2024-2025 Top Council in the State of Washington
and
4-Star Council
Reminder: Membership Meetings
This is a reminder that if you would like to be involved in our Council’s decision-making or have ideas that might be beneficial to our mission, to attend our upcoming Membership Meeting on Tuesday evening, November 11th at 7:00 PM in the basement of St. Olaf’s Gallager Center. Our following meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 9th. (Please note that meetings are no longer being held at the St. Peter’s Parish House.)
We will discuss events and activities for the upcoming months and would value your input and suggestions as we move forward. Thanks to everyone for all your support.
Our Officers
Chaplain – Father Albert Arulappan
Grand Knight – Mark Maruda
Deputy Grand Knight – Vacant
Chancellor – Brian Tucker
Advocate – John Rebar
Recorder – David Graves
Financial Secretary – Larry Devlin
Treasurer – Roy Behling
Warden – Leo Beer
Inside Guard- Allen Beck
Outside Guard – Vacant
Trustee 3 Year – David Meier
Trustee 2 Year – John Wahlfors
Trustee 1 Year – Alan Arnesen
Lecturer- Gary Fahey
If you would like to serve in one of the vacant positions, please notify Grand Knight Mark Maruda or Financial Secretary Larry Devlin
St. Olaf’s Monthly Breakfast
Thank you to all who participate in making our monthly breakfasts a great success. Many hands truly do make lighter work for all, plus the benefit of great fraternalism. Thanks to everyone who has been able to join us.
Please mark your calendars for upcoming 1st Sundays and come join us in one or all of the various phases beginning at 6:30 AM to get set up and do meal preparation work, at 9:30 AM after Mass for cooking, serving, and restoration, at 11:30 after Mass for the same, plus clean up, which usually lasts until about 1:00 PM. Wear those green shirts!
Upcoming Food Drive
Our Council will have a Food Drive on November 22nd at the Kingston Safeway from 10 AM until 4 PM to support ShareNet in Kingston. We hope to pack our KC HELP trailer and will need at least 4 people for each of three 2-hour shifts.
Harbor of Hope Gala
Harbor of Hope, is a gala and fundraiser supporting Birkenfeld Stella Maris House. Thanks to amazing sponsors and donors, this event is already underwritten – that means every single dollar raised will go immediately back to Stella Maris, and specifically, the Bridge to Home program. These services are critical in helping women transition from the shelter to stable housing.
This will be an inspiring evening that will make a real difference in the lives of the women and children we serve. We hope you’ll join us and reserve your ticket now.
When: 6:00 pm, Saturday, November 15, 2025
Where: Kitsap Conference Center – Bremerton Harborside, 100 Washington Ave, Bremerton, WA
What to expect: Delicious appetizers, dinner, drinks, dessert dash, an amazing raffle for two Comfort Plus seats anywhere Delta flies in the US, and much more!
Tickets: https://auctria.events/harborofhope
Trunk or Treat Event
Many thanks to those who participated in the Trunk or Treat Event on Friday, October 31st. we had our decorated trailer there with treats and fun for all. We also provided assistance with directing traffic, helping folks with questions, and other services to make the evening safe and special. Special thanks to Mike Courtright for his guidance that evening, and to everyone who came to help us with this event.
Memorial Mass at St. Olaf’s
On Friday, November 7th at 11:00 AM, Fr. Albert and Deacon Henry Minor celebrated a Memorial Mass at St. Olaf’s to remember our Brother Knights who have passed away. We invited the widows and families of these fine gentlemen for a rosary and tolling of the bell before Mass, and a potluck reception in the Hall afterward. Many thanks to Brother John and Martha Rebar for all their hard work in organizing this wonderful Memorial Mass and Reception.
