On Wednesday, September 30th, members of the CT-SW Area gathered for our Annual Opening Mass and Dinner, celebrating the beginning of another year of faith, service and fellowship. The evening began with Mass at St. Thomas More Parish in Darien, celebrated by Bishop Frank Caggiano, on the Memorial of Saint Jerome. The Mass was concelebrated by Msgr. Robert Kinnally, ChM, Rev. Ian Jeremiah, ChM, Rev. Michael Jones, ChM, Rev. Paul Murphy, ChM, and assisted by Rev. Mr. Vincent Gauthier, ChDD. Knights and Dames processed into the church wearing capes, robes and large medals, creating a beautiful and solemn reminder of our commitment to the Order. Following the homily, President Ken Craig led the Knights and Dames in renewing their promise to live out the mission and values of the Order of Malta. A special thank you to Maureen Considine for coordinating such a beautiful liturgy, and to Music Director Mr. Neil Flores and Cantor Dana Surena-Mattson, DM for providing the beautiful music that enhanced our celebration.

Following Mass, members gathered at the Country Club of Darien for cocktails and dinner. The Country Club of Darien provided a beautiful setting for our Opening Dinner, and we were honored to have gathered there to celebrate the beginning of our new service year. During dinner, Milestone Medals were presented to members in recognition of their years of service, and we proudly recognized our new membership candidates – the incoming Class of 2026 and our year of formation candidates for 2027. A special award was also presented to Tim Dwyer in recognition of his eight years of dedicated service as Chairman of the CT-SW Grants Committee. A special thank you to Cece and Mike Donoghue for hosting us at their club – it was just awesome!

This evening would not have been possible without our Dinner Committee Event Chairs and their fantastic team. We extend our sincere thanks to MaryBeth Fessler, Kelly Frank, Lisa Schofield and Lisa von Stuelpnagel for all their hard work in making the evening such a success!