Knights of Columbus revives youth offshoot at Subiaco

Columbian Squires group enjoys fellowship and giving back to community, Church

Published: July 15, 2013

By Maryanne Meyerriecks
Fort Smith Correspondent

The Columbian Squires at Subiaco Academy was established in February and its first activity was a trip to Paris to shoot Airsoft guns. The squires are the Knights of Columbus’ youth organization.

The Columbian Squires at Subiaco Academy was established in February and its first activity was a trip to Paris to shoot Airsoft guns. The squires are the Knights of Columbus’ youth organization.

Columbian Squires are returning to Subiaco Academy thanks to the efforts of the Knights of Columbus council at St. Ignatius Church in Scranton.

Columbian Squires is the official youth organization of the Knights of Columbus and a leadership development program for boys 10-18 years old. Although there are 1,500 circles in North America, the Philippines and Guam, there are only two other circles in the Diocese of Little Rock — in Mountain Home and Fayetteville.

For Michael Bowman, council financial secretary, bringing a circle back to Subiaco was important. Bowman, an Army master sergeant currently working in the Little Rock Armory, has been deployed twice to Iraq, the first time with the Charleston Medical Unit in 2003 and the second time with a North Little Rock unit in 2007-2008. As a husband and father of two — son Alex, now a junior at Subiaco Academy, and daughter Sidney, now a senior at Paris High School — Bowman knows how important a father’s influence is on children. As a Subiaco parent, he saw that many of the students attending the school are separated from their families by hundreds and even thousands of miles.

The group currently has 12 members who attend Subiaco and other area schools. Most of the Subiaco students are day students whose fathers are also knights, but they plan a recruitment drive when school resumes to attract more Subiaco Academy boarding students.

“We only have two or three boarders right now,” Bowman said, “but our project focus next year is to have an impact on boarder students whose fathers aren’t there all the time.”

The Squires program is similar to Boy Scouts in many ways. There are five advancement levels — page, shield bearer, swordsman, lancer and squire of the Body of Christ — that can be reached by earning achievements in four categories: home and family, squires and knights, community and country, and Church.

The group meets twice a month at St. Benedict Church in Subiaco. The meeting agenda begins with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance and committee reports. The charter members of the group were initiated and invested in February.

They participate in recreational and service-related activities. The circle’s kick-off activity was an afternoon shooting Airsoft guns in Paris. In June a group of 12 went camping, four-wheeling and fishing in the mountains.

“We have a good time and use it as a recruitment tool,” Bowman said.

To serve the community, they helped with fish fries during Lent, volunteered for roadside trash pickups and held a chicken fry fundraiser.

“A lot of the boys belong to the (academy’s) right-to-life organization as well,” Bowman said. “They attended the National March for Life in Washington, D.C., in January. One of our biggest advocates at Subiaco has been Brother John Paul Richey, OSB, because of our group’s commitment to life.”

Isaiah Vasquez, a junior at Subiaco Academy who attends St. Ignatius Church in Scranton, said the Columbian Squires is important to him and his friends.

“It means a lot to us,” he said. “It’s a great bonding thing for all of us, giving us a lot of time to hang out in a very safe environment, have a good time and help the community out. Because it’s Catholic-based, there is a focus on more than just camping. Being one of only three Squire groups in Arkansas makes us proud too.”

In recognition of his service in starting the Columbian Squires circle in Subiaco, Bowman was honored as Arkansas State Council Knight of the Year at the 2013 state convention, but he sees being a part of forming young lives as his greatest reward.

“We help boys learn to become the spiritual leaders of their families — better Catholics, citizens, knights and, if called, better priests,” he said.