our first “Tootsie Roll” Promotion for the mentally challenged which raised $281.34. As earlier in the decade, our Council was still having well attended Corporate Communions, Pro-Life meetings, membership open houses, and in August 1974 we started a bingo program at the clubhouse. This Bingo Program would prove to be the backbone of our charity donations for the next 20 years. A trap shooting team was organized and our own softball team was started in 1973 by Dick Baeten. We also were using a billboard in downtown De Pere for our “Keep Christ in Christmas” Program, a pro-life message and another urging Catholics to pray the rosary. In 1973 Bill Vande Hei became our District Deputy. It was during this period and throughout the remainder of the 70’s that our council provided thousands of school book covers to the children attending the Catholic schools in the area.
From 1975 through 1978 GK’s Clyde Romenesko, Dick Piontek, Norm Goral, and Larry Fleming had our Council really “humming along”. We were involved in presenting first degrees and advanced degrees of the order on a regular basis. Well attended days of recollection, Corporate Communions, Lenten services, and Memorial Masses were held to benefit the spiritual side of our members. During this four year period our charitable giving increased substantially due to the use of moneys from a very successful bingo operation and money raised by our softball tourneys, Las Vegas Nights, the “Tootsie Roll” Program now run by Len and Gen Cieslwicz, and the Christmas tree sale. In the fall of 1975 we constructed a baseball diamond for the De Pere Minor Baseball League we now operated for the Rec. Dept. including dugouts, backstop and a concession facility on Westwood St. in W. De Pere. The first recorded yearly total given to charity was $3175 during the 1976—77 fraternal year. In 1976 we had a float in the De Pere Bi-Centennial Parade and the parade at the State Convention in Oshkosh. We won our second Star Council Award and Clyde Romenesko became our fourth Financial Secretary. Donations to the local Catholic Schools now exceeded $2500 annually and were given out at an Awards Dinner in May of each year. Booyahs were now being cooked for the elderly at Nicolet Terrace Apts. and for St. Joseph’s Parish Picnic. Mentally challenged kids were sent to summer camps, we ran the Minor Baseball League for the De Pere Park Dept. plus a girl’s softball league, held annual Christmas Poster Contests, and January 1977 brought the advent of the annual Free Throw contest. The annual Kids Las Vegas Nite was becoming a real hit with families in the Council. The now monthly parties for the mentally challenged were well attended and much appreciated. In the mid ’70’s our annual Bowling Bashes at the State KC Tournament became one of the highlights of each year along with the New Year’s Party and the Las Vegas Nites and the always popular Tom & Jerry Parties. In May of 1977 we were awarded the 1979 State Convention to be held in De Pere. In July 1977 Fr. Peter Renard became the co-chaplain of our Council and Glen Virtues became our District Deputy. It was during the later part of the decade that our Council really became involved with the Pro-Life movement by video presentations, having a bill board depicting an anti-abortion message up almost all year, writing campaigns, and a memorial Mass for the unborn. The fraternal & social functions of the Council were varied and of great interest to the membership as they had in past years. Wine and cheese tasting events, visits to the Packer Hall of Fame, dinner meetings with wives, appreciation dinners, speakers at our social meetings giving talks on current issues of the day, banquets for the Minor League directors, managers and coaches and most importantly the much improved Landing Day, News Year’s Eve and ever expanding Las Vegas Nite celebrations and social gatherings at the clubhouse for the various holidays of the year. For a few years we even sponsored a Council volleyball team. It was during the late 70’s that we began donating over $4000 in scholarship funds to area Catholic Grade Schools and to Abbot Pennings and St. Joseph’s Academy. And finally, during the mid and late ‘70s Len and Gen Cielewicz developed a terrific monthly program to educate and entertain the mentally challenged people in the De Pere which included dinners, dances, bowling and swimming parties and the like. In the spring of 1978 we cooked a booyah for the Abbot Pennings High School Picnic and did so for the next 11 years until the school closed in 1990 making a profit for the school of over $1500 each year. In October 1978 the first Past Grand Knight banquet was held in honor of the Council’s 25th anniversary. In July 1976 Clyde Romenesko became our Financial Secretary. We won two more Star Council Awards in 1977 and 1978.
In December 1978 Larry Fleming resigned as GK due to a job change and Terry Suttner took his place and remained GK thru July 1980. That March the KC’s erected the logo signs of all the fraternal organizations in De Pere. Our charitable giving was ever increasing as more funds became available from bingo operations, softball tourneys, trees sales, Las Vegas Nites, and other endeavors. Our Pro-life efforts were increased in scope and funding by sponsoring information sessions, prayer hours and putting up local bill boards. However, the most important undertaking in our Council’s 25 year history happened in the spring of 1979. We, under the leadership of Terry Suttner, Tom Basche and Bill Vande Hei, hosted the 1979 State KC Convention at St. Norbert College in May of 1979. It was a lot of hard work selling ads for the booklet, arranging the luncheons, banquets, and organizing all the details during the months before but was it worth it as it went off flawlessly much to the surprise of the State Officers and to our satisfaction. Because of our increased capacity to raise charity dollars more donations were given to local charities such as our own De Pere Mentally Handicapped Program, Cerebral Palsy, over $5000 to local Catholic schools, WCCL, and $1000 to a Teen Program for the “Special People” and many others. It was in 1979 that we were the prime movers in building the concession stand at VFW Park under the leadership of Earl Vanden Langenberg. As the decade ended our spiritual well-being was taken care of by Fr. Vanden Busch by days of recollection, prayer meetings and Lenten services. We also were now making donation to fund the CCD Program at St. Mary’s Parish run by Diane Gossen and won fifth Stare council award in 1979.
