January Meeting Minutes

January 2026 Meeting Minutes
January 19TH 2026
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 7:34 pm by Grand Knight (GK) Joe Tarallo.
Warden’s Report
All present were in possession of a current membership card.
Opening Prayer
Opening prayer was led by Mike Sabella .
Pledge of Allegiance
Salute to the flag was led by the council members.
Chaplain report
Deacon Tony was not present at tonight’s meeting.
Minutes of the Previous Meeting
Minutes of the previous meeting were accepted on a motion by Dan Fuller, seconded by Bob
Jacobs, approved with a unanimous vote.
Grand Knight’s Report (Joe Tarallo)
GK welcomed 2 new members (Jeff Kadus and William Kadus) that attended our meeting
tonight.
GK Stated that we have 9 new members that joined our council this year and that we have
already exceeded our quota for the Columbian year. We are currently at 113% of our quota with
still 6 months to go.
GK Stated that we will have a CUFF ceremony coming up to be held on February 9TH to be
attended by all new members.
GK Stated that he attended the State Council Meeting where they spoke of the Knights
commitment to a continued membership drive.
GK Stated that we are looking to implement more programs that are family oriented into our
council.
GK Stated that we held a soup kitchen last month and that Lenny Martin will provide the details
on how that event was successful.
GK Stated that the annual coats for kids distribution event was held in Paterson and even though
none of our members were able to attend that about 2000 Coats were distributed to families in
need, He also stated that our council was responsible for a $3500 donation that was matched by
the Diocese allowing the program to provide 10% or about 200 coats for donation to families in
need.
GK Stated that the newly named “Waiting for a Savior” event formerly known as the “Birthday
for Jesus” event was held in December and kids also fulfilled the “Letters to Seminarians” where
30 letters were written.
GK Stated that the Rose Drive was held to fund the transportation costs to the March for Life
event to be held in Washington D.C.
GK Stated that the next Blood Drive will be held on January 31st and that volunteers are needed
to help.
GK Stated that we are fulfilling our commitment to the Right to Life beliefs by partially funding
the costs for an ultrasound machine for “Care Net” in Hackettstown.
GK Stated that the 4th degree exemplification of patriotism will be held on April 25th and that the
Officers installation will be held on July 18th 2026.
GK stated that Badges for members can be ordered directly from him. Please see him after the
meeting.
GK asked that members please hand in PAR’s (Program Activity Reports) to John Watral by EMail
as soon as you have them available.
GK stated that we are constantly looking for members to lead and co-lead programs and that we
should be concentrating more on Family orientated events.
GK stated that the Bingo program needs help as usual and that this month has a 5th week that will
need to be staffed.
Treasurer’s Report (Michael Uszacki.)
The bank statement was sent to trustees. A copy is available upon request..
Financial Secretary’s Report (Gerard Petrocelli)
Financial secretary’s report is emailed in advance to Trustees for approval of expenditures.
Membership Report (Chip Sturm)
Chip stated that he is constantly working on recruiting new members as an ongoing operation.
.
Program Reports – Led by John Watral
Bingo (Mike Mallon) – Mike stated that Bingo is going well and that we still need more help
especially during setup and again during clean up. Mike stated that the doors now open at 5 PM
and that registers open at 6 PM and this is the time we need volunteers to run the registers and
hand out the Bingo papers. Mike stated that we need at a minimum 7 people to get the weekly
event started. Mike stated that the crowd was behaving themselves.
Soup Kitchen (Lenny Martin) – Lenny stated that the soup kitchen held in December saw a
record number of meals served. The event provided 191 meals served including in-house and
takeout meals. The Meal consisted of beans, fish, soup and coffee. Lenny stated that he doesn’t
know why we are seeing record turnouts from folks looking for a meal and that he will keep an
eye on the attendance and let us know if he finds anything out about the cause of the surge of
folks.
Blood Drive (Gerard Petrocelli) – Gerard stated that the next blood drive will be held on January
31st and that he will need Volunteers to help for setup, during the event and afterwards for
breakdown and clean-up. Gerard stated that he wanted to thank everyone who helped during
2025 and that we had a record year with the highest number of products collected at 179 Total.
This was about 50 more products than were collected during the previous year. Gerard stated that
we need to spread the word and try to collect as many products as we can for the next blood
drive as the folks responsible for collecting and distributing the products have declared a blood
emergency due to numerous factors. Gerard stated that we have only 67 folks scheduled for this
blood drive and he would like us to see if we can find more people willing to donate. Gerard
stated that we collected a record $300 during the last blood drive that folks put into a donation
bucket that was on site.
Wreath Drive (Gerard Petrocelli) – Gerard stated that the wreath drive is still on going and that
we have collected about $1,000 from 500 items sold. He stated that we collected another $500
directly from the 6100 Council and another $500 that was donated into collection buckets for a
grand total of $2000 that will be used for the “Food for Families” event.
RTL (Gerry Kaufhold) – Jerry stated that the Rose drive completed by the Squires collected
funds to help pay for the transportation costs for the trip to the March for Life event to be held in
Washington D.C. on next Saturday January 31st. Jerry stated that we had 13 scheduled attendees
but some had to cancel last minute so there are 2 open spots available on the bus if any members
are interested. Bus will leave next Saturday January 31st at 5:45 AM and attendees can expect to
return around 10 PM. Jerry has a signup sheet on the back table. Jerry also said that on February
18th 2026 we will start the 60 day prayer vigil in Morristown at the Planned Parenthood facility.
Every Wednesday for a 6 week period members can meet after 9 AM mass and Jerry will lead
the group to Morristown to pray the rosary. Finally Jerry said that the Baby Bottle Drive will
start with the Bottles being handed out after masses on January 31st and February 1st.
