District 152 Highlights: October 2025

Knights of Columbus District 152 | Greater Austin Councils 4868, 8225, 12642, and 14943

The Highlights is a newsletter bringing you up to speed on what’s going on in District 152 and alerting you to opportunities to excel!

What’s in This Issue

Council News

Smithville Council 4868 is again hosting a CUF Exemplification on October 23, 2025 at 7:15 pm in the Saint Paul’s Catholic Church chapel. All Councils are welcome to bring their prospects. 

Smithville held their Fall Festival at Saint Paul’s Catholic Church Sunday on October 19. Besides lots of great food prepared by Council 4868, the festival included an exciting auction, a silent auction, and a raffle giving away thousands of dollars in cash and prizes!  The festival crowd was big and joyful, and the Knights were everywhere!

Smithville announced it will host a Free Throw competition for community boys and girls, ages 9 to 14, in January 2026 at Smithville High School gymnasium (date to be scheduled). The winners will move up to the District competition and then to the Austin Diocesan competition scheduled for February 15, 2026.

Rockne-String Prairie Council 12642 held their “Sportsman’s (i,e. gun) Raffle fundraiser on Saturday, October 18. The Council sold a thousand raffle tickets and gave away several guns and door prizes. In addition to the main event, there were several minor raffles, including separate raffles for two whiskey baskets (we are Catholics, not Baptists!), two fifty-fifty raffles, and a $500 gift card. Besides raffles there was an open bar and a fabulous catered barbecue meal.

Eglin Council 8225 held its Barbecue Chicken fundraiser scheduled for Saturday, October 18, starting at 11:00 am at the same time as their Membership Drive. Great idea!

Elgin recently mourned a deceased member, 95-year old 4th Degree Knight Pedro Enididio Magel, at a Funeral Mass. Fourth Degree Assembly 3314 provided an honor guard for the mass while Grand Knight Sam Long, an accomplished musician, served as both musician and cantor. Pedro was a Cuban immigrant who loved America and longed for the day when Cuba would be freed from communism. Read more about Sir Knight Pedro’s life at https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/victoria-tx/pedro-magel-12530634.

Bastrop Council 14943 contributed in a myriad ways to Ascension Catholic Church’s recent Fall Festival on October 5, including Deputy Grand Knight John Nueves who led the whole thing and Grand Knight Jim Sheerson working hard preparing for the Live Auction!

Bastrop Council has a new Financial Secretary, Alfonso Fernandez. Previous FS Karl Arunski has been working diligently with Alfonso to get him up to speed.

Bastrop Council asked all mass attendees during the weekend of September 28 to help kickoff the 40 Days for Life by planting hundreds of white crosses on the Ascension Catholic Church’s front lawn. The 40 Days for Life runs from September 24 to November 2, 2025.

Membership

Eight New Council Members in Waiting!  As of October 13, our District had 8 Knights on our Prospect tab:  2 from Smithville, 3 from Ascension, and 3 from Rockne-String Prairie. Remember that Prospects on a Council’s prospect tab are already Knights and members of the Texas State Council. But they do not belong to a local council or count towards the Star Council award until they complete a CUF (Charity, Unity, and Fraternity) Exemplification after which the Council’s Financial Secretary then transfers them into the Council.

Go For Two!  Supreme Knight Patrick Kelley has announced a new incentive to recruit new members. His goal is for every Knight to recruit two new members this Fraternal Year. Any member of any Council who recruits two new members between now and December 31 will be entered into a drawing for $1,500. If a member recruits four new members, they will be entered into the drawing twice! To be entered into the drawing, the candidate must include the member’s K of C membership number when filling out the Join Us! form online.

The Paper is Back!  New Membership Form 11881 is for use when you don’t have time to spend with each prospect as they fill out the online form on Join Us. This may happen during a Membership Drive after mass or during other Parish or Council events. The process is simple: the candidate fills out the form, signs, and returns to you. Later that day or next, you take the forms and enter them online at Join Us!  Be sure to explain to the candidate that they will receive a confirmation email and that they must click (press) the Confirm button.