During the early years of the 80’s Earl Vanden Langenberg, Larry Goeben, John Mueller, kept a steady hand on the Council “tiller.” Our membership was now 320 and climbing. We continued to cook booyahs for the St. Joseph’s Parish picnic, Abbot Pennings High School picnic, the city Memorial Day Picnic, St. Mary’s Parish and the oldest annual booyah for the Nicolet Terrace Apt for the elderly. We ran two or three softball tournaments a year, sponsored youth teams, saw the “Tootsie Roll” program take in over $1500 each year, and the Las Vegas Nites become more fun and lucrative. The Packer Ticket raffle was still going strong making a few hundred each year and our bingo operation was really producing a profit each year. However the most significant thing happened in September 1981 when we voted to increase the size and scope of our clubhouse. Renovations began in May 1982 and concluded with a grand opening and formal dedication on August 2, 1982 to which all members were invited. The manager of the club was Arnie Beimborn. The early ‘80’s were also a witness to the continuation of the religious and fraternal aspect of the Knights of Columbus days of reflection, Corporate Communions, retreats at St. Norbert Abbey, memorial services at our social meetings and the yearly Memorial Mass honoring our deceased members. We also witnessed increased attendance at our business and social meetings each month. The Las Vegas Nites were the best ever, with increased interest in the Tom & Jerry Parties, the booyahs, Landing Day Banquets, and a spanferkel/membership night that drew over 130 people in September 1982. Sleigh and hay rides were in. Our Awards to donate over $5000 to local Catholic schools were still well attended and were incorporated into the Landing Day Banquet in the mid 80’s. Dick Baeten had a blood donor program up and running again and our visits to the Veterans Home in Tomah were still taking place under the guidance of Fran Mulrooney. Bowling Chairman, Jim Hoffman, had ten or more teams going to the KC State Bowling Tourney and the Council softball team, formed in the mid 70’s, was active playing in the KC League. We also had been sending teams to several local KC bowling tourneys since the early to mid 70’s. During this time our many youth programs, Christmas Poster, Knowledge, and Free Throw, Kids Las Vegas and Sleigh Ride Party were in the capable hands of first, Dave Catalano, and then Bill Van Camp, Dan Minten and Dave Hendricks. This was the time sports nights returned and trips to the Arlington Race Track began. In the spring of 1983 a new First Degree team was formed using the new degree format instituted by the Supreme Council in 1981. In July 1981 Bill Vande Hei became our Financial Secretary and Fr. Roger Vanden Busch again became our Chaplain. In 1981 and 1983 we won our sixth and seventh Star Council Awards.
It was during the terms of Dave Catalano, Dick Tate, Jerry Whitbeck and John Wilmet that our charitable donations increased due to a very good bingo program, successful softball tourneys, very well attended advanced degree ceremonies, the Packer raffle was still making money, and the Christmas Tree Sale was coming into its own making over $3000 in profits each year. We even had a couple’s softball tourney in 1983 run by our “in house softball tourney guru”, Terry Suttner. Hawaiian Nights, Harvest Festivals, hayrides, and pancake/porky breakfasts were added to our fraternal functions. Our Mentally Challenged program run by Gen Cielewicz had become a terrific asset to the community and we were now collecting almost $2000 a year with our “Tootsie Roll” promotion. Visiting the sick and elderly in nursing homes now became part of our programming. We had our first Halloween Party for kids—a program that ran each year until 1997. Our Pro-life programs remained numerous and attention getting. Horse race trips to Arlington were made and we held our first Golf Tournament in July 1985. We were cooking more booyahs than ever before for various organizations and events and our many youth programs were attracting more participants each year under the guidance of Ed Castelic and John Janz. However, 1985 was important for many reasons. Our clubhouse had run into financial difficulties due to bad management and there were many concerns and meetings of the membership discussing this situation. Council members donated $20,000 to alleviate the most pressing part of our debt. The VFWmade a like donation. An interim manager was hired in 1985 and a permanent one in early 1987 to get things on the right track again. In the fall of 1985, under the guidance of Joe Thomson, we started having liver fries every other month September thru May to help keep the business in the black. We held many other promotions and even raffles run by John Wilmet to support the KC/VFW Club. The other important development that year is that it marked our Council’s further extension in to helping those in need. In October 1985 we held a city-wide benefit drive for Brother Marv Daanen who needed a heart transplant. We raised $6600 with this effort. It was through this effort that De Pere finally came to know what the KC’s were all about. That same year our Halloween Party for children of the community was greatly expanded and a child I-dent program introduced as part of the program. This event received much attention in the Green Bay and De Pere communities. It was reported on by WFRV-TV and the De Pere Journal. On December 1, 1985 Council member’s wives put on our first and very successful Craft Sale. 1986 was a successful year with improved results in our fundraising, especially the raffle to support our clubhouse. More craft sales were held and our program for the mentally challenged run by Len and Gen Cielewicz received a Knights of Columbus Supreme Award for its effectiveness and merit to the community. Tom Kerrigan became our Financial Secretary and Fr. Peter Renard became our Chaplain in 1984. In 1986 Fr. Francis McHugh became our Chaplain and the old Irishman regaled us with many stories, jokes and good spiritual advice until 1996. In 1984 John Mueller became our District Deputy and in 1986 Ralph Blumer became our Financial Secretary. We achieved the Start Council Award again for the 1985-86 fraternal year. It was our eighth such award.
