Assembly 2753, in Hopkinsville Ky., participated in support of the annual “Sew for 22” ceremony held at “Beyond Stitches” and conducted by the Clarksville TN Quilts of Valor. The “Sew for 22” event is designed to raise suicide awareness throughout our Veteran ranks. September is Suicide Awareness month. The group sews for 22 consecutive hours and then awards Quilts of Valor to help the healing process to our warriors. The Sir Knights provided chairs and tables and helped Mission BBQ with the catered lunch. We also provided the guest speaker Ret. Lt. Col SK John Hall. The weather cooperated so the day went off without a hitch. God Bless our veterans and our troops!
4th Degree Exemplification
At the 4th degree exemplification held in Louisville on August 28th, over 30 men joined the ranks of the 4th Degree of the Order of the Knights of Columbus. We were honored to have Archbishop Kurtz as the Keynote speaker at the banquet. He also celebrated the 4:00 pm Mass at St. Michael Catholic Church where the new Sir Knights and their Ladies were in attendance. Congratulations to our newest Sir Knights. Any Knights of Columbus members that would like to join the 4th degree should contact their grand knight or District Master, Bill Schmidt PSD (billschmidtpsd@comcast.net).
4th Degree Exemplification August 28th
On Saturday, August 28, 2021, there will be a 4th Degree Exemplification held at St. Michael Catholic Church in Louisville. Details can be found in the links below.
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.
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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.
3rd Generation Sir Knight
At the 4th Degree Exemplification on February 8th, District Master Bill Schmidt elevated 29 men to the 4th Degree. This exemplification was extra special to Bill because his son, Curtis Paul, was one of the men becoming a 4th degree member. Bill’s father is also a 4th degree member and at the banquet following the exemplification, Bill presented Curtis Paul with the sword of the 4th degree that was passed down to him when he became a 4th degree member many years ago.