KNIGHT LIFE PAGE 1

KNIGHT LIFE

ARLINGTON COUNCIL 2473 ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

July 2021 Founded May 20, 1923 Number 1

GRAND KNIGHT’S MESSAGE

On Monday, July 5th, the new slate of Council Officers

for Arlington Council #2473 will be installed. There will

be a 10:00am Mass followed by the installation ceremo-

ny at 11:00am. All members and their families are invit-

ed to join us in prayer to usher in this new fraternal

year. Afterwards, I hope you will spend time on campus

with your families enjoying the pool and BBQ. It’s won-

derful to see the campus beginning to buzz with activity

again after all we’ve been through.

I’d like to thank Past Grand Knight Jim Saenz for his

significant contributions to our Council during this try-

ing year. We can look forward to the renewed future of

our Council due in large part to Jim’s leadership.

Thanks to the Council Officers who served under Jim

and contributed their time and energy to our parishes,

membership, and community. Finally, thanks to the Co-

lumbus Club Board and staff whose diligent planning

and effort kept us going through very difficult times.

I am humbled to serve as your Grand Knight and, with

the support and guidance of my Council Officers and

Past Grand Knights, hope to serve you well. My focus

this fraternal year will be member engagement, faith

based activities, and parish support.

Charity is our 1st core virtue and the cornerstone of our

Catholic faith. I see this year as an opportunity to dive

back in. Not just into the pool, but into charitable activi-

ties that our Council is known for. We need your help!

As the father of two 14-year-old twins, I know how diffi-

cult it can be to juggle family, work, and other obliga-

tions. I’m not asking for much, an hour a week, or even

one hour a month. Our Council hosts and supports a

wide variety of charitable activities throughout the com-

munity, on campus, and for our parishes. Your small

sacrifice of time and energy, combined with that of our

many members, will equal great things for others in

need. Together we can accomplish so much good. To

those who are already sharing their time in these pur-

suits, I salute you. To those who haven’t yet had the op-

portunity to share their talents, I invite you to do so.

Check out our ‘Getting Involved’ page here: https://

arlingtonknights.org/getting-involved, attend a Council

meeting on the 1st and 3rd

Thursday of the month, and/or

contact me directly so we can

discuss your talents.

Mark Joyce has served as our

Faith Committee Chair for the

past fraternal year and has done

inspiring work. Mark organized

upcoming faith talks, book re-

views, and a retreat here on campus. PGK Kenny Goss

has led daily Knights’ Rosary prayers for the past 437

days! These activities, and more like them, bolster our

Unity and Fraternity and, more importantly, help us

further develop in our faith. I am deeply moved by

Mark and Kenny’s work and committed to supporting

these and future efforts. I ask that you please consider

serving on the Faith Committee to lend a hand and

come up with more ideas for our Council’s spiritual

growth. You can also attend the Rosary at noon on

weekdays and 12:30pm on Sundays.

Our parishes and pastors need our help. We will contin-

ue to build our liaison programs that have been doing

great work. We will fully support parish activities, now

that Covid is in the rearview and more such activities

are being planned. Social distancing has unfortunately

created a backlog of projects that our pastors need com-

pleted. I will meet with each pastor to find out where

need exists. I am confident that our Council, with its di-

verse community of members and wide variety of skills,

is uniquely suited to address these needs. If you are in-

terested in serving as a parish liaison, or maybe you

know of a project that needs attention, please contact me

so we can discuss and address it.

With your help, we will make this year a year of recov-

ery and rejuvenation. Come together with me and your

Brother Knights. Let’s do some good!

Mary, Queen of Knights – Pray for us!