During the next four years Edward Castelic, Harvey Aschenbrenner, and Pat Sands presided over the workings of our Council. It was during 1987 and 1988 that our youth programs again saw increased activity, especially with the Halloween Program. We were cooking booyahs for the elderly, for Abbot Pennings High, nursing home visitations were made and the Care and Share Program came into being. The M.U.M.S. program was supported as were many individual charities, an orphanage in Mexico, the Eudes Family Program and the scholarships to the local Catholic Schools. The Council now gave out “Roses For Life” lapel stickers on Pro-Life Sunday at the De Pere Catholic churches to raise money for pro-life causes. We had two large pro-life signs made up to be displayed along hi-ways in the area. We were now only running one softball tourney—The Old-timers Tourney. The other main sources of funding were the Christmas Tree Sale that was becoming more popular with the residents of De Pere, the bingo operation and the State Charity Raffle that started in 1985. The Las Vegas Nites came to an end and the Appreciation Dinners started. The Tom & Jerry Parties were still in vogue and well attended as were the annual Golf Outings and the visits to the Arlington Race Track. In 1987 we started having a Sportsman’s Raffle to aid the Handicapped and for Vocations run by Herb Kocken. Our Craft Sales continued thru 1989 and were very successful in raising money for us and the KC/VFW Club. In May of 1988 we sponsored the St. Leo Gospel Choir from Milwaukee to sing at a Mass at St. Boniface Parish. In 1988 Ed Castelic became our District Deputy. Towards the end of the decade our programs became more successful and the amount given to charity each year grew to over $13,000 with donations given to a seminarian, the religious retirement fund, Special Olympics, individuals with medical problems, local Catholic Schools, our De Pere Handicapped Program and many other causes. Memorial Masses, Corporate Communions, many Pro-life efforts, and a family Mass were now part of our Council’s Church Program plus the donations just mentioned. Harvey Aschenbrenner made improving our nursing home visitation program one of his main accomplishments. Profits from our Softball Tourney, the Christmas Tree Sale, and the bingo operation were on the increase. Ed Castelic was again running the Youth Programs including the Christmas Poster, Free Throw and Knowledge Contest plus the Kids Sleigh Ride and the now extremely popular Halloween Party. Participation in all these events remained strong. Many of the social functions were now a part of the fabric of the KC/VFW Club entertainment venue which included Valentines Day Dinners, St Pat’s Day celebrations and the ever popular liver fries. Membership in the council was being promoted thru the “Open House” approach and membership was at an all time high and increasing each year. We even had a booth at a business fair held at the old Howard Johnson Motel. By 1989 we had close to 400 members. In 1988 Ed Castelic became our District Deputy.
At the beginning of the 1990’s Gene Knuth and Don Smits were the Grand Knights and many new things began to happen and some things came to an end. We cooked our last booyah for Abbot Pennings High School Picnic as the school closed and the Packer Ticket Raffle had ended in the late 80’s. We began the Corn Roast Program for the Pink Flamingo Softball Tourney donating the profits to the newly formed Notre Dame and Marquette Elementary Schools. We had a float in the De Pere Centennial Parade and started the “Adopt A Bike” Program that recycled old bikes the city collected to give to needy children. Over 300 bikes were recycled this way and 200 were given away. In June 1990 John Van Gheem became our Financial Secretary. Our religious activities surged with a Vocations Awareness Program sponsored by our Council and the Diocese in the Catholic Schools in De Pere. We held our first Clergy Night on April 15, 1991 at which over 150 people attended. As part of this event we made donations to a Seminarian, the two Catholic Schools in De Pere and the Catholic Schools in Wrightstown and Greenleaf. Our Pro-Life Program expanded in the early 90’s with letter writing campaigns, an expanded “Roses For Life” Program, participation in Marches for Life in Appleton and Green Bay, donations to many pro-life causes and helped send John & Carol Mueller to the annual Pro-life March in Washington D.C. in 1990. Attendance at our annual Memorial Mass and Marion Hours remained good. Our Youth Programs were much the same as in the last decade but something new was added in the fall of 1990—The Punt, Pass and Kick Competition. Participation in all the programs was on the increase. In January 1992 we sponsored our first Hunter Safety Program. Our Council softball team was having some of its best years and we had an all time high of 13 teams in the KC State Bowling Tournament in Appleton under the leadership of Bowling Chairman, Jim Hoffman. We also sent 8 teams to the annual Seymour Council Tourney held in Black Creek—something we had been doing for over 20 years. Our social functions now included sports nights, the Tom & Jerry Party, club nights, sleigh rides at Koltz’s Farm and the annual Appreciation Night. The Landing Day Banquet was still well attended each October. We had been sponsoring Advance Degrees annually since 1983 and in 1988 we formed our own Second Degree Team. By 1992 we had taken in over 550 second degree candidates. For all our efforts during the 1991-1992 fraternal year our Council was awarded the State Deputies Trophy AS THE NUMBER ONE COUNCIL IN WISCONSIN plus becoming a Star Council Award winner.
