Archives | Knights of Columbus 8215

Council 8215 Archives

Explore the rich history and significant milestones of the Knights of Columbus Council 8215, serving the Holy Family Cathedral community with dedication and faith.

NOTE: Please note that you may have to scroll up to the top of an item then scroll down in order to see some images.

2016 in Review

Grand Knight Gil Wist reviews 2016

Good Evening everyone and thank you for coming out to our Installation of Officers and wind up. It is so nice to see such a great turnout and a special welcome to the CWL members that are here tonight and to our widows. It has been a truly great honor to have served our council as Grand Knight over the past two years. We have such a great group of dedicated knights it makes my job very easy. Allan, I am sure you will do a great job leading this group as they don’t so much need a leader as they do a guide. I found it convenient at times to just get out of the way and let them do the work as I knew it would be done well.
I’ve heard many times that we as Knights don’t often seek recognition for the things we do. Tonight I am going to change that as I am going to take some time to blow our own horns. As most of you know we are a very active council so I would like to highlight many of the things we did this past year and to thank many of the people responsible for doing these things. Some of this I will do in chronological order and others in certain categories.

We started the year in September with an appreciation supper for our priests and sisters. This was very well attended and very much appreciated by all who attended. A special thank you to Andy Wilson who did most of the work in organizing this event.
Our next big event was our second annual celebrity dinner which saw us turn over $60,000 to the Children’s Hospital Foundation bring our contributions to this cause to over $110,000 in only two years. Garry Maier deserves a lot of credit for driving the bus as he puts it, but there are many others who deserve thanks as well.

Another fundraising event we helped organize and support was the Kayden Kot fundraiser which netted close to $30,000 to help with Kayden’s medical expenses. I am sure I can speak for many of the people who worked at this event that it is so gratifying as you can just feel the love that goes into supporting an event like this.
The last fundraising supper that we helped organize was the Bishop’s Dinner which moved from TCU Place to our Cathedral Hall and was very well received. A special thank you goes to Shawn Scherr who really stepped up and helped organize this event.

In addition to help organize these dinners we also supported a number of other fundraising dinner either by buying tickets and sending people to them or by working the bars and turning over the proceeds to the organizing committee. These included Bosco Homes, In support of Life, Blackstrap Youth Camp, Zoo Gala, Prader Willi Foundation, the CWL wind up, as well as their convention banquet and Major Degree banquets.

So you don’t think all we do is organize suppers and work bars at them I will now move into some of our ongoing projects starting with the Nativity Scenes. Last year we made and sold 100 wood nativity scenes and around 20 coroplast cardboard ones. Over $11,000 was netted from these sales and this money was turned over to St. Anne’s Senior Citizens residence where it was used to buy some much needed medical equipment. A special thank you needs to go to Dan Bittner, Laurent Bussiere, Dick Hollier, Joe Brule, Wayne Koshman and others. This group is once again working on this years sales and are more ambitious than ever with plans to make and sell 200 scenes and donate the proceeds to the Blackstrap Youth Camp.

While on Nativity Scenes a new project started this year was a Sunday display of Christmas Creches which featured numerous creches made by elementary students in our neighborhood schools. A special thank you to Merv Kuzminski whose efforts I am sure brought joy to many young children as well as went a long way to Keeping Christ in Christmas.

Another Keeping Christ in Christmas project we support is setting up a manger scene at Market Mall. Joe Brule and Dan Bittner are responsible for keeping this project ongoing. Still in the Christmas theme of Keeping Christ in Christmas we donated a $1000 to Saskatoon K of C Chapter to help cover the costs of having the Christmas message displayed on two billboards in the city. I would also like at this time to mention our Christmas Gobo Light Display on the Cathedral Roof. A special thank you goes to Dan Bittner who organized and helped set up this display.

