February 2020
On February 29, there was for the second year in a row an Exemplification of the 4th Degree at St. Francis in Unity Place. 21 Knights graduated to the 4th Degree including one from our council, Sonny Andrade. The honoree was long time member and Past Grand Knight Don Dorres (1984-85, pictured above).
January 2020
A free throw challenge was held before our business meeting on January 2.
The annual scholarship breakfast was Sunday, January 19. $724 was collected on the morning.
The March for Life in Olympia took place January 21. Five Knights from our council attended, taking the bus from the church. The turnout was high even with the rain. A $100 check to help cover the cost of travel was presented to Rose Rangel.
There was a blood drive on January 27. We were just short of our goal of 15 donors as a few were deferred.
December 2019
The funeral services for Brother Joseph Barreca were December 6. Grand Knight Michael Myers attended the memorial.
The first annual Comedy Night, arranged by Chancellor Lynn Johnson and Brother Kevin Schilling, was December 7. Including Father Dick, there were 32 in attendance.
Sunday, December 15 was the annual Santa breakfast. With our usual Santa (Troy) moving away, Frank Zamfino took over Santa duties and did an excellent job. $940 was collected.
There was no meeting December 19, due to scheduling conflict with the school pageant.
On the Feast of the Holy Family, Sunday December 29, we participated in the Consecration to the Holy Family program. Prayer cards were handed out by Knights at the masses and a prayer recited by those in attendance.
November 2019
On November 12, several members of our council went to Navos Lake Burien for the second year in a row with Coats for Kids donations of new warm coats for the Winter season. We unloaded 4 cases, or 48 coats. A few days later, another 4 cases arrived from Supreme and were dropped off, bringing the total to 96 coats for the year. That’s a value of $1,760. We were happy to learn that the coats last year were popular and went quickly to families in need, and have received news that within two weeks, all this year’s coats have gone to clients. Thank You cards signed by Navos staff were collected by Grand Knight Myers.
On November 16, the council hosted a movie night and light spaghetti dinner. The film was the animated picture Coco (2017). Turnout was good, the film was enjoyed, and we took in $281 for the evening.
Finally, we received a letter and receipt from Rector Daniel J. Barnett at Bishop White Seminary thanking the council for our generous October donation of $2,000 for maintenance and repairs.
October 2019
This year, the council participated in its 44th annual year of supporting Pregnancy Aid South King County. We presented the Des Moines office with a check from the council for $1,000 plus another from a donor for $100. Many bags and boxes of baby clothes, linens, toys, bedding and other items were collected. The volume of donations was very high this year, and we thank everyone that generously contributed. It is definitely appreciated by the ladies in Des Moines. To raise funds we hosted our first breakfast of the fraternal year on Sunday, October 13. We were able to get the Seahawks game on the television for the first time. The turnout was lower than last year, and a total of $605 was collected for the day.
Trunk or Treat came to St. Francis on the 25th of October. Deputy Grand Knight Chris Treichel was there to pass out candy to the school kids. Happy Halloween!
September 2019
Marian Prayer night held on Friday the 13th, featuring the traveling icon Our Lady Help of Persecuted Christians. Fifteen attended, and enjoyed ice cream afterwards. $75 was collected as a donation to the Christian Refugee Relief Fund. With other donations, the total sent to the fund came to $250.
August 2019
St. Francis parish turned 90 years old on August 1.
Our monthly social meeting was canceled in observance of the Assumption.
The annual Walk for the Women fundraiser was held on the 17th. Knights participated and donated over $100 to sponsor Father Dick, who placed second this year.
July 2019
First semiannual audit was conducted. There was no meeting on Independence Day, July 4.
Knights are taking over the quarterly Bloodworks NW blood drive duties from Frances Davis. The first drive we arranged was on July 22.
June 2019
Elections for the 2019-20 fraternal year were held at the June business meeting. The new Grand Knight is Michael Myers. Past Grand Knight Jim Bacon will serve as Trustee. See the updated officers list for more on council positions this year.
The council also approved the installation of an extra faucet in the Unity Place kitchen, being satisfied with the replacement of two others last month.
May 2019
The 116th Annual State Convention was held in Bellevue. Read the convention report here.
Pennies for Heaven on May 16th brought in 120 pounds of coin and after other donations totaled $357. Read more here.
The new faucets over the kitchen sink in Unity Place have been installed. The council elected to fund their replacement a few months ago.
