COUNCIL RECOGNITION

KNIGHTS OF THE MONTH

November 2022

Dennis Grogan.

I always enjoy seeing the courage of a man’s convictions. It always reminds me of a solitary preacher that used to show up on my college campus on Thursday afternoons and in the middle of the quad would be surrounded by students on their way from or to class. Some would listen and others would mock the man as he warned us about the degradation of morality and read scripture from his worn copy of his bible warning us to be mindful of our actions and repent whenever possible. I would always stop and be in awe as he never backed down and went about his business. The knight I am recognizing tonight is such a person. Taking over for the knights of our council past who worked the task diligently, he is no exception. Being recognized last year I am recognizing him again this month. Though it was a brief report during the meeting, he chose to tell us to keep our eyes open to the problem of empty shelves and the needs of many. It hit me personally and to me it was a call to action. For organizing the holiday food drives at the Jewel Stores and many hours at the CHS food pantry to feed the hungry, the Knight of the month for November is Dennis Grogan.

October 2022

Bob Jahnicki

When one person joins a new group or a new job, there is a period of transition. You introduce yourself, maybe take stock of who is in the group, in short get used to the new surroundings. Perhaps someone in the group may step forward, make a show of faith, and show you around. This knight has only been with us a few years, and may be too humble to admit it, but they have made an impact on our council. He has been one of the ones to step forward and shepherd more to our numbers. Some may say it may be jumping ahead as the next activity may be days away and nothing is for certain, however I know that his efforts never waiver. Not only is he one of our chairmen, but he has also become one of my teachers. This knight teaches us all to cast away the doubt, show faith and promote fraternity. I award Knight of the month to our membership chairman, Bob Jachnicki.

September 2022

Jim Childress Sr

When the officers were installed earlier this year I had mentioned one of the elements I would like to have as a goal for our council during the fraternal year. During my commencement speech I had mentioned that I wanted our council to renew our vow of brotherhood. During the last week I had the opportunity to see this first hand. Me and several brother knights of this council last Thursday morning had the honor to be at the Mass and Memorial services for SK Jim Childress. The services took place in Bolingbrook at St. Dominic Church and then a final service at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery where Jim was laid to rest with his wife Corrine. It was an honor to have known Jim and it was an honor to be a Knight of Columbus with him. James Childress was my petitioner who signed my form 100 to join this council. Not only did he get me to be in the knights, but his work with setting up our Patriotic Degree helping the BBQ for the Troops sparked me to come up with other ideas to carry the degree forward. In short he inspired me to do more for this council and more for this country. It was at his services that he showed me one more lesson, and it was not one just for me but for all the 16 Knights of this council who were there that entire day. It was this lesson of brotherhood. I do not know of that many people who on less than a week's notice would move their schedules to be there for me. But they were there for Jim. Not only were they there, they acted in unison in order to make sure others could be there too. So in one last act by this council, I award the Knight of the Month award to SK Jim Childress.

August 2022

Mike Suletnic

Knight of the Month for August. When most people retire from a job, they plan to relax and maybe take a vacation, maybe spend some time doing more hobbies or spend more time with family. However this knight has decided to stay active and even take over other responsibilities as their previous ones have ceased. The Knight of the month has not only chaired our community yard sale, our efforts with the St. Joseph Icon at the beginning of this month and draft a proposal for our new benevolent fund. He has also taken over duties to be our new blood drive chairman and culture of life chairman. The saying goes that there is no rest for the wicked, but I think it also should be said that there is no rest for the saintly either. Please join me in thanking PGK Mike Sulentic for all of his efforts and being the recipient of Knight of the Month for August 2022. Mike if you could also return to the front as I am also happy to report that due to your efforts as Grand Knight and the hard work of our council, 6964 has received Star Council for the 2021-2022 fraternal year

June 2022

Dick Lambke

Knight of the Month – June 2022 – DICK LAMBKE Dick has been a tireless leader for our Council and the Knights this past year! His support of our Council as our District Deputy has been phenomenal. He stays on top of all the various statewide activities of the Knights and updates our Council timely. He has been our “voice” at the State level, when needed, giving us the support to make things happen. He has pushed me and our Council to be better, not letting us sit back, but encouraging us to accomplish all our goals for the year. This month, he will lead our New Officer Ceremony, plus those of the other five councils he supports, along with all his normal duties for the month. Tireless! Thank you and congratulations Dick!

