December 2025 Meeting Minutes
December 15, 2025
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 7:34 pm by Deputy Grand Knight (DGK) Mike Sabella.
Warden’s Report
All present were in possession of a current membership card.
Opening Prayer
Opening prayer was led by Chaplain.
Pledge of Allegiance
Salute to the flag was led by the council members.
Chaplain report
As we get nearer to Christmas, keep focused. Wise men still follow the star. Everything we do is for Jesus Christ.
Minutes of the Previous Meeting
Minutes of the previous meeting were accepted on a motion by Tom Rohe, seconded by Bob Jacobs, approved with a unanimous vote.
Grand Knight’s Report (DGK Mike Sabella led this month’s meeting for Joe Tarallo)
- It’s Advent, less than 2 weeks until Christmas. I hope everyone can spend quality time with their families
- Wow! Very happy to see many of you at the Christmas party on Saturday
- We had our membership drive last month and so far, have signed up 5 new members in addition to 2 we have already signed up before that, so we are almost at our membership quota of 8. So that does not mean we stop, it means we keep going!
- State $100 award top the Top Recruiter by 12/24!
- CUF team – we will need to plan a CUF for January – we have a few past recruits who have not had a live CUF yet so can be a pretty big CUF
- Our Lady of Mt Carmel in Swartswood (Sussex County), Saturday, January 17th
- We have had a few events since our last meeting, some of these will get covered during our program reports
- Retention committee- Need a few who are interested in being part of the committee
- Update contact information, update on what we are doing – mailing, maybe “newsletter” –
- Clean up our rolls – moving people to affiliates.
- New Programs
- American Wheelchair Mission
- Letters to Seminarians
- Please start thinking of being part/owning existing programs – like….,
- Wreath Drive next year
- Food For Families
- Upcoming programs and events
- Paragon Christmas Wednesday Dec 17th at 7:00pm
- State DD/GK Kiosk Meeting Wednesday, December 17th 7:30 – 8:30pm. Anybody can attend….log in info on the table in the back.
- Coats for Kids – we donate, but we can also participate- Dec 21, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist Paterson
- March for Life Jan 23th
- Support busses for Diocese for Catholic Schools sending folks to the March
- Convention – May 14-17 (15,16 main activities)
- Hold the date- July 18 – Installation of State Officers (Jim’s second term) will be held here at St. Jude – we will be providing breakfast
- A reminder to use the voucher/expense forms for expenses incurred on council business or for getting funds for a program/donation that you are the voucher owner for.
- New… have an updated form and it is on our website under “Members resources” – an email went out the other day on that from Council 6100 news. Website is kofc6100.org and you can sign up for emails. This is a PDF form that you can fill in directly and save and then email to our FS.
- Home Page….Member’s Resources….Scroll down on this page
- First three are: Reimbursement Form / Motions Spreadsheet / Programs Report
- In the back of the room are new program report forms. Again, while these are hardcopies and can be scanned or photographed on a phone, these are PDF forms that you can fill in on a computer or even a phone. SEND TO John Watral at watraljc@gmail.com . We need each program lead to fill these out after an event. John as Program Director will be taking these and producing the online reports that go to the State and Supreme. They are straightforward, once you have done one it is easy. For programs with multiple events, they are asking we do one for each event – as an example the Faith Kitchen. In addition to our formal programs, a program can be almost anything you do. Visiting a sick brother, etc. since we need to add all this up.
- We are looking for brothers to step up and lead or co-lead programs. Example Food for Families – wreath drive. Some of our programs have many pieces and we could use a few more brothers to help lead. We do get great help when we need to set up blood drives etc. But we are looking for folks to help drive some of them. Especially looking for ideas for more Family type events. WREATH DRIVE.
- Bingo – need help as always. Back room, etc.
Treasurer’s Report (Mike Uszacki)
The bank statement was sent to trustees. A copy is available upon request.
Membership Report (Chip Sturm)
Nothing new to report. There are a few recruits pending.
Financial Secretary’s Report (Gerard Petrocelli)
Financial secretary’s report is emailed in advance to Trustees for approval of expenditures.
Program Reports – Led by John Watral
Soup Kitchen (Lenny Martin) – Next event is 12/30/2025. We will report back at the next meeting.
Bingo (Mike Mallon) – End of year jackpots must be paid out on our last bingo on 12/19. There will be no limit on the number of balls needed to achieve bingo for the progressives. There will be no bingo on 12/26. To ensure proper coverage each week, we need to set up weekly teams, as we have discussed.
Awaiting our Savior (Gerard) – Thanks to John and Tom for helping with this event. It was a smaller crowd due to the snow, but more than expected. Suzie were running and Lisa from the Rosary Altar Society was there to help as well.