60 Day Deadline:  Recently, State Council Membership Director Bill Tillotson announced that Prospects who have gone over 60 days without being exemplified and brought into a local council should be removed from a Council’s prospect tab. The Council should determine if the prospect is still interested in joining the Council. If not, or if the Prospect does not respond, the Council should reject them. The rejection will return the Prospect to the State Council’s unassigned list for further assignment.

Faith in Action Opportunities

Get Ready for the District Free Throw Competition!  Each council has the opportunity to host a Free Throw Competition and earn credit for a Faith in Action Community program. The competition is for boys and girls in six age groups, ages 9 to 14. The winner from the 12 possible groups (six boys and six girls age groups) will move up to the District Competition to be scheduled in January 2026 at the Smithville High School gymnasium. The district winners will then move up to the Diocesan Competition on February 15, 2026, at San Jose Parish in Austin. 

NEW Life Program! Councils can now earn Faith in Action Life program credit by sponsoring a Holy Hour for Life with Our Lady of Guadalupe. Resources to run this program are available from the Supreme website under Faith In Action/Life. 

The Special Olympics has partnered with the Knights of Columbus for many decades. Councils can earn Faith in Action Life program credit by making a donation of money or service hours to the Special Olympics. But there is more!  Councils can earn double credit by meeting the requirements for the Special Olympics Featured Program:  Just donate a minimum of $2,000 or 200 service hours to Special Olympics. 

Please note that a combination of donations and service hours where both are less than the minimum (e.g., $1000 and 100 service hours) does NOT meet Special Olympics Featured Program requirement.

October Founders Award Opportunity

You already know that to earn the Founders Award, a Council needs to host two Fraternal Benefits Events attended by at least 14 members for larger councils or 10 members for smaller councils (less than 100 members). These criteria may seem challenging with the need to coordinate your Field Agent’s schedule with yours. But this month we have an opportunity to make the challenge a bit easier with a virtual Fraternal Benefits Webinar: Maximize Your Living Benefits!

On October 27, your members can attend either as individuals from the comfort of their homes, or as a group meeting in your parish or council hall. If individuals attend, they just need to register with their membership and council number for the Council to get credit. Register online at https://goto.webcasts.com/viewer/event.jsp?ei=1734524&tp_key=8e4d406ea9.

If you meet as a Group, just schedule the virtual webinar as you would an in-person Fraternal Benefit Event. Use a projector with speakers to display the webinar from your computer onto a large screen so everyone can see and hear. Track who attends the virtual webinar with a sign-in sheet. (You will need each person's name, email, and phone number.) After the event, have the Grand Knight or Financial Secretary report the results using Council Form 11077 available online. The Form will be submitted to your General Agent who will determine whether to approve it. He may contact you if he has any questions or concerns.

Upcoming Events

Mark your calendars for the next Clergy & Religious Appreciation Dinner, scheduled for February 5, 2026 at St Helen’s Catholic Church in Georgetown, Texas. Social hour begins at 5:30 pm and the dinner starts promptly at 6:30 pm. Tickets are $35 per seat. Councils can sponsor a table for an additional $100 which will reserve up to 8 seats and include your Council in the program as a table sponsor.

Each Council/Assembly is to bring a $25 gift card for each clergy member/religious they are bringing plus one to help cover clergy/religious not affiliated with a parish/council, such as the growing number of Dominican Sisters of Mary.

Councils should register for the Clergy & Religious Appreciation dinner no later than January 15, 2026. Keep an eye out for more information in the weeks ahead.

Don’t Forget

  • Complete your Programs Plan for the Fraternal Year. We expect plans to change, so it’s okay if your plan changes over the year!

  • December 31 is the deadline for Quick Start awards!

  • January 15 is the deadline to register for the Clergy & Religious Appreciation Dinner.

  • Annual Surveys of Fraternal Activity (Forms 1728) are due January 31.

  • Semiannual Council Audits (Forms 1295) are due February 15.


Vivat Jesus!

Lee Fracker, PGK
District Deputy #152

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