2 weeks Ago By Staff Report
SHENANDOAH – For the Shenandoah Kielbasi Festival and Heritage Day/Parade of Nations on May 17, Divine Mercy Roman Catholic Parish has issued a call for children to join adults for the parish’s participation in the annual march. “Your willingness to march with us will be greatly appreciated,” the parish declared in its bulletin, adding, “feel free to contact the rectory about attire ..
.” The parish rectory, 108 W. Cherry St.
, can be reached at 570-462-1968 or by email at [email protected]. The parish website is www.
dmparish.com. Divine Mercy Parish will again sponsor a festival and heritage day stand in downtown Shenandoah featuring a wide variety of food favorites – including bundookies and haluskie – plus desserts.
“Come and join us for a fun-filled day and be proud of your heritage and support your parish and other vendors,” organizers said in the bulletin announcement. The annual Shenandoah Kielbasi Festival and Heritage Day/Parade of Nations is sponsored by the Return to Prominence revitalization group Downtown Shenandoah Inc., 116 N.
Main St. Visitors to the 2025 event will also have the opportunity to check out construction progress on DSI’s multimillion-dollar Center for Education, Business and Arts (CEBA) in the 100 block of North Main Street. The Parade of Nations highlights the mosaic of cultures and ethnicities that have molded Shenandoah for its 159 years as a borough and its settlement even before its incorporation in 1866.
Parade participants will form on North Jardin Street, march south to Cherry Street, east to Main Street, and then north on Main to Washington Street. The festival will feature three blocks of food, arts, crafts and beverage vendors, as well as the local “Kielbo Kings”: Kowalonek’s Kielbasy Shop, South Main Street; and Lucky’s Kielbasi Shop and Deli, West Centre Street. Mark Kowalonek and Dave “Lucky” Lukashunas will be on hand to offer their fare and greet festival visitors.
Shenandoah-based Ateeco Inc., maker of Mrs. T’s Pierogies, will feature its treats and its popular Mr.
Pierogi Man. The Rescue Hook & Ladder “Hookies” Fire Company, at the northeast corner of Main and Coal streets, will have its bleenie-making operation in full swing. Traditionally for the celebration, the Greater Shenandoah Area Historical Society Museum at the southeast corner of Main and Cherry streets and the Schuylkill Historical Fire Society Museum at 105 S.
Jardin St. will be open to welcome visitors. For more information, call DSI at 570-462-2060, email dsi@downtownshenandoahinc.
com or go to www.downtownshenandoah.com.
For more about CEBA, visit discoverceba.com. Tamaqua Community Day to include activities galore TAMAQUA – The Tamaqua Area Chamber of Commerce has announced that the Tamaqua Community Day 5K and fun walk/run will begin at 9 a.
m. May 31 at the Owl Creek Reservoir, 172 Owl Creek Road. Registration will begin at 8 a.
m. Walkers will complete one lap around Owl Creek, and runners will complete two. The top 10 finishers will receive a free beverage or food item.
The annual Tamaqua Community Day will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.
m. May 31 at the Owl Creek site. Admission will be free, but some events will have fees.
Community Day will also include guided bike tours at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. with DNA Bikes.
No fee or registration is required, but participants must have their own mountain bike helmets, which are required. The day also will feature the start of the Tom Bantitelli Sr. Memorial Trout Fishing Derby at noon.
It is open to all ages at $20 for people 16 and older and $10 for those 15 and younger. Registration forms are available at Tom’s Auto and Marine, 250 S. Greenwood St.
, and should be returned with payment to Tamaqua Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 54, Tamaqua, PA 18252.
Advance registration is also available online. The chamber and Explore Schuylkill are event supporters. For more information, visit www.
tamaqua.net/community-day. Schuylkill Women’s confab to be held at Arrow Studio POTTSVILLE – The 2025 Schuylkill Women’s Conference, presented by Fulton Bank, is scheduled for 11:30 a.
m. to 5:30 p.m.
May 1 at Arrow Studio & Events, 316 N. Centre St. Speakers will include Emily Pettinato, workforce development specialist, Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce; Katharina Stuerzl, Kat Coaching & Consulting LLC; Marie Conley, Conley Consulting LLC; Marley Mikovich, Historic Yuengling Mansion & Schuylkill Council for the Arts; Madelyn Rowan, Miss Central Pennsylvania; and Sonia Smith and Kimberly Stout, U.
S. Small Business Administration. The registration deadline is April 25.
To register online, visit https://schuylkillchamber.growthzoneapp.com/ap/Events/Register/12FkWqwSgCVCB.
For more, email Cierra Abrachinsky at [email protected]. Session to heat up the marketing game SCHUYLKILL HAVEN – The Summer Marketing Conference, an event to “heat up your marketing game,” is scheduled for 8:30 a.
m. to 4 p.m.
June 5 at Penn State Schuylkill, 200 University Drive. The LionLaunch effort, a complimentary session through a state Department of Community and Economic Development grant and presenters, will feature “an impressive lineup of talented community professionals who are ready to share their marketing expertise with you,” according to an event flyer. Participants will “learn valuable tricks, trends (and) tools .
..” A light breakfast and lunch will be provided.
For more information, email [email protected] or call 570-385-6112. After 5 Chamber Mixer scheduled at Carmelo’s ORWIGSBURG – A Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce Business After 5 O’Clock Mixer is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.
m. May 28 at Carmelo’s Roman Delight, 1240 Centre Turnpike. Dr.
Bob Bryan Orthodontics is the mixer sponsor. Event contact is Cierra Abrachinsky, who can be reached at [email protected] or 570-622-1942.
MAEA Sponsors multiple sessions POTTSVILLE – The Pottsville-based Northeast Pennsylvania Manufacturers and Employers Association offers training and other sessions for regional employers, including: A variety of roundtables in Schuylkill and Luzerne counties, featuring discussions and insights on important topics, most from 11 a.m. to 1 p.
m., with lunch at noon. Recognition for manufacturers and employers who demonstrated excellence in 2024 during a May 6 banquet at the Mountain Valley Clubhouse, Barnesville.
Your Employability Skills (YES) Recognition Breakfast, 9 to 10:30 a.m. May 8 at St.
Nicholas Hall, Primrose near Minersville. MAEA summer golf outing, a four-person scramble with a 1 p.m.
shotgun start, June 13 at Mountain Valley Golf Course, Barnesville. To register or for more information, call 570-622-0992 or visit www.nepmaea.
com. Contacts include Darlene J. Robbins, MAEA president, at drobbins@nepamaea.
com; Eileen Kuperavage, director of employer engagement, at [email protected]; Joan Trosterud, marketing and administrative coordinator, at [email protected]; and Nichole Jenan, administrative assistant, at njenan@nepamaea.
com. Loans available for eligible projects POTTSVILLE – Firms looking to expand or retain or add employees may be eligible for a loan of up to $25,000, according to a Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce flyer. Business loans are available with the following criteria: Proceeds must be used for job growth or retention and not as a working capital line of credit; uses can include equipment purchases, training-related software, commercial real estate improvements and similar items; businesses must be located in Schuylkill County; and collateral may include business assets and/or real estate.
For more information, call the chamber at 570-622-1942 or visit www.schuylkillchamber.com.
The chamber is located at Union Station, 1 Progress Circle, Suite 201, Pottsville, PA 17901..
