History
- April 15 1998 - Chartered by Knights of Columbus Supreme Council.
- May 1 1998 - Originally was formed as Mother Teresa Council 12202 under the direction of Past District Deputy Patrick Hagel at Our Lady of the Valley Parish. Charter Grand Knight was Bert Niehaus, Past Grand Knight of Council 4949 St. James Vernon, BC. 38 original members.
- February 15, 2019 - Changed to Saint Teresa Council as our patron was canonized on September 4, 2016.
Grand Knights
- Bert Niehaus May 1998 to June 2000
- Lee Chabot July 2000 to October 2000
- Mike Lawless October 2000 to June 2001
- Clay Vernerey July 2001 to June 2003
- Steve Malerby July 2003 to June 2005
- Joe Bukowsky July 2005 to June 2008
- Dale Hofer July 2008 to June 2011
- Bernie Lutes July 2011 to June 2013
- Karl Schoenberger July 2013 to June 2015
- Art Moeller July 2015 to June 2018
- Bernie Lutes July 2018 to 2022
- James Lockwood July 2022 to present
Programs
- Church
- Faith
Into the Breach
Men's Groups
- Life
- Family
Youth Activities
Scholarships
Supporting Altar Servers
In the most recent years, the youth have been a strong focus of the council. Many funds are distributed to the youth groups, Altar Servers, and the School. This includes taking the Altar Servers to Vernon Vipers hockey games, subsidizing the Youth Group’s ski trip, paying for students to attend wilderness camps, among other activities.
Annually for the last number of years we have increased our donations for scholarships from $1,000 for one student to three students and $2,800. This has resulted in planning an annual church yard sale that assists us greatly in providing graduating students with funds for post-secondary education.
As our Past State Deputy Will Wilmot says, "the Knights of Columbus are not just a men’s club, we are a family-oriented group." Council 12202 believes that 100%. Many of our activities are geared towards family involvement. On a regular basis we honour our ladies at a Ladies Appreciation Night. Every year we have an Easter Egg Hunt for the children under 12. A highlight is a Children’s festival, after Mass in late June yearly for the past ten years including a bouncy castle, fishpond, face painting, popcorn, ice cream, and a full barbeque where the whole family participates. This event sees between 20 and 25 knights and volunteers make this a very enjoyable family-oriented event with over 100 youth and families participating.
- Community
- Fundraising
Another successful project was our “Loonies for Lumby” project. We collected funds from councils throughout BC and Yukon to help “rebuild” the rectory of Sacred Heart Parish in Lumby. Over $10,000 was collected and put to great use.
To date one of the largest projects the council took on for fund raising was receiving the Canadian distribution rights in for the “Keep Christ in Christmas” (KCIC) Nativity magnet scene. This has been an extremely successful program, having distributed over 150,000 magnets in the past eleven years across Canada.
Due to profitable KCIC magnet sales, the Executive and Council decided to provide funds to purchase the ceremonial robes for the Council with the cost of over $2,000. In 2012 and 2015 the Council donated funds to St. James School for computer lab upgrade and new computer system totaling $15,000. In 2019 the Council provided three scholarships and funds to local charitable organizations including Schubert Centre, Vernon Live Well Clinic and Dental Access Centre for a total of over $14,000.
Over the past eleven years the Council’s annual Oktoberfest event has become our second largest fundraising effort.
The parish is currently working on several improvements to our church including replacement of the centre stained-glass window, a canopy cover entrance to the main church and a kitchen addition to handle increased parishioner functions. A 20-20 vision group is working on what we, as a parish, believe is necessary going forward. It is hoped the construction of a Parish Centre at our Lady of the Valley Church is in their key planning priorities. Saint Teresa Council continues to be a vibrant addition to Our Lady of the Valley Parish (OLOV) and under the grace of our Patroness, Saint Teresa, we envisage a bountiful future.
Church improvements in the past ten years have completed the lower basement area to include a meeting room shared by the OLOV Catholic Women’s League and Knights of Columbus Saint Teresa Council 12202 using the meeting room as its council chambers.