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Knight of the Year Banquet - 2024 Pete Klecan

Knight of the Year Banquet – honoring Pete Klecan - 2024

(Paul St.Amand reporting. If I left anyone out in listing the participants, I apologize. -ed)
In our hall on Saturday night, October 20, 2024, more than 70 people gathered to pay respects and honor our council’s Knight of the Year (KOY). GK Ken Tarara and Dan Norris, our current KOY, were the host and event planner. That’s one of the honors that each newly elected KOY receives; he gets the duty to plan and act as the emcee for the next banquet!

After an opening prayer, Dan first of all thanked the volunteers who set up the hall. First off, he thanked wife Lori Norris for the centerpieces and for the tasty appetizer table (“appetizer” is a French word for “Charcuterie” – ed) Dan also thanked PKOYs Tom Cambell, Ed Lynch, Larry Belair, Mike Petrilli, and Norm Comeau and Ed Herger for their work on Saturday morning.

We enjoyed a tasty meal from Lenzi’s Catering of Dracut, MA, of pasta, chicken parm, meatballs, garlic bread, and salad. This was served to us by eight-graders of St. Joseph Regional Catholic School, Anna Lucia, Amanda, and Payton, under the direction of Lori Norris. We had music by DJ “Ski” to entertain us.

As the meal finished, Dan described to the well fed guests the KOY process and voting, he asked for all the attending KOYs to stand and be recognized. Then Dan proceeded to announce the names of the current Knights of the Month, from whom the past KOYs elected the new KOY. (The “KOMs” are listed on our web site. -ed)

Introducing the KOY for 2023-2024, Pete Klecan. (“R. Peter Klecan”) Pete came forward to accept the award, and also to reflect on all the Knights who make our council great. “I never could do any of the things I did without the help and support of my brother Knights.” And also, the help and support of my wife, Kristen. Pete was recognized for his leadership of the Tootsie Roll campaign, for his Chairmanship of the Pro-Life activity, his hosting with Kristen of after-mass coffee and doughnuts, and many more. Dan Norris noted that when Pete’s name was brought up in the KOY balloting in September, after the initial reading of his KOM citation by GK Ken Tarara, the past KOYs kept adding more accomplishments.

With dessert, we had our prize raffle, and then dancing into the wee hours past 8:00PM.

The clean up was carried out by a host of brother Knights and wives, too numerous to list. But notable was Larry Belair, who manned the dishwasher in the kitchen, and was one of the last to leave, along with Dan and Lori Norris, about 9:45 PM.

Great job, Dan and Lori! And Pete, enjoy the KOY reserved parking spot!