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1955-1956 Grand Knight ED LUNDIN

The Council began its meetings in an old night club on Government Street because of the generosity of Msgr. Dominic Blasco Council 3298, who was renting the building and which would eventually become the site of Giamanco's Restaurant.  Edward Lundin was the first Grand Knight and led the first group of 4030 Knights in a star studded year of organization, growth, and achievement, finishing the year with the Star Council Award and five first place awards at the State Convention in New Orleans.  This was an achievement never accomplished by a first year council!  These honors were obtained in competition with 114 other Louisiana councils, comprising a state membership of 21,000 Knights.  For the first time in Baton Rouge, a visitation committee to the Tuberculosis Hospital was formed, with members bringing gifts, magazines, books, and the love of Jesus to these confined patients.  The Council's Gregorian Choir, directed by Clovis Hendry, won first place in the State Talent Contest; Mass booklets were printed and provided for Our Lady of Mercy Church; baby sitting service during Sunday Mass was provided by the members and their wives; plans were laid and money raised to build a fully lighted ball field for the Church and a scout hut was also built.  Crawfish and shrimp boils along with many other events provided the funds for these projects.  The Grand Knight even walked off with singles and all events trophies at the State Bowling Tournament.  He even managed to add the sixth of his eight children to his growing family.  These charter members set in motion traditions that still move Council 4030 to outstanding service.

1956-57 Grand Knight PERCY LEBLANC

The other councils spread the word that Council 4030 was a flash in the pan and their enthusiasm would soon settle down so their council would be back with the pack.  But Percy Leblanc again brought home five first place trophies and membership was increasing.  Both new member and transfers added to the mix because they were attracted by the number of projects getting accomplished, the fraternity manifest throughout the council, strong Catholicism, and civic & social work being done.  The council picnic was held at the U.T.C. camp; members were given square dance lessons, 4030's talent entry won first place, and the members formed a speakers club similar to Dale Carnegie.  Our Lady of Mercy Church turned to them again and again as they installed the organ, painted the cafeteria, and one of the members even sponsored the Fulton Sheen television show.  The outstanding leadership of Percy Leblanc was recognized and acknowledged when he was overwhelmingly elected to the Metropolitan Chapter presidency.

1957-58 Grand Knight JOE GILBERT

Joe Gilbert recognized the "a new broom sweeps clean" and that the enthusiasm of those fresh organizational years had to be solidified into a firm foundation of continuing dedication.  The continuing programs basic to Columbianism were firmly established in the patterns already set by previous administrations.  Hurricane Audrey left her mark this year, and Brother Knights helped with the clean up and reconstruction.  All of them profited from the value of mutual assistance and the realization that fraternity is a gift from God.  Other activities added to the growth of the council, but for stability a building committee was appointed and a building fund started so they could finally have a  permanent home.  Joe brought in a nationally famous exhibit of the "Last Supper" during Lent as a fund raising project.  This project was a huge financial success, and it was well attended by all Christian denominations.  Thus achieving an ecumenical side effect that benefits all.  So the ground work was laid for the future home of Council 4030.

1958-59 Grand Knight DON BECNEL

An explosive and dynamic leader is our next Grand Knight Don Becnel.  He kept the council and officers thinking as he demanded perfection from his officers and made sure all the activity chairmen had projects of value for the entire family.  He recognized the importance of integrating our wives and ladies to support and lead some of our council's functions.  Thus the Ladies Auxillary of Council 4030 was formed.  Mary Clare Browning served as the first president.  It became a pattern for many councils in the state and nation.  Once again, inspired leadership of Council 4030 was recognized when Don was selected by the State Council to serve as our District Deputy in hopes that he would move the entire district along as he did Council 4030.

1959-60 Grand Knight MARION BROWNING

At first glance, this year seemed to be a pause in the long distance race of our council.  Membership appeared to be resting on its many laurels, but things were further aggravated by an extended strike at one of the biggest Baton Rouge plants.  Key leadership of our council was involved on both sides of the disagreements, even requiring administration oat the Council to be handled by telephone on occasion because leaders were "locked in" at their plant.  Extra effort was required, and Marion was up to the task.  He recruited other members to fill the vacant chairmanships, and our six point program moved ahead by adding several new activities.  Our Chaplain Father Marionneaux and Angola's Catholic Chaplain Father Gerald Barrett sought our Council's help for counseling and rehabilitation programs at the state prison.  The council's prison ministry was formed.  The records also show that the building fund surpassed $4,000 so we were just about ready to set roots with the acquisition of a council home.

