State pride, Knights of Columbus style

Last updated on: August 4, 2015 at 9:05 pm by CNA Daily News

State pride, Knights of Columbus style 2015-08-04T21:05:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Philadelphia, Pa., Aug 4, 2015 / 03:05 pm (CNA).- The Knights of Columbus kicked off their 133rd annual supreme convention with the usual state-themed flair on Monday in Philadelphia.

For years now, the Knights have spent the better part of the first day of their annual convention meandering among various state-themed parties hosted in hotel rooms. Each state hosts a party that serves as a meet-and-greet with other Knights, complete with signature food, drinks and décor from their home.

The line to even get in the door to the party for Louisiana on the 8th floor of the hotel was about 75 people deep Monday evening. Cajun music and loud chatter wafted into the hallways of waiting people.

Once inside, the room boasted wall-to-wall green, purple and gold décor as well as mountains of King Cake and a table full of ready-made “Hurricanes,” a famous drink from New Orleans. Several representatives from Louisiana sported masquerade masks or Louisiana-themed face paint, and an entire couch was draped with Mardi-Gras beads to hand to the scores of people walking through the doors.

Charlotte Rose from Shrieveport, Louisiana sat underneath a banner that read “Swamp Knights” as she shook hands and greeted the people filing past.

“The best part has just been meeting everybody from everywhere,” she said. “Everybody’s been so nice.”

When asked why her state’s party was so popular, Donna Martin mused: “Because we give out the most stuff.”

The atmosphere on the sixth floor in Maryland’s room was a bit more organized but nonetheless jovial. The red, black and yellow Maryland flags covered the walls in the room, and a string of bright red crab lights hung on the wall next to the bar. On the menu: crab dip on crackers and Orange Crush drinks.

Meanwhile on the fifth floor, the pin-swap festivities were well underway. Knights’ representatives arrive to the convention armed with 50 or more pins from their home state, in hopes of trading them away for pins from other states. It’s a way to meet other delegates and to “collect them all,” Roland Ransom from Wisconsin said.

“It’s like a quest,” he said. He and his wife Judy said they especially hoped to swap pins with people from some of the “rare” states or provinces – like Hawaii, Alaska or some of the Mexican states – that don’t have as many delegates at the convention.

Chris Gonzalez from Connecticut said the pin swap is a good way to network with other Knights and to swap fundraising tips or other collaborative ideas.

Also, “it’s just fun. I’m a geography teacher, so I have a great time with this,” Gonzalez said.

Phil and Theresa Lucero, from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in New Mexico, said the pin-swap tradition has been around for as long as they can remember.

The Luceros came armed with 200 New Mexico pins, and said they planned on giving away whatever they had left over at their parish back home.

“We go to daily Mass, and we have a lot of parishioners, so we give one to all the ladies, the ones we have leftover. They love it,” Phil said.

There were 76 different pins to collect that night – one from each of the 50 United States, as well as 26 others from states or provinces in Poland, Guam, the Philippines, New Mexico, South Korea and Canada, which all have Knights of Columbus groups.

With 1.8 million members around the globe, the Knights of Columbus is the world’s largest Catholic fraternal service organization. The group was founded in 1882 by the Venerable Father Michael J. McGivney. In 2014, the Knights raised more than $173.5 million for charity and performed more than 71.5 million hours of volunteer work.

Previous Post

August 4, 2015

Is Planned Parenthood altering abortion procedures to obtain intact body parts?

Next Post

August 4, 2015 Mothers lash back at forced vaccines, 'inhumane' conditions in detention centers

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How did Saul first offend God as king?

Select your answer to see how you score.

He offered sacrifices himself He defeated the Philistines He took the Ark He built an idol