The Lake Current - July 2020
After an unwelcome three-month hiatus, welcome back to our monthly Council newsletter!

Since so many Council events have been canceled or postponed, this will necessarily be a brief edition. But we want to let you know that the Council is moving forward and trying to get back to normal as fast as we can.

We are resuming limited use of our building, in accordance with requirements imposed by federal, state, and local governments. One bit of good news is that we're back to holding in-person business meetings!

Our next regular monthly business meeting is this Wednesday, July 8th, starting at 7:30 p.m. We will be serving some food off the grill starting around 6:30 p.m. Please joins us for dinner and the meeting, while observing appropriate social-distancing and face-mask use.

For those who cannot (or do not want to) attend in-person, we are planning to webcast the meeting live via Zoom . Because our meetings are restricted to the membership, the link to the Zoom meeting will be provided to Council members upon request . Just send an email to our webmaster and he'll send you the link to the Zoom meeting.

Even though the Council building was closed for regular operations, we were still serving people in need as well as our members. At our meeting, we'll talk about what's been going on behind the scenes and plans for the near future. So please try to attend or connect via Zoom.

Please note that we will begin updating the Council Google Calendar and Upcoming Events Page on the website once we are able to resume scheduling events.

And now here are a few news items, including an important reminder about the upcoming Summer Blood Drive .
Ralph Fleischman Elected Grand Knight; Leads Roster of Officers for 2020-21

The Council's membership unanimously elected Deputy Grand Knight Ralph Fleischman to be our new Grand Knight at the general business meeting held via Zoom on June 17th.

Due to restrictions imposed by the State of New York and Supreme Council, we were unable to hold in-person meetings in June, when annual elections are usually held. However, Supreme authorized and encouraged us to conduct virtual meetings and elections, including by videoconferencing.

As there were no objections to the report of the Nominating Committee, the entire slate of proposed officers was approved by unanimous vote of those present on the June 17th Zoom webinar, which was chaired by Grand Knight Steve Gheduzzi.

Steve closed the meeting by thanking the membership for their support and hard work over the past two years. He also expressed his confidence in, and offered his best wishes to, GK-Elect Ralph and all of the officers for the new Fraternal Year.

As our newest Past Grand Knight, Steve will serve as our Council's Three-Year Trustee. He will join our other Trustees, Past Grand Knight Rob Firriolo and Joe Groneman.

The Council's core leadership positions remain in good hands. Chancellor Tim McDonald advanced to Deputy Grand Knight, and John Nuculovic joined the leadership team as the new Chancellor.

Continuing in their current offices are Treasurer Rich Dambra, Warden Michael O'Brien, Financial Secretary Michael Rama, Recorder Steven Smith, Advocate (PGK) Michael McDonald, and Guards Peter Carey, Daniel Dolenck, Richard Ferris and Steven Kladis. Joining the leadership team as Guards this year are John Crecco and George Kane. GK Ralph has also reappointed Anthony Falco to another term as Lecturer.

Please congratulate our team of officers and remember that they are in office to lead and to serve the entire membership. Offer them your support but also go to them if you have any questions, issues, or concerns, or if you want to get more involved with our very active Council.
Our Annual Summer Blood Drive Is Back!

Donors and Volunteers Needed

Expanded Hours


Give the gift of life by donating blood! Your donation is needed now more than ever!

Join us, the Driscoll Lodge FOP, Putnam's Bureau of Emergency Services, and Putnam's FDNY members, on Friday, July 10th, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., at the Carmel Veterans of Foreign Wars hall , located at 32 Gleneida Avenue (Route 52).

We’ve had some of our blood drives during difficult times. This pandemic has created challenges for many of us, and this is certainly true for the blood supply.

With an abundance of caution for our donors and staff, our drive will go forward with some procedural changes. As noted above, our drive hours have expanded from 10 in the morning to 8 in the evening.

Because of social distancing requirements, another change for our drive is that donation will be BY APPOINTMENT ONLY .

To make an appointment via the internet, please visit the NY Blood Center web site by clicking here.

Or, to schedule an appointment by phone, please call: 1-800-933-2566.