1960-61 Grand Knight DAN GUILLORY

Dan was involved from the beginning of our council's formation, and it was with a labor love that wrote the five year history to preserve memories of where it all began.  The apostleship to the prisoners was now in full swing as the Brother Knights made monthly visits to talk with the prisoners.  The Brother Benedict Circle was instituted that year as our council reached out to the young men in our area to join our very successful council. The quest for a permanent council home was began in earnest as bond in $10 denominations were floated to help with the expenses.  Our beloved Bishop Greco was named Supreme Chaplain this fraternal year.  All in all a very busy year to help future growth.

1961-63 Grand Knight NOLAN KELLER

Nolan became the first person to serve two terms for our council.  During his first year, a successful fall harvest dance, winter dance, father-son communions, and family communions were among the highlights.  Members met at Mike and Tony's for a Friday luncheon club, an all male choir was formed for Our Lady of Mercy Church and the Borromeo Club for fostering vocations was formed. He also did many functions outside of the Knights as he helped organize Father Colbert's Park and Keller Kiddie Pool.  Finally, our dream of a council home was realized as we found 13 acres with a house large enough to be remodeled into a council home was found.  On January 16, 1962, the new home was ready and the first meeting was held at 11277 Airline Highway.  One hundred fifty members and guest attended as the fruits of our labor was realized.  $150/month was the rent with half of it going towards the purchase of the home and land.

The council continued working as an eye bank committee was formed, and we participated in a Mission Sunday Parade, a 12 week speech course similar to Dale Carnegie.

1963-64 Grand Knight MARK MULKEY

4030 was growing and expanding.  With a council on the move, Mark established the first seafood supper.  Tickets were $2 for all the seafood you could eat.  It took 2 bowls and 2 plates just to go through the line once!  Every kind of seafood was served because members spent weeks fishing, shrimping, crabbing, etc. to be prepared for the huge demand.  The kitchen was remodeled, and finally the decision was made as an Act of Sale was signed on January 9, 1964.  Council 4030 had its own permanent home.  And Mark continued moving the council along in the tradition of his predecessors.

1964-65 Grand Knight FRED GRIGGS

Brother Knights worked diligently at building and remodeling the beautiful council home.  Those who were not doing this were probably catching as much seafood as possible for the annual dinner.  This provided the much needed funds to keep our growing council operating.  The work did not interfere with traditional activities, and a picnic for the retarded citizens was added to our council's event.  The St. Joseph orphans were also treated to an outing.  Under State Deputy William Guste Jr., Fred was appointed our District Deputy, continuing the tradition of strong leadership for our council.

1965-66 Grand Knight CHARLIE JONES

During Charlie's term we finally completely occupied our new home.  The blessing for our home was the final ritual.  A tragic note this year as financial secretary Clarence Thompson was killed in a Thanksgiving Day crash.  We held an old time country fair on our grounds, and youth groups started meeting at our home.  The Boy Scouts have continued ever since.  Members were taught various dances as everyone got prepared for the annual masquerade dance.

1966-1967 Grand Knight GUICE GIAMBRONE

Guice may be small in stature, but he left some big footprints for future Grand Knights to follow.  Brother Knights marched house to house in a drive to aide retarded citizens, and we held a dance for them.  This group was becoming the special project for our council.  Our Catholic Youth Leadership Award (CYLA) entry, Tim Flynn, won first place in the state.  Our own Squires Circle helped fence the pond, and we hosted the state bowling tournament.  The annual Easter Egg Hunt was a huge success, and bunny eggs were sent to the St. Joseph's Orphanage.  After serving Guice too was appointed as District Deputy by State Deputy Cursey Vidrine.

1967-68 Grand Knight BILL COLEMAN

The first of many special projects this fraternal year was the presentation of a new ciborium to the Chapel of Christ the King on LSU's campus.  The council home was used by many groups including: St. Jude, retarded citizens, boy scouts, orphans, Father Rodriguez's Spanish Group.  We also had assets over $163,000.  A second $10 bond issue was floated and a much needed addition for storage was completed.  All this hard work needed more room.  Tommy Gascon contributed an eye when a nail slipped.  Bill left a good legacy.

