Dear Brothers: By this time, many of you have heard that our grand knight, Dominick Chirichella, declined to run for a second term, citing health issues. Thankfully, these health issues are not too serious, but they were serious enough that Dominick felt he couldn�t dedicate the time and effort for another term. So if you run into Dominick at the council, please thank him for his hard work as our 28th grand knight and let�s keep him in our prayers.
So, brothers, it is with great pride that I become the 29th grand knight of this great council. To those of you who don�t know me, I have been a member of the council for about four years. I have worked in a number of jobs since I first came to the council�first as warden, then as chancellor, as well as council activities director, a vocations committee member, and a member of the board of directors of the 5103 Building Corp. I also was awarded the Shining Armor Award, and was recently chosen Knight of the Year (an honor by which I am truly humbled). I am also a member of the Fourth Degree, so as you can see, it�s been a busy four years.
I know that I follow in the footsteps of some very hard-working, dedicated and wonderful past grand knights, and living up to their legacies will not be an easy task. But please know that I will work tirelessly to earn your trust and faith and that, with the help of God, we can continue the fine tradition and good works of this council.
Brothers, I have an open-door policy; please use it. We need all of your ideas, your energy, your prayers, and yes, some of your time to keep Msgr. Sherman Council thriving. Your council officers and I cannot do it alone. So, if you haven�t been to the council in a while, why not try to make a meeting or two? Why not come down and see a few old friends or make some new ones? Mark it on your calendars: Meetings are the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month. And be on the lookout for our council activities. We have stepped things up in the past year with a few new activities, and we have seen a good degree of success with them. We are looking forward to even greater success this year.
The last military unit to which I was assigned, the 101st Cavalry, had a motto it carried from its birth in the Civil War all the way to Iraq and back: �To the Utmost.� That simple motto,those three words, carried the squadron through all our country�s wars and made this unit one of New York�s best and most famous. It is with great pride, respect and reverence that I would like to borrow that motto, bring it to the council and make it our own. If we, the members of Msgr. Sherman Council, take this simple motto to heart, work together, work hard, and do all our good works �to the utmost� of our abilities, then there is no way we can fail.
To the Utmost!
James Funaro, GK
Web Site of the Month: www.fathersforgood.org/ffg/en/index.html. This is a great site for fathers and husbands. It can help in our search for the true meaning of fatherhood and how it can apply to our lives.