We are also going to need volunteers to help set up the drive at 8:00 a.m. and to break it down at 8:00 p.m.

We are very sorry to announce that we will not be able to provide our much-talked-about and highly-rated hot and cold buffet. However, the New York Blood Center will provide prepackaged snacks and refreshments. Sadly, we also have to forgo any parting gifts.

Donating blood is a safe, simple, and satisfying experience. Your donations help give life to the millions of Americans each year who require blood transfusions during surgery, after an accident, or because they have a disease that requires blood components.

There are many different ways to donate lifesaving blood products, including whole blood, platelet, plasma, and automated red cell donation. The process usually takes about 45-60 minutes.

You may donate if you are at least 17 years old (16 years old with written consent from parent or legal guardian), weigh at least 110 pounds, and are in good health.

Contact Denis Hanrahan at (845) 225-3048 or GK-elect Ralph Fleischman at (845) 225-6318 for more information.
Ladies Auxiliary Elects New Leadership

Our Ladies Auxiliary has elected new leadership for the 2020-21 Fraternal Year.

After two years of outstanding service to the Auxiliary, President Maria Barry has turned over the presidency to Allison Keating, who had served as the Auxiliary's Financial Secretary. Past President Maria will continue on the leadership team by serving as a Trustee.

Other new and returning officers are: Vice President Kim Crecco, Secretary Kathy O'Neil, Financial Secretary Isabel Pompa, Treasurer Josette Firriolo, Guards Liz Smith and Kathy VanCoughnett, and Trustees Gail Silke (Past President), Deborah McDonald, Lisa Stofko, AnnMarie Bolduc, and Beth Carey.

On behalf of the Council officers, Grand Knight Ralph Fleischman extended his congratulations and support to all of the new Ladies Auxiliary officers. He will install Allison Keating as their new President in the near future, and she will then officially install the Auxiliary's other new officers.

Please congratulate President Allison and the entire new team of Ladies' officers when you see them.
Fourth Degree News

MEETING & EXEMPLIFICATION NOTICES

The next meeting of the Fourth Degree Sir Knights of Mother Cabrini Assembly will be Thursday, July 16 at our Council.

The Assembly was unable to hold elections due to COVID-19 restrictions, so we expect that elections will be held at this meeting. The Assembly is in need of officers, so any Fourth Degree member willing to serve should speak with FN Vincent LaRusso as soon as possible and also plan to attend this meeting.

Please note that the in-person Fourth Degree Exemplification, which was rescheduled to July 25th, has been canceled . Instead, there will be a virtual exemplification on August 1, 2020 . All forms and fees are due no later than July 23rd. Please contact FN Vincent ASAP if you are interested in participating.
Support the C&B Program

It's once again time to join with KofC councils across New York State and raise funds for important charities by selling tickets to the annual Charitable & Benevolent Program raffle.

Not only are there $50,000 in cash prizes -- including the $25,000 Grand Prize -- but our council keeps a portion of the cash from the sales to help with our own charitable efforts.

Due to the high costs of doing a mailing to the entire membership, this year we are again not mailing out booklets except upon request . You may pick them up at our monthly Council business meetings.

Contact our C&B Chairman, Steve Smith , if you would like booklets mailed to you or if you would like to arrange to pick some up.

Please return your stubs and payment by dropping them off at the Council or by mailing them to Steve Smith's attention at 10 Fair Street, Carmel, NY 10512.
Army Football Bus Trip Still On for October 17th

As we reported in our March edition, our Ladies Auxiliary has organized a bus trip to West Point to see Army Black Knights Football at Michie Stadium on Saturday, October 17th.

The most recent information the Ladies received is that the game is still on and will be open to the public.

Your $75 gets you bus transportation, two hours of pre-game tailgating with light breakfast and lunch BBQ, game ticket, and one hour of post-game tailgating.

Seating is very limited , but there are still some seats left. So use the information in the flyer below and get in your payment to Past President Gail Silke ASAP .
Remember, a full calendar of events can always be found on our website: carmelknights.org under the Upcoming Events tab. And don't forget to "like" our Facebook page for up-to-the minute announcements, photos, event listings, and items of interest.