About Memorare Knights of Columbus
We are the Seaford New York area's council of the Knights of Columbus. The world's largest Catholic fraternal organization.
Founded in 1882 by Father Michael J. McGivney, to provide support for oppressed Catholic immigrant family's , the Knight's are often referred to as the "Right arm of the Church"
Memorare Council was given its charter
on February 17, 1952. and we serve the parishes of St. William the Abbot and
St. Rose of Lima community under the principles of Charity, Unity, Fraternity, and Patriotism.
We believe that this forum will be a good way to communicate and potentially allow our membership to network with our brother knights.
History of the Memorare Council 3476
In 1951 Mortimer V.Warner, newly settled in the fast growing section of Nassau County saw the need for a new council. His foresight was confirmed when a discussion with District Deputy Salvatore Napolitano led to the formation of an organizing committee. With Mort as chairman and Edward McGrath as temporary financial secretary the required minimum of 100 candidates was quickly assembled. Most of the candidates were from St. William the Abbott parish.
The committee dedicated the new council to the Blessed Mother and unanimously chose Memorare as the council name. Formal application was made in 1951. With final approval on Feb 17, 1952 came the assignment of Council 3476.
For the first two years the council met on the 2 and 4th Wednesday of each month in a Seaford firehouse.
In January 1953 the first issue of the monthly newspaper Memogram was distributed. The first issue contained 2 pages as compared to the 12 pages in our 2015 Memogram thanks to over 60 years of dedicated work by our editor Michael Bonagura.
On June 30th 1954 a building was purchased at 2183 Jackson Ave, Seaford. The building with a facade patterned on surrounding private homes had served as a camouflaged machine shop for secret government work during World War II. Ten years latter the membership had grown to more than 800 members and the building bulged at the seams. The then Grand Knight Eugene Cooper appointed Rudy Arnone as Chairman of a building committee.
After months of investigation the only plausible solution to obtaining larger quarters was to expand the existing building. The willingness of the adjacent property owners surprised the committee and they were now able to proceed with enlarging the existing council building. The membership contributed ideas and financial support and the committee formulated plans and actions resulting in the splendid quarters which the council now enjoys.
In the late 80's the adjacent private dwelling on the north side was purchased. The on site parking facilities were subsequently increased.
The council has continually made interior improvements to the facilities to provide a pleasant location to have its meetings and council dances and for members and patrons to have family engagement parties, weddings, retirement parties, christenings and other affairs.
Our charitable Foundation (The Memorare Foundation) ,formed in 1983, has donated over $180,000 to charities to date. This does not include council donations which average $5,000 annually to various organizations.