Kankakee parish festival returns to roots to build community

When a group of people decide to go back to its roots, few are quite as literal about the venture as the members of Kankakee's St. Teresa Catholic Church, at 361 N. St. Joseph Ave.

The effort begins this weekend with a community-building parish festival. It culminates in November when the Rev. Sunny Castillo will lead a contingent of his church family on a pilgrimage to France.

"We plan to visit Lisieux, and see the Carmelite monastery where St. Therese spent her years," he said. "It's located in Normandy, not that far from Paris.

"This will be our second pilgrimage. And I think it's good to find out more about what our church is all about."

Meanwhile, the festival — set for Friday through Sunday — is more about where the parish is heading.

"We had a 'dream Sunday' a couple of years ago and I asked [the parishioners] to tell me what they thought God wanted from us," Pastor Castillo said.

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Community Calendar: Aug. 21, 2013

Community Calendar: Aug. 21, 2013

Saturday

St. Elmo Lodge 916 presents first scholarship golf outing, 8-10:30 a.m. registration; 11 a.m. Shot Gun Tee Time, Minne Monesse Golf Club, 15944 E. 6 Mile Grove Road, Grant Park. $80 per person, Marty Welmaker 815-592-5894; Linell Jefferson 815-370-4315.

Model Train and Railroad Memorabilia Show, 9 a.m.- 2 p.m., Quality Inn & Suites, 800 N. Kinzie Ave., Bradley. Free, 630-649-8709.

Barnstormers over Champaign, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Champaign County R/C Club Field, Illinois Route 150, 2.5 miles west of Mattis Avenue, Champaign. Free, ccrcc.info.

Sunday

Sizzlin' Songs of Summer, 4-8 p.m., Lincoln Cultural Center and The Bradley House, Kankakee. $10-$50, 815-954-4776, wrightinkankakee.org/Calendar_of_Events.html.

78th annual Greek Festival, Sunday, noon-7 p.m., Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, 296 N. Washington Ave., Kankakee. Free, 815-937-4026, ydenoyer@comcast.net.

Monday

Blood drive, 4-7 p.m., Chrome Rack Bar and Grill, 3002 E. Division St. (Illinois Route 113), Diamond.

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Pembroke hosting community safety meeting Wednesday

In response to the shootings Saturday night at the Pembroke Days festival, Pembroke community officials are meeting Wednesday to discuss how to make the community a safer place.

The meeting will be held at 10 a.m. in the Special Education Conference Room at the Lorenzo R. Smith Sustainability and Technology Academy at 4120 S. Wheeler Road in Hopkins Park.

'It is my hope that we can come together, pool our resources and find a solution to address safety issues in our community,' Pembroke Township Supervisor Sharon White said in a release.

On Saturday, three people were injured at Martin Luther King Park when fights broke out and gunfire was exchanged.

The meeting is open to the public.

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Community blood drive set for St. Joseph's

Community blood drive set for St. Joseph'sSt. Joseph Parish Community Blood Drive will be from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 8 at 260 N. Prairie Ave. in Bradley.

To schedule an appointment, go to stjosephbradley.org and follow the prompts or call the church at 815-939-3573. A photo ID is required.

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Monical's Pizza hosting community day to benefit animal rescue

• ANIMAL RESCUE

Community day to benefit animal rescue group

Monical's Pizza will have a community day on Tuesday to benefit Sunrise Center Animal Rescue. Monical's will donate 20 percent of your bill to the designated organization. Monical's Pizza is located at 1155 W. Court St., Kankakee, 597 William Latham Drive, Bourbonnais, and 199 Southcreek Drive, Manteno. You must have a flier to accompany order for the donation to be applied. For more details and to get a flier, go to monicalspizza.com.

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Community calendar: Aug. 14, 2013

Community calendar: Aug. 14, 2013

THURSDAY

Blood drive, 3-7 p.m., Assumption Parish, 245 S. Kankakee St., Coal City. Call Bill at 815-671-7665 for donation time.

Information session on Illinois Dream Act, 6-7:30 p.m., KCC Workforce Development Center Conference Hall, 100 College Drive, Kankakee, free.

Kankakee County Community Services' Navy Pier and cruise trip Aug. 30, registration deadline is Aug. 15. Bus leaves 9 a.m., Ultra Foods, 1200 Kennedy Drive, Kankakee. $42 for the bus and boat cruise, lunch is on your own, 815-933-7883.

Bradley-Bourbonnais Senior Club picnic luncheon, noon, Quality Inn, Bradley.

Key City Toastmasters, 7 p.m., Garden of Prayer, 1432 S. 4th Ave., Kankakee. 815-932-0564.

FRIDAY

Blood drive, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Heritage Health, 300 E. Mazon Ave., Dwight. 815-584-1240, heartlandbc.org.

SATURDAY

Breast Cancer Awareness benefit, 6:30 p.m., Knights of Columbus, 187 S. Indiana Ave., Kankakee. 815-386-4008, 1stanfive4u@gmail.com.

Teen Music Bash, 2-9 p.

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Community Baby Shower soliciting donations

McColly Real Estate, care of the McColly Foundation, is sponsoring a Community Baby Shower. The collection drive began Aug. 1, and continues through Aug. 28.

Baby supplies and necessities such as bottles, diapers, baby clothes, blankets and toys, are just a few of the items that will be collected to help support local mothers in need.

Drop-off sites can be found at any McColly Real Estate and/or McColly Bennett Real Estate's 17 offices located throughout Northwest Indiana and the Chicago Southland.

Baby items collected will be donated to future newborns of underprivileged families, care of St. Monica Home in Dyer, Ind., and other area pregnancy center outreach programs within Northwest Indiana and the Chicago Southland.

Visit mccolly.com for locations.

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