Catholics often were subject to discrimination and vilification by their neighbors, and the Knights represented a safe and comfortable community. Today, Catholics make up 3 percent to 4 percent of Roanoke's population, he said. Even though prejudice against Catholics is a vastly smaller problem than it was in the early years, the Knights continue to represent a way for Catholic men to socialize. But Doyle and other Knights insist that the real motivation for membership is the desire of hundreds of men to make their community a better place for their families and their neighbors. While much of that is tied up in the operation of the Olympic Park Pool, thousands of dollars are budgeted annually for community and church projects.
Members sponsor a sandlot basketball tournament in the spring.
The council started the statewide Catholic high school basketball tournament 50 years ago. The organization provides name tags for the ushers in those parishes, and offers financial and other assistance to the priests who serve them. But in everything they do, it is the family that comes first, said Jim Dill, a Knight for the past 10 years and director of the annual Easter-egg hunt for five. His own children have outgrown that event, but now they join their father in organizing it. As with many organizations, only a portion of the members are actually active in any particular project, Doyle said.