Brief History

In 1999 several men started a council of the Knights of Columbus at Holy Cross Church.  The Knights of Columbus is a fraternal organization which strives to help men deepen their spiritual lives and to support both the local and universal church.  We are often referred to as the “right hand of the church”.

During the past few years, our council, which now has over 130 members, has held numerous fundraisers to help our parish, community and non-profit organizations.  We have held and continue to have bean & spaghetti suppers, dances, and breakfasts.  We have installed an elevator for the handicap parishioners so that they may more fully participate in events taking place in the Holy Cross church basement. We renovated our Trinity Catholic School cafeteria kitchen as well as the Catholic Center.  Our men and Ladies Auxiliary have also helped parishioners in various ways such as building handicap ramps at the homes of parishioners in need and have held fundraisers for people with major health concerns.

Knights in Action: Improvised Comedy Evening 11/14/2009

On October 14th, 2009 our council decided to carry out a council activity for the purpose of boosting a social event for our members to enjoy and to help increase our treasury's general fund. Upon further review of other activities from the other 4 councils in our parish, it was decided to carry it out on Saturday, November 14, 2009 so as to avoid any conflicts.

Our council director was asked to look into the possibility of having a Murder Mystery Dinner because it was successful and well received last year. He contacted the acting troupe and was able to reserved the date and procure a contract. Upon reporting back to the council, it was revealed that our cooking crew was not available for that evening due to a prior commitment. The council director went back to the drawing board to find the cost of hiring a caterer for the event. This was found to be too costly and the tickets for the event would have been cost prohibitive. Therefore the acting troupe was contacted to see if another format could be used. They suggested an "Improvised Comedy" evening which would not require a caterer or kitchen crew, but rather just snacks for a social hour and desserts for intermission. This idea was brought back to the council and was approved for a go.

The council also voted to hold the event at our brother council's 106 home trust hall because they have the liquor licenses, insurance and janitorial services. It would have cost our council more to procure all of these separately. At the same time, the rental fee helps out a brother council.

A planning committee comprised of 7 council members and 4 Ladies Auxiliary members began the planning process of designing and distributing advertising and flyers, printing and selling tickets, set up, decorations, baking desserts and clean up.

Melissa and Dan Leclair were asked to take charge of desserts and were able to get 24 people to bake desserts and 3 businesses to donate desserts. Four of the desserts were for diabetics.

On Saturday, November 12th, 2009, 6 council members and 4 Ladies Auxiliary members arrived at the Council 106 hall to set up. The tables were arranged according to an agreed upon diagram with the acting troupe. An 8' table was set up for the social hour snacks. Three 8' tables were set up for all the desserts. This table was set up to serve on both sides. The names of the dessert bakers and the name of the desserts were displayed in front of the coinciding desserts so that people enjoying a particular dessert could contact the baker for the recipe.

The social was from 6 to 7 pm. The show started at 7 pm and the first act lasted until 7:45 pm at which time we had and intermission to enjoy the desserts. This was followed by the second act. We also served coffee and the cash bar was made available. We also had to provide a meal for the actors prior to the show.

Our council director provided a seating chart and as our guests entered the hall they were escorted to their table by our Grand Knight.

At intermission our council director went around to see if everyone was satisfied and found that all were having a great time with plenty of laughs. At a time of economic downturn with so much negativity in the air it was nice to see smiles on so many faces. The smiles and gratitude made it worth the effort.

The council raised $718.00 which will go to the general fund and then be distributed to other funds such as the seminarian fund and college scholarship fund.

Our council would like to thank Council 106 for their hospitality and Holy Family Council for helping sell tickets, promoting and supporting our event.