At the June business meeting, GK Frank introduced Manuel (Manny) J. Perez as the new Deputy for District 105.

Manny was born in Kansas City, MO and was first introduced to San Diego through the U. S. Navy spending the first ten years as a Photographer’ Mate.  He spent 21 years in the U. S. Navy serving in San Diego, New Orleans, Rhode Island, Antarctica, El Centro, and Hawaii.  After his discharge in 1968, Manny joined the California Army National Guard for a year, and then reentered in 1984.  He retired in 1995 with the rank of Sergeant First Class

Manny was employed by the San Diego County Sheriff’s department for 32 years starting in 1969, and retired in March of 2002 with the rank of Sergeant.  He, and his wife Ruth (Jean) are married for forty years and they have six children: Mike, Rich, Andy, Lisa, Debbie and David and sixteen grandchildren. 

Service Programs are a cornerstone in today’s Knights of Columbus Council.  There are five major programs: Church, Community, Council, Family, and Youths.  As an active Knight, when you participate in an activity sponsored or co-sponsored by your council, you are participating in one of the five service areas.  Here’s a brief description of each:
Church – Activities that support Vocations, Home or Surrounding Parish, Lay Apostolate, Parochial Services, Religious Devotions, Religious Education.
Community – Activities that support Pro-Life, Volunteerism, Human Needs, Civic Involvement, Environment, Public Safety, Health Services, Decency.
Council – Activities that support Public Relations, Fraternalism, Cultural, Social Life, Blood Donation, Athletics.
Family – Activities that support survivor assistance, Memorials, Education & Scholarship, Communication, Family Projects, Recreation, Family Support.
Youth – Activities that support Columbian Squires, Youth Groups, Youth Athletics, Educational Programs, Youth Welfare, Religious Youth Activities, Social Activities. 
Starting next month we are going to be making more of an emphasis on the various Service Programs in the Council.  That means that the many activities we engage in today and have in the past will be worked through the Service Program, or “Directorate.”  Each Directorate has a Service Director.  Their job is to plan, manage, execute, and report on the activities within their Directorate to the Council Program Director.  The Program Director reports the status of Programs to the Grand Knight and to the Council at large during the monthly business meetings. 

This year we are going to step up the recording of our many events.  We will be doing so using the local form (available at the business meeting or from me, or on our web site at www.sttimsknights.com).  This form takes 5 minutes or less to fill out and is completed by the chairman or Crew Chief of an activity.  All you need is the project or activity title, the date, a brief description of the activity, how many participated including council members, the number of hours expended on the project, the Chairman’s name, number and address.  Bring the completed form to the next business meeting, mail/email or fax it to me as soon as possible.  Since the Program Year began in January, we need to “catch up” on the activities we have already held.  If you were the chairman, please fill out one of the forms and send it to me as soon as you can.  In future articles I’ll talk more of what happens to the forms and the numbers they generate.

Also starting next month, we will be dividing the Council Members into the five service areas.  These assignments are not written in stone and can be changed anytime.  However, it’s a start in creating Service Teams from which the Service Directors can seek resources and help in carrying out the various activities in their area.  Instead of having to call 100 people, the Service Director now only has about 20 people.  This certainly does not stop members from other teams from working on or being a resource for an activity in another area.  It simply makes the administration of the particular service area more manageable.  Look for your assigned team at the next business meeting or on the next revision of the Council Roster.  If you wish to change teams, please let me know.
One last thing to look for this year in Programs is a new variety of activities.  In an attempt to balance the various activities of the year, we will be attempting to have various functions that interest a wider range of members and participants as well as cover the five service areas somewhat equally.  In the end, we hope to have a very active, productive, and fun Program Year for Council 10802.

Vivat Jesus,
Mark Zecca