4th Degree raffle tickets will be available for purchase for a $5,000 travel package after the May 21-22 masses; Drawing in August;
The highlighted Program this month comes from the Life category. It is the Ultrasound Program. Save lives and help women choose life by giving them the opportunity to view their unborn children on ultrasound machines at pro-life pregnancy centers. This initiative is funded by state and local councils and matching grants from the NJ State Council and Supreme Council’s Culture of Life Fund. Work together to purchase ultrasound machines for qualifying pregnancy centers. After the state and/or local council raises 50% of the cost, the Supreme Council will provide the other 50% to complete funding for purchase of an ultrasound. A featured program, Ultrasound Program counts for two credits toward the Columbian Award. Medford Council 6520 proposed a join effort by the Burlington County Chapter councils to raise funds for an Ultrasound machine for Options for Women Pregnancy Center in Cherry Hill. Need to raise about $9,000 total. NJ State Council will match the $9,000 and Supreme will match the $18,000 for a total of $36,000. With 15 Councils in the Chapter, that comes to only $600 per Council to reach this goal. Please considering having a fundraiser as you plan for next Columbian year’s programs. ✞
Marv Rusnak, Council Newsletter Editor
10 Fawn Ct, Marlton, NJ 08053
Home: (856) 985-9626, Mobile: (609) 760-0263
Marv_Rusnak@Yahoo.com
May 2022
Newsletter Editor’s Message
Some people celebrate Cinco de Mayo on the 5th of May each year. Today, the way this day is celebrated seems to have alcoholic beverage similarities with St. Patrick’s Day, but that is merely my observation. The Britannica Encyclopedia says this about that Mexican tradition:
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Cinco de Mayo, (Spanish: “Fifth of May”) also called Anniversary of the Battle of Puebla, holiday celebrated in parts of Mexico and the United States in honor of a military victory in 1862 over the French forces of Napoleon III. Cinco de Mayo is Thursday, May 5th this year.
When in 1861 Mexico declared a temporary moratorium on the repayment of foreign debts, English, Spanish, and French troops invaded the country. By April 1862 the English and Spanish had withdrawn, but the French, with the support of wealthy landowners, remained in an attempt to establish a monarchy under Maximilian of Austria and to curb U.S. power in North America. On May 5, 1862, a poorly equipped mestizo and Zapotec force under the command of General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated French troops at the Battle of Puebla, southeast of Mexico City; about 1,000 French troops were killed. Although the fighting continued and the French were not driven out for another five years, the victory at Puebla became a symbol of Mexican resistance to foreign domination. The city, which was later renamed Puebla de Zaragoza, is the site of a museum devoted to the battle, and the battlefield itself is maintained as a park.
The day is celebrated in the state of Puebla with parades, speeches, and reenactments of the 1862 battle, though it is not much noticed in most of the rest of the country. In the mid-20th-century United States, the celebration of Cinco de Mayo became among Mexican immigrants a way of encouraging pride in their Mexican heritage. Critics observed that enthusiasm for the holiday celebration did not take off with a broader demographic until it was explicitly linked with the promotion of Mexican alcoholic beverages and that many U.S. festivities tended to both perpetuate negative stereotypes of Mexicans and promote excessive drinking.
Cinco de Mayo is not to be confused with Mexican Independence Day, which falls on September 16. The latter holiday was established in 1810, some 50 years before the Battle of Puebla occurred.
Are you interested in learning why the Knights of Columbus Life Insurance benefits program is the most highly rated program in North America and what it could mean for your family? Do you wonder why the Knight's sell Life Insurance? This was one of our founding principles meant to provide a means of protection for our families in case of tragedy. Purchasing LIfe Insurance is completely optional but is available to all Knight's if desired. If you are interested in learning more, Call or email Carl Bruno at
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