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Micki Magee is hoping for membership growth and a return to more normal operating procedures as she begins her second term as supreme president of the Supreme Council Columbiettes Sept. 1.
The parishioner of Holy Child on Staten Island was re-elected Aug. 15 at the Supreme Council’s 62nd annual meeting, the council’s first virtual convention. The Columbiettes, which have more than 15,000 members in the United States, are a Catholic women’s organization comprising affiliated auxiliaries of Knights of Columbus councils.
“We want to grow our membership,’’ Mrs. Magee told Catholic New York. “We want more women to become part of our wonderful Catholic women’s organization. We want to share our Catholic faith. We want to be able to help our churches grow. We support all of our priests so we want to make sure they have that support system of Catholic women to help them achieve their goals.”
During the Covid-19 pandemic, relationships grew among Columbiettes and the organization became more resourceful in how it did things such as watching livestreamed Masses and holding meetings via Zoom, Mrs. Magee said. She participated in 10 virtual state conventions, including conventions for Florida, North Carolina, Delaware and California on the same day.
“This year has been unlike any other year due to Covid,” Mrs. Magee said. “We’ve been in business for over 60 years and we were definitely not prepared for a virtual world.
“There was no road map for me as president to lead. I worked with my team of officers and we developed this as we took each step. It was very successful. I think our members are growing closer with each other because they were all in the same boat. ‘Stay in the boat,’ that was pretty much the motto. Let’s stay in the boat and we’ll sail this together.”
Mrs. Magee said the Columbiettes will continue to adapt to the virtual world, and said she’s looking forward to meeting with everyone in person when the pandemic is over.
“I’m excited and hoping we can get together again,” she said. “We’re an organization where we need to have social interaction more than social distancing. We want to get back to church, say hello to our neighbors and yet not lose the connection that we had from the internet, use the internet more in our training capacity rather than in our normal, everyday meeting capacity.”
Mrs. Magee’s husband, John, once served as a grand knight of the Knights of Columbus. They have four children and four grandchildren. Their daughter Jaclyn Carney was elected president of the New York State Council Columbiettes, which has about 5,800 members, last year.
“I actually told her to be herself, lead from her heart and look for the best for her state. It’s my advice to all the presidents,” said Mrs. Magee, who previously served two years as New York State president and six years as a director of the Supreme Council Columbiettes.
“She’s doing a great job. All of the state presidents are,” Mrs. Magee said.
