Council activities:
The Council Activities Service Program promotes fraternalism in our membership. Some suggestions from the Supreme Council include activities such as athletics, blood donor clinics, socials, culture, and public relations. Historically, Fr. Bonner Council’s council activities program has included the following:
- Council newsletter — Published 10 times per year, the newsletter provides meeting minutes, reports from the executive, promotion of events, notice of birthdays/anniversaries, and general interest articles. All members are welcome and encouraged to provide material for consideration.
- Council website — The council maintains this website to assist with the dissemination of council information. Services found on the website include the following:
- Council membership roster
- Council executive roster
- Council events/activity calendar
- Newsletter archives
- Council publication archives
- Event photo galleries
- Grand Knight’s monthly message
- Related links for the Order, the parish, and the Catholic Church
Members are encouraged to assist the webmaster by providing content or suggestions for content or functional enhancements, and by assisting with website administration. - Charities Appeal — Each year, a state-sponsored Jeep Cherokee raffle (Alberta-wide) involves Knights to sell tickets to family/friends, and in the shopping malls. Proceeds go to various charities including battered women’s shelters. This activity has typically been one of Fr. Bonner Council’s more successful events, as for 9 years straight, our members sold more tickets than any other council in the jurisdiction of “Alberta – Northwest Territories”, some years by more than double. Assistants are required to:
- sell tickets at specific time slots
- assist delivering and returning the demonstration vehicle to/from the malls
- phone committee for finding volunteers
- booking mall times
- assist with bookkeeping (tracking ticket sales)
- collecting ticket books from members
- 1st Degree initiation team — This team works city-wide to introduce new members into the 1st Degree. New team members are required, so that backup is always available in event of schedule conflicts for existing team members.
- 4th Degree representative — This member reports to Council on K of C 4th Degree news, activities, and encourages Major (3rd) Degree members to become 4th Degree members of the Knights.
- Telephone committee — This committee contacts members to inform them of significant events, and to search for volunteers for key events (e.g., Awards Night). Participants on this committee will be given a list of members to contact, with specific details as to the nature of the call, and any subsequent details that are relevant. Typically, phone-outs take place 4–5 times per year, with anticipated effort being 1 to 3 hours per phone-out.
- State curling — The “State Curling Bonspiel” is held in a different location in the province each year. Fr. Bonner Council is typically represented by at least one rink (4 curlers) at this event, and more rinks if the interest is there. The council partially subsidizes the costs, so as to encourage participation. All members are eligible, as long as the event is not full.
- State golf — The annual “State Golf Tournament” is held in a different location in the province each year. Historically, many members of Fr. Bonner Council register as a group and participate. All members are eligible as long as the event is not full.
- Awards Night — The Council Activities Director is responsible for managing the committee for the annual “Awards Night” which happens in June, as a wrap up barbeque for the council, to install the new council officers for the upcoming Columbian year, and to provide recognition to the efforts of the membership at large. Volunteers are required for organizing the event, purchasing and preparing food, providing door prizes, and event cleanup.