Knights of Columbus Annual Picnic

written by Dwight Hoch

The annual Sacred Heart parish picnic was held on Sunday, August 21st at the home of Dwight and Connie Hoch.  We were blessed with perfect weather conditions again this year.  The meat, drinks and table service were provided by the Knights of Columbus and those who attended brought a side dish to share.  After lunch, the annual Ladder Golf Tournament was held with winning honors going to the team of Ken Lee and Dwight Hoch.  They each received a traveling trophy for their accomplishment.  The Wiffle Golf Tournament had eight contestants with the lowest score being posted by last year’s champion, Ken Lee.

Thanks to all who attended!

Knights of Columbus Donates to Mosaic

written by Ken Lee


    Chariton Knights of Columbus Council 4151 Grand Knight Gary Hoeger presented a check to Mosaic of Southern Iowa for support to the people with intellectual disabilities, brain injuries and mental illness.  The Chariton Knight of Columbus have presented checks for many years to this group of Chariton.  This check was presented on Feb. 17th with ten Knights present.

Rescheduled Knights of Columbus Breakfast

The Knights of Columbus breakfast for Seminarian James Chester and future Seminarian Collin Priest has been rescheduled for Sunday, January 9 after the 10:30 a.m. Mass. The menu includes pancakes, sausage, and biscuits and gravy. Please join the Knights in supporting James and Collin in their seminary education.

Knights of Columbus New Year Eve's Party

New Members, New Members, New Members

 written by Jack Cavanaugh

On Sunday, October 24, 2010, our Council held a 1st Degree initiation.  We initiated nine new members in the Knights of Columbus, three from Leon/ Mt. Ayer Council and six from our Council 4151.  Our new members are Clare Greiner, Zack Baughman, Dylan Priest, Paul Stream, Matt Hunkele, and Charlie Hunkele.  WELCOME BROTHER KNIGHTS!  Then on Sunday, November 7, 2010, three Brother Knights from our Council were exemplified into the 2nd and 3rd Degrees of our Order-- Scott Metzger, Clare Greiner, and Zach Baughman.  There were seven other members of the Council present for the degrees held in West Des Moines to show our support to our candidates.  Congratulations to all!

Knights of Columbus Bike Ride

written by Jack Cavanaugh

The Annual Knights of Columbus Bike Ride was held on Sunday, Oct.10, 2010.  We met at the Chariton end of the Cinder Path.  There were bikers of all ages, even a few walkers, and those of us who drove to Derby to enjoy the picnic.  At the Derby park and community center we relaxed and ate hamburgers, hot dogs, and other foods prepard by those in attendance.  The nearly 50 K of C members, their families, and other parishioners enjoyed a beautiful day of fun and friendship.  A very special "THANKS" to the Community of Derby, who had the park and community center prepared and set up for our event---they made us fell special and welcomed.

Knights of Columbus Annual Picnic

written by Dwight Hoch

The annual Sacred Heart picnic was held on the afternoon of Sunday, August 29^th,  at the home of Dwight and Connie Hoch.  The day was filled with food, friendship, and games.  Hamburgers, hotdogs, and bratwurst were grilled with everyone bringing a covered dish or dessert.  The Knights of Columbus supplied the meat and beverages for the event.  After the meal the games began and the winner of the ladder golf tournament was the team of Ralph Scheve and Tom Hunkele.  Next was a wiffle ball golf tournament that was won by Ken Lee.  All winners were presented with traveling trophies. We were blessed with great weather for the event and a great time was had by all.

Knights of Columbus Canoe Trip

written by James Rector

On Friday, August 6^th a group from Sacred Heart took some of the altar servers for a weekend canoe trip on the Upper Iowa River located in North East Iowa.  In all there were 27 people on the trip.  We camped Friday night.  Saturday morning the bus showed up at around 9:00 a.m. to shuttle us 15 miles upriver.  The float took around five hours and took us through some of the most majestic  land in the country.  The river was lined by limestone walls that reached up to 150 feet in the air.  Many times we would look up to see  bald eagles soaring above us.   For lunch on Saturday we stopped along the river and kids gathered firewood and we roasted hotdogs on a sand bar.   Saturday night after we got off the river, everybody hurried around and we attended Mass in Decorah.  The biggest joy of the whole trip was watching the kids bond.   When we were at camp they were throwing footballs around and playing soccer during the day and at night they played flashlight tag and hide and seek.  There was a lot of good conversation around the campfire also.  I am already looking forward to going again next year. 