1968-69 Grand Knight PERCY LEMOINE

Percy continued the many traditions of 4030 with the annual seafood supper, retarded citizens dances, our Mardi Gras dance, and the rest of the projects.  We even had a cat show at the hall.  A swimming pool was considered by the Brother Knights rejected this idea.  An ice making machine was added to the bar and brought in new revenues.  A Memorial Scholarship Fund to educate a young man for the priesthood was established. The Contest of Champions (the council with the most additions over suspensions) was won by Council 4030 with a net intake of 58 new members!  PGK Fred Griggs was the state convention chairman and the council joined together to host the state gathering in Baton Rouge.

1969-70 Grand Knight TOMMY GASCON

Father Dan Walsh became our Chaplain, replacing Father Finnegan.  Hurricane Camille devastated the Louisiana Coast, and the nuns in Buras were in great need.  We had a disaster relief aide fund to help them.  Also, $500 started the scholarship to educate young men for the priesthood.  Spaghetti dinners, roast beef dinners, skating parties, dance classes, seafood supper, and all the other usual events kept everyone busy.  We even had Friday night seafood supper before every bingo.  A spiritual night of recollection help maintain our Catholic faith.  The softball team brought home the state championship, and Tommy was named Fireman of the Year.  Later he became our District Deputy.

1970-1972 Grand Knight TOMMY McGUIRE

A Memorial Mass in November replaced the services to honor deceased Brothers.  The scholarship banquet was held with proceeds going to the scholarship fund.  Brother Knights took up the awesome task of picking up tickets at the J. C. State Fair.  The annual Turkey Shoot began this year.  The dance for retarded citizens was held, and a dance for teenagers was added to include more people.  Tommy was like a boy with new toys when he purchased a new banner, a new flag, and printing equipment for all our printing needs.  On a sad note, but an exhibition of true fraternalism, a benefit bingo was held for Brother Norman Sutton who lost everything in a fire.  There was some wild activities at the state convention, but everyone sobered up in time to receive three awards.

In 1971, a new council started in Denham Springs so we gave them their first jewels and stations.  We added revenues by catering some banquets.  We sponsored a drug awareness seminar.  Tommy guided the council to the State Deputy's Award, the highest award for the state.  Later Tommy became the first member of 4030 to hold a state elected office and went on to be State Deputy.    He was only the second person to lead our council for two years.

1972-73 Grand Knight LARRY MARTENS

This was a very dynamic year as many projects were added to the many traditional ones.  Ecumenical night for clergymen, and a nun's night were started to honor our religious people.  We got very involved in the Right to Life Group as we fought the movement to legalize abortion.  We also fought against pornography so it did not infiltrate our youth.  The first Bingo workers supper was held.  An illustrious group of speakers visited our hall this season including, Wade Martin, Sherman Bernard, and Ossie Brown.  Larry finished off the year by winning the State Deputy's Trophy and seven other trophies.  What a successful  year because of great group of involved men.

1973-74 Grand Knight JIM FERNANDEZ

How do you follow up two Grand Knight's who won the State Deputy's Award?  Just ask Jim, he can tell you how.  He stood firmly of past traditions and moved forward with plenty new projects.  A pilgrimage was planned to the St. Joseph Cathedral in honor of the holy year.  A community drug awareness program was sponsored, clothes were collected for an overseas mission, and we held a retarded citizen's picnic.  Free physicals were given to children attending camp.  A full house attended a communion breakfast to hear Mrs. Edwin Edwards speak, and clergy night was honored with Governor Edwin Edwards as speaker.  Jim accomplished the impossible!  Not only did he lead the council to yet another State Deputy's Award, we received a perfect score of 1,000 points for all of our activities.

1974-75 Grand Knight FATHER DAN WALSH

He lead us in a more spiritual year as a day of recollection, a living rosary, a pilgrimage to St. Michael's in Convent, and several other events set the tone for this year.  The highlight had to be when the new Bishop of Baton Rouge, Joseph Sullivan, celebrated Mass for one of our communion breakfasts.  We came to the aide of the new St. Patrick's Parish as their county fair was held on our grounds.  Father Earl Provenza, Chaplain of the KC Youth Camp, cooked a gourmet meal one evening for us.  The squires were reorganized this year, and the state softball title was captured again.  All in all a successful year.