Over the next four years Harold Grimes, Ralph Blumer, Herb Kocken and Dick Schefe guided our Council to even better and brighter accomplishments. As part of our Youth Program which now included Punt, Pass & Kick, the Christmas Poster Contest, the Free Throw Competition, and Hunter Safety, we, with the help of some other organizations, built a second Little League baseball diamond in 1992-1993, and cooked a booyah in November 1992 to buy playground equipment for Marquette School. We painted the gym and cafeteria at St. Boniface School at the request of Fr. Charlie Brooks in June 1992. Starting in 1991 we started holding an annual Sno-Ball Tourney in February to help the De Pere Little League Program and by 1993 it had become a winter event in De Pere. The De Pere Mentally Challenged program was growing and becoming a focal point for helping the mentally challenged in the area with an annual budget of over $2000. Our Pro-Life Program’s emphasis was not only on letter writing and our “Roses For Life” weekend but included a Pro-Life leaflet drop to all houses in De Pere, sponsoring a speaker at a conference at St. Norbert College, having a Pro-Life booth at the Brown county Fair and members doing the annual Pro-Life March in Green Bay. We were a major contributor to the October 1992 Christopher Columbus Quincentennial Celebration at the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay. In the late 80’s our annual trip to Tomah ceased because of the distance involved and our attention was placed on visiting nursing homes in the area which continued into the mid 90’s. Under the guidance of John Wilmet and Jim Hoffman we hosted the 1993 Wisconsin State Knights of Columbus Bowling Tournament at Ashwaubenon Lanes. Work on this project began in late 1991 and we made a profit of over $27,000. During that same time and over the next three years our Council received increased revenues from the improved Christmas Tree Sale, the “Tootsie Roll” Promotion, the Old Timers Softball Tourney, the Pink Flamingo Softball Tourney, the State Charity Raffle, the yearly advance degree ceremonies and many other small fund raisers. This all resulted in our annual charity donations increasing to an average of $15,000 per year by 1995. These donations included many given to individuals with major health and victims of tragedies such as the benefit we put on for the Joan French family in April 1994 which raised over $15,000. We were honored with our ninth and tenth Star Council Awards in 1992 and 1997
During the mid 90’s our social programs such as the Clergy Night, the Tom & Jerry Parties, the Memorial Masses, the Landing Day Banquet, and the newly created Workers Party were still successful. However, the biggest social events were the Liver Fries that drew 400-500 people each time and were “the talk of the town”. The Trout Boils and pig roasts also drew good attendance and were part of our clubhouse routine. The Mentally Challenged Program was really coming into its own with a varied monthly program enjoyed by all. Another program of the era were our KC Clowns who entertained in hospitals and at kids functions in De Pere and Green Bay for three years and was chaired by Dick Schefe. The annual city wide Halloween Party was entertaining 500 to 800 participants each year and getting rave reviews from all concerned, including city officials. The Police Dept. was now involved with a child I-dent program being done at the Halloween Party. Our Care & Share Program was helping over 125 needy people in town and the profits from the Brat Fries started in July 1994 went to help local food pantries. Participation on our Council’s Softball Team was on the increase due to the initiation of many new young members. The last time participation was this good was in 1987 when we won the league tournament championship. The Hunter Safety Program was prospering and booyah cooking was back on the front burner. Ed Castelic and his crew were cooking booyahs for Marquette School Young Adult Program, the Boys and Girls Club, the Key Club and Jim Hoffman was cooking for Nicolet Apts. for the elderly and the St. Norbert regatta. Our Pro-Life activities remained the same as in the past with another mail drop. That same year the Pro-life Essay Contest became part of our Council’s youth agenda. In 1995 we helped finance the “Memorial to the Unborn” in Allouez Catholic Cemetery. Attendance at our Corporate Communions and annual Workers Party remained good. We continued to send 10 teams to the State Bowling Tournament and the Tom & Jerry Parties remain popular. In July 1995 we began holding annual Organizational Meetings to plan the calendar of event for the coming year. By 1995 there were 28 people in De Pere who had been honored as Silver Knights by St. Norbert College. Of those 10 were Knights from our Council and 3 were wives of Brother Knights. In June 1994 Ron Van Dyck became our Financial Secretary.
Starting the second half of the 1990’s John Van Gheem was Grand Knight and the Council programs were doing very nicely. The Corporate Communions were well attended with the Schefe Family making the pancakes and porkies. The Clergy Night attendance was over 170 with many priest and sisters present. At the yearly Clergy Night we now gave our annual donation of $500 to a Seminarian. We helped send Don Smits and Norb Keyser to the Pro-life March in Washington in January 1996, had the best ever “Rose For Life’ Program and picketed President Bill Clinton about his stance on abortion when he visited De Pere for the Memorial Day Celebration. Memorial Mass attendance was holding its own as Fr. Peter Renard was again our Chaplain. Our Community based programs were making great steps forward as we were now helping De Pere Christian Outreach on fifth Saturdays. The Hunter Safety Program was really growing and becoming well known for its expertise in training young adults how to handle a gun. Under the leadership of Jim Hooyman and Len Rich the “Tootsie Roll” Promotion for the mentally challenged now was taking in over $4500 and Gen Cielewicz now was conducting a first class operation to aid the “special people” in our area. By this time we were also making significant contributions to Area Religious Special Ed Program at Nativity Parish. The Christmas Tree Sale now was making a profit of over $6500 and along with the Pink Flamingo Corn Roast, the brat fries, the Charity Raffle, the “Old Timers” softball tourney and the advanced degree ceremonies plus our work-in-kind contributions enabled us to donate over $17,000 to charity in 1996. The new project for the year was the Postal Carrier Food Drive Collection which we are conducting to the present day. Our youth programs were still going on but were showing signs that things might need changing. One highlight of the year was the roast held in honor of Past Grand Knight Herb Kocken. The other was that, for the second time, our council received the distinction of being the NUMBER ONE COUNCIL IN THE STATE BY WINNING THE STATE DEPUTY’S AWARD AND RECEIVED OUR ELEVENTH STAR COUNCIL AWARD.