Still on the Christmas theme we helped organize our Parish’s Christmas Hamper project. Sixty hampers were made up and delivered. This was a project not only supported by the Knights, but also the CWL (Donna Dube). A special thank you to all those people who helped pick up food, organize the hampers and deliver them.
A last item before leaving the Christmas season involved the large Christmas Tree that so beautifully decorates our sanctuary during this season. A special thank you goes to Cecil Dust and John Benesh who are responsible for this project.
Other ongoing projects that we do to help our parishioners to socialize as well as for our fundraising is our Famous All You Can Eat Breakfasts and our Sunday Sundaes. Thanks to John Benesh, Pat Daley and Shawn Scherr who organize the breakfasts and John Benesh and myself who organize the Sunday Sundaes. Our breakfasts are probably the one event that gets more knights involved than any other activities we do.
Another ongoing project we started two years ago is a barbecue evening for the seniors at Sutherland Seniors home. This has been well received by the seniors and helps to give us a visible presence in our community.
Other ways we support our parish include Baptismal Passports where a small passport is given to each family at the Baptism of their child. A special thank you to Bill Reiter who looks after this project. Still with the parish theme our ongoing Mass and prayer cards which Andy Wilson does such a good job of organizing. Our support for our youth groups mainly the Peru Mission group not only in helping them with their fundraising, but in purchasing wheelchairs for them to distribute in Peru.
Some one time events we are involved in include setting up and taking down chairs for Christmas and Easter. Another onetime major project was in patching and repainting the walls in the hall, the hall entrance way, bar room, servery and our meeting room. Special thanks to Joe Brule, Dan Bittner, Dick Hollier and myself for tackling and completing this project.

In addition to helping and supporting all of these projects we have provided financial support for many groups including Columbus Bosco Homes, K of C Indoor Games, Blackstrap Youth Camp, Mt. Carmel’s Rock the Mount, Coats for Kids, CCO, and Queens House. There was also the support for our seminarians and the latest Sanctum Survivor where we supported Bishop Don during his homeless jaunt around the city. Actually the money went to support a new HIV Centre being established on Ave M.

Now I would like to move into making two special presentations. The first one is to our Knight of the Year. At this time I would ask John Deptuck to please come forward to be recognized. John puts a tremendous amount of time into not only our council, but into other areas as well. He was our chancellor this year and as such attended most meetings and always has some very positive comments to make. He is one of our bar captains and with that role probably works at over a dozen events over the year. John also helps at most of our breakfasts and is often the last person to leave. In addition to working with our council John is an integral member of the organizing committee for the Saskatoon K of C Indoor Games where he serves as treasurer. As such he puts in countless hours dealing with the finances. Outside of the Knights John is an active slow pitch umpire. All of this he does in addition to keeping his accounting business ProCity Accounting running smoothly. Please join me in recognizing John Deptuck as Knight of the Year.

Our next presentation is for Family of the Year. As you can see one family is here tonight in great numbers and it gives me great pleasure to call them all forward. Would Garry and Kathy Meier and their family please come forward to be recognized. Probably the most demanding position on our executive is the position of Financial Secretary. It is the Financial Secretary who keeps us on track, up to date in collecting membership dues and up to date in keeping track of our membership. With a membership of over 250 this is a very challenging task and Garry handles it with great efficiency. Our number of members who have not paid their dues is the lowest it has been in many years. This is due to Garry’s diligent manner in collecting these dues. A major area that Garry took on two years ago was in taking on the task of Chairing the Celebrity Dinner, and what a job he did. Organizing a dozen knights to work together for one cause was not an easy thing to do and Garry has done a great job of it as the results speak for themselves. Standing at Garry’s side and doing probably as much work is his wife Kathy. She takes on the most challenging task with the celebrity dinner, that being in charge of the silent auction.

Garry and Kathy have been members of Holy Family Parish longer than most of us and have been regular contributors to the life of our parish. Their children were baptized here and received the sacraments of Reconciliation, Holy Eucharist and Confirmation here. Please help me in recognizing Garry and Kathy Maier and their family as our Knights of Columbus Family of the Year.

