On Friday, September 16, I attended the First Annual International Day Festival at the Kroc Center – The Salvation Army Community Center. I recommend this event to you if it is offered again next year. The event featured people, games, activities, art, educational programs, resources, and information about the many, many cultures represented in our local community and around Northeastern Wisconsin.  There were performing arts programming (music, singing, dance, etc.) running for the duration of the festival in the auditorium. If you needed to know something, you could find information at one of the many resource and/or cultural booths. There was food for sale from several food trucks outside, as well as cooking demonstrations in the kitchen.

As I walked around the Kroc Center (my first time there), I met many people from our parish, students and faculty from St. Norbert College, and church leaders from other congregations, including Fr. Juan Zárate from St. Philip Parish. I saw children participating in making arts and crafts. I also had a nice chat with Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich. We briefly walked together visiting with people at some of the booths. We were able to introduce each other to people we knew. I stayed for nearly two hours observing, listening, and chatting. I was given items by which to remember some of the cultural booths I visited including flags, key chains, pens, and other souvenirs.

We live in a wonderfully diverse community, the nature of which I have not always recognized because my world is still too small. I met leaders and resource agents from Catholic Charities, Salvation Army, Casa Alba Hispanic Resource Center, Aging and Disability Resource Center, as well as different community advocacy groups and various health organizations. JBS meat packing company sponsored booths that featured the many nationalities represented in their work force. I met people from Laos, Somalia, Afghanistan, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Nicaragua, etc. at the various JBS tables. One man from Afghanistan had been a refugee who stayed at St. Norbert Abbey for several weeks when he first arrived in the area. I took a “selfie” with him and sent it to his friend, Abbot Dane Radecki.

Close to home, here at St. Willebrord, we will do well to remember that September 15 – October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month. If you are able to do nothing more than meet one Hispanic person from the parish whom you do not know that would be an important activity. Of course, we have Hispanics from Mexico, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Cuba, and other Latino nations. There are many opportunities to meet new people. This invitation is for Hispanics to meet other Hispanics as well!

Peace, Fr. Andy