AROUND THE COMMUNITY: Catholic students take part in Jewish seder

Deacon James Lonick from Sacred Heart Parish celebrated a traditional seder meal March 23 with second grade students at Sacred Heart Catholic School. The seder is a meal that Jews celebrate during the first two days of Passover every spring. The holiday lasts for eight days and nights. At the seder, families and friends sit around the table and read the story of Moses leading the Jewish people from Egypt. Symbolic foods are served at the Seder, and some are featured on a special Seder plate. One of the most important Passover foods is matzoh, which is a flat, cracker-like bread. According to the Passover story, when the Jews were granted their freedom, they left Egypt in such a hurry there was no time for the bread to rise — this is how matzoh was first made. Lonick presented the students with the story as well as with the food traditionally seen at a seder — roasted/hard boiled egg, matzoh, shank bone, apple and nut mix, horseradish, green vegetable and parsley. Red wine is traditionally served as well, but Lonick substituted juice for the students. The seder precedes when the second grade class will receive the first Holy Communion on April 23, to deepen their faith and understanding of the Catholic faith and traditions. CMN workshop to shine light on solar energy The College of Menominee Nation’s Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) will host a weeklong solar energy workshop from April 24-28. The workshop will be taught by solar experts from Indigenized Energy (IE). IE will provide instruction on installation, maintenance and operations of a solar grid. These workshop sessions will cover safety, solar power basics, solar energy efficiency and more. The workshop series is designed so that you can attend individual sessions or the entire series. To sign up for the workshop, complete registration at https://bit.ly/SDI_SOLAR_WORKSHOPS. Workshop sessions include classroom and hands-on learning on the installation site at SDI, with lunch being provided each day. This workshop series will be limited to the first 20 participants who register. After attending the workshop, participants will gain an understanding of solar energy systems and a certificate of participation. A maximum $450 stipend is available for attending the full workshop series. This project is funded by GRID Alternatives and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. For information, contact Rebecca Edler, SDI sustainability coordinator, at redler@menominee.edu or 715-799-6226, ext. 3043. SNBT gets innovation award in February Stephenson National Bank and Trust (SNBT) has been awarded the Wisconsin Bankers Foundation’s prestigious 2022 Financial Education Innovation Award. The award was presented at a special luncheon on Feb. 9, during the Wisconsin Bankers Association’s Bank Executives Conference in Wisconsin Dells, the largest banking event in Wisconsin. “We congratulate the team at SNBT for finding a creative way to continue their financial education efforts when they couldn’t visit classrooms in person due to the pandemic,” said Rose Oswald Poels, foundation board chairwoman and Wisconsin Bankers Association president and CEO. “Their resources continue to be utilized by teachers and parents and will be accessible for years to come.” The WBF Financial Education Innovation Award recognizes a bank that has taken a unique approach to promoting financial literacy and has exhibited exemplary dedication to expanding financial education in its community. Recovery walk returns to Franklin Park in May The second annual recovery celebration and awareness walk is coming May 6 to Franklin Park, 235 S. Washington St., Shawano. The walk, which begins at 11 a.m., is sponsored by Shawano County Drug Treatment Court, Leadership Shawano County and Northwoods Recovery Center. Proceeds will benefit the Greater Shawano Area Recovery Initiative. The walk itself is for 1¼ miles. There will also be food and drinks, and children under 16 eat free, as well as a recovery resource fair, entertainment and music from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. T-shirts are available with advanced registration, but the deadline is April 21. To register, go to www.leadershipshawanocounty.com/recoverywalk.