State Deputy Page

November 28, 2007 - Granite Award Dinner Announcement

• My Brothers,

  It's time again to consider placing a name in nomination for the 2008 Granite Award Dinner. This nomination is intended to recognize a member of your community at large who exemplifies what it means to be a good neighbor.  A written nomination with testimony from people who know the individual and their work or news articles, or other documentation will assisting the people who will be judging the finalist to better understand the service the nominee has delivered to his/her community. Nominations need to be submitted to the New Hampshire State Council via our State Secretary Ed McCann. These can be mailed to him via U.S. mail to
  56 Brookside Drive, Merrimack, NH 03054 or sent via his email to emccann777@Comcast.net. If the field contains too many candidates then your State Officers will come up with a group of finalists. The list and their write-ups will then be put on the State Website. All State Officers, District Deputies and Grand Knights will get to cast one vote each via the system we used last year. Our State Secretary Ed McCann will tally and validate all votes cast and will be the only one who will know the winner until it is announced at the Granite Award Dinner.

   

  This year the Granite Award Dinner will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nashua and is scheduled for Saturday February 23^rd, 2008. Based on feedback and suggestions from Grand Knights last year and this year we have decided to try something new. As we will all be dressed to the hilt and in a very nice hotel, Knights have suggested having music and dancing before and after the dinner. (To be perfectly honest, I must confess that I heard the same thing from a number of our lovely wives as well.) So we have rented a large enough room in the hotel and booked a great DJ. This should make our wives happy and hopefully all that attend.

  To make this evening successful, I will need each of our Grand Knight’s help.

   

  First,      get your council involved to identify a deserving member of your community. The only stipulation is that it cannot be a Knight serving in an active leadership role (i.e. Grand Knight, District Deputy, State Director, State Chairman or State Officer.) If a past or former Knight’s leader is now assisting his community and is known by that community for his service, then he can be considered. If you submitted this individual in previous years and they have not won, you are encouraged to update and resubmit their write-up. If you identify some one new, have someone in your Council write up the submission and send it to Ed McCann.

  Second,  we are shooting for 200+ members and their wives to be in attendance. This means we need you to talk up the program with your Council and make it a Council Family event. If you encourage your Council Officers, Directors, Chairmen and Members to join you and your wife to attend the Granite Award as a Council Family, you will not only help us to make the evening successful, but you’ll also develop more involvement and fun within the ranks of your Council. It will definitely be a Win-Win situation.

   So mark your calendars for February Saturday February 23^rd, 2008 and start both the nomination process and promotion of this event within your Council! Further details about tickets and the evening agenda will follow.

  Thanks and God Bless

  Greg

  Greg Taillon, State Deputy

  New Hampshire State Council

   

November 27, 2007 - Change in State Program Director Responsibilities

• My Brothers,
   

              It is with great disappointment that I inform you that Glenn Camley will be stepping down from his position as State Program Director as of November 30^th, 2007. I appreciate all the service that Glenn has provided to our State Council, but understand that priorities of work and home must come first in our lives. Glenn works as a store manager in the retail space and often has to work long hours even during the non-holiday part of the year. As the Christmas shopping season is now in full bloom, he will be working even longer hours. I have asked him to consider a less time consuming position as one of our State Chairmen. I am hopefully that he will accept my offer and continue to stay active with the State. Whatever his decision, it will be respected.

              I am very pleased to also announce that as of December 1^st, Gary Wolpert will be assuming Glenn’s responsibilities through the remainder of the Fraternal Year as our new State Program Director. Gary’s organizational, communications and leadership skills have been demonstrated in his roles within his Council, as a State Service Director and as a District Deputy. He has a thorough understanding of our goal to increase Activity and Involvement within our local councils, thus delivering more service to our Church and local communities.

              While I know that Glenn will be supportive in assisting Gary during the shift in responsibilities and offering his guidance to allow a smooth transition, you as our Grand Knights can help as well.

  • First, get any service project that you have completed since March 15^th of 2006 to present written up on a State Service Form.
  • Secondly, please send all completed forms to:
    Gary Wolpert, 948 Valley Road, Mason, NH 03048. If you have completed your forms electronically you may also send them to Gary via his email at grwolp@verizon.net .

              The only way we can measure whether we are being successful in increasing Activity and Service throughout our local councils is through these submitted Service Forms. In that, they are very important. In addition to this measurement, they will also provide you with documentation for all your Council’s service projects for use the next time you schedule these events. Finally, as your Council’s leader, your attention to this matter will allow your Brother Knights to receive recognition from our entire State Council Family for their work in your local Church and community. This shows your appreciation to them for their time and efforts. May I offer my Thanks in advance for your attention to these two tasks. “Thank You!”

              The next time you see Gary Wolpert, please congratulate him of his new service role in our State Council as our State Program Director. And the next time you see Glenn Camley, please offer your thanks to the service he has provided.

   God Bless,

  Greg

  Greg Taillon, State Deputy

  P.S. Gary will be continuing in his role as District Deputy #7.

   

November 24, 2007 - Response to Knights' protest against Pro-Gay/Wed. Politicians

• My Worthy Brothers,

       First I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday. It is a time of great food, getting back in touch with family and friends as well as a time to ponder how truly fortunate we are in our country of plenty.

