Brother Knights
CONGRATULATIONS to all who attended the Annual Spring Convention. It was so good to be among you for the festivities. Hats off to Regina for the terrific job they did united as one body made up of many councils to make this event a tremendous event. Brothers working together supporting one another in success united as one is a Brotherhood at work.
I extend greetings to all Brother Knights of Saskatchewan in my name and on behalf of my fellow State Officers a welcome to the Spring Convention. I also bring you greetings from Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly on this special occasion of our 102nd Annual Convention.
It is truly an honour to be State Deputy of this beautiful bountiful province. Saskatchewan has always been known to be a kind caring land and we as Knights have lived up to this statement. We have just experienced our 100th milestone and with the vigour and excitement this body of men I have here – I assure you we are to be here for many generations to come. We must as Catholic men continue the legacy of our founder Blessed McGivney.
Our theme for this convention is “BRINGING HOPE THROUGH FAITH AND CHARITY”, this my fellow Brothers is what we are doing. Our faith in God and our Unity as Brothers have brought us here today stronger and more dedicated. Our charitable works have held our parishes and communities together and the support of our Bishops and Priests is the key to our survival.
The constant focus on prayer and our daily devotion to the Rosary is a must in our daily lives. The power of prayer and helping one another is fruitful for a positive outcome as we journey together. Placing our trust in God and laying down our lives of service before the altar will lead us and guide us daily in our good works, decisions, and spiritual growth, so we can accomplish great things entangled together like the fiber of the cable we are stronger banded together.
As I reflected on the past year and how I feel about the progress we have made, I cannot be prouder of all of you, and the councils of Saskatchewan. We as a body of men have become stronger in Unity, have shared much Fraternity, and have been leaders in the order of Charity. We have much to be proud of and I want to touch on some of our accomplishments as a Province.
I am very pleased to report that our Centennial cookbook which the wives put together and worked so hard preparing was a terrific souvenir for the occasion of our 100th Anniversary. The ladies decided the profits realized from this project would be donated to the foodbanks in Saskatchewan, I picked 10 smaller foodbanks throughout the province that needed some extra help in the Christmas Season. We as Councils donated $5000.00 in $500-dollar increments to these foodbanks and thus took advantage of the $100-dollar match from Supreme for every 500 dollars donated, I applaud the ladies for the terrific job they did on this project and to all those Councils who sold the 500 Books. The remaining cookbooks I took to Fond Du Lac and gave them to the women of the community. The Centennial Quilt handcrafted by my wife Judi was won by Grand Knight David Alm of 5384 Davidson/Outlook Council. Judi was kind enough to donate her time and materials to construct this keepsake and donated 680 dollars to the Charitable Foundation. Thank you Judi and for all those that purchased these tickets.
Not only did we shatter all records this year in our “COATS FOR KIDS” program but we made a difference in 1000snds of lives throughout Saskatchewan. A total of 7500 coats were generously given by councils and communities. This had a major impact on our population province-wide. Think about it, almost one coat for each member in our province is very impressive. The delivery alongside our Indigenous population was overwhelming and a testament to our program of making sure no one is cold in the winter. My trip with my fellow Brothers to Fond Du Lac was an experience of a lifetime and has etched marks on my heart until my final day. We were able to create a short video which we will watch this weekend that Supreme wanted for their records and promotional advertising impact. This program is a blessing to our order and makes our good works worthwhile. I was honoured to accept on behalf of all of you the credit given at the Legislature by the Honourable Dana Skoropad, he congratulated the Saskatchewan Knights on this achievement and ensured me that this act of Charity went down in the history of Saskatchewan.
The Vocations Endowment which we never had an actual campaign this year has been a success regardless. I cannot stress enough about the importance of securing our Catholic Faith by supporting our seminarians. It was truly an honour to attend the Installation of Michael Smolinski the new Bishop of the Eparchy of Saskatoon, a total Saskatchewan boy- we are proud of you. We are very fortunate to have The Charitable Foundation working so closely with the membership on this project, I say thank you to the entire board. The implementation of the Annual Cash Calendar focusing on and highlighting the many organizations we support will be a terrific avenue to advertise the great value we as a Foundation have, for the better of our communities. I ask you to please promote this endeavour in your councils, parishes, and communities.
To all the councils that have hosted Exemplifications and have welcomed me into the parishes to do Membership Enhancement, thank you. Thank you for your perseverance, dedication, and general caring for the future of Knighthood here in Saskatchewan. I said from the start we can do this, and we are day by day. I appreciated all the invitations to attend your functions, meetings, and parties, it was an honour to be among you. The many funerals I attended to be with you as you grieved the loss of a brother were very thoughtful and each one of you reached out for me to attend.
Thank you to those councils who ran Basketball Free Throw throughout the province getting our youth to recognize the Knights and branding our community work with care and enthusiasm. Our youth are the future of our tomorrow so we must continue to recognize them at all times. This program is nothing but a success for our schools, youth, and children. Likewise, this is said for the soccer challenge that many of you participated in.
What could be more apparent than Brothers banded together by Knighthood for Life but the terrific weekend organized by Sandy Balon, Bob Barkman, and Lorne Harasen – a reunion of Past State Deputies. I thank you very much for the invitation to join you and for a terrific time visiting, laughing, and sharing stories. It was an honour to be with you and I thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm for the order.
