Meeting Minutes

05/05/2026

Dining Room

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER at 7:30 P.M.

OPENING PRAYER:  by MARC EVANS

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:  by PAUL RYAN

OPENING ODE:  by ALL

ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS: P=PRESENT, A=ABSENT, EX=EXCUSED

CHAPLAIN:  NONE                    

GRAND KNIGHT:  MARC EVANS:  P                        WARDEN: JESUS RADILLO: P

DEP GRAND KNIGHT:  PAUL RYAN:  P                 INSIDE GUARD: RUSSELL LEROY: P

CHANCELLOR: EFRAIN OCHOA:  EX                      OUTSIDE GUARD: JOEL LOPEZ: P

FINANCIAL SECRETARY:  PETER PERTA:  P             ADVOCATE: RUSSELL GULLY ; P            

LECTURER:   JOEL LOPEZ: P                                   1^ST YR TRUSTEE:  JIM RUSSELL:  P

TREASURER:  JAMES SMITH:  P                           2^ND YR TRUSTEE:  DAN MURPHY: EX

RECORDER: ROBERT NIETO: P                             3^RD YR TRUSTEE:  MIKE FITZGERALD: P

DISTRCT DEPUTY: MICHAEL LUNA

ARE ALL PRESENT IN POSSESSION OF A CURRENT MEMBERSHIP CARD:  per Outside Guard: Yes

All persons who are not Knights (or honored guests) shall please retire form the chamber.  The doors shall now be closed and the guards assume their positions.

Family of the Month – presented by Family Director Jeff Miller

Family of the Month: Dr. Roberto and Gloria Nieto

Special Guest:  District Deputy Michael Luna

He grew up here and attended Holy Spirit parish for years and was a Knight in our Council. He then transferred to St Elizabeth  parish, and when Andy Goza started a new Council at St. Elizabeth, he transferred there. He has been a Knight for many years and is excited to serve as our new District Deputy.

Approve Minutes of the Prior Meeting – The minutes of our April 7th General Membership Meeting were posted on the Council’s website on April 22nd. A motion was made to accept the minutes as posted. The motion was seconded and the minutes were approved as posted

Grand Knight’s Report

1. Officers absent with notification:
   1. Efrain Ochoa, Dan Murphy
   1. Special guest: District Deputy Michael Luna
2. New Knights who are attending their first General Membership Meeting

       Joe Simecek -sponsored by Marc Evans; he is happy to be part of the Knights

        Manny  Martinez -sponsored by Adan Luna; he works as an engineer for Lockheed Martin.

         Kevin Carkin-sponsored by He became catholic last year. He has been attending Holy Spirit     

         parish for years.  Retired US Coast Guard and is a retired aerospace engineer.

                3. Texas K of C Convention in Friday – Sunday April 24-26  in Dallas

1. Business Meetings: Delegates: Paul Ryan and Marc Evans  Attendees: Juan Espinosa, Jorge Ruiz, and Moises Martinez
   1. Golf Tournament: Hector Lopez led team of 4 which included Phil Hollifield, and Yvette Gonzales’ husband. They placed 4^th out of 17 teams. Good job!
   1. The conversion next year will take in Houston in April 2027
2. Quarterly Meeting of the Diocese of Dallas Chapter -The meeting took Saturday, April 11^th, at St. Gabriel’s the Archangel Church in McKinney, Texas. The team was able to meet Fr. Eugene and he said he missed us all
   1. Wheelchair Mission – March 7-8; Wheelchair Mission – The amount raised has grown to 12,965 as of 4/11/2026! Thank you all!

• Pentecost Sunday Holy Spirit Parish Picnic: Sunday, May 24
  • K of C again providing burgers and hotdogs; the actual event runs from 12 noon until 3 p.m.
  • Grilling back of building under a tent and serving out of the Kitchen; start time is around 10 a.m. and clean up around 4 p.m. The parish has asked we set up three tents with 10 tables in front of the Community Center; there will be music but we understand there will not be a stage.

• K of C Academic Scholarships – Jorge Ruiz
  • Seven applications received; we favor high school seniors going into college and we have been accepting applications from April 1^st through April 30^th. Jorge developed a rubix for deciding who gets a scholarship such as grades, extracurricular activities, church activities, and three essays. This is a point system

Donovan Gradiz  -University of North Texas

Gisselle Lopez  -University of Texas-Arlington

Elena Miller  -Tarleton State University

Jocelyn Ramirez -Stephen F Austin University

Madeleine Ballinger -University of Oklahoma -Norman

Isabel Via -Texas State University

Chloe Wallace  -Clark Atlanta University -Atlanta, GA

Jorge presented to the Council that we consider funding a total of 7 scholarships. A motion was made that we fund a total of 7 scholarships rather than 5 scholarships. The motion was seconded, and the motion passed. The money is sent directly to the Bursar’s office at the school.