Blood Drive (Gerard Petrocelli) – We had a record blood drive in December. We received at least 179 blood products from donors and all did a fantastic job. It takes a lot of us to make it successful, both in advance prep and working the event. Thanks to all for your contributions. We need to extend the blood drive beyond the parish.
Wreath Drive (Gerard Petrocelli) – Started in August.We have 2 sprays and 2 Victorians left. There were 145 pieces sold. We made approximately $900 from sales, plus another $500 from the Council, so we raised $1,400, plus a few other donations.
Pride in our Priests Dinner (Lenny Martin) – this was a great event with 487 Knights, 85 priests and 3 bishops, including an open bar and great food.
Global Wheelchair Mission (Dan Fuller) – this is a program to purchase containers full of wheelchairs for those in need with mobility issues. Participation will help us earn Star Council. We will be making a motion for a donation.
4th Degree (Tom Rohe) – Tomorrow is meeting & Christmas Party. The Assembly focuses on patriotism and helping veterans. All are welcome to attend. We are working on bringing back bingo to the VA.
Charity Mania (Tom Rohe) – We are planning on doing Hoops Mania for March and will have motion to purchase tix.
Craft Vendor Sale (Tom Rohe) – Run by Squires. Event was sold out and had high traffic. There was $165 worth of refreshments donated back to the Council that were not used.
Squires (Tom Rohe) – The Paragon Christmas Party is 12/17/2025 at 6:45.Fr. Antonio will say mass and there will be caroling. See email for more information.
RTL (Gerry Kaufhold) – There will be a motion for an ultrasound machine for Care Net. This is the 3rd one were are participating in donating for. Between 80-90% of women who get ultrasounds decide to keep their babies. There will be a Rose Drive on January 3 & 4, with proceeds used to fund bus transportation to the March for Life on Friday, January 23, which is open to all. Baby bottle drive will be February 24-25. The Rohe family will volunteer as counters for the proceeds.
Tom Romano needs help setting up the manger on Saturday morning after mass and needs someone with a truck to move them down from the shed.
DD Report – Worthy DD Anthony Coraleo provided the following report:
Greetings from Supreme GK and State Deputy.
Membership – this council is knocking it out of the park. We are at 80% of our goal at the mid-point of the year. We know we need more members (younger members) and we need more Catholic and faith-based organizations. The council should true up its membership numbers, since the membership goals are based on current members. For CUF degrees, DD cannot do January 11-12. The is one at Don Bosco (#7784) in Newton in February.
Fraternal Benefit Meetings – need 2 this year.
Paterson Foundation has a website – you can post pictures and details of activities to spread the word of what we do.
Core – being pushed by Supreme, becoming a focused program. All Knights can attend any meeting and may learn what other councils are doing.
Exemplification of 4th Degree is April 25.
Ultrasound – thank you for your support. We are one of the only organizations that pushes this issue. The Newton donations saved 125-130 babies.
Thanks from me and Lorraine for the great time at the Christmas party. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all. Vivat Jesus!
Unfinished Business
The following motions were made and passed unanimously:
| Motion | Made by | 2nd by |
| 2nd READING Donate $6318.75 to help purchase an ultrasound machine for Care Net in Hackettstown. | Recorder | Gerry Kaufhold |
New Business
The following motions were made and passed unanimously, except for the motion made by Lenny Martin, which passed with all votes in favor, none opposed and 1 abstention:
| Motion | Made by | 2nd by |
| Donate $500 to Global Wheelchair Mission so they can purchase wheelchairs. | Dan Fuller | Lenny Martin |
| Donate $500 to the Paterson Federation to offset transportation expenses to travel to the right to life gathering. | Bob Jacobs | Don Campbell |
| Donate $250 to the annual Bishop’s night to be held in January | Pierre Kernizan | Tom Rohe |
| Spend up to $125 to purchase March Madness Charity Mania tickets to be sold to by K of C members. | Tom Rohe | Dan Fuller |
| 1st READING Donate a monthly amount of $900 for a 6 month period for a total of $5400 to a parishioner in need of financial help. | Lenny Martin | Gerry Kaufhold |
| 1st READING Donate $1000 to help rebuild (2) parishes ($1,000 each) in the country of Jamaica that were destoryed by the recent hurricane. | Chip Sturm | Salvatore Ubaldini |
| Donate $100 to KofC Long Valley Council 10419 supporting Annual Community Benefit Auction Fundraiser held on 12/6/2025. | Gerard Petrocelli | Wally Krake III |
Good of the Order
The Good of the Order was directed by Gerry Kaufhold.
Closing Prayer
Closing prayer was led by DGK Mike Sabella.
Attendance: 22 people.
Meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm.