The Green Bay Packers Foundation chair’s message to grant recipients was succinct. On Nov. 21, Wilson Jones told the 398 grantees gathered in the Lambeau Field Atrium that “the Green Bay Packers appreciate what you do.”
Wilson conveyed that the foundation was created in 1986 by Judge Robert J. Parins “as a vehicle to assure continued contributions to charity,” with its goal being “to assist the many nonprofit organizations across the state that impact the well-being of Wisconsin residents.”
In 2024, they awarded $1.5 million to help meet their charge.
There were 459 grants submitted this year, with each seeking funding for eligible projects in arts and culture, athletics and education. Wilson noted: “This was the largest number of applications we’ve ever had.”
He added that all the organizations that applied shared something in common with the foundation.
“We have the same mantra — everybody matters,” he said. “We want to encourage you to keep doing what you do to inspire others in our state.”
I attended the luncheon event with pageant stage manger Melinda Cook to accept a check on behalf of the Menominee Pageant Players Guild. Our group stages a theatrical production in the Woodland Bowl every summer on the Wednesday before the Menominee Contest Pow Wow, as well as a dinner theater evening on the Menominee Restoration Act in late December.
While a Dec. 19 show at Menominee Indian Middle School will mark our next production, the Packers Foundation grant will help finance our summer 2025 endeavors.
Menominee people have been inviting guests onto their land to hear performed oration since the 1800s, with their pageant productions running from 1937 into the 1970s. The latter shows are a mixture of recorded dialogue, pantomime and live music and dancing under theatrical lights in the majestic Woodland Bowl in Keshena.
Since 2016, the College of Menominee Nation has answered elders’ requests to revive the shows, staging classic pageant scripts from the 1940s through the 1960s. Celebrated by both the community who created them and those who travel from throughout the state to witness, the shows have inspired our turn toward a new chapter in Menominee theater history.
The Green Bay Packers Foundation grant funds the creation of new pageant scripts that will carry the productions forward for the next few years. Drawing from both written and oral Menominee stories, the new show will aim to reflect the messages that 21st century pageant patrons need to hear. The charge to write new shows has been a goal of our revival team since day one.
After our 2016 production, our late master of ceremonies Richie Plass said, “Look at these people, these young ones. Fifty years from now, they’ll be great, these young ones, carrying this on. And maybe even make new stories, make them their stories. And that’s what our culture is about. It’s forever changing as much as it is staying as it was.”
In 2023, the Pageant Players Guild answered the call to produce new stories by adding a new scene to enhance a collection of past work in a show called “Onākow.” In 2024, we created and staged the short intermission show, “How Muak Got Their Necklace.” In 2025 and beyond, we aim to stage all new productions.
Packer alumnus Dorsey Levens concluded the foundation gathering stating, “It’s amazing what you can do to change someone’s life. All you have to do is show them you care and give them your ear.
“If you want to change the world, you start in your community.”
Menominee people have always recognized the power of stories to enact positive change.
With funding from the Green Bay Packers Foundation and the continued support of CMN, the Menominee Pageant Players Guild endeavor to add to the proud tradition of Menominee theater.
Generation after generation, Menominee theater practitioners have been empowering artists, affirming cultural teachings and changing patrons into allies, one production at a time.
The Pageant Players Guild appreciates this rich history. Now it’s time to add to it.
Ryan Winn, PhD, teaches courses in communication, English, history and theater at College of Menominee Nation. For more information about the school, visit www.menominee.edu.
Green Bay Packers Foundation invests in new pageant
