Knights of Columbus Sponsors Lunch for Yorktown Seniors
Holiday parties now abound for seniors living in Yorktown during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons, but there was a period of time when few festivities were held for seniors.
But several years ago, the Fr. John LaFarge Council 4012 of the Knights of Columbus started their own spring tradition in Yorktown, which continued on May 30 at the Yorktown Community and Cultural Center.
Council 4012 donated $550 to the town for a lunch for seniors and another $150 for the services of a disc jockey who worked at this year’s function, playing classic music, including patriotic songs. About 75 seniors lunched on a meal consisting of chicken, peas, sweet potatoes and lemon custard-filled puff pastry and sang and danced.Mary DeSilva,Yorktown program director of senior services, accepted the $550 check from Council 4012 Grand Knight James Bizzaro.
The free spring luncheon has become a regular program sponsored by Council 4012, Richard DeSilva, a past grand knight of the organization, said. “This is the 18th year we have been doing this,” DeSilva, the husband of Mary DeSilva, said.
Richard DeSilva said the annual spring lunch was started after the Knights of Columbus was told byYorktown residents that a series of annual events were held for seniors during the holiday seasons in November and December, but not as many events are held for seniors at other times of the year.
“We do it every spring,” he said of the lunch.
The event is typically held around St. Patrick’s Day, but this year the event could not be held around the holiday because the YCCC was undergoing renovations at the time, he said.
The Knights of Columbus did more than just donate funds for the lunch, DeSilva said. Several Council 4012 members volunteered to put on this year’s event, he said.
“There’s a lot of planning to get people to come and help,” he said.
