January 10, 2013

Renewing Community – SOARRING Holiday Dinner

Over one hundred members of Midwest SOARRING Foundation welcomed the holidays by attending the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner and Annual Member’s Holiday party on Saturday, December 8, 2012. As in previous years, the festivities were held at the Pilcher Park Nature Center, a large log cabin structure situated deep in the woods, and perfect for the occasion.

MSF Member placing ornament on Spirit Christmas Tree

Everyone enjoyed a delicious potluck feast with holiday treats to savor. A candlelit walk through the woods ended with a prayer circle held under the starry winter sky. Members brought warm winter items to share with families in need on the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation in northern Wisconsin.

The highlight of the evening was the heartfelt sharing that occurred as each member placed a special hand made ornament on the Spirit Christmas tree. Each in turn, related a personal story or experience thus renewing community spirit at the gathering.

Joseph Standing Bear Schranz thanked everyone for their dedicated hard work this past year and years past, and shared project highlights for 2013.

Aanii Boozhoo

Midwest SOARRING Foundation invites all people to gather into an ever-increasing wider circle that preserves Mother Earth, and the rich traditions of the ancestors. We invite you to learn about the many intertribal Native American lifeways that provide wisdom and direction in our contemporary world. In keeping with this path, Midwest SOARRING Foundation works to maintain the traditions of the ancestors and to conserve and restore to health the natural environment.

We invite you to join our circle. Dance at our pow wows. Attend our cultural events and support the bison herd-our nation's greatest herbivore and symbol of hope and survival for all people. As you listen, you will learn. Together we become the Spirit of the ancestors.

Joseph Standing Bear Schranz