Brother Knights, Rest in Peace:
| Francis Turk 06-24-1895 -1/1/1984 George Benning 6/27/1923 – 5/1/1986 Marvin Schumaker 7/4/1926 – 3/30/1988 Vernon Nystrom 4/7/1910 – 4/1/1988 Matthew Neff 11/26/1940 – 5/1/1991 Rudy Aguilar 4/18/1912 – 2/1/1994 Raymond Hightower 4/25/1935 – 4/2/1996 Theodore Ferrioli 3/7/1925 – 2/1/1997 James Mc Donough 12/25/1915 – 3/28/1997 George Cole 5/1/1915 – 9/14/1997 Francis Nichols 11/8/1909 – 5/1/1998 Michael Brandewie 6/9/1938 – 6/1/1998 Robert Bailey 9/20/1928 – 2/20/1999 Paul Bidlencik 6/16/1941 – 10/14/2000 Geno Orsi 4/25/1914 – 7/26/2001 Richard Spinks 9/29/1952 – 9/7/2001 Charles Roberts 6/9/1921 – 1/14/2002 William Melay 4/16/1945 – 3/7/2003 James Fisher 1/16/1928 – 7/15/2003 Robert Mitchell 6/9/1920 – 5/12/2004 Daniel Parmley 1/7/1923 – 7/10/2005 Paul Williams 8/28/1925 – 12/21/2005 Walter Bale 1/14/1924 – 3/25/2006 Timothy Reidinger 8/27/1950 – 4/12/2007 John Delaurenti 9/27/1928 – 3/7/2008 Louis Pilato 12/18/1937 5/8/2008 Leland Snider 10/9/1931 – 12/19/2008 Edward Marazas 8/2/1920 – 6/20/2009 William Reynolds 7/22/1923 – 11/21/2009 James Young 3/23/1939 – 1/5/2010 Donald Weedin 2/10/1925 – 3/20/2011 John Head 5/29/1926 – 2/5/2012 Dirk Drew 2/13/1954 – 4/13/2012 George Schrader 11/19/1944 – 6/11/2012 |
Gilbert Starost 9/12/1949 – 1/14/2014 Robert Smith 1/13/1935 – 2/1/2015 Raymond Provost 10/9/1936 – 7/25/2015 Richard Risley 5/8/1935 – 9/8/2016 Thomas Bennett 12/28/1932 – 10/11/2017 Rev Phillip Kanicki 11/7/1949 – 4/3/2018 Jerry English 8/26/1977 – 9/6/2018 Rev Leslie Colaco 8/5/1932 – 11/22/2018 Robert Gosney 10/24/1926 – 11/28/2018 Lawrence Corrigan 10/21/1925 – 12/20/2018 Ronald Wernke 1/23/1958 – 12/28/2018 William Gillingham 2/27/1929 – 8/11/2019 Michael Thatcher 9/24/1940 – 9/15/2019 Larry Fuller 7/28/1948 – 10/10/2019 James Mimms 1/24/1927 – 4/25/2020 Curtis Brown 3/20/1940 – 6/4/2020 Wayne Redfern 3/1/1930 – 12/17/2020 Lynn Day 10/14/1943 – 8/15/2021 Joseph Kennedy 9/7/1929 – 8/21/2021 Jon Cox 12/15/1951 – 3/4/2022 Charles Hackett 12/3/1932 – 6/21/2022 Martin Hagenson 2/16/1943 – 1/26/2023 Daniel Dahl 8/19/1932 – 2/6/2023 Leroy Rose 12/11/1926 – 2/6/2023 Thomas Cox 6/6/1938 – 3/25/2023 Robert Corrigan 7/18/1951 – 8/15/2023 Willard Fox 12/19/1924 1- 0/4/2023 Matthew Wurzbacher 1/23/1955 – 11/1/2023 Jack Bartlett 6/23/1938 – 4/20/2024 James Lee 3/4/1960 – 5/23/2024 Tom Redfern 7/18/1951 – 6/22/2024 Alex Baumgartner 8/22/1931 – 8/20/2024 Thomas Musha 9/24/1951 – 9/26/2024 Garald Goodwin 2/21/1933 – 2/17/2025 Robert Ott 11/25/1946 – 8/4/2025 |
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Coats for Kids
Our Council is participating the Supreme Council’s Coats for Kids program this year. We purchased one case of coats with another one being matched by the Supreme Council. The coats will be distributed by our own St. Vincent de Paul Conference to help keep 24 kids warm this winter.
Tootsie Roll Drive Success
Many thanks to those who signed up and participated in this year’s Tootsie Roll Drive! It was a grand success where we raised $1,700. It is always an honor to help support this worthy cause that helps raise money for Washington Special Olympics, KC HELP, and local charities that support individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Thanks again for donating your time to this worthy cause.
