Fr John, Worthy District Deputy, Officers and brothers all.  For the last two years I have the honor of serving as Grand Knight of Council 9923. The goals I set for myself and the council were lofty but obtainable. For myself, I wanted be a leader for the entire council, to conduct myself in a manner befitting of the office and to always make you proud and never to make you sorry you put this awesome trust in me

For the Council I strove to uphold the principles of our honored order, Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism and to make or council a model which other councils would want to emulate. I hoped to have our actions and programs set us apart from the ordinary and to make council 9923 known through out the state and the order. Further I sought to grow our council by recruiting new members who would be an asset to our efforts and would benefit from being part of our order.
Our charitable endeavors in the last two years have been successful and have gained for us a measure of respect from the State Council and we now have in place a program which will make us the talk of the state, Ride to Inspire will be one of the largest annual programs in the State and it is our hope that it will be adopted as a State Program and someday it will be replicated both in South Ga and in other jurisdictions as a fundraiser for Special Olympics

Our accomplishments of the last two years differ little from those of the past and those of tomorrow in that they depend on the hard work of so many dedicated Knights whose tireless efforts are the backbone on which these successes are supported
Of course not all of the events and programs we attempted enjoyed the same success as others and I take full responsibility for any and all the failures we have suffered. No one can expect to reap the fruits of success without tasting the bitterness of their own failures

I have learned from those failures and I commit myself to keep future g k’s from making similar mistakes if I can

It has been an honor to serve with the officers of this council, without whom NONE of the accomplishments of the last two years would have been possible. They have conducted themselves in an exemplary manner and have performed their duties far and above what should have been expected of them
I thank you officers for all you have done  making  my job easier to make council 9923 the best it could be 
To those of you who will move on to new offices or return to the positions you have done so well and to you newly elected officers I ask but a few things
To be leaders for today and builders for tomorrow, to assist the new GK and to raise the bar of commitment to even higher standards
To all members I ask that you support these officers and assist with the important programs that they deem beneficial to the parish, the community and the council. Help them insure that the compass of council 9923 ALWAYS points to charity,

Although I have tried to be all things to all people, there have been times, I’m sure that I have failed in that regard and I want you to know that at no time have I intended to hurt any feelings or to give any suggestion or comment anything less than every due consideration. If I have offended any of you during the last two years, I sincerely apologize. I have always tried to do what I thought would serve the council best.

I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a candidate for sainthood; in fact I am a sinner. Among others I am guilty of two sins, pride and envy.
Pride in all that we, together have accomplished and in all of you.
And envy; I had been envious of those who have been Grand Knights and who can now sit back and know that they have made a difference and can now relax a little ,
But now I suddenly find that I am envious of Grand Knight Elect, Chris Werner as he begins his time of service to you and the parish and who for the next year will be responsible for the well being of the council.

It has been an incredible two years full of good works and although there were so many activities, the time has swept by much too quickly.

I thank all of you for the many kind words and all your help, and I promise to you, my brothers and the officers to assist the council, in any way within my power, to move forward in new and unimagined areas of charity, unity and fraternity.

Thank you and may God bless you all
VIVAT JESUS