Our History
Brother Colin Singer, founding member of the Long Valley Council 10419, began efforts to organize a Knights of Columbus Council for the new St. Luke parish that was dedicated in 1982 by Bishop Frank Rodimer (ret.). At that time, Reverend Father Peter Doody was named pastor however there was no parish building to hold Mass services in and services were held at the parish rectory on Carl Lane in Long Valley. As the number of parishioners grew Fr. Peter negotiated an agreement with the local Washington Township school board Mass to hold services in the school auditorium at the Long Valley Middle School.
Although Fr. Peter committed support for a Knights of Columbus Council at St. Luke parish he was required to wait until a parish building was constructed. The parish building was constructed in 1985 and Colin was given approval to solicit memberships beginning in Oct. 1989. He delivered his membership speeches from the pulpit at each Mass for many succeeding weekends.
Twenty one parishioners committed to join the new Council which was short of the thirty names required to start a new council. These parishioners joined Colin in reaching out to former members of other Councils living in the area and to existing members of Councils in Flanders and Hackettstown who might be interested in transferring to the Long Valley Council.
By June 27th, 1990 a list of thirty names was hand delivered to Supreme in New Haven, Ct. which approved and credited Council 10419 as a new Knights of Columbus Council.
Our charter was formed and a Past Grand Knight (PGK) from another Council agreed to become the Council’s first Grand Knight (GK), meetings were held, and membership in the Council grew in numbers. The new Council was fueled with enthusiasm and the members volunteered as many individual hours as their hectic lives allowed; this made the Council succeed and began its legacy to support the first tenet of our organization – Charity.
Some of the early activities that our Council still is involved with are:
Support of the Long Valley food pantry housed in the Long valley Presbyterian Church
State Free Throw Contest
Eagle and Gold Award Presentations
Parish Picnics
Communion Breakfasts
Antioch Breakfasts
Annual Benefit Auctions
Easter and Thanksgiving Food Drives
Hosting Degree and Federation Meetings
Over time, interest and involvement in Council activities waned at St. Luke and fewer members were attending meetings. The Council in an effort to insure there were enough members at meetings to make quorums decided to make a concerted effort to reach out for new members from the other two Long Valley parishes, Our Lady of the Mountain and St. Mark. As membership from these two parishes grew the Council decided it could broaden its reach by rebranding itself as The Long Valley Council. This was instrumental in increasing its appeal to other Catholic men in Washington Township. Council bi-monthly meetings were also moved to the other two parishes to enhance the out reach program.
Today, the Council has a membership of over 130 Brothers who are actively involved in supporting the three Catholic parishes and the community of Washington Township. Our members serve as ushers, ministry members, parish advisory board members, CCD teachers, Church greeters and Eucharist ministers.
Provided by Brother Art Catalusci
Past Grand Knights: (click on below links to see pictures of our past Grand Knights)
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Achievements and Accomplishments for Columbian year 2022 – 2023