KYKofC-Newsletter-June-2021
Knights of Columbus retire old flags in burning ceremony
The men’s organization at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church conducted the retirement ceremony on Monday for Flag Day.
- June 14, 2021
The Knights of Columbus at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church observed Flag Day on Monday by retiring several hundred American flags that were in poor condition.
Using the traditional retirement method of burning the flags, several members of the Knights participated in the ceremony. They built a fire in a large metal barrel and took turns dropping flags into the flames.
Hundreds of small flags that needed to be retired came from Green Hill Memorial Gardens, where the Knights place flags at all of the veterans’ graves every year on Memorial Day.
“Fellow citizens, we have here these flags of our country, which have been inspected and declared unserviceable. They have reached their present state in a proper service of tribute, memory and love,” master of ceremonies Joe Mezzoni said to begin the service.
“A flag may be a flimsy bit of painted gauze or a beautiful banner of the finest silk. Its inherent value may be trifling or great, but its symbolic value is beyond price. Fort it is a precious symbol of all that our veterans have worked for, lived for and died for.
“A nation of free men and women, true to the past, devoted to the ideals and practice of justice, freedom and democracy. Let these flags of our country be retired and destroyed with respectful and honorable rites and their places be taken by bright new flag.”
The Rev. Richard Meredith, priest at Saints Peter and Paul, led the group in a prayer.
The Knights of Columbus will continue to accept old flags from anyone in the community who wants to have them respectfully retired. Anyone interested in turning over old flags should call Mezzoni at 270-305-4701.
“We’ll make arrangements to pick them up,” he said.
Flag Day is observed on June 14, the day in 1777 that the Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, approved the stars and bars design for the national Flag. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issues a presidential proclamation establishing the national observance.
The 13 red and white bars represent the original 13 colonies. The white stars on a blue background represent the states.
The current flag, the 27th version, dates to July 4, 1960, when Hawaii became the 50th state.
School basketball court dedicated to Fr. Mario
Father Mario J. Tizziani Memorial Court has been officially lettered! We anticipate having a formal ceremony in the Fall of 2021 for the floor dedication. Thank you to our former pastor for all he has done for our school and the construction of this gym!
Submitted by: St. Cecilia Catholic School Facebook page
Council 15681 Corpus Christi Procession
St. Lawrence Council 15681 coordinated with Fr. Jeff Estacio to do the Corpus Christi procession on June 6, 2021. The weather was not cooperative, so we had the procession inside the church. Brother Knights reached out to the Parish and invited them to participate. We even had a non-Catholic participant and his Catholic wife that are new to the parish and have been active with the parish. They assisted the council during the Lenten Fish Fry also. Fr. Jeff was very Thankful to the Knights for their assistance. Father is asking the Knights for more as we have shown that we able to step up and help the church in response to its requests.
Pro-Life’s End of Life Mission – Serving Our Elderly Community
Taylor Manor is an 82-bed facility providing levels of personal, intermediate and total care. Run by the Sisters of St Joseph the Worker, Taylor Manor has been providing care to the residents of Woodford County for 70 years. Taylor Manor is the only Catholic Nursing Home within the Diocese of Lexington, KY. Over the years St. Leo Council 13917 in Versailles has provided volunteers to help at various events. They have taken on projects to improve the quality of life for the residents such as building an outdoor pavilion.
The pandemic & shutdown of 2020 prevented volunteers from assisting the Sisters in doing charitable work. With the pandemic and restrictions being lifted, Grand Knight Ben Borth and member John Weis reached out to Sr. Faustina to see if there might be a need that the council could assist with, and boy is there…
Three major areas of concern and opportunity are the roof leaks, flooring and paving issues. With the help of the charitable arm of the KY Knights of Columbus, KY Charities, Inc, a $3,000 grant request for help with replacing the flooring in the resident rooms was granted at this year’s State Convention. Picking upon this need and the generosity of the KY Charities, Inc, State Secretary Tom Johnson contacted a member of St. John St. Francis council in Georgetown, KY who owns a paint and flooring business. Owner Larry Oser saw an opportunity to help the Sisters in their need for flooring. Occasionally they will have a box or two of high-quality flooring left over from a job. Rather than throwing it into a land fill, they will hold on to it in case a charitable need arises. While the left over material may not be enough to complete a large room, it may be enough to complete a small bathroom or closet or if you don’t mind blending colors or shades you might even be able to complete a residence room. Such was the case in early June when Larry Oser & Tom Johnson met John Weis and Sister Faustina at Taylor Manor and delivered 17 boxes of high-quality vinyl flooring. Sister Faustina was delighted to receive the flooring and was already making plans for where to install it. Thanks to John Weis for his help and thanks to Larry Oser for donating the flooring.
Tom Johnson Council 11470 Georgetown, Sr. Faustina, John Weis Council 13917 Versailles and Larry Oser
Council 11470 Georgetown.