Vivat Jesus,

Scott Wanek

Grand Knight

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COUNCIL OFFICERS 2020-2021

Grand Knight: Scott Wanek 571-488-5826

Chaplain: Fr Joseph Giordano, CICM 571-982-5902

Dep Grand Knight: Charles Feghali 703-967-5304

Chancellor: Mark Joyce 703-946-6013

Fin Secretary: Bill Wester 571-276-1410

Treasurer: Andrew Rudolphi 609-364-3139

Recorder: Bryant Gilbertson 703-966-8862

Advocate: Joe McClanahan 703-861-8335

Warden: Dave Suchyta 586-305-0698

Inside Guard: Nick Beirne 202-531-8808

Outside Guard: Paul Kozich 703-505-5905

Trustees: Steve McTeague, PGK 703-969-1570

John Rovinski, Jr, PGK 703-536-6356 x 320

Jim Saenz, PGK 703-636-0075

Fraternal Benefits Advisors

Robert J Canter, Jr, CSA, FICF, LUTCF 301-952-0180

Daniel G Garrrigan, FIC 571-575-1207

Council Office 703-536-9656 x 320

Council Home Mansion 703-536-9656 x 314

In case of illness or death of a member

Please call the Council Office 703-536-6356 x 320

Committee Chairmen

Church Activities: Art Gamotis PGK 703-448-0332

Community Acts: John Carmany 703-876-4654

Communications: Bill Wester 571-276-1410

Council Activities: Art Gamotis PGK 703-448-0332

Faith and Parish: Mark Joyce 703-946-6013

Fraternal Activities: Joe Baker PGK 808-333-9689

Youth Activities: Steve Willenbucher 571-438-1517

500 Club: Council Office 703-536-9656 x 320

Advertising: Rick Vranesh PGK 571-214-9775

Blood Drive: Len Sese 703-641-4843

Charity: vacant

KCIC: Jim Holland PGK 703-533-1550

Knight Life Editor: Anthony Demangone 571.332.2512

KOVAR: Art Gamotis PGK 703-448-0332

Ladies U-Knighted: Jo Balsamo Wood 703-263-1185

Membership: Greg Strizek 703-346-4387

Organ Donors: Jerry Garren PGK 202-498-1638

Retention: Jim Holland PGK 703-533-1550

Waiters: Bob Muschamp 703-237-8475

Columbus Club of Arlington 2021 Board Officers

Grand Knight: Scott Wanek 571-488-5826

Dep Grand Knight: Charles Feghali 703-967-5304

President: Greg Strizek 703-346-4387

Vice President Bob Dannemiller FDD PGK703-685-3795

Secretary: Steve Willenbucher 571-438-1517

Treasurer: Charlie Boone 703-843-4248

Asst Treasurer: Anthony Demangone 571-332-2512

Board of Directors

Bryant Porter 202-213-8650

Brett Smith 703-536-6356 x 320

John Rovinski, PGK 703-489-3112

Al Garesche 703-967-5304

Jerry Garren PGK 202-498-1638

Club Staff

Acting General Manager: Nick Beirne 703-536-9656 x 310

operations@columbusclubevents.com

Events Mgr: Rene Padilla 703-536-9656 x 311

eventsales@columbusclubevents.com

Summer Camp Director: Ellie Ellison 703-536-9656 x 324

Pool Phone in Season: 703-536-9656 x 313

Columbus Club Update

The Arlington Council welcomes a new board member to the Colum-

bus Club.

Al Gareché was elected to fill a vacancy on the Board of the Colum-

bus Club at the May meeting. Al has been a Knight for eight years,

grew up in New York, and has lived in the DMV since he started col-

lege at American University in the fall of 1987. His three boys, Da-

vid, Nathan, and Jay love the Knights, especially the Columbus Sum-

mer Fun Camp and Sunday family breakfasts.

Al handles Congressional Affairs at the National Credit Union Ad-

ministration, the Federal regulator and insurer of credit unions,

headquartered in Alexandria, VA.

Al’s wife, Kristin, is the Office Manager for Saint Ann’s Catholic

School where all three of his boys go. Al knows what a special and

unique place the Arlington Council is and is dedicated to ensuring

that it continues to improve for all Knights and their families for gen-

erations to come.

The main issue Al raised when he spoke before the vote was the need

to improve communications and set up a system for families to make

gifts to the Council, an issue to both honor deceased Knights and to

improve the campus. Al is lucky to live a few blocks from campus so

you will frequently see him on campus playing tennis, swimming,

and eating dinner at the picnic grounds with his family.