During the two years Randy Lynn and Jim Engebos were Grand Knights subtle changes in our programs began to happen due to the dynamics of our membership base. From 1990 on we successfully recruited many new members and by 1996 our membership stood at 423. Because we had consciously stopped recruiting men over 50 years of age, the average age of the Council was actually decreasing and membership participation at social gatherings started to decrease dramatically. With the advent of busier family lifestyles, more school programs, non-stop sports leagues for kids, and the two income family our membership base had less time for KC socials and meetings. However, there was not a lack of workers for our many projects. The Christmas Tree Program, the Sno-Ball Tourney, the booyahs for Marquette School, Nicolet Apts., the Boys & Girls Club, St. Mary’s Parish, the Our Lady Of Lourdes Kids Fishing Derby, plus others, the Pink Flamingo Corn Roast, the bingo program, the Hunter Safety Program, the brat fry, and many other small projects took thousands of man hours and raised money for our charity fund. In fact, some programs were enlarged such as the Christmas Tree Sale having two locations in 1997, the new booyahs being cooked and the increased size of some of the youth programs all demanded more participation and it was gladly given. By the same token, the Landing Day Banquet ceased to exist as did the Workers Party which had taken the place of the Wives Appreciation Night several years before. Attendance at club nights, the Christmas Party, the State Bowling Tourney, and the Memorial Masses continued strong with the “Liver Fries” still at the top of the list for participation and having a great time. The Tom & Jerry Parties were on the way out because of poor participation and ceased in 2001. Corporate Communions on the other hand were being revitalized and attendance was up. However, the most important thing done by our Council in 1997 was the refurbishing of the landscaping around Nancy and Wayne Edges house on Grant St. It kept them from losing their house and up-graded the neighborhood immensely. It was the first time our council had done a community service like this and we received accolades from the Mayor of De Pere and from all the news media in the area. The dollar value of this was in the $7,000 range after we put in the driveway the following year. In October 1997 we distributed over 3000 Pro-life leaflets in the city. In August of 1997 Charlie Doperalski, Tom Basche and John Mueller as members of our Council went to Grand Forks, North Dakota to help clean up after the Red River flood. They helped repair a Catholic grade school in preparation for the 1997 school year. In 1998 several important things happened. First, we sponsored the All Saints Catholic Church Choir to come and sing at our spring Corporate Communion. This all Black choir really wowed the more than 200 people in attendance. The Clergy Night was the biggest ever and we had a very successful anti-abortion post card writing campaign plus we cooked a booyah for the Freedom Council raising $800 for a memorial to the unborn. The “Tootsie Roll” Promotion went over $5400 in receipts and a Brother Knight, Bill Diedrick, set up a program that raised over $20,000 to install defibrillators in the police and emergency vehicles of the city of De Pere. In July 1998 we sold our portion of the KC/VFW Club and property to the VFW and moved our clubrooms to St. Boniface School where we had been 40 years before and our Bingo Program closed down. That same August we painted an elderly lady’s house and started to do annual landscaping at the Bridge Between Retreat House near Denmark. The Postal Carriers Food Drive was now up to 11,000 lbs. collected by the Knights and taken to local food pantries. With the establishment of the first permanent Youth Committee our youth programs flourished and participation was at an all time high with good results in the Punt, Pass & Kick, the Pro-life Essay Contest, the Christmas Poster contest, the ever popular Halloween Party and the newly formatted Knowledge Contest. In June 1998 we again moved our meeting place to lower level of Our Lady Of Lourdes Parish Center and we have been there ever since.
Starting in the 1998-1999 fraternal year our Council changed the term limits of the Grand Knight to two years and George Garrity became our first two year Grand Knight. In the summer of 1999 something happened that had never happened before in our history. Our council Softball Team took first place in the KC Softball league for the first time in 26 years under the leadership of Dennis Larson. During the next two fraternal years our religious related activities included increased efforts to support local Pro-life activities from the proceeds of our “Roses For Life” program which now were close to $800 each year and sent a delegation to the Pro-life gathering in Madison in May 2000. We were again cooking the booyah for the annual Our Lady Of Lourdes church picnic and for the OLOL School Booster Club which proved to be very profitable for the parish. We painted classrooms, cafeteria and social hall at OLOL School and parish during the summers of ’99 and 2000. We began helping with the “Soup and Sermon” program at that same time. Our involvements in the annual landscape clean up at the Bridge Between Retreat House continued. The Council became more involved in community action by repairing a home of a black family that was “trashed’ by some gang members. The Mentally Challenged Program’s events were now more varied, interesting and well attended by over 100 people each time. We now put on a Fisheree for the handicapped at the Isaac Walton League Park and were cooking booyahs for the elderly, the kids Fishing Jamboree, the Boys & Girls Club and the Key Club. In 1999 we started putting up the Christmas Crèche in front of Abbot Pennings Hall on St. Norbert campus. Forty years before that two KC’s had put the first one up. However, the biggest impact we began making in the community were the many donations made to accident victims and those with serious illnesses. Through the now expanding State Charity Raffle we donated over $10,000 to individuals during these two fraternal years. The Christmas Tree Sale was now making over $8000 per year and the “Old Timers” Tourney, the Pink Flamingo Corn Roast and Clean up, the “Tootsie Roll’ Promotion, and the Brat Fry For Teens were all making nice profits for our Council. The youth programs were doing well with good participation except for the Free Throw Competition. The subtle changes in the behavior of our membership base that started in the early 90’s really became apparent in 2000 as attendance at our social functions decreased. Because of this only one Corporate Communion was held in 2000 and the last Tom & Jerry Party was held in December 2001 The Memorial Mass experienced somewhat of a decrease in attendance at the same time. However, the Council was very active in all the other phases of our fraternal operation and donated over $40,000 to charity while George Garrity was Grand Knight. And, we were still sending six to seven teams to the KC State Bowling tourney.
