Our local council #2676 had our 2019 Awards Banquet on Saturday January 4th. There was great attendance from members, family and friends. We enjoyed a delicious prime rib supper which was prepared by the knights. Special thanks to Don Kocer for being the head chief for the event and all the knights who helped him. There were a lot of award recipients this year! 25 year members: Doug Kniffen, Mike Brunsing and Steve Krcil Honorary (65 years of age and 25 years of service: James Payer, Ken Swatek, Mike Novak, Mike Beeson, John Carda and Dick Soukup Honorary Life (70 years of age and 30 years service) Daniel Rezac, Dennis Payer, Gary Beeson and Jerry Seiner 50 year members: Larry Beeson, Leo Holzbauer, Ernest Kocer, Lavern Koupal, Tony Krcil, Joe Krcil, Francis Lhotak, Ken Lhotak, Larry Nedved, Dennis Payer and Lavern Rezac 75 year members: Robert Soukup and Raymond Soukup Members who passed away in 2019: Ray Soukup, Delbert Beeson, Don Novak, Frank Krcil, Richard Kafka and Ed Staudenmier Family of the Year: The Don Kocer Family Knight of the Year: Jared Soukup The Knights also had our January meeting on Tuesday the 7th. There were 26 members present and there was a lot of discussion. Our chapter got the bid to do the labor day clean up which we were happy to get. We discussed looking into getting AED machines for the church in the event of a heart attack. Other business included making plans for the annual free throw contest headed by Tom Kocer and the Valentines Banquet headed by Ron Soukup. Tickets will be for sale soon so please let a member know if you are interested. We had a great meal which was provided by John Holzbauer, Ross Beeson, Joe Soukup and Travis Krcil. The chapter also wanted to thank all the businesses for their support of the tootsie roll drive. $2,571.42 was collected and 80% of that money will go to the local schools of Wagner and Avon! Monthly meetings are always the first Tuesday of the month. The February meeting will be Tuesday the 4th at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Catholic Church in Wagner. The cooks for February are Mike Cihak, Clayton Rados, Lavern Rezak and Doug Cimpl so we hope to have a great turnout! For any other information about the Knights of Columbus or becoming a Knight please contact Grand Knight Jamie Soukup at 605-491-0772 or Jamie.soukup@plantpioneer.com.