$5001.00 FOR PLAYGROUND PROJECT …

Allan Ronellenfitsch and Angie Prokosch present Rick Garman with a cheque for St. Nicholas Catholic School playground project.

2017 in Review

Grand Knight Reviews 2017

Welcome to all of our brothers and guests tonight , as the year comes to an end, and we look back it’s hard to believe it’s already been a year but on the other hand it hard to believe how much we have accomplished .
When I agreed to become the grand knight I was told it’s no big deal, you will have much support from the much more experienced leaders that went before you . I need to thanks all the member here and some that are not here for doing just that . as being a fairly new member myself I had not gathered many of the things that the experienced people here had. My brothers were there all the time to offer help and it truly made my job easy. It’s a bit like building a great sports team , we are not all goal scorers or fast runners but together we are a powerful team. We did budgets, audits , planning countless projects activities.

Alan Ronellenfitsch

The knights are well known for our breakfast and sundae Sundays, we tend many bars for weddings and fundraisers, we repair the church .We were able to assist when a fellow knight had a ceiling issue at their house . Many hours were put towards our keeping Christ in Christmas displays , benefitting the Blackstrap camp making it a very neat and safe place for kids to have an enjoyable camping experience.

Its not all work though we have a lot of fun also, when you can work together at a wedding or cleaning up at the camp ,delivering food hampers you get to meet many people you may not run into otherwise . I have meet old acquaintances from the past , people from all over Canada that come to celebrate weddings here , it gives the knights pride to showcase our facility .

I would like to thank the executive:

Chaplin – Fr. David
Financial Secretary – Garry
Recorder – John
Treasurer – Francis
Deputy – Roland
Advocate – Wayne
Chancellor – Louis
Warden – Merv
Lector – Reb
Guards – Bob and Rylan
Trustees – Gil, Darren and John
Our insurance representative Blair, your service was much appreciated.

Thanks for your service, and for those continuing on, welcome back. Having some turnover is a great way to pass the torch on to a few new members and I would like to thank the new people stepping into their new roles, people like Rick Brown as Guard, Blair Ostertag as recorder, Diego our treasurer. Don and Rylan will be assisting Louis with the communication duties.

We have many hard working, heavy lifting people out there. When work needs to be done we can count on Lawrence, Joe, Dick, Murray, Pat, Rick, Ron. Andy, Merv, Bob, and Shawn. There is a big danger in listing names and forgetting some. I cannot forget the long time contributions of Jack Bennette and Bill Reiter.

This year we also remember all the members who have passed away, it was a year of great loss and we wish our brothers eternal rest and there rewards in heaven.

We need to thank the women that assist us and allow us the time for our activities the help and understanding is appreciated.

There are great numbers of hours worked and money donated to many groups, individuals and causes. The list for requests surprised me and we would spend millions if we had it, I’m sure. We have attempted to calculate the hours we contribute, all I can say it’s in the thousands, and over one hundred thousand dollars distributed through the celebrity dinner and our council. We try to balance between the church and the many groups in our community , and I we do a heck of a job.

I’m pleased to announce the knight and family of the year: Lawrence, the reluctant winner, has put in 38 years of service, and he is too humble to take the credit he truly deserves. Special thanks to Cecil Dust and his wife, they do so much in our community. We are happy that he is feeling better. We had an incredible year of service in 2017. Once again, a big thank you to all of 8215 for your dedication and support of our community.

Families

Family of the Month

The Murza Family

November, 2024

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Family of the Month

The Kachur Family

August, 2024

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Congratulations...

Check out the three awards that Council 8215 won at the State Convention. Our Grand Knight is accepting the Family Award. This family award is awarded for the Saints and Paints event. There is also a 2nd highest wheelchair fundraising award and a Public Relations/Communications activity award.

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Congratulations...

Wayne Koshman and John Marshall present State's Family of the Year award to Linda and Rob Magnell.

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Congratulations...

Wayne Koshman is presenting Council 8215's Family of the Year award to Joise and Orin Goodwin.

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Pictures of the early years...

Family of the year...

