Members of the state Knights of Columbus are putting on their fancy clothes so athletes have the chance to suit up in tracksuits.

The third annual gala for Camp Inspire is scheduled for Saturday, April 21, at the Vinings Club in Atlanta.

The black-tie evening of dinner and dancing pays for athletes to spend a week at Camp Twin Lakes, in Warm Springs, to train for the Special Olympics.

Tim DeSmet, an organizer, said the Knights of Columbus sponsor 120 athletes with a $36,000 contribution to the camp. All the proceeds from the Black Tie Gala go toward this project.

In addition, several K of C councils across the state sponsor an athlete for $300 to help even more athletes attend, he said.

Donations are $125 a ticket to attend the gala, which includes a cocktail hour with hors d’oeurvres, dinner, dessert bar, silent auction and music by The Swing Daddies.

To help the effort to send athletes to the camp, call (770) 922-7293 or email pmbmc66@bellsouth.net.

1,000 Sandwiches To Go

Congratulations to new master catechists at Transfiguration Church, Marietta, for their efforts at studying the faith.

The parish put on the 2012 Catechist and Parish Religious Education Program Appreciation Dinner on March 1. More than 200 catechists and volunteers attended an Italian dinner from Capozzi’s Restaurant and received gift cards donated by students’ parents. Catechists who completed the basic certification level were also honored, as well as those celebrating milestone years in ministry.

Six women and two men who received the master certification are Linda Elliott, Steve Botsford, Bev Sauer, Yolanda Berrios, Lori MacDonald, Sheila Murray, Rita Norman and Chuck Franklin.

Also attending the dinner were Amy Daniels, director of the Office of Formation and Discipleship, Archdiocese of Atlanta, and Bill Clarke, the associate director.

Msgr. Patrick Bishop presented a reflection titled “The Gift of You.”

Still looking to add a spiritual program into your spring?

Ignatius House Retreat Center is hosting a weekend retreat starting on April 13 with author and spiritual director Jesuit Father Matthew Linn.

The retreat titled “Peace Be With You: Transforming Fear Into Gift” will be held at the retreat center located on the Chattahoochee River in Sandy Springs.

The retreat is open to the public and will be attended by people of all faiths.

Registration can be made online at www.IgnatiusHouse.org, by calling (404) 255-0503, or via email to smachek@ignatiushouse.org.

Young people at Corpus Christi Church, Stone Mountain, are putting a cultural twist to the traditional Lent fish fry. Try a Caribbean fish fry.

Cook Dehlia Daniel said she prepares the fish with a special marinade that uses an herb referred to as shado beni.

It gives an island flavor, along with ginger, green onions, garlic, she said.

The community is hosting the sixth event for a fundraiser.

The church hopes the community will help them send a dozen teens on a mission trip to Grenada during the summer, said Oduntan Gordon, a youth leader. The young people, members of the Colombian Squires, the youth arm of the Knights of Columbus, will be doing projects like renovating homes and helping the poor.

The event is on Friday, March 30. It starts at 5:30 p.m., lasts until 8 p.m., and tickets cost $8.

For more information, please call (404) 543-7203.

Our Lady of Victory School student Rachael Powers competed in the GISA Middle School State Spelling Bee.

Rachael finished in third place in the contest, which took place on Feb. 24 at The Walker School in Marietta.

The St. Pius X High School speech and debate team had two teams qualify for the National Forensic League tournament in Indianapolis in June.

It’s the first time since 2006 that two school teams qualified for the event to represent the North Georgia district.

The teams of Keller Sheppard and Katie Mannen and Becca Polzin and Courtney Wesa qualified at the district championship Feb. 24-25. In addition, the team of Matt Angulo and Sean Fahey will serve as first alternate for the event. Each year two teams from North Georgia, and four from the state, are selected to participate in the national championship.

“The team had been preparing the topic on birthright citizenship for the better part of a month and their hard work really paid off,” said head coach Sean Hiland. “The team members all knew their talking points extremely well and presented them with an incredible amount of poise and sophistication.”

The school was granted charter membership in the National Forensic League, which reflects sustained commitment to speech and debate education over several years.

Jonathan Campos, a seventh-grader at Pinecrest Academy, Cumming, was invited by Duke University to participate in its national talent search.

He represented Pinecrest by accepting the challenge to take the rigorous SAT exam in January. Jonathan scored 510 in the reading and writing, qualifying him to be a state medal recipient.

His total SAT score was 1450.

Matthew Dalrymple, a seminarian of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, joined 54 other seminarians studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, Italy, who were instituted to the ministry of acolyte during a celebration of the Eucharist.

Dalrymple is in his second year of theological studies at the college.