       I am writing you today in response to protests that occurred during the Supreme Convention in Nashville back in August and most recently in Massachusetts. In a nut shell, hard line Catholics are requesting our Supreme Council to oust knights serving as State or US representatives who vote in favor of gay-marriage or pro-abortion bills.  I'm current with these protests as well as the years of disagreement between Supreme and many knights who believed that Sen. Ed Kennedy should be removed as a Knight. I’ve attached the latest news item that has been circulated throughout the internet and sent to many of our email accounts.

       Organizations like the Knights, not unlike our Catholic Church, are unlikely to take a hard line on politicians who vote in favor of these controversial issues like abortion, same sex marriage and gay rights. Our Supreme bylaws don't have a provision to remove a member for no longer is fulfilling his duties as a Catholic, once he is a member, nor for voting against Church teachings. So if you are looking for this type of action from Supreme or our Catholic Church, you will likely be disappointed.

       This doesn’t mean that we must like this situation or agree with it. I believe that as Knights it leaves us with the challenge to privately and strongly declare our Catholic and Christian beliefs to the public without focusing our attention on how others decide to live their lives. As your State Deputy, I have chosen to also add positive action to those words by promoting Pro-life support by our local Councils. As an example, our new Birthright dinner, planned for January 12^th, will bring together the Directors of these NH Pro-Life organizations with their local Council Grand Knights and Pro-Life couples. This will hopefully be a positive event in helping to increase service to these Birthright type organizations by our local councils.

       When the topic of same sex marriage and other gay-rights issues arise, I choose to strongly declare what I believe in and why, to whomever will listen. I'm sure that you can be just as vocal. We must remember that we need to present these beliefs in an evangelistic approach. Confrontation and heated debate will not welcome others to our beliefs or our Faith. If you frame your beliefs as testimony in how it has had a positive effect in your life, you will be far more effective.

       More powerfully, when there are specific actions we can take that will achieve positive results, especially in the form of service activity, we should be greatly interested. Our challenge as Christian leaders is to serve others. So plan a Pro-Life fund raiser or support our Catholic teachings by helping your local parish’s RICA and Religious Education programs. Just getting embroiled in the debate will not bring any positive results. Those politicians are not going to change their viewpoints until the voters, who voted them in, change theirs. And attempting to turn the gigantic ship of the Supreme Council to a different course may also be a futile effort. I'd rather expend that energy on increasing the level of service we deliver to our Church and Communities.

       I’d like to challenge each of our Grand Knights and Councils to plan and run just one new activity during the month of December that supports Pro-Life or the promotion of our Catholic teachings. It can be a simple dinner, a communion breakfast, a local Pro-Life seminar, or a poster/essay contest for Religious Education students, just to name a few ideas. If you don’t chose to use one of these, I’m sure your creativity can come up with something appropriate for your Council. The important thing is that we all do things that bring Service Activity to the forefront of our actions as Knights.

  Thanks for listening!

   Greg

  God Bless
  Greg

  Greg Taillon
  State Deputy
  NH State Council, Knights of Columbus
  603-382-7239  G.Taillon at Comcast dot net

  Knights under fire: Pols targeted for pro-gay-wed votes

  BEACON HILL -- Accusing the Knights of Columbus of “hypocrisy,” a group of hardline Catholics is pushing for the fraternal organization to toss out 16 “pro-Sodomite” Bay State lawmakers who backed gay marriage.

  The California-based Concerned Roman Catholics of America picketed the annual Knights of Columbus convention in Nashville this week and handed out fliers urging members to oust the pro-gay-marriage Massachusetts solons as well as pro-abortion pols.

  “We basically want to see the Knights of Columbus expel these men because they’re not honoring the Catholic Church or their vows as a Knight,” said CRCOA president Kenneth Fisher, who is also a Knight.

  But Knights of Columbus spokesman Patrick Korten said the group has no plans to boot the Massachusetts lawmakers. Of the flap, he said: “The Knights of Columbus is a strongly pro-life organization. If there are a few members who don’t share those views, that’s unfortunate, but irrelevant.”

  One of the pols on the group’s hit list, state Rep. Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop), said: “I certainly respect the right of those who disagree with my vote on same-sex marriage to do so and to advocate for their point of view. It is my hope that they would also respect my right and responsibility as an elected official to, after listening to all the facts and arguments, decide what I think is the best course of action on issues before the Legislature.”

  Another on the list, Rep. Garrett Bradley (D-Hingham), said of the Knights: “We don’t agree on every issue, and this one of them. I’m going to vote the way I think is right, regardless of what this group or another group might want me to do.”

  The CRCOA Web site has posted the names of those it describes as “pro-Sodomite, pro-abortion Knights of Columbus” on its site, including several Bay State pols.

  Among those listed are City Councilors Michael Flaherty and John Tobin and former Senate President Robert Travaglini.

  The group also lists the names of 72 pro-abortion Catholics in Congress, including Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and John Kerry and Reps. Michael Capuano, William Delahunt, Richard Neal, Edward Markey and James McGovern.