May 2022

Tim Sweeney

Knight of the Month – May 2022 – TIM SWEENEY Tim always finds a way to keep our Council entertained! Despite his goofiness, Tim is one member you can count on to step in when needed. At the St. Hubert Confirmation Masses, we were in need of an Honor Guard to attend and assist. Tim not only volunteered, but attended both services taking up most of his Saturday. He even got his picture taken in his Knight’s uniform for the Flocknotes communication! Tim can also be seen on Sundays at the 10am Mass, flying around and helping out as one of the ushers. You can see him hugging and shaking hands with many parishioners, putting smiles on their faces! Thank you and congratulations Tim!

April 2022

Larry Arquilla

Not only is Larry heavily involved in his parish activities at Church of the Holy Spirit, but he single-handedly invited half of the attendees to the St. Pat’s Party! In fact, one continuous table was set up to house many of the CHS attendees who bought their tickets from Larry. During the event, one could see Larry canvassing “his” crowd to make sure everyone was enjoying themselves. He worked his ticket sales magic once again! I personally heard many words of thanks from the CHS crowd, all of whom said they truly had a wonderful time at the Party. Thank you and congratulations Larry!

March 2022

Bill Gulik

Bill is one of the most faithful volunteers and active member in our Council. He tends to be one of the first guys to raise his hand when there is a need. In fact, just this past week he was one of the first to set up a blood donation appointment when the email went out asking for donors. You can count on Bill to be at most of the events we host or work, including dine-to-donates, Women at the Well, honor guards, ID Drive, Memorial Mass, recruiting events, and many more. Bill is also very active at CHS and has helped at several of the Jubilee events this year. Recently, Bill has been on the St. Pat’s Party Planning Committee, spending countless hours planning and tracking the expenditures, plus he will be working at the event next weekend! Bill is a model Sir Knight and the nicest person I have the privilege to know! Thank you and congratulations Bill!

February 2022

Jon Mucker

Jon has been a hard-working member of our Council and the Assembly for years. Over the last two years, Jon has run the Vocation Raffle for the Council. This was not an easy task due to the complications of COVID. Jon had to think outside the box to ensure we could find ways to sell raffle tickets when Council members were not meeting in person. We were also restricted from selling tickets at the churches due to COVID. Despite the roadblocks, Jon found a way to make the program successful in both years, enabling us to continue to support three worthy seminarians each year with $500 gifts. Thank you and congratulations Jon!This is his 45th anniversary as a knight!!

January 2022

Dennis Grogan

Dennis is like the Ever-ready bunny, he just keeps going and going and going! Not only is he our Council Warden, preparing our room for all of our meetings, but he is heavily involved in many other Council events. He recently helped at the Pizza with the Pastor event, Processional Cross assembly and blessing Mass, and signed up for multiple Masses for the upcoming recruitment weekend. Dennis always helps with the Poker Nights, usually taking the late last shift. He also works one or more days per week at the CHS food pantry, and has just volunteered to take over as our Council’s Food Pantry Coordinator when Tim leaves town. These are just a few of the things Dennis does for our Council. Thank you and congratulations Dennis!

December 2021

Kevin Minogue

Kevin took my initial request to make our Coat for Kids Drive as successful as possible this year. We had to be more proactive in getting the coats into the kids’ hand before the cold weather hit, plus use it as a recruitment tool for the Knights. He was a one-man action team! He received the coats at his house, organized them and got them out to CHS, St. Matthew’s, St. Al’s and St. Hubert School. He ensured signage was present and photos taken. Kevin also helped with the Blood Drive and the Recruitment Drive. Thank you and congratulations Kevin!

