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Children's Party

Santa Claus leads the singing at Cargill Council 64, Knights of Columbus’s annual children’s Christmas party, held for the young children and grandchildren of Cargill’s Knights at the council’s home in Putnam on Sunday, Dec. 13. Photo: Cargill Council 64.

 

 

PUTNAM — The Christmas spirit is alive and well at Cargill Council 64, Knights of Columbus, as Brother Knights recently spent a weekend holding its annual widow’s Christmas flower delivery and its children’s Christmas party, as well as welcoming two new members at a special ceremony.

 “Down through the years we’ve paid a few bills and shoveled a few driveways and helped some of our widows move, whatever they’ve needed,” said the council’s elected leader, Grand Knight Matthew R. Frederick. “This is something we’re committed to do as Knights. It’s an honor and a privilege for us to be there as best we can for these women, now that their husbands aren’t there.”

Dec. 11 and 12, the council’s 23 local widows received a red poinsettia, as part of a personal home visit from the Knights. The four who live out of state received Christmas cards. The widows range in age from 55 to 97.

Dec. 13 the Cargill Council 64 Home on Providence Street was filled with squeals of delight from more than 30 of the members’ young children and grandchildren, at the annual children’s Christmas party, co-sponsored by the Daughters of Isabella St. Mary’s Circle 543, of Putnam. The council raises money year-round to pay for the event, which included a Christmas tree, hot dogs and candy, songs, games, a new toy for every child and a visit from Santa Claus.

The day also included a private initiation ceremony before the party, when a Cargill Council ceremonial team welcomed two men, Nicholas A. Gardner of Pomfret, and Steven Sipperly of Moosup, into Cargill Council as brand new Knights of Columbus. The team has held at least five such ceremonies annually since 1982.

Founded in Putnam on July 26, 1892, Cargill Council 64 is made up of over 200 local Roman Catholic men and their families. The council serves Putnam, Pomfret, Woodstock and parts of the surrounding towns, as a ministry of both St. Mary Church of the Visitation in Putnam and Most Holy Trinity Church in Pomfret. Working continuously since 1892, it’s the 64th local council founded since the Knights international organization began ten years before.