April 2019
The banner breakfast celebrating our first communion class was on April 7 and brought in $568.
Pictures of Holy Week 2019 at St. Francis parish can be viewed here.
An exemplification of the Patriotic Degree of the order was held April 27th in Unity Place. We welcomed three Knights to the 4th Degree from our own council out of a group of 25. Pictured above are the council members that participated. Congratulations to Warden Lynn Johnson, Inside Guard Frank Zamfino, and Faith Director Jim McQuarrie.
March 2019
March was a busy month for the council. A custom parish flag purchased by the Knights was presented during 10am Mass on St. Patrick’s Day and hoisted on the empty third flag pole outside the church entrance, alongside the State and National flags. See that photo here.
The rescheduled spaghetti dinner & raffle took place on Sunday, March 24 from 4-7pm. It was very successful and brought in a record setting figure in donations, nearly $6,000 before expenses. This all goes towards our fund for seminarians. With that in mind, supporting a fifth seminarian is being considered. We are grateful for all the hard work it takes to make this event happen.
The following Friday, March 29 (Founder’s Day in the K of C), we hosted the third Lenten soup supper, with donations benefiting CRS Rice Bowl to support their hunger and poverty relief efforts here and abroad. Three styles of meatless soups were offered along with an assortment of breads. $147 was raised for charity.
February 2019
The vocations dinner was postponed due to the big snow storm, to be rescheduled in March. Four Knights took the online course and received their Food Workers Permit. District free throw was on February 28.
The council also voted to allocate funds for the replacement of two aging and faulty kitchen sink faucets in Unity Place.
January 2019
The 2019 Free Throw Competition took place on Thursday, January 10 in the gym. Of ten winners, two are repeat champs. A total of sixteen tried out for the free throw.
Our council sent out four checks of $500 each to our sponsored seminarians as part of the RSVP.
We received a thank you novena card from Bishop White Seminary in Spokane for the council’s financial support in previously having covered part of their construction costs.
December 2018
The annual Breakfast With Santa was held on the morning of December 16. We took in $1,024 with a net gain of $934. We thank everyone that came this year and made this event a success. A few photos are available here.
November 2018
The first meeting of the month was cancelled due to a scheduling conflict with the holy day of obligation November 1. The sole meeting was a business meeting on November 15.
The annual Ice Cream Social & Movie Night took place on November 3 in Unity Place, the film was Hidden Figures (2016). Pictures from the evening are here. A light spaghetti dinner was offered along with popcorn and ice cream. The total amount raised was $251.
On November 16, the Knights donated our boxes of winter coats for 2018 to Navos. Read the post here.
October 2018
On the weekend of October 13 & 14 there was a membership drive at the parish after masses. New Father McGivney prayer cards were distributed along with prospect forms. We handed out four prospect cards and ten pamphlets, and had one transfer.
While offering 8am mass that Sunday Father Dick became ill and was taken to the hospital where he stayed until the following Thursday. The council joined with the parish and school in prayer for his well being and swift return to priestly duties at the church.
The second installment of Twilight Bowling took place at HiLine Lanes on October 20. We didn’t have as many prize winners, but some of us showed signs of improvement in our game. Afterwards a few of us walked over to Good Time Ernies to shoot pool. A photo gallery can be seen here.
October is Respect Life Month. A $100 check from the council was delivered to Rose Rangel to help cover bus costs for the upcoming annual March for Life, which is taking place on January 22, 2019. See the events page for details.
September 2018
The council will again be purchasing two boxes of winter coats for the annual Coats for Kids program to distribute at a local charity. There were two boxes left over from last year, so we will be donating four boxes.
The Pregnancy Aid Breakfast took place Sunday 9/23 after masses. We had a good early morning crowd and lost some later due to the big football game. This was our 43rd annual benefit for Pregnancy Aid South King County, and apart from your help financially, there was a good amount of clothing donated. The total from the breakfast was $750.
This month is the first issue of the newsletter, having returned after a year of absence. It will be issued mid-month via the email list. Back issues will be available in pdf form under the Newsletter tab.
(September 9th marks one year of uptime for the website. All feedback is appreciated, I hope it has been useful and brought a little more visibility to our work in the parish. ~Admin)
August 2018
With the ordination of one of our sponsored seminarians in Rome, Jesus Mariscal, we had an open spot to fill in our vocations program. The council is pleased to welcome a new seminarian, Kyle Rink, of Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon.
July 2018
The second Bowling Night was postponed until Fall. We are looking at an October date for rescheduling.