December 2021

Vince Wroblewski

Vince finally decided to resign from the Chairman role for the Blood Drive this fraternal year. I told him I would take over and run it going forward. I told Vince he was the “Chairman Emeritus” and should sit back and relax. Well, that didn’t happen! Vince went full steam ahead, even though he was experiencing some serious health issues. He stayed in contact with Vitalant, sent me pertinent details about past Drive, updated some event signage, made numerous calls to past donors and worked the event for six hours! The Blood Drive was once again successful because of Vince. Thank you and congratulations Vince!

November 2021

Bill Clark

Bill is one of the hardest working Knights in the Council. He steps up each and every time we need someone to help out. His role as our Church representative for St. Matthew has been a huge help this year. He was instrumental in working with Fr. Glab to identify the need for funding of the parking lot. For the ID Drive, Bill worked the entire weekend to coordinate the cash receipts and to organize the efforts at St. Matthew. He has also ensured we always have space in the bulletin for Council events such as the Blood Drive. Now Bill has stepped up to help plan the Christmas party! We are lucky to have him in our Council! Thank you and congratulations Bill!

October 2021

John Vlnka

John is very deserving of this special award. He has been a leader in our Council for years and is not afraid to speak his mind. He brings professionalism and holiness to our Council, with a perfect mix of lightness and laughter! He never fails to volunteer when needed and can always be counted on in a crisis. John has been taking many hours of his personal time to take pictures for the Council, including throughout the entire ID Drive weekend, the Track-a-thon and the FMSC event. Thank you and congratulations John!

September 2021

Fr. Mike Scherschel

This Knight is a true leader. He could have taken the easy way out as COVID hit last year and the churches were closed, but instead jumped in and did even more for his parish. He spent numerous hours each week putting together a full video mass for his parishioners to watch from home when the churches were closed. His goal was to keep the faith alive and his parishioners engaged and connected to the church. He has continued that practice to ensure those uncomfortable coming back to church right now can still attend mass. In the midst of all of this, he has kept his church and school moving forward in a positive direction, even with a reduced budget. We would like to thank and recognize Fr. Mike Scherschel as the Knight of the Month.

August 2021

Tom Van Havermaet

For all of his guidance with all the changes in the Knights of Columbus, and his long time guidance and advise thru the changing of the guard each and every year. Thanks Tom for all the years of dedicated Service.

July 2021

Pete Stresino

For leading us through the pandemic and keeping our spirits and activities going when others stopped, now Past Grand Knight Pete has been selected the knights of the month. Some of the things he did are too much to list here.

November 2020

Tom Senese

For his chairing our ways and means committee, for his work on our fabulous dine to donate programs all year long and his work in getting our poker work started and working, Tom Senese is November Knight of the month

January 2020

Pete Stresino

Next man up is appropriate for DGK Pete. Our Grand Knight had an emergency and could not make it to the December business meeting. Pete stood up and lead the meeting, including our last 1st degree installation. Thanks for taking control of the wheel Pete. Our December knight of the month

October 2019

The co chairs For the ID drive

Mike, Tom & Tony had numerous hours of planning, pre sales and worked hard at the ID drive. Great work gentlemen.

July 2019

Pete Skinder, Jim Elder, Pete Stresino

Looking to put together a council officer installation at the last minute? Call these three and rest easy. We lost our normal restaurant due to no a/c so we switched gears and our Gk put out three calls. They got some friends together and got it done.

June 2019

Tom Senese

As chair of our ways and means committee, he finds inventive ways to creat funds for the knights. Thanks for your tireless efforts Tom.

May 2019

Daniel Marquis

For his work in helping sell tickets and many other things from our pancake breakfast. Congratulations Daniel. All this work done before he became and official 1st degree knight.

April 2019

Al Goy

For a Past Faithful Navigator, Past Grand Knight, current involved knight. And he just nominated us for Volunteer of the year for Schaumburg. Thanks Sir Al.

March 2019

St. Pat’s party Committee

For their tireless work in organizing, getting prizes, entertainment and volunteers, the committee is the Knight of the month. One of the things we do best is work together. Jerry Bromley, Craig Smith, Joe Tuccori, Pete Munnich, Mike Sulentic, Tony Colucci, Pete Stressino, Bill Gullik, Vince Wroblewski & Bill Clark.

