The membership of Masconomo Council 1232 Knights of Columbus Manchester by- the Sea annually votes to honor two brother knights for their service to the Council, their fidelity to the organization’s foremost founding principle of charity, and the support of their faith community.

Their choices for Knight of the Year 2023 and Council Family of the Year 2023 were announced at the Christmas – New Year’s Celebration marking the Council’s 108^th year in service on Cape Ann. At the conclusion of the event, Grand Knight Phil Monahan revealed that Ray McNulty of Manchester by – the Sea was voted Knight of the Year and the recipient of Masconomo Council 2023 Family of the Year is headed by Steve Kuhn and his wife Madonna Daffron of Gloucester.

Accepting the award, Ray McNulty said, “Everything I do for and with the knights of the Masconomo Council is a pleasure because its activities are focused on charity whether raising funds for scholarships, refugee relief in Ukraine and the Middle East, supporting pregnancy centers, and food pantries with food, clothes and funds, or serving at community suppers. The Knights of Columbus is an ideal fraternal service organization. In addition to lifting up its faith community, it extends its helping hand to Cape Ann residents in a variety of ways. “

Steve Kuhn observed that he and Madonna “are exceedingly proud of our family. Our children and grandchildren were raised in faith filled homes with Christ at their center. They all were taught to be kind and live by the Golden Rule. They live by that example.”

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bishop Cheverus Award, annually awarded by the Archdiocese of Boston to those who serve their parishes with exceptional fidelity, was conferred on both Steve Kuhn for Sacred Heart church Manchester by-the Sea and Madonna Daffron for her work at St John church, Essex.