  Boston-based CRCOA member John O’Gorman said the Knights should remove any politician whose views contrast with the group’s core Catholic teachings.

  “You can’t play for two teams,” he said. “We have to know which team you’re on.”

   

October 15, 2007 - Welcome to our new State Membership Director

• My Brothers,
     As you probably know TJ Jean, our State Membership Director, resigned his position in our State Council due to the demands of his work and family life. At that time, I sent out a message to all Grand Knights for their recommendations to fill this important position. I received three terrific candidates from your responses! THANK YOU!! I believe that all three would have done a great job. The individual I chose is a Past Grand Knight who exceeded the membership growth he set as his Council's goal. During the two years he served as Membership Director for his Council, it achieved Star Council recognition two years in a row. He is currently a very busy knight within his council, who focuses his attention on Activity and Member development. He clearly understands the relationship between Activity and Council Growth. He also understands how Focused Recruitment that is tied to Activity goals can make a Council successful. I believe he will hit the road running and be able to make a great contribution to our efforts this year.
  
  It gives me great pleasure to announce that Richard Bouchard, PGK from the Derry Council as accepted my invitation to serve as our State Membership Director. Please welcome and congratulate him on his new State Council position. Rich's contact information is already on the State Officers page.
  
  You will get to meet Rich this Sunday as he will be attending the State Quarterly Meeting and presenting a short Membership talk.
  
  God Bless
  Greg
  Greg Taillon, State Deputy

October 11, 2007 - Congratulation to the Bishop Neumann Circle #4897

• My Brothers,
  Our Church Director Ed Mele, sent me notice that congratulations were in order to a very rewarding Squires Circle within our State. The Bishop Neumann Circle #4897 is to be congratulated for their actions that netted them the Brother Barnabas Award from the Supreme Council for their "Turkey Drive" that went to the local food bank and their letter from Bishop McCormack. They have shown that it is more blessed to give than receive.
  
  May I also offer my congratulations to their hosting Council, The Bishop Neumann Council #6949 in Londonderry for their support, encouragement and adult leadership.
  
  God Bless
  Greg
  Greg Taillon, State Deputy

October 4, 2007 - Spot Light on our Grand Knights

• In an effort to bring our State Council closer together in Fellowship and Service, we've added a new page on the State Website. It's called "Spot Light on our Grand Knights". A short but "Up Close and Personal" profiles questionnaire was sent to all Grand Knights serving the NH State Council who I had e-mail addresses for. The questionnaire is formatted into an easy to complete and submit PDF form that Grand Knights can answer with no special computer skills.
  
  Our intent is for you to get to know these gentleman of service a little better and hopefully glean a few ideas from them. Selections were not chosen in any order. Each month we will add a few more until we have a good cross section of local council leaders. If you are serving as a Grand Knight and have not received the a copy of the survey from me, please send your request via email, phone or paper mail. I will either email the form to you or send you a paper copy via U.S. mail.
  
  To all knights looking toward the future when they will serve their councils as Grand Knight:
  Take a look at these leadership profiles and ask yourself how you might employ their Activity strategies and the ideas presented for succeeding in this the most import job in the Order.
  
  God Bless
  Greg
  Greg Taillon, State Deputy

October 4, 2007 - Come to the Ball!!! - A personal invitation from your State Deputy

• To: All my Brothers and Sisters of our NH State Council family
  From: Greg Taillon, State Deputy
  Subject: NH State Council 2007 State Ball
  
  To one and all, may I offer my most sincere personal invitation for you and your Council Family to join us at this year's NH State Council Ball. This is YOUR State Ball, because it is also YOUR State Council. So we welcome you to this event and ask your support to one our YOUR State Council Events!
  
  Make this a Council Family event! Plan on at least enough couples from your Council Family to take a whole table. It's not hard to do this. Between your Council Staff of Officers, Directors and Chairmen, a group of 5 couples should be an easy thing to organize and promote. Don't forget those new members you just welcomed into your Council. Their exposure to the State Organization your Council belongs to is extremely important. It is important to their future aspirations to someday assume a leadership role in their Council as a Grand Knight or Council Officer. Make this a fun, social activity that brings your staff and membership closer together as a working group but also as part of the extended State Council Family they all belong to.
  
  Come and Enjoy the fellowship of your brother Knights! One of the most enjoyable aspects of our State Convention is the opportunity to once again renew friendships established between my brother knights throughout the State of New Hampshire. This fellowship is the real spirit of our State Convention! So let's bring this same spirit of fellowship to our State Ball, to our Granite Award dinner and to all our State Events.
  
  Just some of the reasons you and your Council Family will want to attend the State Ball this year:

  ☺Come enjoy the families        of our State Council!	They are Catholics like yourself that have the same morals, beliefs and Christians ideals as you do.
  ☺Come enjoy        your brothers knights!	They are men like yourself that have answered the call to assume Christian Leadership to deliver service to their Church and Community.
  ☺Come enjoy        the fun of the evening	We have planned a fun social event in a new location, with new music, a new format, a highly recommended caterer, and special activities throughout the evening.
  ☺Come be welcomed       by your State Officers	We have a planned a receiving line so that each Knight & Lady can be personally welcomed by the State Officers and their wives.
  ☺Come support       the local & state charities       of New Hampshire	The State Raffle provides thousands of dollars in donations to both local and state charities. With the exception of the ticket printing costs and the raffle prizes, 100% of the collected funds will be given to local and state charitable organizations and state scholarships.
  ☺Come make it        even better!!	We will be surveying a sample of the attending Grand Knights to collect their feedback of the event and to accept suggestions for improvements for the 2008 State Ball.