1975-76 Grand Knight HIRAM MAY

In the bicentennial year, we hosted the state horseshoe tournament and hosted an interfaith night.  We honored the St. George Volunteer Fire Department and took a pilgrimage to St. Martinville. Brother Knights manned the phones for the Jerry Lewis Labor Day MD Telethon.  A roster dance was held to finance the council's membership roster.  Tommy & Judy McGuire represented 4030 at the Holy year rally held at the Superdome.  We laid our mortgage to rest this year, which was a bigger celebration than our bicentennial celebrations.  Hiram "slick" was always ready with a joke, but the joke was on him when he missed the state convention in New Orleans and missed receiving all our trophies.  We finished second with 998 points.

1976-78 Grand Knight JAY GRAVOIS

Jay became the third person to hold the position for 2 terms.  He had a distinctive accent that could even be heard when reading the monthly bulletin.  We added pony rides to the retarded citizen's picnic.  Then we hosted the International Hospitality Foundation, a group who sponsors foreign LSU students.  The students and sponsors came to a pot luck supper, and many good stories were shared.  The highlight of the year was the bond burning, when members who purchased bonds could redeem them.  A dinner was given and a roaring fire burned.  Most of the bonds went into the fire instead of being redeemed.  The interfaith night was a rich experience.

The St. Patrick's fair was held on the grounds again and its Church was dedicated.  Pilgrimages to St. Mary's and St. Alphonsus's highlighted the year.  A horseshoe benefit was held for the retarded citizen's.  Also we were challenged to myriad parlor games by Council 3298.  Even though they won, it was a very fun night of food and fraternity.

1978-80 Grand Knight ANTHONY MICHELLI

Anthony became the fourth person to serve two terms as Grand Knight.  One open meeting had a record crowd as our council entertained and honored LSU Head Coach Charlie McClendon and the LSU Tigers football team.  Families seem to be the theme of Anthony's term.  Skating parties, ice skating parties, putt putt golf tournaments, Easter Egg hunt, Christmas parties, movie nights, teenage dances, and even disco lessons are just some of the family activities enjoyed.  We donated money to a park sponsored by the Lions Club because it was for handicapped children.  The blood bank drives were a big success.  He and Nancy celebrated their silver anniversary.

1980-81 Grand Knight WILSON STRICKLAND

1981-82 Grand Knight ANTHONY MICHELLI

Elected to an unprecedented third term as Grand Knight, Anthony kept family as his first priority for our council.  He continued the Childrens' Christmas Party with Santa Claus and the annual Easter Egg Hunt.  Plus, the Retarded Citizens Association was blessed because Anthony scheduled dances every quarter for them.  The attendees truly enjoyed everything done for them.  Little did Anthony know, but he was being prepared by soon to be State Deputy Tommy McGuire to serve as our District Deputy the next four years.

Anthony always came through when the council needed him, and he really got our council moved forward with innovative and exciting new family and community programs.

1982-83 Grand Knight RUPERT RODRIGUEZ

1983-84 Grand Knight GERALD MAYERS

1984-85 Grand Knight DONALD PORCIAU

1985-86 Grand Knight CURLEY FAULK

1986-87 Grand Knight RONALD MICHELLI

1987-89 Grand Knight ROBERT RODRIGUEZ

1989-91 Grand Knight CLIFTON MURPHY

1991-93 Grand Knight HIRAM MAY, JR.

1993-95 Grand Knight Robert Fernandez

Bob considers himself as the “interim” Grand Knight as he was elected in July 1993 when the council sold it’s home to a major car dealer in Baton Rouge. You guessed it, RIGHT ON THE CORNER-RIGHT ON THE PRICE for 1.25 million. The council spent the balance of the year looking for a suitable location. In the meantime the council hired an architect. Meetings were held in a rented warehouse next door.. Bob was reelected as Grand Knight the next year while the new council home was being built. Bob was given the job of buying furniture for the new council home. He was congratulated for doing an outstanding job.

Meanwhile, the council continued to function well with the many activities required and ended the Fraternal Year with good marks.

1995-97 Grand Knight KENNY GENDRON

1997-98 Grand Knight STEVE ADAMS

1998-2000 Grand Knight RICHARD GOUDEAU

Richard kept the momentum rolling as the council improved each year under his watchful eye.  In his first year, he overcame many objections to get a big screen television to promote fraternity.  He continued many of the community programs and improved on the St. George Parish activities.  This improved our standing in the state to number 9 overall.