The fact that we have the longest-running INDOOR GAMES in North America right here is an accomplishment that cannot go unnoticed. 57 consecutive years of caring for our youth, visiting inner-city schools, and enhancing sport as true grit for life, it is commitment, passion, and dedication. The positive impact that our children encounter at these games is immeasurable. To the organizers, the board, and all who volunteered, and to the Councils for their generous support – I say Thank You.
What better way to be a Knight but to give life? The many Blood Donor Clinics we attend and sponsor province-wide is a test of BROTHERS helping Brothers. It is in us to give, just as our Faith is in us to share. I cannot stress the impact that this has on our country, the much-needed supply of blood is always in shortage, so I thank you for running this program.
I implemented prayer, The Rosary, and Holy Hours once again into our events to show our Unity in faith as our guiding light. The very fact that men can pray together, laugh together, and cry together is a brotherhood bonded by faith that is unstoppable. It has strengthened us, healed us, and given us much-needed hope banded together for our future. Men who pray together share a very special bond that is immeasurable. We are the only Fraternal Faith Based Order in existence, together we are strong in prayer. It was an honour to prepare, lead, and execute our Mens Spiritual Enrichment Weekend in Moose Jaw on March 15th and 16th. Many men from the province attended and it was a terrific event put on by Council 1534, thank you for the hospitality.
Again the 141st Supreme Convention in Orlando, Florida was a learning, exciting, terrific event where Judi and I hosted the delegation from Saskatchewan. What an impressive convention, Fraternity, Faith, Unity, and Charity were in abundance. Very proud State Deputy as Brother Mark Lewans from the Agency brought home the hardware of being number two in the entire order. Our Agency Brother Mark is top-notch, thank you for your friendship, dedication, and qualified Field Agents that you have worked for us for our success. We are proud of you. I look forward to the Supreme Convention in Quebec City this summer among Brothers from all over the world.
I once again had the Saskatchewan Knights of Columbus Amazing Race Season Two, and once again it has turned out to be a fun-filled competition among councils to get active and attract members. First-leg winner Lestock/Wishart Council 8338; Second-leg winner Bishop Budka 5914, Regina; Third-leg winner Council 5707, Unity; Fourth-leg winner Council 8215, Saskatoon. Season Two: First-leg winner Council 13214, Resurrection, Regina; Second-leg winner, Council 3920 Denzil; Third-leg winner Council ??
CONGRATULATIONS to all. Who will be the fourth-leg winner? Pizza and refreshments for your council. This has turned out to be a fantastic rekindling of many councils and a lot of fun.
We ran our “Let’s Talk Turkey” promotion again for Christmas. Every man signing a new man received a turkey for Christmas.
Once again, I put out a challenge of 40 Days of Lent for 40 new men, Statewide; we did it thank you! We are now only 141 men away from achieving our goal set out by Supreme. If we all get busy, change a man’s life, ask a friend, ask a relative or a grandson let’s achieve this goal together. We can do this by June 30, 2024.
I congratulate Regina Councils Chapter that took on the Carol Festival from the Rotary Club. It was an honour to be with you for the production of these two special nights. In our ever-changing world, Jesus is forgotten about at Christmas so this isn’t only a Carol Festival its faith building event.
Truly, the most impressive event we had success with was our Annual Charity Appeal. We conquered all, selling record-breaking tickets this year! 144,626 dollars in ticket sales, Congratulations Councils and thank you for acting in Charity to make this a very successful campaign. We can only do better with this Annual Fundraiser acting in Charity.
This being my last official address to you as an entire body Brother Knights and ladies as your State Deputy, I want to personally thank you for the opportunity to represent you as a province of faithful Brothers. Being State Deputy is a terrific honour and I have had the best time getting to know you all, travelling for meetings, attending functions, saying farewell to Brothers, and most of all welcoming new men to the order. The time I have spent as State Deputy will never be forgotten, it was an honour, a blessing, and a faith-building past few months for me. I will never forget the impact you all had on my life while doing this task, thank you.
Very special thanks to the State Officers, District Deputies, Foundation Board, Program Directors, The Agency, and Past State Deputies for all the support and direction you have given to the entire province. To our Bishops and Priests, I can’t even express my gratitude for your guidance, compassion, wisdom, and example you have displayed to the order daily in your devotion, caring, and humbling way, Thank you.
To all Councils here tonight, you are all special. You do things that make a difference every day in your communities and parishes. I applaud you all, keep up the good work, stay focused, stay real, wear your faith on your sleeve, and always remember to pray.
In closing, I want to say thank you, thank you for believing in me. We are making a difference, we may be growing slowly in numbers but have grown abundantly in Unity, Charity, And Fraternity………my mission and vision right from the start have become reality…… “BRINGING HOPE THROUGH FAITH AND CHARITY”.
ONLY TOGETHER AS A GROUP OF CATHOLIC MEN WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR COMMUNITIES AND PARISHES.
May God Continue to bless every one of you.
Vivat Jesus
Larry Packet, State Deputy of Saskatchewan