  
   I am looking forward to seeing you and your Council Family at the Ball!
  
  God Bless
  Greg
  Greg Taillon, State Deputy
  
   

September 27, 2007 - State Membership Director Position now Open
                                (Thoughts of the role of a Council Membership Directors)

• I have just recently received the resignation of State Membership Direct TJ Jean. TJ explained that the pressures of his job and the demands of his family life were not given him the time he believed were necessary to accomplish this State Position to his expectations. I appreciate TJ's service during this first quarter of the fraternal year. He most recently assisted the State Council as a presenter at one of the Regional Seminars and his insight, ideas and presentation style were very well received.
  
  I will now pray for guidance and insight to find a replacement for the remainder of the Fraternal Year. You my brothers can assist me in offering your suggestions for possible candidates for this role. I am looking for a gentleman who understands that it is not membership quotas that will grown our State Council, but instead focused recruitment that is based on a goaled increase of Activity. I'm looking for someone who can speak to Grand Knights and Council Membership Directors with motivation, enthusiasm and a positive expectant attitude. He will need to be able to explain how Activity and Focused Recruitment work together. He should be able to understand the role of a Council Membership Director (See below) and be able to advise Grand Knights of their Membership Director's duties and measurement.
  
  In that light, I'd like to share with you my thoughts on the position and the skills set of your own Council Membership Director and how they might be successful and measured by you in your efforts to increase activity and service delivered by your Council. 

  Director of State Membership Activities

  I have seen in many councils the role of the Membership Director as a recruiter only. A new Grand Knight, when wrestling with the decision of whom to make his Membership Director, is obviously going to consider someone who knows how to recruit. If the position had the title of Council Membership Recruiter, it would be a great choice. But as it stands, that is not the title of this Council role; it is instead “Membership DIRECTOR”. If we change the order of the words of this title, it might help to see its real purpose.

  Director of Membership sounds more like a Director of Admissions, like at a school or university. And this is how I see this role. Just like a College Director of Admissions, the Director of Membership should have similar responsibilities. There are four broad areas that I see as common.

  1.      Setting an Admissions Agenda – a formal plan that ties the Activity Goals of the Council to the overall Growth of the Council.

  2.      Recruitment Activity - identifying whom to recruit; marketing efforts necessary to attract them, and matching whom we recruited with whom we needed.

  3.      New Member Orientation – the initial training and planned development to allow new members to become knowledgeable about the organization they have joined and how it operates.

  4.      New Member Integration – the process for transforming a new member into an “existing member” who is actively involved in the committees, programs and social structure of the council.

  Part of our obsession of focusing on new members lies in the need to retain a level of active members in a Council. I don’t know what the exact numbers are throughout our Order, but within the councils I have been involved with it’s not that unusual to have less than 20% of the members in a council who could be considered Active. Let’s be very liberal here in our definition of an Active member. Let’s assume that an Active member is one that either attends at least three events throughout the year, or chairs, or actively works in at least one event in a year’s time. Even with this liberal definition it just is not that unusual to have 75-80% of the membership in the Inactive ranks. If we were able to recruit even 10 or 15% from this group of men to work on the Activity projects of the Council that would help accomplish these goals. So measure the success of your Director of Membership based on getting men to fulfill the Activity goals of the Council and not just recruiting a particular number of new members. While the responsibility of keeping existing members active lies with the Council’s Chancellor, there’s nothing that says he can’t work with the Membership Director to run a few focused drives to attract existing inactive members back to areas of their Council’s service offerings that they may regain an interest in. If we are throwing 75-80% of our members on the Suspension and Inactivity heap pile we can not sustain any level of service. If we need continually to admit new members, shouldn’t someone be asking why? It appears to be an inexcusable waste of talent and experience.

  Please be clear on my direction here. I don’t view this as an either or situation. That is, to recruit new members or to recruit existing inactive members. Every Catholic man is a potential leader of your Council, but so are existing inactive members. You have to have both in your Membership Agenda and the need to recruit or reactivate these members is because the Council has something planned for them to do.

  Like a Director of Admissions, the Director of Membership’s role includes the orientation and integration of new members into the organization. Just as schools orient their new students to how their school work and how to be successful there, so to should a Director of Membership. Developing a formal New Member Program that all new members are enrolled in at the time of their admissions can help standardize this orientation process. Once developed, the program will be able to be used no matter who the Membership Director is. And what kinds of things should be in this program? It should contain the formal goals, training and planned development for the new members.

  Goals could be very simple: meet three existing members each month, meet and talk with a Past Grand Knight of the Council, attend another first degree, co-chair a Council Event, meet one on one with the Grand Knight, develop a personal goal for your participation within the council, etc, etc.

