Brothers,
I wanted to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to the 17,000+ Knights of Columbus in Texas that participated in the Best Year the Texas State Council has ever had in many categories attaining Circle of Honor status on March 6th and Pinnacle Level on June 30th. From Membership Intake, to State Charities, Star Councils, Wheelchair Mission and maybe others, this was a great effort on all levels, but especially our 740+ Active Councils. A special thanks to the District and Diocesan Deputies who demonstrated incredible leadership, along with the State Family, including the State Officers and Supreme Director Alfredo Vela.
An
extra special “Thank You” to the seven phenomenal State Major Directors
and their Teams who worked tirelessly right up to the finish line, and
beyond, as Star Council Director Bill Tillotson is still interacting
with Supreme working through issues and appeals on submittals of last
minute SP-7’s, and more that hopefully get us beyond the 208 Star
Councils that set the record last year.
State
Membership Director Derek Rabey did his usual stellar job keeping up
with new members and coordinating issues through our Supreme Territorial
Growth Director Bob Kish, when problems arose. Derek and I interacted
nearly everyday on the status of the numbers and what could be done to
help the councils meet their goals.
The
2023-2024 total was 5,244 members which eclipsed the 14 year record
held by TSC Icons PSD’s Javier Martinez and Terry Simonton. Adding last
years’ 4,911 total gave us a Two Year Record Total of 10,155 new members.
While
State Charities Director Reed Fontenot was unable to top the historical
record on money raised for State Charities due to the number of
brothers transferred to the AMI Program, he attained a GREATER FEAT by assisting all 15
Diocese to make 100% of their Charity Goal for the first time ever. My
appreciation to the Charities Team and the Brothers who worked behind
the scene to succeed.
State
Council Growth Director David Zeigler and team assisted several Diocese
to start 8 New Councils with 3 Reactivations this year, and when added
with last years’ effort produced 15 New and 8 Reactivations over the
last two years. Nice work!
State
Programs Director Pat Henz did a great job the last 8 months of the
year in a relief role insuring successful RSVP, Silver Rose, ASAP, State
Athletic Tournaments along with Culture of Life assisted by Tom &
Andrew Clark growing Ultrasound Initiative and had the 20th Anniversary Ace Wings which we had to reorder several times.
Thanks
to Education and Training Director Ed Tydings for keeping us informed
all year through Constant Contact, Diocesan Conference Scheduling and
Information sent out to the masses. Speaking of Masses, a
special thanks to Ed’s two young men, Eddie and Liam who have been
All-Star Altar Servers for many years and assist at nearly every Mass we
hold at hotels/meetings.
A big thanks for Evangelization & Faith Formation Director (soon to be dad) Greg Brown who has led the COR Initiative from it’s Pilot Program to it installation through out the State to help our brothers be “More Centered in Christ”. This initiative has been successfully accepted across the state with the help of Greg’s Team.
Congratulations to State Wheelchair Chairman, Bill Weber and team who worked with First Lady, Beth Frugé on
her Two Year Charity selection growing record number of wheelchairs for
distribution. After setting the record last year of over $966,000
raised, this year looks to be around the $1.2 million mark, which gives a
two year number over $2 Million Dollars raised. GREAT JOB!!!
A
big Thank You to our wonderful State Office Team of Mike McLaughlin,
Kari Jordan and Kathleen McLoughlin who makes everything in this big
jurisdiction run like clockwork, and contributed greatly to our success,
along with our PSD’s that work behind the scenes.
Finally, A huge “I LOVE YOU” to my lovely First Lady, Beth,
who was with me nearly every step of the way these last two years, in
addition to the Wheelchair Mission work which was her passion. She added
greatly to the “well- oiled machine” that you Brothers made work. Our
love and appreciation to all of you, and good luck to State Deputy Ron
Alonzo and the group of leaders he has put together which I expect them
to “blow away’” most of the record numbers we were blessed with
achieving this year.
VIVAT JESUS!
Terry Frugé
IPSD
Texas State Council