By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
ELLIS — For 100 years, the Ellis Knights of Columbus have been supporting charitable causes in their community with what the Catholic fraternal organization calls "faith in action."
The Ellis Knights of Columbus will be celebrating 100 years of its charter on Feb. 16 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Ellis with a special mass by Father Dana Clark and Bishop Gerald Vincke of the Salina Diocese, of which Hays is a part.
The St. Mary's Knights of Columbus Council No. 2133 will also be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the purchase of the Knights' Hall in Ellis and a four-phase renovation project that was completed in 2019.
The Ellis Knights of Columbus raised $50,000 to repair heating and air conditioning in the hall; add new lighting; update walls and restrooms; add a handicap accessible restroom; and replace wall coverings, exit doors, and tables and chairs.
The Knights met in a variety of locations until it bought and remodeled the hall at 1013 Washington in 1969. The first function in the hall was in September — a wedding dance.
A come-and-go reception will be from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Feb. 16 at the Knights Hall in Ellis following Mass. Light hors d'oeuvres, desserts and beverages will be served.
Two Knights with a combined membership of more than 100 years, John Rupp, who joined in 1951, and Leonard Schoenberger, who joined in 1961, sat down with the Hays Post recently to discuss the history of the Knights in Ellis and what the organization has meant to them as Catholic men.
There are 286 men on the rolls of the Ellis Knights of Columbus, which makes it one of the larger councils for a city of its size in the state.
The Knights of Columbus was founded in 1882 by Father Michael McGivney and a group of parishioners in New Haven, Conn. At the time, many Catholics in the United States were poor immigrants who were living in unfavorable conditions and dying young. The group worked to establish insurance to protect the widows and orphans of the parish as well as to help the sick and disabled.
Today, the Knights organization is a multi-billion dollar, international insurance provider and insurance is still a large aspect of the organization, Rupp said.
The Knights of Ellis have also embraced their mission of charity. Their main fundraising focus is support of the developmentally disabled and Special Olympics.
The majority of the local Knights' annual Tootsie Roll sale is dedicated to assisting local residents with developmental disabilities, including Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas and Bethesda Place, a home for developmentally disabled men.
Schoenberger said his fondest memories of his service in the Knights was volunteering to host Special Olympics teams who came to the area for competition.
"I enjoyed getting to know the young people on a personal basis," he said.
He was paired with the Three Lakes Lasers from Topeka for a time. He took the team out to dinner and treated them with small gifts.
In return, he was showered with hugs and received a thank you sung by all the members of the team.
The state competitions for Special Olympics basketball are now split into two locations, and the Topeka team no longer travels to Hays. He said he misses the team and coaches very much.
Other major projects the Knights have taken on have included:
• Assisted Ellis Food Box program
• Packed care packages for service men and women stationed overseas
• Provided the original playground equipment for St. Mary's School in Ellis
• Sponsored a room in St. Mary's School
• Supported Boys Town
• Supported Catholic radio
• Supported Boy Scout troops
• Provided emergency disaster aid, with special efforts made after the Greensburg tornado
• Provided scholarships for seminarians
• Provided Lenten breakfasts
• Donated the Ellis hall for many nonprofit events
"As far as I am concerned, it strengthens our faith in the fact of giving instead of receiving," Shoenberger said of his involvement in the Knights. "You receive a better feeling about giving once you have known the experience of helping someone in need or an organization that is in need.
"The giving of ourselves and our time to help these people is very rewarding."
Although Rupp never served as the Ellis Grand Knight (local chapter leader, he served two years — 1974-1976 — as the state deputy for the Kansas Knights of Columbus.
During his service, he oversaw 134,000 Knight members and opened eight new Knight councils.
"To me, it was almost like another college education," Rupp said.
During his service, he traveled across the nation and to Quebec, Canada, to represent the state at national Knights of Columbus conferences.
"I never dreamed that I'd be state deputy and I would get to go to all of those places," he said. "I have a lot of mementos of each national delegation. I have given them away over the years. I don't have many of them any more. I can't take them with me."
Fraternal organizations across the nation have seen significant decreases in recent years. Schoenberger admitted recruiting young men into the council has become more difficult as more families have both parents working.
He said hoped the Knights of Columbus will continue its insurance program and to be a caring organization in the community that helps people in need.
"We are trying to get more of the young guys to take over because us old guys are kind of wearing out," Schoenberger said.
"We are going to encourage them to continue to make things happen in Ellis hopefully for the next hundred years."