Welcome to Denver Council 539, the oldest Council west of Missouri!

A Welcome Message from our Grand Knight for March, 2012:

Brother Knights:

As we are close to our busiest and most demanding event of the year, I ask that you all mark March 17th on your calendar for our St. Patrick’s Day Party.  Once again, we will have the bag pipers and traditional highlands dancers.  We will also possibly have a free art show in the basement with door prizes.  Please plan to attend and pitch in if you are able.  Last year was the best in many years, and we want to improve.  We will have two committees, including a kitchen and a bar committee.  Please be prepared to join one of these committees at our March meeting.
We are close to reaching our goals to earn Star Council.  Recruiting is a great way to get to know your fellow Catholic men, and ideally you have Form 100′s with you to offer.  I ask each of you to be prepared to ask your fellow Catholic gentlemen whether they are interested in joining us.  So many new recruits often say they would have joined earlier had they simply been asked.

I would like to thank Brother Patrick Espinosa for organizing two Council work days during which many Hall upgrades were accomplished.  Thanks to Patrick and many other Brother Knights, we have a newly refurbished bar, new ceiling tiles, a few upgrades to the Ladies Auxiliary meeting room, and several other improvements that you need to see for yourself.  Please plan to join us after the next meeting and see our new features, which include a credit card machine.  We managed to have a steak fry after the first work day and Feb. 11th.  Please watch for announcements of the next steak fry, which will be on a Tuesday sometime this Spring.

Finally, we have approximately 70 brothers who have not yet paid their dues, so I ask you to please pay as soon as possible.

Vivat Jesus!
GK Sean Espy

Contact us at gk@kofc539.org or fs@kofc539.org

A Welcome Message from our Grand Knight for February, 2012:

 Brother Knights,

As we move into the second half of our fiscal year, we have many more events to plan and execute.  First, before our next meeting on February 7th, we will have our third First Degree ceremony of the year.  We are very close to achieving the Star Council award, and I believe this will occur at this next ceremony.  As of now, we have between three to five candidates.  Please plan to arrive at the next meeting at about 6 pm.  Showtime will be about 6:30 pm.

A few upcoming events I would like to highlight include our possible St. Valentine’s Dinner and Dance and the St. Patrick’s Day Celebration.  I say possible, because the St. Valentine’s Dinner last year was not well attended, so I will be asking for interest and volunteers at our next Council business meeting.  The St. Patrick’s Day Celebration is by far our most well-attended event and fund raiser of the year, and will be an “All Hands” event.  Last year was our best year in many, so I am asking you now to please mark your calendars for Saturday, March 17th.

Finally, we have received a great many thank you cards and letters for our efforts as of late.  We have posted these cards and letters on the bulletin board in the Council Office.  Monsignor Fryar, our fellow Brother Knight, sent his thanks for use of the Hall for the celebration of Mass in October.  Our sponsored seminarians (and sister) also sent their thanks as well.  We also received thanks for the Pancake Breakfast at Mother of God and for our assistance with the Fourth Degree Exemplification of His Excellency, Bishop Conley and Monsignor Bernie Schmitz.  Bishop Conley is also now a member of our Council.

Vivat Jesus!
GK Sean Espy

Contact us at gk@kofc539.org or fs@kofc539.org

 

A Welcome Message from our Grand Knight for January, 2012:

Dear Brother Knights,

As we continue on our 112 year journey into the second half of this Fraternal year, we should reflect on our recent successes.

This year, we have successfully completed two pancake breakfasts, two recruiting drives, the Tootsie Roll Campaign, two First Degree Ceremonies, two Council Socials, including a Steak Fry and a Spaghetti Dinner and so many other events, including our open house for the Supreme Convention!  This would not have happened without a great deal of effort on your behalf.

I would especially like to thank Melissa Naasko and Past Grand Knight Ben Naasko for their efforts, which allowed us to complete our 90th year of Christmas parties at Mount Saint Vincent Home and Little Sisters of the Poor Mullen Home for the Aged.

And to all of you, thank you for your continued hard work, support, and prayers as we build our Council to be a model of charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism for all Catholic gentlemen in Denver!

Coming up on January 1, 2012, we have another exciting pancake breakfast for the parishioners of Mother of God church.  To me, this is a charitable event, as we are giving of our time and efforts on a day after many of us have rung in the new year only hours before.  Please consider participating as a sacrifice for the good of the Order.  Please call me if you are able to help with this event.