John Hofbauer was the next GK to take the reins of Abbot Pennings Council and during the next two years things really hummed along. After almost 30 years our annual Softball Tourney was not held because of the lack of interest and was replaced with a Golf Tourney that produced twice the revenue. A softball tourney called “The Bugsy” played in honor of past member, Jim Baumann, was gaining popularity and raising considerable money to provide scholarships to college for kids from East and West De Pere High Schools. Started in 2000, by 2002 nearly $27,000 had been put in a trust fund out of which four $500 scholarships were given out each year. Our church programming was the same as past years only bigger and better. The Clergy Nights continued to be well attended and the “Roses For Life” program doing very well. We were now putting Pro-life inserts in the parish bulletins on certain Sundays of the year. The yearly booyahs cooked for Our Lady Of Lourdes Parish picnic were more popular than ever with profits over $3000 each year. The OLOL Booster Club booyah was becoming a yearly anticipated event. In July 2001 Council members, led by Daryl Brys, repaired 42 windows in the gym at Notre Dame School. At Christmastime in 2001 we became the official Christmas tree trimmers for OLOL Parish. Our social event of the year was now the annual Appreciation Night held at the Swan Club in February and included a meal, good entertainment, and a nice time to spend some time with each other. As part of the program the Knight of The Year and Family of the Year awards were given out. In February 2002 we had a real treat as Fr. Joe Rodrigues, a nationally know singer, entertained us. The Corporate Communions were staging a come back and our Softball Team now made up of many of our younger members was having a banner year. The Mentally Challenged Program run 25 years by Gen Cielewicz was more popular and effective with pot luck dinners, bowling parties, dinner dances, a Valentines Day Dance, trips to the zoo, day trips to Door County and Timber Rattler games. We were still sponsoring a Pro Life Booth at the Brown County Fair. As it had been in front of St. Boniface Church and Abbot Penning Hall during the 80’s and 90’s, our Pro-life sign, “Abortion Stops Beating Heart” was on display in front of OLOL Parish Church in January 2002. During this two year period our youth programs continued to flourish with good participation in Punt, Pass & Kick, the Knowledge Contest, the Pro-Life Essay Contest, the Christmas Poster Contest and even the Free Throw Contest was showing some signs of life. However, the real gem of the group was the Hunter Safety Program that was now graduating over 125 young people a year and preparing them for responsible use of a gun. This program, lead by the Schefe Family, probably has helped the De Pere community more than we will ever know. During John Hofbauer’s term we donated over $59,000 to charity and over 16,000 hours in service to our fellow citizens of De Pere. This was accomplished by increased revenues from the State Charity Raffle, the Pink Flamingo Tourney, the Christmas Tree Sale, the Golf Tournament, the teen Brat Fry, the “Tootsie Roll” Promotion, the “Bugsy”, and the advanced degree ceremonies put on each year since 1983. Two of the more important things we accomplished in 2002 were the building of the garage for the Habitat for Humanity and the clearing of the camping areas at the Diocesan Retreat and Conference Center at Camp Tikawitha. We also started a new fund raising operation by working concession stands at the new Resch Center. At the end of the fraternal year, June 30, 2003, our membership was 428. This was just 5 more than in 1996. However, in that time frame 55 Brothers died and just as many transferred, withdrew or were suspended. This means our recruiting people were working hard. During the 2002-2003 fraternal years meeting attendance improved and between 25 and 30 members came to the monthly business meetings. Fr. Donald Marquardt became our chaplain in September 2002 and has been giving us good guidance ever since.
