Author Archives: koc5510
Knights of Columbus Soccer Challenge
Keep Christ In Christmas Poster Contest
Flag Day Tank Pull 2015
The Tank Pull Challenge is a physical test of endurance, as competitors must make a determined effort to overcome the impossible odds of moving an immovable object – an 80,000 pound tank mounted on a flatbed truck. The clarion call for the competitor is take up the challenge and overcome the impossible!
Taking part in the Tank Pull Competition benefits the veterans and particularly the Wounded Warriors financially and materially and ensures that their service will not be forgotten.
The bottom line is supporters and contestants are pulling for our military and making a difference.
Fr. Francis Z. Majewski, O.F.M.
Father Francis lived upstairs in the huge Ringling Mansion and collected rent from us once a month with a smile and usually something funny. Well he is still around and living in Beacon, NY.
Father Francis Z. Majewski’s Story
A 69th Anniversary of Poles Deportation To Siberia
February 10, 1940, was an exceptionally cold winter day with deep snow at least five-feet deep. I was 10-years-old then and with my younger brother was on the way to the village school of Kociubinczyki, situated within the boundaries of county Koziebrodzki-Giuchowski-Strzembosz and its possessions. The distance to the school was 6 or 7 miles from our forest ranch known as Anielowka. In October 1939, the school became Soviet-Ukrainian because Poland ceased to exist as an independent state and was divided between Germany and Soviet Russia.
On our way to school, Soviet Militia men traveling in the direction to our ranch stopped us, and took us along with them. My mother was alone at home and frightened when she opened the door for these Soviet activists. Our dad had been supervising the cutting of timber in the nearby forest since early in the morning. They sent a messenger to the forest who brought dad home and then arrested him there. Mother was told to pack some things within two hours. Then we were supposed to leave for our hometown of Husiatyn, 18 miles away. On the way we (my brother and I) passed by our home with our family (parents) standing out front, but the Militia Officer ordered us to move forward to the railway station to board a freight train waiting to pick up hundreds of Poles from the district of Kopyczynce. We were certain that we are being deported to the Soviet Union and even to Siberia.
After two weeks of burdensome travel, our train stopped in a wooded area covered with at least six feet of snow. It was a region of Altai in central Siberia. We came to a place of several barracks and 15 families were assigned to each barrack. There were no beds, only bunks. At night we were invaded by hundreds of bed bugs which crawled out from the walls to suck our blood. In the morning, after interviewing all adults, the Militia agent yelled that we were actually imprisoned and no one could leave the barracks without a special permit. In reality there was no way to go anywhere as woods completely surrounded us. The Militia agents who were guarding us screamed that we were here to stay until our final days (death).
Hungry and in extremely cold weather, all men were forced to go into the woods to cut pine trees. The women followed them to pull the trees to the nearest road. In the spring and during a short summer, men would tap the pines with stents while women would fasten clay cups to catch the sap. Each woman was expected to collect 40 buckets of sap per day. But it was practically impossible because the sap flowed very slowly.
Thus we survived until October 1941, when all of a sudden a Soviet Militia agent announced that (due to the agreement between Polish and Russian governments) all Poles are granted amnesty, and as free people, may go anywhere in the Soviet Union. Consequently, we prepared to leave Siberia as soon as possible. We walked at least 20 miles to the nearest railway station and boarded a freight train heading South to Uzbekistan. It was already spring when we arrived there and without our knowing what kind of living conditions awaited us. The harsh reality was that the conditions were even worse than those in Siberia and we were actually starving.
We were somewhat relieved since the Polish Army (in exile) was in the process of organization, but we did not receive any help and so we were temporarily resettled in various collective farms to gather cotton. We started to experience very hard times, as there was no food or clean water; people and animals drank from the same muddy wells. The Uzbeks could not help us either for they also experienced hunger.
Our living quarters were under the same roof with sheep and donkeys. Any hygiene was completely lacking. Lice were crawling all over us with the majority of us suffering from typhoid, pneumonia and dysentery. I contracted two kinds of typhoid and pneumonia infections within two months. There was no medication of any kind. People were dying from hunger and infectious diseases. At last came April 1942 and we reached the Polish Military Outpost at Kenimech, a small town in Uzbekistan. My father had left us on the cotton farm and volunteered to join the Polish Infantry Division in the area. My mother received employment in the Polish military hospital laundry. Infectious diseases were raging: at least 20 soldiers died daily.
My mother would bring to us the leftovers of their meals and soon I became sick with typhoid and diarrhea. Mother placed me in a military hospital in the same bed with another unconscious boy who died during the night. When my mother checked me out from the hospital I could not stand on my feet for several days because of extreme exhaustion. After having regained some strength, my brother, and I too, were told that we were assigned to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation from Bishop Jozef Gawlina of the Polish Army who arrived from London for this purpose. Over one thousand soldiers and teenagers were confirmed in the Uzbeki desert near Kenimech. From now on we were quite sure that in a short while we would finally leave the Soviet Union to follow Polish soldiers to the Middle East through Persia (Iran), Iraq and Palestine all the way to North Africa to fight Hitler’s army at Tobruk (Libya).
However, as we were preparing to leave Uzbekistan, we encountered a very serious impediment at the railway station in Kermine. After we had already boarded the train to take us to the Caspian Sea port of Krasnowodzk, the Soviet military police were checking the documents of all Polish passengers. When the agent came to our carriage, he wanted to see the Soviet document issued to us in Siberia that entitled us to amnesty. Mother did not have this document because my father, upon entering the Polish Army, took it with him. The Polish Military authorities demanded this particular document, which showed our individual names, as proof that we were subject to amnesty. My mother’s Polish I.D. was insufficient for the Soviet agent. So we were forced to leave the train. With tears and cries we felt completely abandoned especially since it was in fact the last transport scheduled to depart from Soviet Uzbekistan. Our despair was immediately alleviated because my mother found out that there was still a Liquidation Commission in Kermine to transfer the Polish military outpost over to the Soviet authorities. Mother hastened to beg the Commission for help.
The personnel consisting of Colonel Januse, Captain Szober and their aid Zofia Turska offered my mother a position of cook which my mother accepted with great joy. When Colonel Janusz found out what happened to us at the station he immediately issued a substitute document testifying that we were a Polish military family. Thanks to the Commission we were able to leave with it for the port of Krasnowodzk and from there across the Caspian Sea for Persia (Iran).
As we arrived in the Iranian port of Pahlevi we saw a huge sign erected over the gate with white and red letterings WELCOME TO FREEDOM! On either side of the gate there stood military aids distributing boiled eggs and hot milk to newly arrived Poles fro the Soviet Union.
Right away we were accommodated in military tents equipped with showers and disinfectants. Upon leaving the showers we threw out our lice-infested clothes and received the new ones donated by the American Relief Service. In March 1943 we finally left Tehran for Ahwaz and from there for Karachi in Pakistan. In July of the same year, we were on the Indian Ocean on the way to British East Africa, to several refugee camps in Northern and Southern Rhodesia. Suddenly the ships loudspeakers announced in Polish from the BBC in London, a most unexpected information that General W. Sikorski, the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Army, perished in a tragic plane crash over Gibraltar. An immense sadness befell all of us and everybody was crying, because it was the General who liberated us from the Soviet yoke.
I spent thirteen years in Africa: five years in Zambia and Zimbabwe and eight years in South Africa. My mother died in Zambia and is buried in Lusaka. In 1956 I decided to enter the Order of Capuchin Friars in U.S.A. After the completion of theological studies, I was ordained to the priesthood in 1964. Since I could not return to a Poland occupied by a Communist regime, and also since my hometown remained in Eastern Poland that had been annexed by the Soviet Union; I chose to stay in America and continued to be a perpetual refugee.
Fr. Francis Z. Majewski, O.F.M., Cap.
Jefferson Days, Saturday July 11
We offered the “Best Deal on the Field” – Hot-Dogs and this year Chili! We will also had a variety of Sodas and water and in the evening will be selling Coffee & Cookies. Those that came to visit our Booth got the best hot-dogs they ever ate! Also, our Knight volunteers assisted the Jefferson Art Committee with the JT Day Parade and Bicycle Contest!
2014 MEGA CHRISTMAS RAFFLE
On Sunday, November 23rd Knights of Columbus Council #5510, Milton/Oak Ridge had it’s drawing for their Annual Christmas, “Mega Gift Card Raffle “. The winners were selected at Wiegand Farms Activity Center, 1 Charities Way, Oak Ridge. and the winning tickets were drawn by Anthony Iovine.
The winners are:(names have been abbreviated for confidentiality)
1st Prize- $750 Amex card- Mrs. Patty G. of Oak Ridge, NJ
2nd Prize – $500 Amex card- Mr. Joe M. of West Milford, NJ
3rd Prize – $250 Amex card- Mr./Mrs. W. of Oak Ridge, NJ
Congratulations to all the Winners!
The successful fundraiser was organized and run by Co-Chairman, Bill Johnson & Tony Roskowsky.
Grand Knight Joe Ozoniak would like to thank all the Brother Knights for their time standing out in the cold selling raffles and a “Big Thank You “to all the contestants who generously purchased the raffle tickets and finally a special thanks to the many store managers and store-owners in our community who kindly allowed our members to stand out in front of their stores to sell tickets.
Thanks To All and Have a Merry Christmas and Safe Holiday Season!
Baby Bottle Fundraiser for Birth Haven
Our Council sponsored a “Baby Bottle – We Support Life Drive” with the proceeds going to Birth Haven. Birth Haven is an independent, non-sectarian, non-profit organization that provides shelter, support, and education for homeless, pregnant women and girls. The agency provides a safe and nurturing environment in which to carry an unexpected pregnancy to term, while additionally helping the resident learn the tools necessary to achieve greater self-sufficiency. Individuals served by the organization include both those who intend to raise their child after delivery and those who opt for adoption placement.
The Knights of Columbus fundraiser run by Chairperson Joe Ozoniak called it a Baby Bottle Drive because we distributed baby bottles during the weekend Masses at St Thomas the Apostle Church in Oak Ridge, NJ and asked each family to take a baby bottle home and return it with their spare change and cash donations. The generous parishioners responded of which the Knights are very grateful.
Ms. Figurelli leaked to that with help like this the next goal is a project called “Birth Haven Two”. This will be a program that will help the woman after the birth of the child, and will assist up to one year. Right now Birth haven helps up to 90 days after the baby is born. This a great alternative to abortion and as Grand Knight he has pledged to help in any way the Knights can assist.
The Knights of Columbus have been a supporter of Birth Haven and have made significant donations to them over the years.
Knights Present Check to the Department for Persons with Disabilities
The Joseph F. Lamb Council 5510 of the Knights of Columbus of Milton-Oak Ridge presented a check from their annual fundraiser in the amount of $2,475 from their Annual Intellectual Disabilities Drive to the Department for Persons with Disabilities.
Department for Persons with Disabilities (DPD) provides residential, vocational, spiritual, and social services to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.
This Council has been running the event in Jefferson for over 20 years and during that time we have donated well over $80,000 to the Department for Persons with Disabilities. The Knights of Columbus would like to thanks all those that made a donation and for your generosity.
Brother Night Bill Carroll Presents Plaque to JR Cigars
JR Cigars has been a big supporter of our troops by their generosity and sending cigars over to our troops. Captain Carroll representing “The Tali-banned Cigar Aficionado Club” at Tiki Hut Camp Phoenix Chapter – Kabul, Afghanistan wanted to show their appreciation by presenting a plaque to JR Cigars in Whippany.
Captain Bill Carroll recently returned from Afghanistan where he has just completed his third tour of duty and he is a member of the Joseph F Lamb Council #5510.
In the picture are Felix Marrero Manager JR’s, Captain Bill Carroll & Mike Curley, Manager JR’s
Captain Bill Carroll Homecoming Celebration
On April 26, 2014, at the Lake Shawnee Clubhouse a celebration was held for the safe return of Captain Bill Carroll from Afghanistan. Hamburgers and hotdogs were provided complements of JTFD #2, JTRS, American Legion, Knights Of Columbus, and VFW.
Captain Carroll a member of the Joseph F Lamb Council has just completed his third tour, twice to Iraq and this last deployment was for a full year to Afghanistan.
Bill was surrounded by family and friends for a wonderful day of celebration.
During the party a beautiful rainbow appeared over the lake, maybe a sign of a job well done.
Knights Present Award to Portofinos Restuarant
Our Council awarded Portofinos Family Restaurant a “DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD“ in grateful appreciation of their generosity and support to the Council. The Knights over the years have utilized the services of Portofinos for events, parties and their excellent catering service.