The millennium year concluded Richards two years at the helm.  The state convention was held in Baton Rouge, so it was a little more difficult for "renegade" Bob Wygle to live up to the hype of previous state conventions.  We were ranked as the number 7 council in the state for 2000.  We had some outstanding speakers including Father Jeff Bayhi, Seminarian Greg Roussell, Police Chief Greg Phares, radio personality Richard Condon, and District Attorney Doug Moreau to name a few.  It was very diverse and exciting program for our family socials.

2000-2002 Grand Knight BYRON BORDELON

Our council was on the move, and new GK Byron pushed everyone who was willing to help to come up with new ideas to encourage more involvement and concentrate mainly on the families.  Our efforts were recognized by the State Council because we tallied a perfect 1,000 points in the program/administration scoring and finished as THIRD in the State Deputy's Award rankings because of the tiebreaker system.

New programs included honoring a St. George Parish (non-KC) Family of the Month, incredible holiday children's parties at Halloween, Christmas, & Easter, Kingfish Hockey night once a month, Family Movie Night at the Hall one Saturday every month, thanking our wives with a Ladies Night Out once every quarter, and sponsoring young missionaries traveling abroad.  Of course we continued many tried and true programs such as Quarterly Communion followed by a brunch at the hall, the monthly Window Washing, Coffee & Donuts after mass, Nun's Appreciation Night, and a spectacular Crawfish Boil/Family Picnic with plenty water activities for the children.  Now let's see what we can do next year!

The second year proved to be more challenging, as the big dip in the Stock Market, put a crimp in the funds available to do all the planned activities.  We canceled a few of the council programs, but were able to keep up with everything for the church and community.  We cleaned out the membership rolls of deadbeat members who had not paid in years, deceased members on the roster for years, etc.  This put us below 300 members for the first time in many years.  In spite of the many hardships and only using half the budget, we managed to finish in the top 30 in the state.

2002-2003 Grand Knight GREG ACCARDO

2003-2005 Grand Knight MIKE COLEMAN

2005-2007 Grand Knight TRAVIS BLANCHARD

Travis hit the ground running as Grand Knight. In July 2005, Mother of Mercy KC4030 hosted the LA State KCLS in the St. George Activity Center. We were able to squeeze over 250 Knights from around the state into the Activity Center for the annual leadership seminar. KC 4030 also set the record for feeding that many Knights so quickly.

In 05-07, KC4030 focused on our staple service projects such as nursing and veterans home visits, church window washing and tootsie roll drives. We also hosted the new youth soccer challenge on the district and area levels.

In cooperation with the St. George Men's Club we were able to donate the gross proceeds of one Lenten fish fry to a burn victim. KC4030 started off the 06-07 fraternal year in great fashion by hosting a breakfast for Special Olympians. We were also surprised with a visit by Mrs. Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the founder of Special Olympics. With the help its members KC4030 finished each fraternal year between 05-07 in the top 10% of the councils in the State of Louisiana.

2007-2008 Grand Knights Robert Fernandez and Rupert R. Rodriguez

Rupert Rodriguez PGK served from July 2007 through January 2008 as Grand Knight.
Robert “Bob” Fernandez PGK served from January 2008 through July 2009 as Grand Knight.

Bob Fernandez previously served the council as Grand Knight from 1993 through 1995. It was the first time in the history of the Council that we had no one willing to step up to the plate and run for Grand Knight. Both Rupert and Bob are to be commended. The council continued to perform it’s activities in the community by visiting the local nursing homes on a monthly basis and the War Veterans Home in Jackson on a quarterly basis. Church activities include serving coffee and donuts quarterly, washing the windows at St. George, cleaning palms for Palm Sunday and providing Safety and Security at church for Holy Thursday and Good Friday. Our Council is fortunate to be able to raise funds along with the Men’s Club at St. George during the Lenten Fish Fries. The council’s net profit runs around $3,500.00. Each quarter we honor the Families of the Month by attending Mass and having a reception afterwards where they are given a plaque. The council also sponsors activities for the scouts by providing them with shelter for their van which we bought for the troop, and which we recently had repainted with their logo. Bob looks forward to working with the new Grand Knight of Council 4030, Ronald Coco.

2008-present Grand Knight Ronald Coco