Maine Knights Bulletin Board

My son, Tyler Kachnovich of Livermore recently participated in a free throw competition sponsored by the KOC. At the local level there was not even a member, to my knowledge, of the KOC at the free throw competition in Jay. Tyler won the 11-year old age group for the district which entitled him to advance to the state competition in Old Town on March 14th. He and two other participants drove more than two hours to represent their district. Tyler won the 11-year old group, shooting 22 out of 25 free throws. A girl from Jay in the 12 year old age group shot the same winning her age group for the district. Participating and winning this competition was an accomplishment for my son, and I am sure for the other winners. They have not been acknowledged by their district KOC for their acomplishments. I am not sure if the district is planning on putting something in the paper or if it is the parents responsibility to do so. Are they even going to acknowleged by the KOC?

They did not get any certificate stating that they won the district. They got certificates for participation at the local level. They did not get a certificate stating that they won state level either, they got a ball with the Knights of Columbus on it nothing stating they they won the state level. All participants got shirts. I have noticed articles on the Elks competition and how well put together their articles are with the whole background of the Elks. There has been nothing at all in the papers about the Knights of Columbus competition. In comparison to the Elks the KOC has done a poor job in giving these boys and girls the acknowlegement they deserve.

Our family attends Saint Rose of Lima Church in Jay. Our Knights of Columbus has not even acknowleged this achievement. In talking to other past winners parents, I have been told that kids usually get invited to some supper held by the KOC and it must be an oversight. I don't know and it really does not matter at this point but I am disappointed that these kids have not been acknowledged for this accomplishment.

Sincerely,


Jessica Kachnovich

Ms. Kachnovich,
My name is Bill Belanger. I am the new webmaster for the State Knights of Columbus. I just took over this job in February and have been working to update the site. It's very possible that in the transition, I have eliminated some photos of past events while I was "cleaning house" that I shouldn't have. I apologize if that is what has happened. I have just spoken with the State Deputy, Gerry Martin. He is on the road today and will be able to address your concerns when arrives back home tomorrow. I have also left a message for the District Deputy for your area. I want you to know that we all take your concerns very seriously and want do whatever is necessary to remedy this oversight.

Bill Belanger
Webmaster
State of Maine KofC

Hi Jessica,

First let me congratulate your son Tyler and the young lady from Jay on winning the State Competiton in their categorey and to shoot 22 out of 25 is no easy feat. I can assure you that the competition on the State Level was done very well and I am certain you can attest to that fact. The pictures that were taken at the event will be posted on this website but due to some confusion that has not happened yet but I can assure you that the problem is one that will be rectified.

As far as recognition on the District Level one of the reasons that it may not have been as thorough as the State was organized is the fact that the District Deputy in that particular area had a very bad work related accident which has left him incapacitated for nearly a year. We could have easily replaced him but are Principles on which our order was founded are Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism and I did not feel I should replace a man who had been performing his duties very well. I am certain that if my District Deputy would have been healthy he would
have been present at the District Event.

As far as Knights of Columbus participation on the District Level there had to be some otherwise how would it have been held? We as an organization sometimes have do work in the background and don't always receive the recognition we deserve. We try to publicize ourselves as much as we can as well as our events but we do not always get the media coverage we would like but we do have a publicity director that works extremely hard at his job and unfortunately to get media coverage in every district is next to impossible. This is one of the reason why this bulletin board was created. Since our Order has a wide variety of programs such as the Program for People with Disabilities, Special Olympics, Retreats, Vocations, Pro-Life to name a few we do have to prioritize where our efforts are concentrated.

I think our State Programs are very well organized and executed and unfortunately there are snafus in some of the programs. There are 22 Districts serving 90 Councils and over 9,000 members and to have every program run like a "Top" is what we strive for but we sometimes miss the target. I undeerstand other organizations such as the Elks run similar programs and I have no doubt they probably run them more efficiently in some areas but there is always the possibility that their Publicity Budgets are higher. We don't "Toot our horns" often enough in the Knights of Columbus but I am confident in saying that we do get the job done and after all the end results is what matters.

Again on behalf of the KInights of Columbus throughout the State of Maine I congratulate Tyler on his accomplishment and I thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us via this forum. I trust that I have at the very least attempted to address your concerns. May God Bless You and Your Family.

Sincerely,
Gerry Martin, State Deputy

Well Jessica, it was me. I've found the pictures and placed a link on the "Links" page of our website to the 2009 State Free Throw Championships. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

http://maineknights.org/files/Download/ ... 0Throw.pdf

As Brother Gerry alluded to, we are all volunteers and wish we could hire someone to do this stuff professionally. In this case, all they could afford was me.

Congratulations on Tyler's achievement.

Bill Belanger
Webmaster
Maine K of C