  Training could be done in small groups of new members with different Council Officers and could be augmented with a New Member Packet, containing some or all of the following:

  ·     Welcome letter from the Grand Knight

  ·     Current Council Roster

  ·     Copy of the Council’s Bylaws

  ·     Knight in Shining Armor Information Card

  ·     Council Event Calendar

  ·     Copy of the Council’s Newsletter

  ·     Council Mailing List Information Card

  ·     Details of the first 3 assigned events

  ·     Council History

  ·     Assigned PGK

  ·     3 copies of Form-100

  ·     A guide to making motions for the beginner

  ·     A wife and family’s guide to your Council and the Knights

  ·     Unique information about your Council

  ·     Appointment Card to meet with the Members Development Team

  Expand or tailor this package to your Council’s unique needs. Spend some time explaining to your new members everything contained in their packets and answer any questions they might have. Make the contents of this packet and the expectations that are set forth in it, something to be reviewed at the end of every Grand Knight’s term of office. Reviewing the packet will allow new ideas to be added and appropriate changes to be introduced on how the packet is used within your Council and will also allow the new Grand Knight and his new Membership Director to benefit from a reviewed and revised membership tool.

  Measurement

  What is the true measurement of a successful Membership Director? Some might say it is the achievement of Supreme’s net Membership Quota. But by now you should be able to view this quite differently. It’s not how many you recruit, but whom you recruit and what you do with them afterwards.

  If your Membership Director is correctly identifying the type of men your Activity Goals require and after recruiting them is able to orient them and help ensure their integration into your Council, then I’d say he was very successful.

  If instead your Membership Director is your star recruiter and brings new members into your Council with no interest or expectation to support the Council’s new activities/events and who have not been indoctrinated into your Council or integrated into its committees, programs and social structure, then it is likely that these new members are destined to the realms of Inactivity, lack of Involvement without a permanent connection to your Council. Without serious intervention their path to suspension is only waiting the passage of time.

  The second aspect of your Membership Director’s performance is how well he has led, organized and made repeatable the membership efforts and practices of his Council.

  • How well has he taught others to recruit, involve, and integrate new members into the Council’s Activity?
  • How well has he married the need for workers and activity goals of the other Council directors with his own recruitment/involvement plans?
  • How well has he prepared other members to follow in his own footsteps?

  These are measurement questions that a Grand Knight can use both to set goals for and to evaluate his Membership Director.
  
  Thank you for your time you have taken to read and hopefully consider the use of these ideas. I would greatly appreciate your feedback and comments.
  
  God Bless
  Greg
  Greg Taillon, State Deputy
   

September 22, 2007 - Forms! - Forms! - Form!

• Worthy Grand Knights and Brothers All,
  
  As a PGK, having served in your role for two years, I know and appreciate your efforts in dealing with forms and other paperwork requested by Supreme or our State Council. But as your Council's elected leader it remains a necessary and important administrative requirement you need to keep current with.
  
  Currently there are 6 councils (Littleton, Franklin 2170, Groveton, Derry, Newmarket and Hillsborough) that have not submitted their Form #185. This is your Chosen Officers. It should have been fill out by your Financial Secretary at your Council's elections night in May or June and then submitted the next day.
  
  Currently there are 21 Councils that have not submitted their Form #365. This is your list of Directors and Chairmen. It should have been filled out (even partially) and submitted in July by the Grand Knight. This is how Supreme communicated to your Council for Program and Membership helps and information. You can always submit updates to this form as you complete your staff assignments.
  
  Currently there are 10 councils (Portsmouth 140, Lancaster, Littleton, Derry, Columbia, Manchester 4875, Newport, Hampton, Newmarket and Hillsborough) that have not submitted their Semi-Annual Audit. Not only you as the Grand Knight, but also your Trustees have a financial responsibility to complete and submit your Audit in a timely fashion.
  
  This year we have not nagged your District Deputy to nag you about getting these forms in. We have not done this, because these forms as not the responsibility of your District Deputy. They are your responsibility! Because of this, this message is being directed and sent to you. As your State Deputy, I would ask you to take this responsibility to heart and personally ensure that all missing forms are completed and submitted. These forms are available on the Supreme Web site so you can fill them out and submit them electronically or print them and paper mail them.
  
  Either way, take as a goal to be among the Councils in our State that have all forms submitted.
  
  I appreciate and thank you for your consideration to this matter.
  
  Thanks and God Bless
  Greg
  Greg Taillon, State Deputy
  
  P.S. My congratulations and best wishes to the following Councils who have submitted all these forms already
  

September 13, 2007 - Welcome our New State Youth Director

• Please welcome GK Fred Ouellette as our new State Youth Director. Fred has now taken over the position's responsibilities from District Deputy Gary Wolpert.
  
  Fred is a Former District Deputy who has served as our Free Throw Chairman last year and again this year. We welcome his enthusiasm, experience and positive approach to Youth Activities and expect him to contribute to an increase in Council Youth Events with our local councils this year.
  
