Council History

Council History

As the Catholic community in Briargate began to grow a need for a new parish was recognized by the Diocese of Colorado Springs. St Gabriel the Archangel was established as a mission in May 1998.

When Father Gus Stewart was assigned Pastor on 1 Jul 1998 St Gabriel became a quasi-parish. Brother Bob Green, then a member of Council 582, was starting to recruit members for that Council. Knights of Columbus General Agent Carl Arnold was at the same Mass and suggested to Brother Green that a council should be formed. The two of them met with Father Gus to obtain permission to form a council. Father Gus stipulated that one of the main functions he wanted from the Knights of Columbus was to stress vocations. Since vocations are one of the Knights areas of concern an agreement was made and recruiting began to obtain the 30 members needed to start a new council.

Throughout the summer 16 new members and 15 current knights were recruited to establish the council. A meeting was held at Mountain Ridge Middle School of the 31 men to select a name for the council and select the charter officers. On 6 December 1998, the Supreme Council grant a charter establishing Sts Gabriel and John Vianney Council 12335. The name St Gabriel was selected because of our association with the parish and St John Vianney was selected to show our commitment to vocations.

In the first years the council started a travelling chalice program, lead the Rosary before Mass during May and October, sponsored an Easter Egg hunt after each Easter Mass, recognized the altar servers with a pizza party, sponsored the Basketball Free Throw Contest, supported seminarians from the parish, held a Valentines Dinner, cooked for the parish picnic, and participated in the Tootsie Roll program. As the council grew in size more activities were added such as Soccer Challenge and Substance Abuse Poster Contest.  In 2006 the council sponsored the first State Soccer Challenge.

Chris Smith was the first member of the council to serve as District Deputy when he was appointed by State Deputy Jay Nothstine in 2004. Chris Foley served as the State Program Coordinator for five terms having been appointed by State Deputy Jim Conlan in 2003. Rich Poupore served as the State Youth Director for 3-years beginning in 2003 and Bob Green served as the State Family Director starting in 2008.

The Charter officers of Sts Gabriel and John Vianney Council 12335 were:

Grand Knight: Chris Foley

Chaplain: Rev. Fr. Gus Stewart

Deputy Grand Knight: Rich Poupore

Chancellor: Bob Leuver

Warden:  Jeff Sikorski

Recorder:  Ed Thompson

Treasurer:  Mike Dapelo

Financial Secretary:  Bob Green

Lecturer:  Jim Furfari

Advocate:  Craig Martin

Outside Guard:  Mike Schultz

Inside Guard: Jim Ruiz

Trustee 3-Year:  Ray Vigeant

Trustee 2-Year:  Jim Liptow

Trustee 1-Year:  Roger Schill

 

The other Charter Members were:

Buddy Bryant                         Dwight McShane

Tony DeMattee                      Gary Piper

Ed DeMattee                          Al Roberts

Nick DeMattee                       Jim Scott

Tony Gale                               Bret Smith

Doug Lauer                             Bob Stone

Bob Leuver                             Paul Vigeant

Mike Lowdermilk                   Francis Wehner

 

Council Charter