Now would also be a good time to give in our Bonfils blood drive.  Please see the calendar of events for a few details.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Vivat Jesus!
GK Sean Espy

Contact us at gk@kofc539.org or fs@kofc539.org

 

A Welcome Message from our Grand Knight for December, 2011:

Brother Knights

Over a month of planning and calculating has passed since wrapping up our annual Tootsie Roll Drive.  A total of just over $2,400 was collected, not quite what we have collected in the past.  This is probably true given the state of the economy, but consider the fact that we were able to contact and be involved with all eight of our member parishes! That makes this year’s drive, and all of your work, very successful.

In addition to that we had two membership drives, one at the Cathedral and one at Holy Ghost.  We collected about 30 Form 100′s and have admitted nine of those applicants into our Order.  Our next First Degree Ceremony will be held on December 6th at 6 pm, just before our General Business Meeting.  Please attend this ceremony as we welcome new brothers to our Council.

Next, and weather permitting we will have a spaghetti dinner to welcome our new recruits and to celebrate in fraternalism on Tuesday, December 13th at 6 pm.  We will combine this with a game night for our families, so please reserve this date on your calendar, bring your family and your board games.

We will then have our 90th annual Mount St. Vincent’s Home visit/party on December 17th.  Melissa Naasko has stepped in with her family to once again buy the presents and wrap them.  We will invite St. Nick; your responsibility is only to appear at 6 pm to help the kids without parents to celebrate Christmas.

Yours in Fraternity,
GK Sean Espy

Contact us at gk@kofc539.org or fs@kofc539.org

A Welcome Message from our Grand Knight for November, 2011:

Dear Brother Knights:

What an amazing year this has been so far!  We have increased our ranks by half of our goal so far this year as we welcome nine new brother Knights to our Council.  We have recently reached out to each of our eight parishes with our Tootsie Roll Drive, Recruiting Drives and Pancake Breakfasts.  We have also shared in fraternity, food and drink.  Still there is more, so much more, for us to accomplish this year.  Next month we will have another opportunity to come together to serve ourselves, the Council, with the installation of new energy-saving lights.  We will announce a Council workday at the upcoming Council meeting one Saturday in November to assist a master electrician in the installation of these lights.

For those of you who are new to the council, I have placed you on the Programs Committee, which is chaired by our Worthy Deputy Grand Knight Ed Behen.  Together you will identify programs and ideas for the Council to pursue this year and next.  Please share your ideas and thoughts with Brother Ed.  If you are interested in one of our other Committees: those include Church, Community, Council, Culture of Life, Youth, Family, and Hospitality.  We need your ideas for further involvement with the community and want to know how we can support your family life, not to mention being sure that we always have food at our meetings!

As we look ahead, watch for an announcement about Memorial Night, to be held in November.  This evening provides a touching memorial to our Brother Knights and Ladies Auxiliary who have passed away in the past year.  Also, December is always a busy month as we renew our commitment to one of our oldest partnerships. The Mount St. Vincent’s Home for children Christmas party is a rewarding experience in which we purchase presents for children who in many cases would not otherwise receive even a single gift.  We buy the gifts, wrap them and deliver them from Santa the Saturday before Christmas.  We also hire a magician as entertainment.  It is a rewarding experience for us and for the kids.  If you have any questions, ask Worthy Past Grand Knight Joe Bossé, who knows the history well.

Finally, I would like to share a unique experience I had through the generosity of our Council.  As most of you know, we donated to the Archbishop Gomez Gala fund, which benefits the Hispanic Catholic community of the Archdiocese of Denver, through the work of Centro San Juan Diego.  As a result, we were given four tickets to the gala, at which our Worthy Supreme Knight Carl Anderson received the Archbishop Charles J. Chaput Leadership Award.  I was fortunate enough to meet Carl at this event and told him about our council and he said that we must continue with the work we are doing.  Carl is asking us for our renewed efforts to continue the good works of our Counsel.

With our 111 year history and energy, we have the ability to continue to grow in Charity, Unity, Fraternity, and Patriotism!

Yours in Fraternity,
GK Sean Espy

Contact us at gk@kofc539.org or fs@kofc539.org