  I wish to personally thank DD Gary Wolpert for being so gracious and helpful to our State Council for performing both his District Deputy duties as well as filling in as State Youth Director until we were able to find another to replace him. Gary will continuing to serve as our Soccer Challenge Chairman this year.
  Fred's contact information:
  Fred Ouellette, State Youth Director           (603) 692-3814    FreddieO54 at  Yahoo dot com

September 9, 2007 - Congratulations to our Star and Double Star Council Winners

• It is my great pleasure to recognize the Grand Knights who last fraternal year accomplished a level of Activity, increased Membership and growth in Insurance Members to earn the Star Council Award, the highest distinction available to a local K of C council, for the 2006-07 fraternal year. These councils, led by the grand knights listed here, conducted at least 20 charitable and fraternal programs — four each in the five “Surge.. .with Service” areas: Church, Community, Council, Family and Youth. The councils also achieved their membership and insurance quotas. The grand knights listed below will receive an appropriately engraved plaque from the Supreme Council in recognition of the council’s accomplishments.
  Of these councils, Grand Knight Dan Halpin, earned the Double Star Council Award for meeting 100 percent of his insurance quota and 200 percent of his membership quota.

  In recognition the State Council will recognize these Councils by both annotating a star symbol in the upcoming State Directory and by referring to them as Star Council or Double Star Council during all Roll Calls.

  Star Council Winner	Grand Knight 2006-07
  ¶4875 St. Anselm College (Manchester), ¶5162 Rev. Faucher (Hudson), ¶5748 Marian (Manchester), ¶6850 St.Joseph/St. Raymond (Epping) ¶6949 Bishop Neuman (Londonderry) ¶11573 Resurrection (Nashua)	GK Marcus E. Pratt GK Sean K 0. Neil GK Wayne E. Morris GK David A. Biron GK Richard C. Menard GK Joel M. Ackeman

   

  Double Star Council Winner	Grand Knight 2006-07
  ¶¶ 12988 Msgr. Donahue (Bedford)	GK Dan D. Halpin Jr.

  This is a level of achievement available to all Grand Knights and I would hope that this goal be one of the Council Goals each of our Grand Knights sets for his Council this year.

  How to Accomplish Star Council

  The Star Council award in made up of three separate but related goals.

  Columbian Award for Council Activity
  McGivney Award for Membership Growth
  Founder's Award for Insurance Growth

  The strategy we have communicated to you at the July State Council Gathering in Littleton was to focus your attention on planning for and accomplishing an increased level of Activity within your Council. Setting a goal of 30 Service Projects (6 for each service area) should be the goal of each Grand Knight. This will not only ensure your Council of qualifying for the Columbian Award (one of the 3 requirements for Star Council) but will also attract new men from your parish to your Council. (People are attracted to Active Organizations!) This will move your Council forward toward the McGivney Award (Another of the 3 requirements for Star Council)

  Utilizing your Field Agent to assist you in Focused Recruitment that is fueled by the Activity you have planned for will go a long way toward qualifying for the Founder's Award (Another of the 3 requirements for Star Council). Employing the Knight in Shining Armor Award program with each of your new members will both ensure their continued active involvement and assist you in future membership growth for your Council.

  If you haven't already constructed your 18 month Council Event Calendar it is not to late. Remember while we all intuitively understand the benefits of Increased Activity, it doesn't just happen. We have to PLAN FOR IT! Not sure how to get your Council Activity Plan for the ground? Read that section on Activity and Repeatable Practices of the GK Leadership Training book "Toward a More Active Council" you received from your District Deputy and plan to attend the Membership & Activity Regional Seminar to be held in the next three weeks. I can assure you that you and your council will benefit for the ideas presented.

  God Bless
  Greg
  Greg Taillon, NH State Deputy

August 20, 2007 - Welcome Two New District Deputies Ken Goddard and PSD Stan Polan

• It is my great honor to welcome two new District Deputies. First Ken Goddard will be assuming the responsibilities of our Manchester District #12 which includes the Manchester Councils:(92,4875 and 5260), as well as his home council Merrimack(6725). Ken will also be taking on the challenges of exploring a New Council Development effort at  St. Theresa Parish in Henniker. Ken is a former District Deputy who served two years under PSD Norm Lemerise. Because of  this he brings with him a level of Council/District experience and proven leadership skills.  Ken, welcome aboard!

• Secondly, we are graced by the continued active service of PSD Stan Polan. Stan will be heading up our new 16th District. This position is aimed at Council and Member Reactivation. I like calling this District our Council Renewal District. Stan will have assigned to him the following inactive councils: Manchester Councils (10857,11089 and12013), Portsmouth(7739), Whitefield(1956), Wolfeboro(6910). Complimentary to this position Stan has also accepted our Council Reactivation State Chairman position. Having served under Stan when he was State Deputy, I know he possesses a very broad knowledge of Council Development and Renewal, and has outstanding communications and mentoring skills. Stan, welcome aboard!

•  Please offer your congratulations and thanks to both these men for their positive willingness to be of service again to their State Council.

August 12, 2007 - NEW MEMBERSHIP SUSPENSION PROCESS

• My Brothers,
  
  "What if we were to do away with the Suspension Process?"
  