• The awards will be presented during the Knight’s Annual Dinner on Saturday, June 27th

• Planning/Leading Eucharistic Procession on Corpus Christi – Dr. Nieto will coordinate
  • Sunday, June 7^th after the 5 pm Mass; the procession will take place on Holy Spirit parking lot
  • 4^th Degree ceremonial team would like to help with full Regalia.
  • There will be a community dinner afterwards with organizations (like Knights) asked to provide food for 50 people. Other groups will be providing food as well.

• K of C Council 8157 Officer Installation
  • June 27, Saturday 5 pm Mass / Corporate Communion followed by Dinner with Officer Installation and Academic Scholarship Award recognition. Please mark you calendar.

Financial Secretary’s Report – Worthy Financial Secretary, Peter Perta

Membership 235

4 new members have joined us:

Manny Martinez, Kevin Carkin, Joe Simecek and Salvador Hernandez

Dues: 50%

Jorge will be refurbishing the website for the purposes of paying dues

Star Council:

Membership Quota 13

Year to date 17 (7/1/25 to 6/30/26)

Progress 100%

Knight in Need Fund: $3,900

Recent donation of $30

We have guidelines for this fund

There was some discussion on what to do when monies budgeted for certain

purposes are not used; we do have a line item in the budget for special projects (like building a well in Fr. Eugene’s town in Africa)

Council Taxes Submitted:

04/01/2026

Supreme Funding for ASAP Program: forms have been submitted

              For Catholic Pro-Life Community

Supreme sent a check for $100 and $200

Raising Our Donation to Holy Spirit Parish  -At the officer’s meeting, we proposed increasing our yearly donation to the parish from $3500 to $5,000. During the meeting, a motion was made that we raise our donation from $3500 to $5,000. Per our financial secretary, Peter Perta, we already have a line item for “special donations.” A motion was made that we increase our donation from $3500 to $5000 to the parish. The motion was seconded, and the motion passed.  

Treasurer’s Report  by Sir Knight James Smith

James reviewed our beginning balance,  monies received, expenditures. We also received the balance of our CD fund

4^th Degree –  SK James Smith –  No report; District Deputy said to reach out to him if you are interested in being a 4^th Degree Knight. There are Exemplification ceremonies coming up this summer. PGK Jim Russell mentioned that there is an assembly of 4^th degree Knights from Grand Prairie that their numbers have dropped. There are interested in joining our assembly. More to come about this.  

The Food Truck will be here at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 6^th. Please come and help if you can

Knight Hands – by Allen Reitmeier

We have loaned out 2 wheelchairs to Karen Stuckley and for someone known by Adan Luna who needs a wheelchair. We replaced the starter for Ida Medrano. A project is underway for Alex Sabo. We completed a PIP project for Jannell Harbert. This was a big project that involved 10 Knights and consisted of removing 80 feet of an old fence and replacing it with new fencing and a new gate.  Those that helped were: David Ybarra, Zach Cazares, Larry Balagna, David Dybala, Jack Ramsden, Manuel Urias, Rod Kinard, Jesse Aguirre, Jesse Medina, and Allen Reitmeier. The project took 44 hours. There is an article on the website documenting this project. Hector Rubio replaced a defective closet light for Jesse Ann Nobles. We repaired a refrigerator for Gabby Harden. There was a power outage and her refrigerator did not turn on again. Hector Rubio was able to do the necessary repairs. José Luis Ramirez helped repair a bathroom facets and pipes at Allen’s home.

Baseball Concessions – SK Allen Reitmeier  35 Knights have worked at the concession stand so far. The Knights have works 396 hours and have generated sales of over $21,000. We retain about 55% of the money. Allen calculated that for every one hour you volunteer, it puts about $30 in the bank for our organization.

We have worked 148 games thus far. We have games this Wednesday and this Saturday. Miguel will be reaching out to you soon. Larry and Sheila Balagna and Phil and Hazel Holifield took time to clean the concession stand. Allen was very grateful!  

Allen has been thrusted into the role of director of concessions because James Smith will be having hip surgery and will be out for a while. Allen will ask if someone will step up and help him make a list of list of items needed and purchases the items at SAMs.

Awareness -Special thanks to Lupe Hernandez for once again printing our Council Newsletter -it has several articles showing what we are up to as a Council. Please pick up a copy. Allen also asked for volunteers to help write articles on showcasing our activities and our members.

Church Activities – Vacant need a new leader here, but David Ybarra and James Smith will train/support

Program & Committee Reports

• Programs
  • Faith –  Marc Evans – Core/Men’s Spirituality/Bible study

                             These sessions are held 2^nd and 4^th Saturdays of the month at 6am in the Room 214. Marc  

                             showed a brief video as part of the Into the Breach series.  The session will focus on the

                             Vocation of Work. As we work, we are shaping ourselves. The next session is May 9^th.

