The Fairmont Area Knights of Columbus, Council #1575, was chartered on July 16, 1911, with our 1st Grand Knight being Tom Lawler. Over the years, the local council has been very active in support of our church and our community, centering around the principles of Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism. We celebrated our 100th Anniversary on August 13th, 2011, continuing the quest and tradition established by the Sixty-Nine Grand Knights that have served our council over the years. We presently have 248 members that are working together to make our community a little better place in which to live

The Fairmont Area Knights of Columbus Hall, over the years, has been located on 1st Street, on 5th Street and the present location at 920 East 10th Street. The present 7,000 square foot facility was opened in 2003, after 7 years of meetings, fundraising efforts and over 35,000 volunteer hours. The hall was built in order to enhance the councils’ ability to make the Fairmont Area a little better place in which to live. Since 2003 their facility has been run entirely with Volunteer Help, with the idea of donating funds available, versus paying them in wages to their members. Volunteer help has members doing some of the following tasks: Building Manager, Bar Manager, Gambling Manager. all Bartenders, all Security, all Setup, all Cleanup, all Bingo Workers, Snow Removal, Grass Cutting, Dishes, etc., etc.. Last year the local council donated in excess of $65,000, as a result of their fundraising efforts, while donating in excess of 29,000 hours of their time.

The Knights of Columbus have 6 different categories for projects that their local council’s sponsor. These categories are: Church, Community, Council, Family, Youth and Culture of Life. The local council’s are asked to submit reports on the various projects that they sponsor to their annual KC State Convention. At the convention awards are presented to various council’s who have excelled with projects in each of the 6 categories. Since 1990 the Fairmont council has won a total of 98 Supreme and State Council Awards recognizing them as having one of the most successful programs in the state of Minnesota. These awards include ‘3’ “Best Overall Programs” in the State, ‘28’ “Best Events” in the State and ‘6’ Star Council Awards. In the 2016-2017 council year the Fairmont Council received ‘5’ different awards, including the “Best Church Event” in the State of Minnesota, the “Best Family Event” in the State of Minnesota and the “Best Youth Event” in the State of Minnesota. The Fairmont Area Knights of Columbus have one of the most successful programs in the State of Minnesota, thanks to the community support received and the dedication of their members.

The Fairmont Council has a newsletter, The Crier, that it publishes on a monthly basis. The council also puts together a “Calendar of Events” in the month of August, which plans out the entire year with various projects that the local council is going to be involved with. This calendars assigns chairmen and workers for each of the upcoming events/projects, with the intent of involving all members in the success of their council. This involvement results in ownership amongst the members and pride in their accomplishments.

For questions or for more information regarding the Fairmont Area Knights of Columbus send an E-Mail to the following address: kofc1575@gmail.com