Hans Purkott of the Hot Springs Council, State Chairman of this event, has indicated that the tournament will be held at Belvedere Country Club in Hot Springs on May 21, with tee off at 9am.  A captain is being appointed for each council that wishes to participate, and those captains will get together soon to work out the rules on how the tournament will be run. 

In the meantime, any knight can practice at Belvedere between February 26 and March 15 for a fee of $20.00, which includes cart and green fees.  Knights will have to show a current membership card to get this bargain. From March 15 to May 21, the fees will increase to $25.00. 

Ron Boudreaux is acting chairman of this project for Council 10208. As soon as the rules of the tournament are worked out, he will inform the council members.  Anyone interested in playing in this tournament should let Ron know by sending an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

The other golf tournament that benefits St. John’s Catholic School will be held at DeGray State Park on August 27. This is the tournament in which many knights participated last year when it was held at Diamondhead.  More information will be coming on this later, but for now reserve that date on your calendar.

At the end of each calendar year, all knights are asked to submit their volunteer hours and related activities for the past twelve months.  This information along with financial data is submitted by January 31 to Supreme in New Haven by both the Grand Knight and the Faithful Navigator together with the Financial Secretary and Comptroller respectively.  Typically, this accumulation of information is not reported by Supreme either at the state level or at the council and the assembly levels.  It is typically reported only in the aggregate, representing 1.8 million knights internationally.   Also, the council and the assembly information is combined into one report. 

However, the following 2009 data for Arkansas were reported by Jose Jimenez , Membership and Program Consultant for Supreme, at the Arkansas State Council's mid-year meeting in Jacksonville: Church Activities - $282,400; Community Activities - $457,335; Youth Activities - $74,775; Visits to the Sick - 32,610; Bereaved Visits - 12,039; Blood Donations - 2,350; and, Estimated Volunteer Hours - 432,584.

John Bodensteiner was chosen January Knight of the Month for his service to Church, council, community and the state council.

Ed and Mary Ann Miller were selected  January Family of the Month for their dedicated service to the council and ministry to Sacred Heart of Jesus as well as Ed's service as Distric 10 Deputy.

Follow the links to the Awards page for the complete stories.  Congratulations and thanks for these excellent examples of service. 

Five new 3rd Degree members at the February 2 meeting with Recruitment Director Mike Welch (l-r): Pedro Bonilla, Jack Wallisch, Mike, Deacon John Froning, Phil Stephenson, and Billy Jones.

Of the 57 Arkansas knight candidates participating in the 2nd/3rd Degree Exemplification hosted by Grand Knight Dennis Bosch and the Hot Springs Counccil 6419 on January 30, ten were from the local council.  They include Pedro Bonilla, Greg Davis, Don Dierks, John Froning, Bill Jones, John Meyers, Frank Morgan, Phil Stephenson, Terry Theisen, and Jack Wallisch.

Congratulations, knights, for your participation and for earning these two very significant unity and fraternity degrees.  Best wishes as you work with your brother knights in advancing the council's goals.

Council 10208 is eager to assist St. John’s School in many ways .  The use of a Kroger gift card with widespread participation can result in significant funds for the school.  It all begins with the purchase of a $5 card from Ed Miller 922-0501.  Then when you buy groceries at Kroger, take the card to the service desk (many stores can do it first, right in the check-out lane) and request that a specific sum for store purchases be added to the card.  Whatever is unused, of course, may be used for later purchases.  Five percent of each purchase will go to support the school. 

Add additional sums to the card as needed.  If you are accustomed to receiving ten cents a gallon (or fifteen cents with use of the Kroger Plus card) with each $100 accumulation of purchases, you may continue to receive those reductions and help the school at the same time.  It costs you nothing extra to get involved.  The $5 used to purchase the Kroger gift card will be added back to the card. 

Consider this: Someone with an average monthly purchase of $400 for groceries and another $100 for gas could generate an annual payment of $300 to St. John’s School from Kroger.  These Kroger gift cards can be used at any Kroger store and 5% will go to St. John's school.  So please buy a Kroger card and join those who are already involved.

(Condensed from Malea Hargett's notes.)

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Editor Malea Hargett was invited to speak to the knights at their February 2 council meeting about the ongoing Arkansas Catholic's 'Guardian Angels' project launched in October 2010.

Arkansas Catholic offices are located at St. John Center in Little Rock.   Hidden away from public sight where few people can visit is the archives.  Rooms are filled with historical items and records containing diocesan history.  Little Rock Diocese is 168 years old.

A part of one room is filled with boxes and bound volumes of 100 years of Arkansas Catholic issues. Bishop John M. Morris founded the newspaper on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 1911.  It was called The Southern Guardian.  A couple of years later, it was known just as The Guardian.  Many  longtime residents still call the newspaper The Guardian.  On its 75^th anniversary, The Guardian’s name was changed to Arkansas Catholic.

The paper used for news print is not designed to last for an extended period of time, even under the best conditions.  Consider the almost 100 years of The Southern Guardian, The Guardian and Arkansas Catholic, and you’ll understand the perilous condition of our archives and the history they hold through generations of Catholic people, churches, priests, and families in Arkansas.  The early editions are crumbling away, and those of subsequent years are in jeopardy .