What's Happening

April 24, 2023, Adrian, Michigan – The Summer 2023 Lunch and Learn Series offered by Weber Retreat and Conference Center offers you the opportunity to learn about a variety of topics – from pet therapy to telescopes – all while enjoying lunch with your neighbors.

Lunch and Learn is held monthly on Wednesdays from 12:15 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Dates and topics are as follows:

    •    May 10, 2023 – Pet Therapy: Representatives of Miracle Meadows Ranch bring an animal or two as they speak about the wonderful way that animal-assisted activities enhance the lives of human beings.

    •    June 7, 2023 – Everything You Wanted to Know about Telescopes: Chris Miller, consultant for PlaneWave, speaks of the company’s work as a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-tech research and observatory class telescopes.

    •    July 19, 2023 – Doing our Part to Reduce Carbon: Brad Frank, Director of Sustainability for the Adrian Dominican Sisters, shares ways that each of us can reduce our carbon footprint and bring healing to our planet.

    •    August 16, 2023 – Toledo Zoo: Representatives speak about new programs, exhibits, and fun things to see and do at the Toledo Zoo.

No registration is required for guests who bring their own lunch. Drinks and dessert are available for free. Another option is to order your lunch from Weber Center: your choice of egg salad, turkey salad, or chicken salad on a croissant with chips for $7. Those who order lunch are asked to register at least two days in advance. Registration is available at www.webercenter.org; click on “programs.” You can also register by calling 517-266-4000 or emailing webercenter@adriandominicans.org.

Weber Center is on the campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Motherhouse, Adrian, Michigan. Traveling east on Siena Heights Drive, pass the Adrian Rea Literacy Center and turn left just before the solar panel-covered parking lot. Follow the signs to Weber Center. For information, call the Weber Center at 517-266-4000.

August 23, 2021, Detroit – Sister Nancyann Turner, OP, felt inspired to participate in Detroit’s Healing Memorial, a large-scale participatory public art installation that recognizes the depth of loss in Detroit and all Southeast Michigan during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A collaboration between the City of Detroit Office of Arts, Cranbrook Art Museum and the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, this memorial will offer support and healing for residents of southeast Michigan who experienced all forms of loss, including physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, occupational, and environmental. 

The floor to ceiling installation will be adorned by handmade fabric pouches or small fabric envelopes containing a written dedication such as a blessing, a remembrance or a prayer. The cumulative personal dedications will come together to form a dramatic installation at the TCF Center in Downtown Detroit. The exhibit will be unveiled on Tuesday, August 31, 2021, the official COVID-19 Memorial Day in Detroit.

Sister Nancyann Turner, OP

Sister Nancyann, an artist, created a memorial for each Adrian Dominican Sister who died of COVID-19 this past year, as well as several more memorials for young adults who had participated in Capuchin Soup Kitchen programs during their childhood. Sister Nancyann had served as Program Director of the Soup Kitchen’s Rosa Parks Children’s and Youths’ Program.

For Sister Nancyann, creating the pouches was a sacred endeavor. “As I created each one, floods of memories came to me and I felt connected to each Sister and found myself praying to her,” she said. “I knew well many of the deceased Sisters and felt myself blessed as I worked on each memorial. Within each one, I wrote a brief letter and prayer to that particular Sister for whom the memorial was being made – 14 in all. I felt peace and solace in making our remembering tangible.”

Sister Nancyann noted that many people have been in grief and in communal lament for the past 18 months. “We have wept and we have mourned,” she said. “We have become so much more conscious of the pain surrounding an enormous number of people – way beyond our family, our Congregation – beyond our country. Our expansive grief has also reminded us that we are not alone … we are all in this together. We care for each other in new ways and we will assert hope and work for justice.” 

Submitted by Sister Nancyann Turner, OP

Feature photo: These are among the pouches created by Sister Nancyann Turner, OP, that will contain blessings or messages in honor of the Adrian Dominican Sisters who died of COVID-19 in early 2021. Photo by Sister Nancyann Turner, OP