Virtus Training through the Archdiocese of Seattle
Our Knights of Columbus Council 8297 at St. Olaf’s who are either being or likely to be a volunteer for Knights of Columbus activities in and around St. Olaf’s or St. Cecilia’s, that might involve vulnerable children or adults, necessitates that you get a background check and complete Virtus training through the Archdiocese of Seattle. So, with that, please create an account at https://virtusonline.org/virtus/ and go through the process of obtaining the certifications. This is in addition to any SAFE training and certifications through Knights of Columbus via Praesidium. They are two separate but similar programs that do not interface with one another so we have to do both. Thanks for attending to this as soon as you can so that we can remain compliant with Archdiocesan requirements.
KC HELP
Our Brother Knight volunteers work tirelessly every day to assist people in need of specialized equipment as they deal with the physical effects of aging or recovery from surgeries or accidents. It’s difficult to adequately express the immense gratitude that we see day in and day out and to imagine how these people might have dealt with their difficult circumstances had KC HELP not been available to assist them. If this is something you would like to be involved in, please contact us at 360-981-3179 to join our other Brother Knights in this essential work. In fact, we will likely be calling for a work party to help get caught up on a mass influx equipment that has overwhelmed our regulars. Stay tuned for for more details.
In the last 12 Months KC HELP has provided 5,321 items to 2,793 people totaling $1,449,010 in value, $1,928,818 when including hours and mileage. This past month was a record-breaking month in the number of people we helped: 280!
Inception to date, KC HELP has provided 15,804 items to 8,426 people totaling $4,621,360 in value, $5,339,039 when including hours and mileage.
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Our Council has been an exceptional supporter of KC HELP, not only through the volunteer work of several of our members, but through financial support. Most recently, our Council donated the proceeds from our last Tootsie Roll Drive!
Birthdays for November!
Happy Birthday to all of these Brother Knights!
Gregory Supancheck 1st
Terry Dorwart 5th
Storm Smole 6th
Steven Berlage 15th
Nathan Oftedahl 15th
Michael Tomon 15th
Eric Huska 22nd
James Bayer 23rd
William Hepp 26th
Michael Haley 29th
Daniel Callahan 30th
Knight of the Month
Brother Asa Rubman is our Knight of the Month. Brother Asa is one of our very newest members and he has enthusiastically taken on a new initiative for our Council to enjoin the young families of our members in various faith-based activities. Near-term, he is coordinating a Keep Christ in Christmas Essay Contest and Christmas Caroling and Cookie decorating event. Stay tuned for details. Thank you, Brother Asa for your proactive and passionate support for the young families of our Council and our Parish!
Family of the Month
The Mike and Sally Haley family is our Family of the Month. Brother Mike one of 4 remaining Charter Members of our Council, has recently taken on the role of President of our local St. Vincent de Paul Conference and he and Sally are leading the OCIA program for our Parish where they are instructing 12 new-to-be Catholics. Thank you Mike and Sally for all you do for our Council and our Parish!
Good of the Order
Pray for the health of all our Council’s Brother Knights as our members’ age demographic continues to increase. Specific prayer recipients are our Parish Family Priests Fr Mark Kiszelewski and Fr Albert Arulappan.
Prayers for the health and well-being of Brother Knights PSD Kim Washburn, Tony DeCarlo, Gary Fahey, Jim Kellog, David Lasser, Storm and Caroleen Smole, and Bob Tomas. Prayers for Prayers for Wayne Pridgen (friend of Ric Rebar), John Wahlfor’s granddaughter Emily, David Meier, Mike Gugeon (David Meiers’ friend),the McNally Family (Jim Bayer’s aunt), Bill Moriner, Jim Rebar, Nora Bell, Joe Bell’s wife, Steve Reichley and his son and daughter, Ellen Strickland, Mary Therese Bartlett, Leigh Bartlett, Julie Beer, Roy Behling’s wife Karen and daughter’s health, Lynn Day’s wife Linda, Larry Devlin’s sister-in-law, Anne Wahlfors, Steve Murray, Nancy Rogers, Henry and Cindy Huetter, and our service men (particularly council members) and service women and our many KC HELP clients. Pray to successfully retire the debt on property for KC HELP. We also keep Gabby McCracken in our prayers as she fulfills her FOCUS mission during the year. Also, we are praying for Jim Kellogg of Council 6706 and a KC HELP volunteer who continues to recover from his second stroke.
Handy Council-Related Links
If you would like a handy set of Council-related links that you can add to your phone’s home page, try this: bit.ly/m/8297