Installation

Installation of Officers for 2024 - 2025 Columbian Year

Executive:

Grand Knight - Wayne Koshman - koshmanw@gmail.com - 306-381-3330
Financial Secretary - Gil Wist - gwist@sasktel.net - 306-220-0922
Treasurer - Diego Monteiro - diegomonteiro@shaw.ca - 306-222-5007
Chancellor - Dave Harder - daveeva58@shaw.ca - 306-371-9142
Advocate Dean Willenborg - dean.andrea@sasktel.net - 306-250-3931
Warden - Gary Gelinas- garyggelinas@gmail.com - 250-258-8750
Lecturer - Rob Magnell - robert.magnell@sasktel.net - 306-381-6766
Inside Guard - Jaeick Kim - skyjaeik@gmail.com - 306-880-2940
Outside Guard - Anthony Imadojemu - anthonyimadojemu@yahoo.com 639-384-5429
Chaplain - Fr. Gerrard - frgoodie@gmail.com - 306-270-1968
Trustee 1 year - Allan Ronellenfitsch - allan.ronellenfitsch@sasktel.net - 306-370-6891
Trustee 2 year - Roland LaFleche - rolandl@graham.ca - 306-381-8150
Trustee 3 year - Tyler Wist - twist660@hotmail.com - 306-262-2294
Recorder - Andrew Baron - andrew.baron1517@gmail.com-306-250-0553

Service Program Directors:

Program Director - Rolan LaFleche
Faith Director - Victor Grainger
Family Director - Gil Wist
Community Director - Cecile Dust
Life Director - Louis Roth
Membership Director - Blair Carruthers
Recruitment Committee - Tyler Wist, Roland LaFleche, Allan Ronellenfitsch
Retention Chairman - Allan Ronellenfitsch
Insurance Promotion - Blair Carruthers
Vocation Chairman - Louis Roth
Health Services - Dave Harde

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Exemplification

Exemplification - November 2025

It was a wonderful evening marked by the induction of six new Knights into our Council.

Exemplification - February 2025

Exemplification - June 30, 2024:

Two new members added to council 8215. Grandfather-Father-2 sons Barkman family.

Exemplification - May 1, 2024

Greetings all,
Below are photos from the May 1st exemplification at the Cathedral of the Holy Family. 15 men became 3rd degree Knights in a full-house Mass and exemplification.

Exemplification October 2023

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Milestone

COATS ACROSS CANADA

In Saskatchewan, the Canadian winters are harsh. The province sees winter temperatures below minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Sometimes, the cold plummets to 40 degrees below zero. Even so, many people don’t realize how much demand there is for the program, said Shawn Scherr, Coats for Kids chairman for the Saskatchewan State Council: “We might have one or two families that are struggling in our communities. You don’t realize how big the need is outside of your community. It takes somebody to listen and act.” Scherr, who lives in Saskatoon, the largest city in the province, recounted how his daughter discovered that three siblings at the school where she taught were sharing a single winter coat. is meant only one sibling could come to school each day. “She called me, and the next morning she had coats for them all,” he said.

So far this year, the Saskatchewan Knights have already distributed more than 7,400 coats to schools, homeless shelters, pregnancy centers, and First Nations communities.
Some communities are so remote that supplies, including children’s coats, must be flown in by plane. The Saskatchewan Knights of Columbus have an important partner in making that happen: the Prince Albert Grand Council, an organization that represents 12 First Nations comprising about 30,000 people. “We have very, very, very cold winters and a lot of people in need have a difficult time affording suitable winter clothing,” said Bey Marleau, an agrologist with the grand council’s Department of Agriculture whose family belongs to the James Smith Cree Nation.

With new coats, children can go to school, play outside and have an ordinary life, Marleau said. “When it’s 30 to 40 below, it’s impossible to do anything if you don’t have
adequate clothing.” She added, “You can feel a little bit better about yourself if you have a shiny new jacket.” The First Nations’ grand council ships the coats as far as the Black Lake Denesuline First Nation, in the north of Saskatchewan, near the Northwest Territories.