Parishioners who take the bottles are asked to put donations inside the bottles and return them
when instructed to do so. Instructions are attached to the bottles. Jerry said we usually take in
around $3,000 and we donate the proceeds to organizations that help pregnant women and
mothers of new born babies. The next March for Life event after the one to be held next week is
planned for October 8th 2026. Members are encouraged to sign up.
Charity Mania Drive (Tom Rohe) – Tom said that the Football Charity Mania has ended and that
the Council took in about $3100 to be donated to the scholarship fund. The next Charity Mania
tickets are the “Hoops Mania” tickets that can be taken tonight. Members can sell these tickets
over the next few weeks. Tickets and funds should be returned to Tom no later than March 31st.
4th Degree ( Bob Jacobs) – 4th Degree is the next step commitment to the Knights of Columbus.
Next meeting is tomorrow night Tuesday 1/20/26. Future events include a fund raiser at Panera
Bread and a planned Family Picnic. All proceeds will be donated to help US veterans. We are
also looking to be combined with other councils located in Succasuna and Asbury Park.
Squires (John Watral) – John said there was a large turnout for the paragon Christmas Party.
Mass was held by Father Antonio. John stated that there is a planned “Easter Egg Hunt”
scheduled for March for all kids to enjoy. Joe Tarallo stated that we also held the “Waiting for a
Savior” event formerly called the “Birthday for Jesus” and that Santa was there for the kids.
Letters to the seminarians was also completed at the “Waiting for a Savoir” event where about 30
letters were sent out to various seminarians.
Eucharistic Procession – (Dan Fuller) – Dan needs a co-chair to help with the event planning.
This is a good annual event with good visibility for our parish. The event is planned for the 1st
Sunday in June on 6/7/26 after the Noon mass and is planned to be an indoor event to be held in
the parish center. Details to follow.
Corner stone (Mike Sabella) – Mike stated that we are a Christian centered brotherhood of man.
Dan Fuller stated that we have an annual retreat and that 28 folks attended the last meeting.
Meetings are typically held at 8 AM on Saturday and that it is a small Men’s group and all are
encouraged to join. It is desired that we grow involvement for this event.
Worthy DD (Anthony Caroleo) provided the following statements:
Tony stated that he wishes everyone a Happy New Year. Tony stated that we should be looking
at the new Website and familiarizing ourselves with all the content. He stated that we should be
very proud our commitment to recruitment of new members as we have already meet our Quota
in only 6 months into the Columbian year. Tony thanked us for all the programs and events we
hold and he stated that we are exceeding all the expectations of the Knights of Columbus. He
stated that he enjoys attending our monthly meeting due to our commitment. Tony also reminded
us that there is a Paterson Federation Website where we should be uploading photos of what we
do as a Council. Tony stated that the Supreme Website will temporally be down due to a planned
update tomorrow 1/20/26. Tony stated he is working with Sister Theresa in Paterson. Finally
Tony stated that we should keep up the good work and that we have great leadership in our
council.
State Representative (Jim Sweeney) –Jim stated that once our new members sign up to join the
Knights on the website that they can participate immediately and that they do not have to wait
until after the CUFF’s ceremony.
Jim Stated that there is a new form 1074 will be replacing the old form SB7. Jim stated that we
are now eligible for “Star Council” rating once again due to our strong membership recruitment
success. Jim stated that we are now rated at Council #16 of a total of 72 Councils and that we
should be proud of our accomplishments. Jim stated that we can reduce our costs by recruiting a
new Field Agent willing to work on the Insurance Sales that the Knights are offered. Also we can
reduce our dues by bringing in 3 new members between 2/1/26 and 3/31/26. Jim stated that the
Knights are working on programs that help new Mother’s after they give birth in conjunction
with helping pregnant women thereby eliminating the criticism of how the “Right to Life”
movement only cares about reducing Abortions and that we have no resources to help new
Mothers after they give birth. The Knights now support groups that do help new Mother’s such
as “Care Net”, “1ST Choice”, “Lighthouse”, and others. Jim wants to thank EFF Director (Mike
Sabella) for bringing in new members to the Corner Stone Program to show all what we do as a
Council. Jim stated that he is very proud of our Council and wants to wish all a Happy New
Year.
Unfinished Business
The following motions were made and passed unanimously outside of the $5400 motion which had 1 absenting
vote.
Family $5,400.00
2nd 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.
Community $2,000.00
2nd READING Donate $2000 to help rebuild (2)
parishes ($1,000 each) in the country of Jamaica that
were destoryed by the recent hurricane.
New Business
The following motions were made and passed unanimously:
Good of the Order
The Good of the Order was directed by Gerry Kaufhold.
List of Sick and Deceased
Sick/Distressed
Nicholas and Frances Tarallo
Jack Elaine Abbot
Joe Truhan
Mel Kaufhold
Gregg Buckaleu
Bruce Olsen
Gerard Petrocelli
Community $1,000.00 Donate $250 to support Mike Lyden for his role in the
polar bear plunge as part of the special olympics.
Council $1,000.00
1st READINGSet aside up $1,000 to support
attendance at the State Convention in 2026. This is to
be used to cover costs of attendees who need subsidy.
If any funds are left over, we will use the excess to
subsidize up to $50 per attendee.”
Council $195.00
Donante $195 to fund 3 additional parishioners
particpation on the March for Life Bus trip in
Washington D.C.
Sick/Distressed Continued
John Norris DD
Christa Mallon
Nancy Kubicki
Harry and Dodie MacDonald
Deceased
Anne Capone
Tish Rohe
Pope Francis
Monica Brenan
Grace Posse
Barbara Wolfe
Closing Prayer
Closing prayer was led by Jerry Kaufhold
Attendance: 24 people. Meeting adjourned at 9:05 PM.