In preparation for upcoming foundation work on the Parish Hall, Knights cleaned out the storage room.
June 2018
Elections of officers for the coming fraternal year took place. The officers list will be amended after their installation in July.
After some debate, we have elected not to participate in the Tootsie Roll program this year.
We also welcomed a new member, the first to join via the new online membership service.
May 2018
Our council was mentioned in this month’s issue of Columbia Magazine as part of the Knights in Action column. Our annual support for Pregnancy Aid of South King County was selected.
April 2018
The Pennies for Heaven Weigh-In and potluck took place April 19th. We took in almost 200 pounds of pennies and a total of $361.60. Combined with coin from our donation boxes, we were able to send a check for a donation of $500. You can read more here.
Our banner breakfast in honor of our first communion class of 2018 at St. Francis was a big success and was very busy after 10am mass. By the end of the line we had run out of everything on the menu besides sausage. We gathered $705.70 from the morning crowds.
In news from Supreme, the Knights of Columbus now offers online membership options. The council also received two new membership applications. We hope to welcome our new members soon.
March 2018
On the 16th of March we held our Lenten soup supper. Three types of homemade soups were offered along with a hearty selection of breads. The turnout was good and the council had fun learning the ropes of sponsoring a soup night. The donations amounted to $243, all of which will be donated to the CRS Rice Bowl program. Photos from the evening here.
February 2018
Our annual spaghetti dinner and raffle in support of our seminarians was a great evening and we thank everyone who contributed their time in the kitchen and elsewhere. We need more people next year to step up and help in some capacity. This event takes a lot of work. The fundraiser total not our counting expenses was about $4,200. You can view photos here. If you would like, you may send in any photos of your own. We hope to see you all next year.
Twilight Bowling at HiLine Lanes took place on the 17th. It was a little gathering. Most of us need more practice but everyone had fun. $40 in prizes were awarded for making special shots. We plan to come to HiLine again and possibly make it a regular social night. A few pictures here.
January 2018
The annual free throw competition had a medium to good turnout this year. Pictures can be viewed here. The Bowling Night originally planned for January was moved to February 17.
The 40th annual March for Life in Olympia was a great success with a turnout of around five thousand. Thank you to everyone who made the trip and we will see you again next year. View the photo gallery here.
December 2017
Pictured above is Grand Knight Jim Bacon receiving a plaque from District Deputy Gary Scheifley at the December 7 meeting. Our council was presented both the Columbian and McGivney awards for the 2016-17 fraternal year, doing very well in membership, with a percentage amongst the highest in the state.
The annual Breakfast with Santa had a good turnout. After 10am Mass every table was filled. The earnings should help us cover the Coats for Kids program this year, for which two boxes of winter coats were purchased.
There will be no council meeting on December 21, as it conflicts with the school Advent presentation. Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all of our members.
November 2017
The movie night and light spaghetti dinner went smoothly. It was commented on by several people that the kids seemed to be more interested in the pre-show Roadrunner & Wiley E. Coyote cartoons than the feature. Maybe next year we can propose to show animation.
The council presented a framed portrait of St. Mother Theresa to Father and the parish after Sunday Mass on the 12th. It was sent here from supreme in recognition of exceeding our membership goal this year. We hope that it will be displayed proudly and prominently wherever it is going up in the church.
There was a 50th anniversary ceremony for veterans of the Vietnam War hosted by the Knights of Columbus and others at Our Lady of Guadalupe in West Seattle. Read the article in Westside Seattle.
October 2017
We hosted our first breakfast of the fraternal year. Father Dick came down before the second crowd and blessed the new kitchen doors and the servers with a sprinkling of holy water.
The Plush Pippin apple pie fundraiser suggested by Lecturer Jim Orchekowsky was a success though due to a last minute pricing change the pies ended up being more expensive for us than was previously thought. The council discussed plans on trying it again at a later date.
As per Deputy Grand Knight Chuck Davidson’s suggestion, the council has opted to henceforth make the second monthly meeting a social one.
Chancellor Michael Myers was awarded Knight of the Month at the council business meeting.
September 2017
The Walk for the Women fundraiser of Hospitality House took place from Burien Town Square, around the streets and back again. Father Dick walked sponsored by St. Francis parishioners and came in third place in overall donations. Walking with him were Warden Jack Erban and Chancellor Michael Myers.
This website was established on September 9, 2017. The council page on the parish site was also updated.