Pancake Fundraiser the First of Many, Knights of Columbus Say

The first pancake breakfast fundraiser held by the new Knights of Columbus council at St. Jerome Church got off to a slow start but soon was bustling with families leaving Sunday Mass.

The good news for pancake lovers?

The council plans to make the breakfasts a monthly affair. There is already a 9:30 a.m. coffee hour in the Gold Room for parishioners who want to catch up with each other.

"Our council was re-formed about four years ago to do two main things – to support the pastor and the school," said Karl Hille, the newly elected Grand Knight of the Knights' council.

Money from the fundraisers mostly goes to St. Jerome elementary school. The council, which helps the school and the church with repairs and maintenance, just put up the new school flagpole.

The next big event is Oktoberfest, Hille said.

Resident Dennis Teti was one of the early customers. He brought his three sons – John-Paul, Lincoln and Joseph – the oldest of whom is in eighth-grade. The family lives a few blocks away in a house built in 1888, Teti said. He calls Hyattsville interesting because it is an "older community reinforced by intelligent development." He has seen quite a few changes for the better since he moved his family in 2002.

Kathy and Jimmy Smith of New Carrolton, brought their grandson, a proud St. Jerome first-grader who is "six-and-a-half" to the pancake breakfast.

The Knights do everything for the school and church, Kathy Smith said.

"They're wonderful."

Hille said that since the council was restarted four years ago it has been slowly and steadily growing.

"We introduce ourselves after Masses to potential new recruits, who have to be 18 years or older and men in good standing with the Church," he said.

"We're a small council, a tight-knit group," said Ron Robinson, the deputy grand knight. He was baptized at St. Jerome and moved back to Hyattsville after he got married. "This is one of the best things I've ever done."