| God's Gifts |
| Bishop
Greteman KCs provide service at each of their parishes |
By KENNY KEANE,
Globe staff reporter
May 29, 2003
About four years ago, a group of men from the parishes of Charter Oak
St. Boniface, Dow City St. Mary and Ute St. Mary came together to form the
Bishop Greteman Council Knights of 
Columbus. Since that time, the Bishop Greteman KCs have volunteered their
services in a number of ways.
During this time of the year, certain members can be found atop a
riding mower cutting the grass on one of the parish lawns. This volunteer
service has been a benefit to the parishes, especially from a financial
standpoint.
"Obviously it's saving us money. I think that before we had done that
there was an individual who did the trimming and everything in a 10- to
12-hour day or period by the time they mowed the church grounds and the
cemetery," said Allen Staley, council treasurer, referring specifically to
Charter Oak. "Now mainly the retired KC members are doing it. They all
drive their mowers out there.
"That's helped us financially. We still put the gas in their mowers for
them, but before we bought this last mower we had lots of problems with
the other mower. So it's really cutting down on the maintenance of the
mowers for that purpose."
The grand knight of the council, Clarence Topf, said he feels as though
it is an honor to be able to offer this service.
"There are about five of us who are pretty regular at it, and then the
others come in and help," said Topf about those who volunteer at St.
Boniface. "It's a good way for the fellows to get together and have a
little ice cream when we get done. We just kind of enjoy doing it
really.
"In Dow City, Bernard Smyth is very active down there in helping with
the lawn and general maintenance around the parish. Bernie is really the
kingpin down there."
Aside from mowing, the Knights also provide snow-removal service during
the winter.
"Clarence has a fairly big tractor, which also has a blade on it. So he
takes care of most of the parking lot for snow removal, and I do the
smaller stuff," Staley said. "That's saved money, too, because of payroll,
withholding taxes and all that stuff."
The council has also hosted a couple of fundraisers for brother Knights
and their family members.
"One got hurt in a serious farm accident, and every one of the Knights
from all three parishes got in and worked for that," Topf said. "Then we
had another one for a young fellow who was in a car accident. Everyone was
more than willing to help.
"They may not come to the meetings so often, but when you ask them to
help with something they're ready. They're very good about that."
This past year, one Dow City Knight in particular, Vincent J. Leinen,
organized the 28th annual holiday caroling at the Nebraska Skilled Nursing
& Rehabilitation Center in Omaha. He arranged for singers and
musicians of all talent levels from Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and Missouri
to help entertain residents at this event.
Most recently, the KCs decided to put up a 4-by-8, pro-life billboard
along Highway 141. The messages on the billboard read, "Every baby is a
miracle," "Heartbeat 24 days from conception" and "Pro-life across
America."
Father Richard Ball, pastor at the three parishes, said the KC members
have become more aware of right to life issues and make sure that they
stand up for them, as illustrated by their act of putting up the
billboard. He said there are three other positive things in particular
that he has seen since the formation of this council.
"I see how the spirituality is growing among our young men from high
school on up," he said. "In terms of clustering, especially in the Dow
City, Charter Oak and Ute parishes, I see how we have drawn much closer
together and how we work together. When there has been a project that has
come up, we tend to just bind right together.
"I can also see how the men have taken steps forward to become more
involved in the spiritual life of their church - not just the physical
upkeep of the church, but in lectoring, being Eucharistic ministers and
getting involved with our youth. I'm a firm believer that has been a great
contribution in bringing out those gifts that they've always had." |