Well, fall is definitely here but summer didn’t go without a fight. I trust you are doing well.
The October Italian Night (aka Octoberfest) was enjoyed by all who attended. Thanksgiving is only weeks away and before we realize Christmas and the New Year. How time flies! The fraternal year budget was passed at the October business meeting after spirited discussion among those present. One significant outcome was substantial and painful reductions across all council functions although care was taken to preserve member special activities. However, we need your support at these events. The council cannot continue sponsoring events at a cost of hundreds of dollars cost for food and supplies only to have 5, 10 or 12 people participate. If planned events don’t meet your expectations, then PLEASE let your officers know. If dates or fees are unacceptable, PLEASE tell us. Otherwise, continued silence and non-participation will only result in activity cancellation and, regrettably, start the downward death spiral of the council.
One budgetary change that will be implemented by year’s end involves the newsletter. The printed newsletter as is will cease to be. We are going electronic and all members will need to read the current copy on the council website. Or, if we have your email address on file, you will receive a copy by email. You may print a copy from the website or email. We will no longer print and bulk mail to every member. This change removed several thousand dollars in expense from the budget. A limited number of printed copies will mailed to select members on a restricted basis. To receive a printed copy in the mail, you must contact the Grand Knight, Deputy Grand Knight or Newsletter editor and substantiate your request.
More changes under consideration for the coming year include means of engaging more member support at charity and fundraising activities. We have a core group of regular participants, those who can be relied upon for special events such as the basketball tournament, and those who never show. As a council we provide benefits for members such as a pool discount but such benefits have been historically offered in quid pro quo good faith. The council anticipated members taking advantage of the benefits would also actively support the council in its activities. For many, this is not the case. For many (and you know who you are), dues are paid, benefits taken, and the council never receives your support. Therefore, the Officers and Trustees will be reviewing options that may include, for example, a requirement that a member have documented participation in X hours of council activities to “earn” the pool membership discount. This is only one of many possibilities under consideration. Now is your time to become involved and have a voice in council operations.
May you and your family have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving.
God Bless,
Vivat Jesus
Ted Grochowski, Grand Knight
The end of the liturgical year comes with the month of November. The month actually starts with the celebration of such an important article of our faith – the Communion of Saints – when we celebrate All Saints Day and All Souls Day in succession. We ask the saints to intercede for us, and we pray for the souls in purgatory in order to hasten their entrance into their heavenly reward. And for the rest of the month, the Scriptural themes are about the end times, not in order to scare us, but in order to remind us of our eternal destiny.
Let us take the time during this month to re-examine our lives and re-focus on the final goal. Together with St. Paul, I hope we can say: “I have run the race. I have kept the faith.”
Vivat Jesus
Father René Castillo
Chaplain
Plans are still in the works to set up a volunteer day with Habitat For Humanity in the next month or so. At our recent Italian Night Dinner, we were honored to have Karen Mason, Executive Director of Habitat in Roanoke, speak to us and provide us with more details about Habitat For Humanity and real-life stories of how their work has impacted the lives of those they have helped.
If you would like to be a part of our volunteer effort with Habitat and haven't already spoken up, call Jan Hodnett at 772-4215. Build days are Wednesdays and Saturdays and you can volunteer to either work on a house or provide lunch for volunteers. Check the council website for more information about our volunteer date.
Field Agent Ken
Most forms of group life insurance are limited in amount. That amount may be tied to salary or some other benchmark, but often there is a cap. That cap may be dangerously low for your family’s needs should you die and may not cover your families needs for more than a few years. In fact, in the absence of a detailed needs analysis (which I’ll be happy to provide, free of charge), any employer-provided coverage may be completely unrelated to needs at death. In addition, the amount of group insurance offered is almost always reduced – and sometimes dramatically – when you retire.
Especially today, there is the very real possibility that you could change employers or lose your job. Or that your benefits could be reduced. In either case you could – one day - find yourself without coverage. If your health has changed in the meantime, you might also find yourself unable to secure individual protection for the future.
While group life helps, it does not replace the need for individually owned life insurance and it does not build cash value which can be used later to supplement your retirement. Please feel free to contact me for a custom-tailored needs analysis to make sure your future is secure.
Drucilla Romine Ragone departed this life on the sparkling, clear morning of October 8, 2010. Beloved wife of Peter Joseph Ragone and mother to nine children, Drucilla was born on June 19, 1923, in Hansford, W.Va.
The second child and eldest daughter of 10 siblings, Drucilla was early and often involved in child-rearing duties. She vowed to not have children of her own as she experienced the travails of growing up a coal miner's daughter in a tiny mountain hamlet. After working in a defense plant in Maryland during World War II, she became a proud member of the United States Marine Corps. She met her future husband, Peter, at Camp Lejeune , N.C. in February, 1944.
When the war ended, Drucilla and Peter returned to their respective homes before re-uniting and marrying on April 14, 1948, in Brooksville, Fla. After four years in New York City, where her first three children were born, she and Peter moved to Roanoke. In 1956, with the addition of two more children, they took up residence in the home where they would live for the next 54 years. Four more children were born over the next 21 years, and the Ragone house became a gathering place for generations of family and friends. Drucilla was a skilled and tireless homemaker and gardener, and she transformed her home and landscape into one of the more beautiful properties in Southwest Roanoke. She was an avid bowler and greatly enjoyed socializing with her league mates. She loved to travel and made many trips abroad and within the United States. In her later years, she took great pleasure in giving art lessons to her grandchildren.
Drucilla was preceded in death by her parents, Anderson and Oneita Romine; two brothers, Anderson Jr. and Emory Romine; and a son, Leonard Peter Ragone. Now that she has departed upon her final cruise, she leaves behind to cherish her memory, her husband of 62 years, Peter Joseph Ragone; eight children and their spouses, Annette Ragone Hall and Don Hall, of Salisbury, N.C., Michele and William (Rip) Scherer, of Charlotte, N.C., Michael Ragone, of Roanoke, Diane Ragone and James Wiseman, of Kauai, Hawaii, Christopher and Tracie Ragone, of Daleville, Stephen Ragone, of Roanoke, Nita Ragone, of Oahu, Hawaii, and Peter II and Patti Ragone, of Roanoke.; her remaining siblings, Sue Carol Grubb, John Romine, Don Romine, Janet Gail German, Myrna Loy Ainsworth, Robert Romine and Shirley Diane Hall; special brother and sister-in-law, Bernard and Angelina Caravella; her 15 grandchildren, Carina Harper, Scott and Ryan Scherer and Melanie Clemence, Zachary and Ashleigh Ragone, Amanda Ragone, Afton Manalo, and Rachel, Cecelia, Peter III, Nicholas, Gabriella, John Michael and Gianna Grace Ragone; her two great-grandchildren, Chloe and Bryce Harper. Drucilla will also be missed by her numerous nieces and nephews and her many long-time friends.
The Ragone family will receive friends from 5 until 8 p.m. on Sunday, October 10, 2010, at Oakey's Downtown Chapel. Monsignor Lehman of Our Lady of Nazareth parish will lead a prayer service at 7 p.m. during this visitation. A private memorial service will be held on Monday, October 11, 2010. In lieu of flowers, donations to one's favorite charity can be made in Drucilla's name. Arrangements by Oakey's Roanoke Chapel, 540-982-2100.
Don't forget to order your Christmas cards and help your brother Knights remind the world the real reason for the season! Check your church bulletins for dates, and all money raised stays local. Can Hallmark® say that?