Meet Al Garesché

KNIGHT LIFE PAGE 3

The Columbus Club Board happily

reports that we are returning to

normal... albeit a new normal. We

appreciate everyone’s support

through the difficult past year and

would request your continued pa-

tience this summer. The opening

of the pool and reopening of camp

are critical to our financial recov-

ery and we appreciate all of your

support in those activities. As we

reopen the Deep End and Council

Home with limited hours and

menus, we hope you understand

that the Board believes we need to

be conservative in hours and offer-

ings as we dig out of the deficit

that we ran last year. Please un-

derstand this and be supportive of

our staff. We will provide updates

on our various facilities below:

Pool – the current Virginia and Ar-

lington County guidelines allow us

to open the pool with only limited

restrictions. We no longer require

reservations or limited time slots in

the pool. We will be required to

monitor capacity more closely and

that may result in some people

having to wait to enter the pool on

peak days. We hope to avoid this,

but please be patient with our staff

as they implement these required

guidelines. The swim team will be

having a normal swim season and

we appreciate their continued sup-

port.

Deep End/Picnic Area – the Deep

End has reopened with limited

hours. The current schedule in-

cludes Thurs and Friday from 4-

close and Saturday and Sunday

from noon-close. ‘Close’ is deter-

mined by the crowd and we have

seen people receiving food and

drinks well beyond the closing of

the pool. We have implemented

‘table service’ in the picnic area

with servers taking orders and de-

livering food and drinks to your

picnic table. Our goal is to do eve-

rything we can to make your time

on campus enjoyable. The menu

includes new items with our focus

being on good food that we can

serve quickly and well to allow

you and your families to spend

more time in the pool and enjoying

your day. Jimmy Luthman is the

manager and should be able to an-

swer any of your questions.

Council Home – we are happy to

announce that the Council Home

reopened on Friday, June 18th. If

you haven’t visited yet, you should

make a point of dropping in soon

to see the updates to the facility.

The Council Home will be open

Friday-Sunday. At the current

time, the Council Home will be

selling beer, wine, soft drinks, and

snacks. The Deep End has food

service on Friday-Sunday and

members may order from the Deep

End during those times. We hope

you enjoy the reopening of our

member bar and hope you are pa-

tient as we work towards expand-

ing the hours and offerings in the

future.

Camp – Camp started on June 14th

and will be running throughout

the summer. Our new camp co-

directors, Ellie Ellison and Katie

Olanyk, are leading a great group

of counselors and staff. The early

feedback from parents has been

positive and Ellie and Katie have a

lot of wonderful activities planned

for your kids this summer.

We would be remiss to provide an

update on our facilities without

thanking our Columbus Club staff

that weathered this past year with

us. Nick, Rene, Steve, Ruth, and

Maria stuck with us through the

leanest of times and we could not

have survived the year without

their willingness to work tirelessly

for reduced salaries. Many of you

helped to support them through

the to-go meals and sports hall,

and that was much appreciat-

ed. As the Club realizes pool and

camp revenue, and the facilities

being to reopen, the Board believes

that we are in position to have a

good recovery year, but we are still

dealing with the net loss of

$275,000 from last year.

Again, thank you for your contin-

ued support. We are doing every-

thing we can to bring things back

and provide as many services and

benefits as we have in the past, but

please be patient as we deal with

the implications of our deficit from

last year. If you have any

thoughts, ideas, or feedback please

feel free to talk to any of the Board

members listed on page 2 of the

Knight Life or e-mail the President,

Greg Strizek, directly at

gstrizek@yahoo.com

Columbus Club Update

KNIGHT LIFE PAGE 4

OBITUARIES

The following Brother Knights have

gone on to meet our Heavenly Fa-

ther. Please keep them and their

families in your prayers.

Peter A. Dannenberg (June 6, 2021)

SICK AND IN

OUR PRAYERS

Please remember the following

members and their families in your

prayers. If you have time, give

them a call or drop them a note.

Also, please remember to pray for

protection, healing, and guidance

during the coronavirus pandemic.

For all our Brother Knights

who are unable to travel to

visit with family this holiday

season.

For the slate of Council who

started on July 1, 20201.

For our Parish Priests.

For police, firefighters, and

healthcare workers.

Also, please pray for the Can-

onization of Father McGivney.