In July 2003 Wayne Van Asten became our GK and our Council, as in the past, continued to accomplish many good things. Our “Roses For Life” program in January is now raising close to $900 for local Pro-life facilities and activities. We changed our Corporate Communions to include the parish members from the parish we are holding it in and now attendance is over 125 each time. This, not only gets our members involved, but shows others what we are all about. The Bridge Between Project grows every year and the Dominican Sisters really appreciate our efforts to make their place look good. The Council has sponsored Holy Hours the past two year. Memorial Masses continue to have small attendance. However, they are necessary to honor the past members who made this Council the great organization it is. The Clergy Night, chaired by Herb Kocken, continues to shine as one of our best programs and has never stopped being popular with members and clergy alike. Mentioned many times in this presentation is the work of Gen Cielewicz in her untiring efforts to make the lives of the “Special People” special. She, along with Scott and Karen Cielewicz, continue with bigger and better programming. For our part, we have raised record levels of funding the last two years to help finance the De Pere Mentally Challenged Program. We collected $8449.26 in 2003 and $9744 in 2004 under the leadership of John Hofbauer and Kevin Brauer. Our community involvement now includes the Carriers Food Drive collecting over 15,000 lbs. of food each year and the Teen Brat Fries that produce close to $900 each year for student organizations in East and West De Pere High Schools. The students benefit from the profits but also learn to deal with the public as part of their education. Beyond this we, in the last two years, have become involved with manning a water station for the Green Bay Marathon and built a second garage for the Habitat for Humanity. Our Youth Committee has really become efficient under the leadership of Bob Whitbeck and now the Punt, Pass & Kick, the Christmas Poster Contest, and the Knowledge Contest are doing very well. The Pro-life Essay Contest has fallen on hard times because of the subject material. However, it is being revised next year and the school administrators think things should go better. The Hunter Safety Program is doing very well graduating over 140 people a year and now includes a hunt or skeet shot at the end of each program. We are now cooking booyahs for Nicolet Terrace, the Rowing Club, OLOL Parish Picnic, the “Bugsy”, the OLOL Booster Club, the Key Club and Boy’s & Girls club. We cooked a special booyah for Fr, Gery Meehan’s 70th birthday at old Abbot Penning s High in August 2004. During the past two years we have donated over $69,000 to charity which includes money raised for organizations by our efforts. This total was made possible by the Christmas Tree Sale that now has yearly profits of over $9000, the “Tootsie Roll” Promotion, the Resch Center Project, the Pink Flamingo Tourney, the Brown County Fair Project, the KC Charity Raffle that now brings in over $2000 a year, the Teen Brat Fries and our Advanced Degree Ceremonies. Our last involvement with the Pink Flamingo was in 2003 and that activity was replaced by the work done for the Brown County Fair Board during the annual Brown County Fair. We were paid $5500 for that versus making about $2000 at the Flamingo. It should be noted that since 1997 our Council has donated $40,000 to individuals who have had serious medical problems caused by illness or traumatic accidents. This is quite an accomplishment and one we can be very proud of. In 2004 we initiated over 30 new members with our first church drive at OLOL Parish. Our membership now stands at 443 which means we are the 8th largest Council in Wisconsin. In October 2004 Brother Knight, Jack Van Enkenvort, became the 37th Silver Knight Award winner. He was the 18th Knight of Columbus from Abbot Pennings Council to be awarded this honor by St. Norbert College to those who make De Pere a better community. One other note of interest is that our Second Degree team has taken in 1733 candidates since its inception in 1988. In the last two years we have had our own web site on the internet at www.kofc3955.org.
In the last two years the Officers have worked hard to improve the unity and fraternity in our Council and have had some success. Participation in the Family Christmas Party has increased as has the attendance at the Corporate Communions and our business meetings. In August 2004 a Family Picnic was held at Bay Beach and over 60 people were in attendance. It is a good start and there is hope interest will grow. A Council Golf Outing is planned for May 14, 2005 with plenty of prizes and activities to keep you interested and there is talk of a Baseball Night at the Timber Rattlers for this summer. We hope this trend continues and that our fraternal activities once again become as beneficial to our Council members and their families as they were in the past.
We started the 2006-2007 year with Officer Installation and social at OLOL Parish June 19, 2006. About 40 people were in attendance and had a good time. On July 10th we had our annual Organizational Meeting. The rest of the year went as follows:
1. Our Council sponsored our first Soccer Challenge on 7/29/06 with 33 participants.
2. Eight members of our Council did landscaping work at the Bridge Between Retreat House.
3. We parked cars and took admissions at the Brown County F air August 16th thru the 20th from which
we received $5500 for our Charity Fund. 191 Knights and family members worked this project.
4. We held our annual Council Family Picnic at Bay Beach on August 26th with 70 people in attendance.
5. On 9/7/06 our Fall Hunters Safety Program began with 47 students graduating three weeks later.
6. On 9/23/05 we held our Annual Punt, Pass, & Kick Competition. 96 kids had a good time.
7. We sponsored the GB Diocesan Soccer Challenge at Dickinson Field on 9/30//06--15 kids participated
8. 28 Council members helped build a Habitat For Humanity house on 10/6/06 in Green Bay
9. We held our Fall Corporate Communion on 10/1 at St. Mary’s Parish with over 200 people from our Council
and the parish in attendance
10. Our Council’s Pro-Life Essay Contest started on October 1, 2006
11. Our Hunter Safety Program held its annual Pheasant Hunt for the 10 top graduates of the program on 10/7/06
12. We cooked a booyah for the elderly at the Nicolet Terrace Apt. on 10/19/06
13. Our Council cooked a booyah raising $1400 for the OLOL Athletic Booster Club on 10/22/06.
14. Pot Luck dinner put on by MH Group on October 12th. Gave Check for $5617.00 to the MH Group.
15. Our Second Degree Team put on a Second Degree at SS Peter & Paul in Green Bay on 10/22/06
16. We put on a Membership Church Drive at St. Francis Parish on 10/28—took in four new members.
17. Our Annual Memorial Mass was at St. Mary’s Parish on 11/4-52 people attended & had a good time
18. On November 10th our Council’s Christmas Poster Contest was begun by Chairman, Brian Blaha.
147 posters were submitted.
19. The MH Group held a bowling party at Manhattan Lanes on 11/19/06.
20. Our annual Christmas Tree Sale began on November 24th. We sold 855 trees making a profit of
$12,753 for our charities. 142 Knights and family members worked the program expending
900 hours in making this program a success. 10 trees were given to local churches and charities.
21. On the first weekend in December we gave away 200 “Keep Christ In Christmas” yards signs at all the
Masses at St Francis, OLOL and St. Mary’s Parishes to honor our commitment to “Keeping Christ In
Christmas”. We also paid over $900 to place a “Keep Christ In Christmas” message on a prominent billboard
on Main Ave. in W. De Pere
22. On December 9th we held the Family Christmas Party, chaired by Brian and Jill Blaha. Over 80
youngsters and parents were in attendance. We had Randy Peterson entertain, Santa came and
refreshments were served.