Knights in Saskatchewan and elsewhere in Canada have also donated many coats to immigrants and refugees. Some are Ukrainians who fled war, while others come from warmer
climates and have never felt such cold. Sonny Sangemino, an Ontario-based general agent, remembers when he dropped off coats for a Windsor, Ontario, community that was hosting Syrian refugees. "We saw their faces light up. they were truly excited about the prospect of having a new coat,” Sangemino said.

Article from the December 2023 Issue of the International Columbia Magazine.

Grand Knight Tyler Wist of Denis Mahoney Council 8215 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, helps a young girl and her mother pick out a winter coat during a giveaway at the Kinistin Saulteaux First Nation Band office in Saskatoon on Nov. 3. Saskatchewan State raised the most coats per Capita than any of the other State Councils.

Events

Council 8215 Events 2023

Grand Knight Tyler Wist presenting Knight of the Year award to Wayne Koshman.

Barbequing Hamburgers for the St. Joseph's Grade 9 students.

Presenting a new freezer to the Praire Harm Reduction Centre.

Grand Knight Tyler Wist presenting the Family of the Year award to Cecil and Bonnie Dust.

Awards

Knights of Columbus 8215 Council

Installations and Awards

Please welcome the incoming executive for the upcoming 2022/2023 Columbian year.

1st Row (Left to Right): Gil Wist (Financial Secretary), Andy Wilson (Chancellor), Mike Cey (Deputy Grand Knight), Tyler Wist (Grand Knight), Father Gerard Cooper (Council Chaplin), Michael Katzman (Standing in for Roland LaFleche - Trustee), Murray Geenan (Standing in for Diego Monteiro - Treasurer), Dean Willenborg (Inside Guard)

2nd Row (Left to Right): Joe Riffel (Past State Deputy), Garry Maier (Trustee), Rob Magnell (Lector), Allan Ronellenfitsch (Trustee), Dan Jean (Filling in for Peter Olver - Outside Guard), Wayne Koshman (Warden), ???, Andrew Baron (Recorder), Eric Olauson (Advocate, Dale Meier (District Deputy)

Check out the many award winners below.

Lorne Arsenault

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award_Dan_Bittner_1986

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award

Lots of congratulating going on here by GK George DenisJune 1989

Distinguished looking gentlemen in the year 1991

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The future Master of the 4th degree.

8 distinguished gentlemen !

Dinners

2019 Celebrity Dinner...

(Click on image below to scroll through more images from the 2019 Celebrity Dinner.)

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Knights of Columbus Online 50/50

Like many organizations the Knights of Columbus have had to pivot efforts in response to the pandemic. Typically, at this time of year we would be promoting our annual Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Celebrity Dinner which we had originally scheduled for Saturday Oct. 24, 2020. Unfortunately, we have had to defer plans for our next Celebrity Dinner into the future.

The Knights found another exciting way to continue to support the Children’s Hospital by hosting an online 50/50. Our 50/50 ran from Monday August 31st through to Monday October 12th, (Thanksgiving). We sold tickets totalling $11,230.00, which means we raised $5,615.00 for the Jim Pattison Children's Hospital. John Marshall was the official winner taking home the other $5,615.00. Congratulations John, and a big THANK YOU to the Knights of Columbus 8215 on their zeal and passion to support the Children's Hospital.

100% of these proceeds will support the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Family Comfort Room within the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and Chaplaincy support.

And the winner is...

(Children's Hospital)

Thank You

Thanks go out to Holy Family Parish and the schools Mother Theresa, St. Nicholas, Cardinal Leger, and Father Robinson as they donated many toys to the Salvation Army. The Knights wish all a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year.

Thank You...

To our incredible sponsors and donors, and to everyone who bought a ticket and came out to celebrate our 6th Annual Celebrity Dinner—thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Your enthusiasm and support made the night unforgettable.

Please click on the image below to view a slideshow of all our many sponsors.