      The following News Item is a Hoax!
  It is presented here as a way of getting your attention and hopefully getting our thinking out of the box (Out of our traditional comfort zone or the way things were and have been always done.)
   

  Supreme Board of Directors suspends Membership Suspension Process NEW HAVEN, CT - Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson announced that the Supreme Board of Directors have approved a change in the Membership Suspension process. As of this date, no local council will be allowed to suspend a member for unpaid dues. Once recruited and brought into their local council ranks each member's retention and involvement will become the sole and continued responsibility of their local Council. Supreme Knight Anderson stated further that each member recruited into a local council is a valuable asset that should never be lost due to financial reasons. With the new process in place, local councils will need to focus their efforts more on the Retention and Involvement of members than on the previous processing of Suspension.

   

  What would you think if this were real? How would it change the way your council approached both Recruitment and Retention

  If you couldn't suspend a member once they had lost interest in the activities of the Council what would be your only alternative? Re-Activate him?

  If you didn't think you could put a new candidate to work and achieve a high level of involvement for him, would you hold off recruiting him until you could?

   

  Retention is many times viewed as whom we didn’t suspend. This is an “after it’s too late” approach. If we call a brother who hasn’t paid his dues for the past few years and attempt to convince him to pay up instead of being suspended, even if we are successful, we are probably putting off the inevitable. A better way to look at Retention is as a process that keeps existing members active and involved. This process is not a subtle difference but one of significant change in both our planning and approach. Saying “Whom do we need to suspend” versus “whom do we need to get more involved” requires a radical change in behavior and mindset by your Council. It also requires serious self-reflection on what we are doing or not doing to have lost the interest of an existing member.

  What if instead you were to view the whole process as a Repeatable and Continuous practice of identifying and developing Involvement Opportunities? Let me explain. Let’s say your Council has 100 members and 20 are active in at least two events during the year, then your Involvement Opportunity is 80 members. If you and our staff can call just 25% of this list each month (or 20 members), you’d find out how these members would like to be involved in the Council. Make sure the people who do the calling have a list of current and upcoming events as well as a list of things that remote members can do, without having to be on site.

  What if you the Grand Knight and your staff could only get half of these 80 members to show up for a new activity or to accept a task that they could do at home? What a different transition of Retention responsibility this would be in July when the new Grand Knight takes over. Letting the new Grand Knight know that 40 members have been made active and involved again and that 40 remain as an ongoing opportunity for future involvement is a far more positive approach than handling him 40 suspension notices! As the new Grand Knight takes over this process of seeing these men as opportunities rather than suspensions it can continue as a normal practice of the Council. The new perspective views these members as a responsibility to Involve rather than Suspend. These brothers are the responsibility of every Council member. And with that in mind, you and your staff should be working with and encouraging the active brothers of the Council to take on the responsibility of calling just one inactive brother per month. Their job is to contact the member assigned to them and to relate the current events and activities of the Council and ask what they would like to get involved in. You as the Grand Knight and your staff must:

  - Identify current Inactive Members of the Council.

  - Break the list into quarters and assign a name to each Officer, Director and Active member of the Council each month.

  - Document a list of current and upcoming events and activities.

  - Document a list of alternate tasks that would help the Council but could be completed at home.

  - Keep the list updated as these members are reactivated. If possible print this information on a sheet to pass to each caller. Here’s a possible script you might want to consider using.

  Re-Activation Script

  “Hi, this is <Your Name>. I’m a brother Knight of our Knights of Columbus Council. As we haven’t heard from you for a while I’d like to check in on you to make sure everything is okay.
  How is everything going with you and your family?” <Listen and respond to what they have said>
  If there is a need ask how the Council might be of help. Assuming everything is okay continue with the following:

  “I’d like to make you aware of some of the events and activities planned for our Council.” <List the Events and Activities>

  The next thing is very important as it asks HOW they’d like to be involved and not IF

  “Which of these would you like to join us or assist our Council with?” <Make sure to thank them and tell them you look forward to seeing them and/or working with them again>

  The process is painless, requires no more than five minutes a month to complete, and yet has a tremendous impact in the Re-Activation process of your Involvement Opportunities. And finally, it sure beats the alternative of suspending Brothers from your Council.

  Thank you for reading and responding to this letter, I hope it will give you new ideas and ways of retaining the members within your Council.

  God Bless
  Greg
  Greg Taillon, NH State Deputy
  
   

August 11, 2007 - 'Bella' - The Movie

• Worthy Grand Knights,

  At the State Deputy Orientation Meetings in New Haven, Supreme Knight, Carl Anderson, introduced all in attendance to the new movie  “Bella.”  It was a winner at the Toronto Film Festival and is a movie worthy of our support.

  All who viewed it were very impressed, especially with the main actor, Eduardo Verastegui and the producer, Leo Severino.

  Our Supreme Knight stated, “That it could be about any Catholic family,” as it shows a strong “Pro Life” position, which we support with time and dollars every year. 

  As this film is made available to our New Hampshire communities,  I urge each and every brother knight and his family to view it and than encourage your parishioners to do the same by speaking with your Pastors to get the message about the film to Parish. 

