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December 2022 My Brother Knights, December is one of my two favorite months of the year. In addition to Advent, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the joys of Christmas, it also has my wife’s birthday and a much anticipated two-week Christmas break from the academic year. Many of our best programs occur in December. My home council will partner with Council 1643 for a “Coats for Kids” distribution. All of the “Keep Christ in Christmas” programs bear fruit in this month. Our Knights who serve in parish ministries have their busiest period. Our councils stay busy! Christmas masses are typically some of the best attended of the year. This is an opportunity for councils to evangelize with our fellow Catholics who are seldom seen. Does your council work with your parish(es) to have an especially warm welcome for the often absent? There is still time to think this through for this year. If we lead a man to be a more faithful congregant, we have advanced him towards being a practical Catholic and on to being a candidate for the order. More importantly, we are assisting him to improve his relationship with God. Christmas and Easter are our best opportunities to re-evangelize our less practical Catholic brothers and sisters. I encourage you to take advantage of it! I was privileged to attend our local Assembly 1183’s Veteran’s Day dinner in November. This annual event commemorates the contributions of our local veterans and is free to them. It is one of the many patriotic activities of our Assemblies across the state. I spent Thanksgiving in California with family. My original council was 9486 at old Fort Ord. With the recent closing of the chapel on Fort Ord (which the council supported and where it was located), it has merged with another local council. Transitions such as that are very difficult on all sides. In this case, it was unavoidable. We have some councils in Washington State that are struggling. The state officers and district deputies really strive to support them and help them regain their footing. Our State Advocate Scott Hulse has been heroic in his efforts to assist councils in difficulty, driving over 10,000 miles across the state to provide services and encouragement. The state hates to lose a council. We will do all we can to prevent that. But sometimes the best solution to merge a dying council with another council. When that happens, the state leadership team will be there to help! I hope to see many of you at the winter meeting at the first of the month. For all my brothers in Washington State, Karen and I offer our best wishes that you and your families may joyously and happily celebrate the Advent and the Nativity of Our Lord. May the Holy Family be the model for your families over the holidays, and may peace be with you through the season. Vivat Jesus!
Faternally,
Dave Olwell
State Warden
StateWarden@KofC-wa.org
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