This month, I would like to recognize our most

recent Past Grand Knight, Jim Saenz. Jim has

guided our Council through many difficult tri-

als this year. Covid tested us to the core, but

through Jim’s leadership we were able to pull

through. Under Jim’s watch, groceries were

delivered to those quarantined in their homes

in the spirit of charity, meetings were seamless-

ly carried out on Zoom to maintain the union

of our Council, whenever possible fraternal

events were planned and executed, and we were able to celebrate the

patriotic holiday of Memorial Day with a Mass and BBQ on campus. All

this while expanding our membership, charitable activities, and outreach

to our parishes. Please join me in congratulating PGK Jim Saenz and ex-

tending thanks for his success in leading us through this most difficult

fraternal year.

4

Knight of the Month

Congratulations to the slate of

officers elected to serve our Council

starting on July 1, 2021. I would

especially like to congratulate

brother, Scott Wanek, who is at the

helm this year. You are all a great

group of guys, who have stepped

up to the plate to make Council

2473 work.

Located in this month’s Knight Life

you will find the proposed budget

for the upcoming fraternal year,

which reflects numbers in-line with

actual numbers from 2018-2019,

2019-2020, 2020-2021 budgets and

proposed 2021-2022 budget shown

in the table below. Although the

2021-2022 proposal reflects a nega-

tive end-of-year balance, you will

note that some of the previous

years also had a negative end-of-

year, but finished positive for the

year. The proposed budget was

worked out by a committee of the

GK, DGK, Treasurer, Trustees and

the Financial Secretary. The budg-

et will be proposed at the July 1st

meeting for comments and will be

voted on at the July 17th meeting.

- Bill Wester, Financial Secretary

Financial Secretary Message

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Update Your Beneficiaries

Sometimes it is easy to overlook the simplest of

things.

Take, for example, the beneficiaries on your life

insurance policies. If your policy was applied

for and issued several years ago, it may very

well be that the person you originally selected

as the beneficiary is no longer the person you

would want to receive the policy proceeds. If

you bought the policy when you were single,

for example, you may have named your par-

ents as beneficiaries. If you have since married,

your policies should be updated to reflect your

spouse as beneficiary. Maybe you’ve had chil-

dren since, who are not named on the policies.

Most people list a primary beneficiary, who is

specifically designated as the first in priority to

receive policy proceeds. We also encourage the

naming of a contingent beneficiary, an alternate

person designated to receive policy proceeds,

usually in the event that the original beneficiary

pre-deceases the insured.

We routinely call policyholders for annual re-

view appointments, usually near the anniver-

sary date of your policy – that is, the date it was

originally issued. One of the matters that I’ll

discuss during this review is the status of your

beneficiary designations. If they need updating,

and they often do, I can complete the paper-

work during that appointment.

We look forward to meeting with each of you

to discuss your family’s needs.

Robert J. Canter, Jr. FICF, LUTCF, CSA,

LACP 301-952-0180

Daniel G. Garrigan, FIC 703-494-0967

New to Arlington Council? Newly retired (with extra time

on your hands)? Just ready to try something new and

meet Brother Knights?

The Arlington Knights of Columbus Redcoats are a long

recognized "INSTITUTION" within our Council, routinely

serving meals and tending bar at events both large and

small in our facilities for about 70 years.

No previous experience required. After 1-2 events – you

are considered proficient! No Age (minimum or maxi-

mum) limits! Neat "benefits" and a great way to meet oth-

er Brother Knights and contribute to Charity! All proceeds

from waitering go to local and national charities.

CALL: one of three Redcoat team captains for more infor-

mation:

Bob Muschamp - 703-489-2856

PGK Kenny Goss, 571-525-8314

PGK Vince Long 703-489-0035

Redcoats Need Your Help

KNIGHT LIFE PAGE 6

Views of the Newly Renovated Council Home

Brother Knights:

Are you retired? Would you like to join us for some

good food and conversation?

Our retiree's meet once a month (second Tuesday of

each month) at 12:30 pm in a private room at Antho-

ny’s Restaurant, located at 3000 Annandale Road.,

Falls Church, VA 22042.

Please join us for fellowship and camaraderie. Next

retiree luncheon is Tuesday July 13. We look forward

to seeing you.

Any questions, please contact John Cormany at 703-

732-7287.

Knights of Columbus

Retirees Luncheon

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Some Oldies But Goodies

Before... After

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KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

Arlington Council 2473

5115 Little Falls Road

Arlington, Virginia 22207-1899

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