Who are these men?

The Knights of Columbus, now the largest Catholic lay organization in the world, was founded in 1882 to promote faith, family values and love of community and country.

The organization provided valuable services, such as life insurance, to immigrant Catholics, who could not even apply for insurance in an America still rife with anti-Catholic prejudice.

The Rev. Michael McGivney of New Haven, Conn., now a candidate for canonization, envisioned a fraternal support organization for Catholic men to parallel the popular secret fraternal societies which Catholics could not join.

Putting patriotism as a primary mission of the Knights made the public declaration that American Catholics, who were suspected of un-American allegiance to the Vatican, strongly endorsed and supported the national interest.

Edward F. Bradshaw of Dumont, the first grand knight of St. John’s Council, was only 21 years old and will likely forever hold the title of the council’s youngest grand knight.

The first social event was a New Year’s Eve barn dance to ring in 1909. The council still holds what it considers the best New Year’s Eve party in town each year.

With the foundation of St. Mary’s parish in Dumont in 1914, Council 1345 embraced the men of St. Mary’s and still serves both parishes.

Over there; over here

The Great War brought a national Knights of Columbus Committee on War Activities, under which the council served Camp Merritt.

The Ladies Auxiliary served cake and coffee to the soldiers. Chaplains were available at all hours; Mass was celebrated daily and three times on Sundays.

Religion was no barrier, and signs over the doors proclaimed: Everybody Welcome – Everything Free.

In 1921, the council bought a two-story officers quarters building from the camp and moved it to Washington Avenue near Hickory Avenue in Bergenfield, where it served as council headquarters until 1933.

The rapid economic growth of the 1920s saw anti-Catholic activities in many parts of the nation, including the twin boroughs of Bergenfield and Dumont. Nevertheless, enrollment in St. John’s School increased from 66 to more than 240 within a short time.

With overcrowding, the council provided classroom space in its headquarters.

The Great Depression stalled the growth of the Knights; the council lost its building in 1933 and met at St. Mary’s parish for the next 25 years.

It was not until 1959 that the council able to buy and refurbish another home, the Mailmaster building at 61 Armour Place in Dumont.

With many council members serving in the armed forces in World War II, members’ wives reached out to servicemen’s wives and baby-sat so their friends could work outside the home.

Only one brother Knight, Guido Signoretti, was lost in the war. He was killed in a 1944 bombing mission over Berlin.

For many years, the council sponsored track meets for youth and awarded the Guido Signoretti Trophy as the prize.

‘One nation, under God’

On Flag Day, June 14, 1954, President Eisenhower signed a joint congressional resolution, officially adding the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance, following a year-long campaign initiated by the Knights of Columbus.

Youth events

Always concerned for young people and children, the council sponsored youth activities in addition to the track meets, such as stamp exhibits and shoe drives for St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Englewood Cliffs.

They sent boys to Camp Columbus at Culver Lake and established a chapter of the Columbian Squires for boys ages 12 to 18.

Community service

Over the years, four grand knights have also served as borough mayors – Thomas Prime and Hugh Gilson in Bergenfield, and William Bochicchio and Donald Winant in Dumont.

The council was also fortunate to have two sons, Paul and John, follow in the footsteps of their father, Joseph J. Zakrzewski, as grand knights.

JFK

The election of Irish-Catholic John F. Kennedy as president of the United States in 1960 was a proud milestone for the Knights, who well remembered their immigrant forebears’ struggles to find their place in a land where help-wanted ads often specified "No Catholics."

After Kennedy’s assassination, the council dedicated and named its hall lounge in his honor.

Charitable causes

The 1960s saw expansion of council efforts by the establishment of a welfare fund for needy members, a formal Ladies Auxiliary, and an upswing in the many social events for charitable causes.

The Knights have sponsored blood drives, yearly fund-raising campaigns to aid mentally handicapped citizens, and support a pilgrimage for disabled children to the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France; they provide dinner several times a year for the walk-in Hackensack kitchen of the Interreligious Fellowship for the Homeless.

Members assist at religious services for residents of the Veterans Home in Paramus twice each month — all part of the ceaseless round of charitable enterprises that are the Knights’ stock in trade.

The council raises and gives away thousands of dollars to the local parishes, St. John’s and St. Mary’s, as well as to the Society of African Missions (SMA Fathers), and to numerous charitable and community organizations, averaging about $20,000 each year in donations, with last year’s total reaching $33,000.

Life and liberty

The Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 legalized abortion on demand and spurred the mobilization of a strong, ongoing pro-life effort.

Members and their families have participated for many years in the annual Jan. 22 March for life in Washington, D.C. The council supports crisis pregnancy counseling and has erected memorials to the unborn at St. John’s and St. Mary’s parishes and at the council’s clubhouse.

The wake of 9-11

Many see as the council’s finest effort the period immediately following the attack on the World Trade Center in Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001.

Beginning on Sept. 14, members prepared hot meals for delivery to the rescue and recovery workers. Sausage with peppers and onions, roast beef with gravy, chicken and baked ziti, were packed and delivered daily for a full month.

Many local merchants joined forces with the Knights, donating food and supplies.

That effort was acknowledged by the presentation of the Knights’ Supreme Council’s International Service Award to Grand Knight Richard O’Connor on behalf of St. John’s Council.

As part of the healing process for those affected by the attack, the Rev. John Murray, S.M.A., who has been associated with the Knights since 1966 both as New Jersey state Father Prior of the Columbian Squires and since 1986 as chaplain to Council 1345, offered a Mass for those who had perished, to pray for those who were injured, for their families and friends, and to pray that such a tragedy never happens again.

The Rev. Murray has been a true father to the men of Council 1345, and is a much-loved and well-recognized figure in the area — famous for the bright green sneakers he wears in the St. Patrick’s Day parade. The clubhouse lounge has been rededicated in his honor.

Women and children

In 2005, a chapter of the St. John’s Columbiettes for Catholic women was chartered. The group stands ready to give service to the council and to aid in its charitable activities.

The Squires have been re-activated for teen boys, and Boy Scout Troop 1345 has been chartered.

At any Knight’s event, the Squires are busy working alongside their dads, developing personal responsibility and building friendships while serving their community.

Forward in faith

Long-time members see a need to recruit more young men, especially men from the growing Hispanic and Asian communities now so prominent in the local Catholic community.

Under the leadership of Grand Knight Ivan Hannibal and incoming Grand Knight Steve Martin, the council is looking forward to the centennial Mass on June 28 and to a rededication of the council hall immediately afterward.