CPN donates to Shawnee’s “Night on the Bricks”

On April 15 many Pottawatomie County community members will enjoy a delicious dinner, side-by-side in downtown Shawnee. Safe Events for Families and Visit Shawnee, Inc. are hosting the Redbud City Night on the Bricks at Celebration of Life Park and surrounding locations in downtown Shawnee. The evening will be complete with Jazz on the Bricks, the third Friday downtown block party and a community connection dinner.

The community connection dinner will be catered by Local Dish and is free to the 1,000 people who have tickets. Community members can pick up free tickets from Coney Island at 111 N. Bell Ave. or the Visit Shawnee office at 131 N. Bell Ave. in downtown Shawnee. Local churches will sell baked goods for dessert.

Citizen Potawatomi Nation will donate 100 tables and 500 chairs, to be set up by the CPN Housekeeping Department staff, in one line in the middle of Main and Philadelphia streets. The event was planned so community members can sit together at the same table and to promote community unity.

“It will take five of us around eight hours from start to finish to get the job done,” Assistant Director of Housekeeping and Safety, Nick Nadeau, said.

CPN is also donating water bottles for the dinner and gift cards for prizes, with the tribe’s total contribution to the event totaling more than $5,000.

Entertainment will include Jazz on the Bricks, with performances by the Oklahoma Baptist University Bison Jazz Combo, Shoulda Been Blonde, the Bethel High School Jazz Band, the Shawnee High School Jazz Band and the Mid-Del Jazz Orchestra, plus student art exhibits and free tickets to the Hornbeck Movie Theatre’s late show.

Redbud trees will be planted to honor when Shawnee was designated the Redbud City of Oklahoma in 1941. City officials will also unveil wayfinding signage and dedicate Tom Terry Park.

“VSI, the Avedis Foundation, Shawnee Garden Center and Shawnee Milling sponsored the purchase of redbud trees to display at the event and then plant in various locations throughout Shawnee to enhance the community,” Danna Fowble, President of Visit Shawnee, Inc., said.

Other sponsors include the City of Shawnee, TS&H, Demco Printing and Ford Theatres.

For more information, please visit www.visitshawnee.com or contact SEFF at seffshawnee@gmail.com or 405.432.4131.