  Your Supreme Council and State Deputy are very supportive of this film and I urge all Knights of Columbus and their families to stand up and do something positive in your communities.
  Go Bless
  Greg

  Information Pack and Reviews of 'Bella' the Movie
   

July 25, 2007 - Presentations from the July 22nd State Council Organizational Meeting

• As requested I have placed the presentations from our Quarterly Organizational Meeting here on the State Deputy page. I've converted each presentation to both a PowerPoint presentation file and a Web presentation for those that do not have Microsoft-PowerPoint on their PCs.  In addition various other pages have been updated with information I received from our Officers, Directors and Chairmen.
  God Bless
  Greg
   

  PowerPoint Presentation File Format	Web Page Presentation Format
  01 Organizational Meeting July 2007.pps	Organizational Meeting July 2007
  02 Activity Training.pps	Activity Training
  03 State Ceremonials.pps	State Ceremonials
  04 State Programming.pps	State Programming
  05 State Membership Report.pps	State Membership Report

 July 1, 2007 - Welcome to the new Fraternal Year!

• My Worthy Brothers,

      As a means of you getting to know you better I will be attending many Council, Assembly and District Organizational Meetings this year. For you to get to know me a little better I've included my acceptance speech from the Convention.

  
  May 6, 2007

  My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

      May I first express my great joy in being here with you this weekend. It’s like coming home to a Family Reunion.

  Today is my Birthday! And yesterday, my brother knights gave me a wonderful Birthday present: Their confidence in me to serve as their State Deputy starting in July. I consider this an opportunity to be of Service to you my extended family, to the communities of our State through the service delivered by our local Councils and to my Church.

      I have prepared myself for this opportunity with over 22 years of membership learning in the service of my local Council as an active member, Council Director, Officer and eventually Grand Knight; by gaining experience in the mentoring and coaching of other Grand Knights as a District Deputy and finally by developing an understanding of the workings of our State Council by serving in various State Chairmen, State Director and State Officer positions.

      The most valuable knowledge I gained in those years was through my interaction and fellowship with the many hard working, service driven knights, their wives and families who clearly understand the true mission of our Order, which is the same mission we have as Christians: To bring others to our Faith and the Good News of Redemption and Salvation.

      As Knights we must be visible role models of the Christian Cause. We and our families are called upon to evangelize the Good News of Christ through our works of Charity and Service that we deliver to our Church and Communities. By this activity we have an opportunity to bring the un-Churched, the uninvolved and those searching for meaning and purpose in their lives to a closer relationship with our Savior.

      With your help, your active involvement and your spiritual and prayerful support, I pledge to work with you to build on the administrative and spiritual foundation that has been laid and made firm by our immediate Past State Deputy Ed Kennedy  and our current State Deputy Tom Ingham (currently Immediate Past State Deputy).

  We will re-dedicate our efforts to Mary our Blessed Mother and will continue to carry and pray our rosaries asking her to direct all of our efforts to the Service of our Church and Communities.

  One of my key focuses will be to help increase the level of Activity within our local Councils and within our State Council. Active organizations attract new Members!

      My next focus will be to help improve the level of involvement within our local councils and again within our State Council. Members who have a strong connection to their Councils by being needed in the planning and running of that organization rarely become suspensions.

      Talented and dedicated Knights who are given the opportunity to be involved in State Council planning, decision making and responsibility, are more likely to grow in their leadership abilities and become future State Council Leaders.

      My third focus will be to promote and encourage Grand Knights and their staffs to adopt Council-owned Repeatable Practices. Councils that plan for future Activity past the term of their current Grand Knight; who budget for their Charitable giving and the expenses to fund their planned Service; and those that manage the Service and Leadership development of their new and existing members will continue to be Strong Active role models of Service, independent of which gentlemen is wearing the Grand Knight’s jewel of office.

  State Councils that actively develop, document and use standard practices for the duties of their Officers, District Deputies, Directors and Chairmen not only develop the Leadership abilities of these men but also provide a strong and healthy Officer Progression. This also makes these jobs less intimidating and improves the Ease of Entry into State Council Service.

      Building on practices established during Ed and Tom’s terms of office, we will continue to add and improve these efforts.

      There is much work to do, more than the list of positions within our State Directory. We need Council Members to also be involved in the running of their State Council.

      We are looking for men with all kinds of talents.

      This involvement will challenge you to use your own unique abilities and experiences. They will provide you with exposure to the how your State Council runs, how it can be improved and how it can be naturally grown through the increase of Activity and Involvement.

      My goal is to fit something that is meaningful and has value, to improve our State Council, to the personality, talents and experience of the knights I assign them to. So if you wish to be involved and active in the service of your State Council, give me a call and we’ll setup an one-on-one meeting to discuss and put you to work.

  I again wish to thank you for this opportunity to be of Service. May God Bless and watch over you and your families. Please know that you remain in my prayers and please keep me in yours.

   God Bless,
   Greg
  State Deputy 2007-08

July 1, 2007 - Growth is in the A. I. R.  !

• Our theme this year is Growth is in the A. I. R. The letters stand for Activity, Involvement and Repeatable practices.
  Activity breeds growth