• Family – Jeff Miller

John Espree’s mother-in-law, Anita Romero, passed away. We sent a plant to their home. Efrain Ochoa was hospitalized for back surgery, and Jeff was able to visit him. A plant has been sent to his home. Jorge Ruiz suggested we start the process of electing a Family of the Year for the 2026-2027 Fraternal Year. This can be in the running for the State Convention as a Family of the Year is selected every year.

• Community  – Dan Murphy (absent)

James said we will need to cook 700 hot dogs and 700 hamburgers for the Parish Picnic on May 24^th.

• Life  –  Mike Mouloughney -absent; GK Marc Evans led us in prayer

Stand and Pray 3 Hail Marys to end abortions.

1. First Hail Mary – for the Unborn
   1. Second Hail Mary – for the moms and dads of those unborn babies – that they allow their babies to be born.
      1. Third Hail Mary – for those in the abortion industry that they turn away from evil and seek the face of God.
   1. Admissions Committee – PGK Russell Gully
      1. The Admissions Committee has met three times in the past few days. Candidates: Steve Jones -He is retired and Phil Holifield is his proposer. Jones is currently travelling and may be available later. Armando Vasquez works for a glass company in Dallas; he is from Nicaragua and Adan Luna is his proposer. Cesario Garcia -He is single and works in IT; Adan Luna is his proposer; Mark Torres-He is single and works in plumbing. He is baptized Catholic but currently undergoing through RCIA. Allen Reitmeier is his proposer. Russell proposed that we accept these candidates into our Council. A motion was made to accept these candidates, the motion was seconded, and the motion passed.
      1. Nominating Committee -PKG Russell Gully -A new slate of officers were presented at this meeting. The committee consists of Russell Gully, Dan Murphy, Jorge Ruiz, and Jack Ramsden. We will elect our officers at our June monthly meeting. Nominations can still be taken from the floor but you must be a 3^rd degree Knight to qualify.

Grand Knight -Marc Evans

Deputy Grand Knight-Paul Ryan

Chancellor -Roberto Nieto

Treasurer -James Smith

Recorder -Gonzalo Aillon

Advocate -Russell Gully

Warden – Jesse Radillo

Inside Guard -Jim Ouimet

Outside Guard -Jorge Caraveo

Third Year Trustee – Cesar Villareal (past Grand Knight of another Council and a current member with us)

Two Year Trustee -Mike Fitzgerald

One Year Trustee: Dan Murphy

Financial Secretary -Peter Perta -He is not nominated but is appointed by Supreme

There are other positions that are not elected like our Lecturer, Joel Lopez

• Awareness Committee – SK Allen Reitmeier
  • Come to the website and read about our Council activities

• Council Activities –  Vacant need a new leader here
  • Health Director –  Dr. Robert Nieto – The next Carter Blood Drive will take place on Sunday, June 14^th from 8:30 a.m. until 2 p.m.
  • Retention – SK Paul Ryan –He  is pleased to announce he has recruited 2 Knights to help with retention: Moises Martinez and  Juan Torres
  • Knight of the Year -There was discussion on how this takes place; the Council is presented with a list of previous recipients (who are not eligible). The Nominating Committee can present a list of potential candidates and then the floor can be open for additional names to be added to the list.  

• Safe Environment – SK Russel Leroy

                             Once you have completed your training, e-mail a copy of your certificate to Russell Leroy at

                             leroyruss@icloud.com.

• Insurance Agent – SK Eben Fernandez -absent

Lecturer – SK Joel Lopez

                    He recommends seeing a movie called “Love and Mercy,” a story about the Polish nun, Sister Faustino who received God’s message of his Love and Mercy. We are all familiar with the painting of the Divine Mercy which was part of her vision

Unfinished Business

Gamaliel Hernandez said the current grill is not working at all. He used it recently during the ACTS Burgers to Go and some of the burners were not working. David Ybarra states we should go with a better brand than the one we currently have. A motion was made that we allot up to $2500 to purchase two new grills. The motion was seconded it, and the motion passed. The next vote will take place during the June meeting. Unfortunately, our parish picnic is coming up on the May 24th

New Business 

The parish office is asking if we are planning any fundraisers. We are still looking

The Good of the Order:

• Knight of the Month  –  Juan Espinosa

Prayer Intentions

• Pope Leo’s intentions for May of prayers that
  • “everyone might have food,” as he highlights how millions of brothers and sisters continue to suffer from hunger while so much food is wasted.”
• Bishop Burn’s intention

For the Dallas Synod, fostering a vibrant, growing Church, with key priorities including nurturing priestly vocations, promoting the sanctity of life, increasing catechesis, strengthening families, and deepening missionary discipleship.

• Efrain Ochoa, back surgery recovery
• Former District Deputy – Kebran Alexander
• Students graduating from schools and moving on to work, more schooling, or other life endeavors

Closing Ode

Closing Prayer – Canonization of Blessed Fr. McGivney 

50/50 Meeting Drawing  – Michael Luna (District Deputy)

50/50 Membership Drawing –  Hector Rubio (not present)

Meeting adjourned:  9:10 p.m.