Date: Fri 28-Mar-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Knights-of-Columnus-100-years

Full Text:

Newtown Knights of Columbus Celebrate 100 Years of Service

with photos

B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

In October 1881, a small group of men gathered in a church basement in New

Haven. They were Catholics, mostly from families that had fled their homeland

during the

Great Irish Famine of 1845-50.

But they found that even in America, times were not easy. The Irish, like many

other immigrants, were frequent targets of discrimination.

So the Rev Michael J. McGivney, curate at St Mary's Parish in New Haven,

assembled a small group of men for a meeting in October 1881 to talk about

forming an organization of Catholic men that would be called the Knights of

Columbus.

"The Irish couldn't get insurance - no one would sell to them," explained Mark

Dennen, current grand knight of Virgilius Council 185 in Newtown. "Widows and

children were being left destitute. The Knights set up a system of insurance

so that the widows and children of members wouldn't be left in dire financial

straits."

The group chose the name Knights of Columbus because they felt the

organization should honor Christopher Columbus, the Catholic explorer who

discovered America. At the same time, "Knights" would signify that the

membership embodied knightly ideals of spirituality and service to church,

country and fellow man through charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism, Mr

Dennen said.

The Knights of Columbus was chartered on March 29, 1882. Chapters, called

councils, began to spring up in other communities. Today, the organization has

1.5 million members worldwide, generated more than $100 million and 43 million

volunteer hours of service for charitable causes.

This year the Newtown council, named in honor of Pope Virgilius, is

celebrating its 100th anniversary.

"Things really haven't changed that much since the organization was formed,"

Mark Dennen said. "Most of those who we help are not just survivors of their

spouse in terms of death, but also divorce, abandonment, pregnancy. Most

aren't parish members or even Catholics. We help anyone who is in need through

our At Our Gate program.

"People are often surprised to hear of some of the living conditions of some

people in Newtown," he said. "But the poor also have pride, and you have to go

out and find them and offer your assistance. There are plenty of

opportunities."

Helping Those In Need

One such opportunity occurred last November when the Knights learned of a

69-year-old women who was living on Social Security in a small home heated

only by a space heater and the oven. One Saturday, eight Knights along with

three teenagers from the youth group added six inches of insulation to her

basement, painted a room, fixed the drafts around windows and doors, installed

a new bathroom faucet, a new door lock, cleaned her wood stove and installed a

furnace cap, cleaned the gutters, blew leaves, removed three truckloads of

debris and stacked donated firewood outside her door.

"This woman now has a warm and secure home, and all the workers went home with

smiling faces. All this was accomplished in only five hours and $75," Mr

Dennen said.

"This same woman was eligible for food during Thanksgiving from Newtown Social

Services, but she declined because she thought there were other people with a

greater need than she had," he said. "A priest in our parish, Father Raja, was

with us while we worked on this house. He purchased for her, at his own

expense, enough food to last her a month. My wife and I were asked to deliver

it.

"[The woman] called later and was so thankful, but she said she was going to

share it with a family who had children and didn't have food for the holiday.

It's like that story in the Gospel about the woman who only gave one copper

coin, but it was all that she had!"

Another woman, disabled by a stroke, was unable to make repairs to her mobile

home so that she could sell it and move into more suitable housing. Eight

Knights installed a new skirt around the base of the trailer (normally a

$1,500 expense), installed a new kitchen counter, painted the trailer ceiling

and rebuilt and re-leveled the deck, all in less than six hours.

Terri, a young single Newtown mother working several jobs to support her

child, found she could not pay her utility bills and her house, which needed

insulation, was always cold. In five hours, the Knights insulated the attic

and basement and installed new door locks.

"They were amazing," Terri said. "They were like a lifesaver for me. My house

was always cold until about 25 of them showed up and worked all day. For the

first time my daughter's hands aren't ice cold. The Knights even invited us to

their Christmas party."

Many Other Projects

In addition to their own projects, every year the Knights work with the

AmeriCares Homefront Program repairing houses for people in need. Sixteen

Newtown Knights reroofed the home on an elderly woman in New Fairfield last

year, installed insulation in the attic and trimmed the hedges.