Knights of Columbus Breakfast for James Chester

On Sunday, January 3, the Knights of Columbus provided a pancake breakfast to raise funds for seminarian, James Chester. Despite the cold temperatures the parish center was filled with parishioners willing to support James' vocation to the priesthood. Fr. Pisut was able to present James with a check of $1015 at the end of the breakfast. James thanked everyone for their attendance and generosity.

James is the son of Bruce and Kathleen Chester and grandson of Joe and Rose O'Reilly. He will be attending Conception Abbey for seminary. James will be arriving at Conception Abbey on January 10 to get settled in for his studies which will begin soon after. He will be majoring in Philosophy. He will spend four years in formation and discernment of his call to the priesthood at Conception Abbey.

Seminary life will help in James discernment because the distractions of material goods will be taken away. T.V. and other electronic devices distract or slow down the discernment process so his room will be quite bare without all the modern technology.

James' schedule will be quite different than many young men going off to college. He can only leave campus at certain times and not frequently. Here is an example: one week night a week and one weekend a month. He also has to ask from pemission from the dean to leave campus.

Please keep James and his family in your prayers.

For more photos click here: Vocations

Thanks to Ken for the photos.

Thanks to Kathleen for the information

Knights of Columbus New Year's Eve Party

Thanks to Dr. Greg and Michelle McKernan for opening up there home for the Knights of Columbus New Years' Eve party. The festivities began after Mass for the holy day celebrating Mary, Mother of God.

The men were gathered around the T.V. watching the Iowa State vs. Iowa game while the women (including one lone man who wanted to join the women's group) were gathered in other rooms to chat.

Around 6:30, dinner began with either steak or chicken and appetizers and desserts brought by the women of the parish. Thanks to Dr. Greg, Tom and Dr. David for grilling the delicious meat in such frigid temperatures.

Following dinner some of the women enjoyed playing a card game called "Apples to Apples". The new year was rung in by watching the ball drop in times square.

Thanks to all for making this a memorable evening and Happy New Year!


For more photos click here: New Year's Eve

Thanks to Charlotte for the photos.

Knight's New Years Eve Social

This social is for the entire parish. Click on the form to make it larger.

Altar Servers!

written by Randy Schultz

The KC’s invite you to this year’s altar server party at The Beach Ottumwa on Sunday, August 30!

We will leave the church parking lot at 12:30, and return approximately
7 p.m. – be sure to eat a quick lunch before you come.

The KC’s will pay for the server’s admission and provide them $5 for snacks. Siblings are welcome to attend, but we need to limit the party to servers and their families. We have a group rate for family members: $4 for kids under 4 ft.; $7 for kids over 4 ft and $3 for those not swimming.

Please RSVP with Randy Schultz
(766-6432) so we can plan transportation. Parents, we will need some drivers, so please let me know if you are able to help drive (thank you!).

Servers, thank you for all you do to help serve God and our parish through the Mass!

St. John Berchmans
Patron Saint of Altar Servers

Dear St. John, although you died when you were young, you learned to live an exemplary life.

With the help of your Guardian Angel, whom you confidently invoked, you learned to be a most humble altar server at the Mass.

Help all altar servers to imitate you in their service at Eucharistic celebrations, as well as in their conduct with others. Amen.

Update: This has been cancelled due to cold weather.

Fr. Pisut's 6th Anniversary

The pictures from the celebration of Fr. Pisut's 6th Ordination Anniversary have been posted under Photos on the sidebar. Thanks to the Knights of Columbus for sponsoring this event, to all those who helped make it a success and to those who attended to make it such a special occasion. An article will be posted later in the week about the celebration.

You’re Invited!

Friday, June 26th, the Knights of Columbus will be sponsoring a dinner in the parish center to celebrate the 6th Anniversary of Father Pisut’s Ordination.
All members of the parish are invited to attend.

Social at 6:00 p.m.
Dinner at 6:30 p.m.

The menu will be:
New York Strip Steak or chicken breast
baked potato, salad, garlic toast and dessert
(There will be hot dogs or hamburgers available for the children.)

To ensure we have enough food…

Please, Please, Please
R.S.V.P. by Friday, June 19th to Mary Chapman at 774-4978 with the number attending and your choice of meat for each individual.