Knights of Columbus in Willowick recognized for efforts
Aug. 30—The Knights of Columbus Council 4498 in Willowick has spent the year completing programs that represented unity, charity and fraternity and those efforts recently earned the it the distinction of Star Council, the international organization's top honor for local councils.
The Star Council Award recognizes overall excellence in the areas of growing membership, promoting Knights of Columbus insurance benefits, sponsoring Catholic faith formation programs and volunteering time through service-oriented activities.
"We're here because we help those who can't help themselves," said Grand Knight Randy Higgins, of Council 4498. "Everyone has a role. I try to empower these guys to do what they do and give them what they need to succeed. It's almost like all these guys are the grand knight of their particular category of what they do."
The Willowick council, which started in 1957, is based out of St. Mary Magdalene Church, 32114 Vine St.
Among the many programs the Willowick Kknights completed included education on the Rosary, keeping Christ in Christmas, Coats for Kids, a clothing drive, socks for infants and mothers in need and parishioners with epilepsy. In addition, the local council partakes in two to three seminars per year to promote the Knights of Columbus' insurance.
"We do so much," said Community Director Mark Blase, a past grand knight of the Willowick council. "We do the grounds here to make sure everything is weeded and cleaned up. Coats for kids last year — we collected maybe 100 coats, but we also bought four boxes. We collected over 7,000 pounds worth of clothes. We took that to the thrift store and raised over $1,600."
Since the Willowick group is an aging council, not only new members are being sought after, but younger members in particular, Higgins said. There are currently 95 members who are a part of the council, with between 15 and 25 who regularly attend meetings.
"It makes my job easier to recruit people when they see what we do in the church and the community, and they want to become knights," said Greg Tabar, the membership director, noting that the council has a goal of gaining five new members sometime this year. "It's not just the big projects we do, but a lot of every day work. We have a goal of five new people to join this year."
Within the Willowick council, everyone tries to help one another, said Ken Enos, the council's life director who was the head of the Socks for Kids program, as well as the baby bottle drive and the parishioners with epilepsy program. More than $2,000 was raised to help expecting mothers and those already with children.
"There's so many areas we can all touch on," Enos said. "It's a good feeling."
As the faith director of the Willowick Knights, Tony Linc spends time educating members on the Rosary and its beginnings, and the significance it has.
"We encourage everybody to bring the rosary every day," he said. "It's a powerful prayer."
One of the biggest aspects within the Knights of Columbus is keeping Christ in Christmas, noted Jim Ezzo, family director. Due to the pandemic, the program had to be modified.
"There's several programs, but I felt that was an important one to get going," Ezzo said. "We're trying to bring family back into the church and the community, and we had things set up last year, but because of (the coronavirus), we postponed. We did buy keep Christ in Christmas ornaments and it was attached to a prayer card. This year, we're going to do a prayer service with kids, moms and dads."
At one point and time, there was talk of the Willowick knights dissolving as there weren't enough members, Ezzo recalled.
"Father (Steve Breck of St. Mary Magdalene) did not want us to dissolve," he said. "He did a great drive as far as getting everybody back and getting more members in."
"The spirit of unity is something we don't have much of," said George Burke, a Willowick Knights member. "It's a wonderful thing they (Willowick Knights) express a tremendous spirit. They pull a lot of people together and I don't think there's anything greater."
Kevin O'Neill, a Willowick Knights member and past grand knight, finds that the more the knights do, the more people are interested in joining.
"We've done things for the church forever, but the best thing about what's going on now is if the knights do something for the church, Father Breck tells people at Mass," he said.
O'Neill recalls when Willowick knights were peeling potatoes for a dinner the parish was hosting.
"It was snowing," he said. "It wasn't windy then, but the night before. Father Breck came into the kitchen and said, 'We need help with a tree outside.' We went and looked at it. What happened was in the wind, the night before, a big tree fell toward the school. We figured out a way to get it off and saved part of the building."
Membership in the Knights of Columbus is open to men 18 years of age or older who are practicing Catholics. For information on joining the Knights of Columbus in Willowick, contact Tabar at 440-487-8185.