23. We put up the Christmas Crèche in front of Abbot Pennings Activity Center which is viewed by the
occupants of over 10,000 cars a day on 12/11/06.
24. On 12/7/06 over 125 people attended the MH Christmas Party.
25. On January 10th our Charity Raffle Program began. We sold 1612 tickets raising $8160 for
charity. Our Council sold the second most tickets of all the councils in the state.
26. On January 10th our Knowledge Contest begins at OLOL and Notre Dame School with 296 entries
27. MH Program has pot luck dinner and dance on 1/11/07 at OLOL Parish Social Hall
28. On January 20, 2007 we held our annual Roses for Life Program in the De Pere Catholic
Churches and raised $1215 for local Pro-Life causes. 31 Knights and family members helped to
put on this very important event. A large sign was put in front of OLOL’s Church advocating
the Pro-Life position from 1/10-1/31/07
29. On 1/27/07 we held our second annual Council Bowling Party at Manhattan Lanes—20 participants
30. We took part in the OLOL Parish Ministry Fair on January 27th and 28 and took in 6 new members
31. In January we began our sixth year of operating a concession stand at the Resch Center making over
$5000 per year for the Council’s Charity fund.
32. Members of our Council work weekly and year round helping at the De Pere Christian Outreach
33. We held our annual Winter Corporate Communion at OLOL Parish with 55 in attendance on 2/1/07
34. The spring session of the Hunter Safety Program stated on 2/8/07 graduating 40 students.
35. On 2/15/06 MH Program held Valentine’s Day Dinner/Dance at the Swan Club—300+ in attendance.
36. Four Bowling teams from our Council braved a blizzard and participated in the State Bowling tourney
in Watertown the weekend of 2/24/07
37. Our Council hosted the Green Bay Diocesan Free Throw Contest at W. De Pere High on 2/24/07 with
over 80 kids participating from all over the Green Bay Diocese.
38. Our Mentally Challenged Program held a bowling party at Manhattan Lanes on 3/15/07
39. The MH Program held a dance and pizza party on April 12, 2006 at OLOL Parish social hall.
40. Our annual “Tootsie Roll” promotion for the mentally challenged was held 4/27 thru 4/29 and we
raised a record $10,051.70 for the “Special People” of our community
41. FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW OUR COUNCIL WAS CHOSEN AS THE NUMBER
ONE COUNCIL IN THE LARGE COUNCIL DIV. AT THE STATE CONVENTION IN
APPLETON. TO WIN ONCE IS GREAT BUT TWICE IS REALLY NICE.
42. We held our Annual Appreciation Night on March 31st at the swan Club with 182 people in attendance.
This was one of the biggest crowds and they had a blast eating good food a listening to the Blue Grass
Band “Bent Grass” It was a great evening out.
43. On April 16th we held the annual Clergy Night for all area priest and religious. Over 120 were in
attendance. It was at the Swan Club and the food and entertainment were very good. Our Council
also donated $500 to Seminarian, Mike Warden, $500 to Deacon Kevin De Cleene, and $1500 each
to OLOL and Notre Dame Elementary for their scholarship funds.
44. On May 12th 16 members of our Council picked up over 21,000 pounds of food during the Mail
Carrier’s Food Drive in De Pere.
45. The MH Program held a bowling party at Manhattan Lanes for the mentally challenged on 5/15/07
46. On May 20th 36 members of the OLOL Parish Round Table prepared and cooked a booyah for the
OLOL Parish Picnic. The Parish made a profit of $4615.84 from the booyah.
47. The Fourth Degree members from our Council in the Honor Guard march in the De Pere Memorial
Day Parade on May 28, 2007.
48. On June 2nd & 3rd we put on a brat fry to earn money for the National Honor Society at West
De Pere High, the Show choir at East De Pere High School, and the Youth Ministry at OLOL Parish.
It is the “Brat Fry For Teen Program” and we donated $1500 to these groups.
49. June 5th was the start of our Council’s softball team’s season. They went 8 and 4 for the season and
won the KC League Championship Tourney
50. Seven Council members spent the morning of 6/13 working at The Bridge Between Retreat House
49. We installed the 2007-2008 Officers of Abbot Pennings Council on June 18, 2007
50. Our Booyah Crew cooked a booyah for the American Cancer Society and raised $1700 on 6/21/06.
55. On June 23rd members of the council raise $12,400 for College Scholarships with the annual “Bugsy”
Softball Tournament that has raised close to $60,000 over the last eight years.
56. DURING THE 2006 FRATERNAL YEAR WE DONATED $43,474.38 TO CHARITY.
From reading this 50 year history of Abbot Pennings Council one can only be impressed with what has been accomplished since the 11 men met in 1954 with the intent of starting a Knights of Columbus Council in De Pere. We have done many wonderful things to show the people in our community over the past half century what a Christian should be like. We have been dedicated to helping the youth of De Pere and have shown a tremendous compassion for people who are mentally challenged. And, true to our Catholic heritage, we have aided many Seminarians, Priests, Brothers and Religious over the years. We have never stopped helping the elderly, the needy and those people suffering from illness or traumatized by an accident. All that can be said to encompass all the many acts of kindness mentioned, and the hundreds not mentioned, is that God gave us the will to do them and we did not disappoint.
Vivat Jesus
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