Joe Ozoniak and Mike Murphy of the Knights recently presented Mindy Asani with a plaque at the restaurant. Mindy was described as speechless at the presentation but was very thankful.
Portofinos located 5129 Berkshire Valley Rd, Oak Ridge, NJ always offers delicious food, excellent and friendly service in a warm family atmosphere and is BYOB. It has also been declared, the best Italian food in Jefferson and was the recipient of Patch’s Readers’ Choice award.
Memorial Stone for Phil Leavitt & Departed Brothers
St John Vianey & St Thomas Golf Outing
The Knights of Columbus was a sponsor of the the joint Golf outing of St John Vianey and St Thomas parishes. The outing was successful and all you played had a great time.
COUNCIL RECIPIENT OF 2013 “STAR COUNCIL AWARD”
During the Columbus year of 2012-2013, Thomas Ubriaco III, PGK lead the Council in winning the prestigious Knights of Columbus, “Star Council Award”.
It was awarded during the Installation of Officers by District Deputy Joe Miller to Thomas Ubriaco III, PGK.
Below Joe Ozoniak, Membership Chairperson, proudly displaying the Star Council plaque.
Veterans Honored By Knights
The Fourth Degree of the Knights of Columbus is the PATRIOTIC degree of the Knights.
To honor of our Veterans of all US military services our Council has sponsored a plaque mounted in St Thomas the Apostle Church that displays the Names, Service and Rank of members of the parish that have or are servicing in our military.
The plaque will continue to be updated as new members are submitted.
Support for “Project Stay Gold”
Students from Jefferson Township High School presented “Project Stay Gold” to the members of Knights of Columbus Council 5510 Milton/Oak Ridge.
Project Stay Gold is a student abolitionist movement using the power of education that hopes to raise awareness, advocate for abolition, and support rescue and prevention missions and fight modern day slavery and human trafficking.
Recently, they have gained federal recognition, testifying before a US Senate panel concerning education and human trafficking. They will also be accompanying Senator Jeffrey Chiesa to numerous other New Jersey schools carrying their message of awareness and action.
The movement presented their mission, accomplishments, and future plans to the Joseph Lamb Knights of Columbus on September 19th. They were gifted with a donation to further their work calling attention to human trafficking and its elevated presence around major sporting events like the Super Bowl, which will be held at MetLife Stadium in 2014.
For more information on Project Stay Gold visit their website at www.projectstaygold.org
Check to Project Stay Gold (l to r); Sharon Cilliento, Deputy Grand Knight Harry Black, Joseph Nadler, Victoria King
5K Run / Walk Success will Help Department for Persons with Disabilities
April 13, 2013 – Our Fourth Annual 5K Run / Walk was successfully held. In each age group we awarded a Gold, Silver and Bronze medal. However, the overall fastest time was turned by Nick Ransegnola in 23 mins. 30 secs. Second was Lauren Kulick in 24 Mins 24 secs. and Third was Marjorie Stern in 25 mins 6 secs.
The Race started and end at the American Legion Post 423 building at 28 Legion Road, Milton, NJ, (off of Berkshire Valley Road). The course is a USATF Certified Course No. NJ10517JHP.
The biggest winner of the day is the Department for Persons with Disabilities (DPD) in Oak Ridge as the profits will be given to them to assist them in their great work. We also want to thank “LOX Stocked & Bageled” for donating the delicious bagels for our contestants and your continued support. Also thank you to all the Brother Knights who came in to run the event.
Ca$ino Nite – April 2013
Well, Casino Nite was a big success. St. Thomas the Apostle’s all purpose room was transfigured into a restaurant lounge with casino! The food provided by Portofino’s Restaurant was excellent and enjoyed by all in a relaxing atmosphere with some pleasant jazz music accompanying their dinner.
The modest price of $50 was well worth it. Included with dinner were beverages (beer, wine, water or soda) and dessert, a variety of several cakes that would satisfy any palate.
St. Thomas’s back hall room literally turned into a Casino with tables and dealers for blackjack a craps, roulette, stud poker and Texas hold ’em. After all the gaming, great prizes were raffled off. A portion of the profits will be used for our Annual Scholarship Fund. A great cause and a NITE for all!
Check out more photos in our Knights Photo Album section!