February 2019

Victor Martinez

This is how you become a knight. You show up to our pancake breakfast, spend 6 hours helping and the following week you become a knight. We are honored to have you with us Victor. Keep working.

December 2018

Jerry Bromley

Our Deputy Grand Knight, co chaired the kids christmas party and brought life and the true meaning of Christmas to the event as well with his co chair Jails

December 2018

Greg Bertagna

For stepping in for several months as lecturer for the good of the order. And always being at many of the events ready to serve

November 2018

Pierre Zermatten

Space limits our thank you and congratulations for this knight of the month. Pierre is there to help with honor guards, recruitment and most importantly providing insurance. He helps members to meet their pre-needs and then being with loved ones throughout the disbursement of funds after the unfortunate happens. We are very honored and pleased to have Pierre as part of our council

November 2018

Jim Elder

For his work behind the scenes and Updating the look of our council and our marketing to the community and the web.

October 2018

Tim Figiel

Tim Figiel, what does he not do! He helps with friendship village and their events. He is our community director and all around community activity guy. Thanks Tim

September 2018

Kevin Thomas

Is this an accumulation award for all he has done for our council? No it is for his excellent effort in putting together a great knights family picnic and saving some money also. Thank you Sir Knight.

August 2018

Tony Colucci

For his work on the pre sales for the ID drive, Tony tirelessly worked with many business in the area to place tootsie rolls in their offices with a donation from the business. Our maiden voyage to selling in a corporate setting, Tony has helped us set the bar high for sales. Way to go brother knight. Well done

August 2018

Joe Tucorri

What an amazing Past Grand Knight. Always willing to lend a hand, and many times he runs events. For instance, our 200 raffle. This year Joe went to every Mass and sold tickets. He is dedicates and always serving the community. What an example to the brotherhood. Congratulations Sir Knight.

August 2018

Pete Skinder

For his work in, wait there are so many things he does how do we award him? For his work in coordinating social night, the presidency of the Knights of the Sword, as commander for our fourth degree honor and color guard and so much more. Thank you worthy Sir Knight.

July 2018

Tom Van Havermaet

Tom V. First our financial secretary. And he also organized the dine to donate for three councils at Lou Malnati’s. He then organized the trip to FMSC to pack food. We packed 157 cases of food which will feed 94 kids for a year. The donation we made from our dine to donate paid for 4954 packs of food. Well done brother

June 2018

Tim Figiel

Have some need in our community, you are likely to see Tim attending to it. A frequent volunteer at Knights events and also working the food pantry. Tim is akways there to help those in need.

June 2018

Vince Wroblewski

Vince has been a frequent donor and a long time organizer of several blood drives throughout the year. For this and so many more thing, congratulations Vince.

May 2018

Nick Calderola

For his tireless protection of our door, the 50/50 raffle and passing the bucket which he does so well. A job well done for the year Sir knight.

March 2018

Sir Kevin Thomas

For all Kevin does for membership and as a good steward of the flag collection! He is our March Knight of the month

October 2016

Jerry Bromley

For his work on the Dine to Donate Programs

September 2016

Pete Stresino

Co-Winner for his work at the September Fest Water booth.

September 2016

Joe Tuccori

Co-Winner For his work at the September Fest Water booth

August 2016

Tom Senese

For his work chairing the Ways and Means Committee

July 2016

Voting for Knight of the Month. Coming soon!

Check the "Recognition" link on the left!

July 2016

Pete Skinder

Organized the patriotic pins and wristband giveaway at churches, and the family night parties

June 2016

Kevin Thomas

June 2016

John Vlnka

May 2016

Pete Munnich

Excellent effort coordinating the St. Patrick's Day party/fundraiser

May 2016

Brian Parziale

Excellent effort coordinating the St. Patrick's Day party/fundraiser

May 2016

Vince Wroblewski

Excellent effort coordinating the St. Patrick's Day party/fundraiser

May 2016

Craig Smith

Excellent effort coordinating the St. Patrick's Day party/fundraiser

April 2016

Dick Lambke

Many council contributions

January 2016

Jim Manfre