The Knights helped a Sandy Hook family, whose home was destroyed by fire. They

provide scholarships for college-bound students and persons entering religious

service, conduct blood drives, visit inmates at Garner, support the Special

Olympics, sponsor an annual free-throw contest for middle school children, and

are involved in many other charitable, religious and educational projects each

year.

The biggest project the Knights have undertaken has been creating an accessory

rental apartment in the house of a single mother with four children. She was

in danger of losing the house if she didn't increase her income.

Because so much of the work had to be done by professional licensed tradesmen,

the Knights reached out to Newtown and the surrounding communities for

electricians, plumbers, ceramic tile installers, cabinet makers and others who

would donate their services and to area companies who could donate bathroom

and kitchen fixtures and other materials needed to help the volunteers

complete the project.

"I estimated that the job would have cost $10,000 without the donations of

material and labor," Mr Dennen said.

Ginny, who works in a bank in Norwalk, said the project by the Knights made it

possible for her to keep her house. When one of her co-workers made a remark

about being unable to believe in God, Ginny said she responded, "How can you

not believe in God when you see him reflected in people every day?"

"It seems like the harder things get, God is there for you," she said. "It was

absolutely wonderful that a group of people you don't even know would take on

such a project, showing up every day to help you. It was a big commitment when

you realize that they all have families of their own."

Last year Msgr George Birge, pastor at St Rose of Lima, came up with the idea

of a cross for the rear of the church property. The Knights constructed the

16-foot-high cross from redwood and cedar, painted it white and erected it

behind the soccer field.

"Father Birge calls the soccer field "Holy Cross Field," Mr Dennen said. "I

think that on the field of play, the participants see the Cross and are

reminded that this is the grounds of the church. I think it encourages better

behavior and attitude - there's a whole different atmosphere at the games."

A Monument to the Unborn also was erected by the Knights last year in front of

the statue of St Anthony next to the Parish Center. As part of their outreach,

the Knights are providing assistance to a young woman who has decided to keep

her baby.

Charity Basketball Game

"Father Larry [Larson at St Rose] once said in a sermon `Bedrock Christianity

is helping someone you don't even know' and that's exactly what the Knights

do," Mark Dennen said. "Anyone who knows of a need - or would like to help -

can get in touch with the Knights by calling 426-7794 and leaving a message."

Today, the Newtown council has more than 100 members including 25 added during

the past six months. The officers, besides Mr Dennen, are Gregory Branecky,

financial secretary; Thomas McNeill, deputy grand knight; Joseph Ratyna,

chancellor; Adolf Dreher, recorder; Judson Doyle, treasurer; Carl Bergquist,

advocate; John Leitner, warden, and trustees Robert Connor, William Timmel and

Roger Connor.

The surnames of the original members of the Newtown chapter - Bradley, Burns,

Honan, Lavery, Farrell, Keane, Keating, Lillis, Carey, Maloney, McCarthy,

Ryan, Hassett, Madigan, Donlon, McGran, Lynch, McGuire, Larner, Talty, Hough,

Tierney, McGauley, Donohue, Halpin, Hayes - are those of many current Knights,

reflecting the fact that membership is often a family tradition, as it was for

Nicholas Hayes, well known for decades of service to the community through the

Knights, who died earlier this month.

Nearly all of the original members were Irish, most from the hundreds of

families who came to work in the mills in Sandy Hook before the turn of the

century. "The population of Newtown was about 5,000 at that time," Bob Connor

said. "When the mills moved or closed, many Irish families left and by the

1930s the population had dropped to 3,200. It didn't get back up to 5,000

until the 1950s."

For their next project, a fundraiser for a single mother who has a potentially

fatal medical condition, the Knights are planning to face off against the St

Rose Home & School Association in a charity basketball game at 6 pm on Friday,

April 4, at the Newtown Middle School gym.

To get signed sports memorabilia for a silent auction, the Knights spent weeks

calling sports celebrities. Some of the memorabilia collected includes a golf

hat signed by Tiger Woods, a framed poster signed by Ray Allen of the

Milwaukee Bucks, a shirt signed by Heisman trophy winner Charlie Ward of the

Knicks, and basketballs autographed by the Washington Bullets and by Joe Smith

of the Golden State Warriors, and a photograph signed by all members of the

synchronized swim team that won the gold medal in the last Olympics.

The event will include a $10,000 three-quarter court shot and free-throw

contests for children. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children.