Who will win this year's Sheboygan ATHENA Award? Here are the nominees — plus more news in weekly dose.

SHEBOYGAN - Nominees have been announced for a local award that recognizes an individual who honors women leaders, inspires women to achieve their full potential and creates balance in leadership.

The ATHENA Leadership Award fulfills ATHENA International’s mission and the following were recently named by the Sheboygan County Chamber as this year's nominees for the award:

  • Amanda Kroener, Van Horn Automotive Group;

  • Anna Grunwald, Sheboygan Area School District;

  • Casey Irish, Dynamic;

  • Claudia Krepsky, Rohde Brothers;

  • Denice Nugent, Sheboygan County YMCA;

  • Eileen Robarge, Wisconsin Lakefront Property Management;

  • Emily Micolichek, Miller Engineers & Scientists;

  • Emily Kunde, The Production Farm;

  • Grazia Perrella, Family Service Association;

  • Heather Cleveland, Green Bicycle Co.;

  • Jackie Erdman, Above & Beyond Children’s Museum;

  • Karin Kirchmeier, Partners for Community Development;

  • Katy Glodosky, Stefanie H. Weill Center;

  • Katy Pruitt, Sheboygan County;

  • Kayla Schetter, Core Connection Pilates;

  • Kimberly Kuehl, Mercury Marine;

  • Kristen Wlodek, Lakeshore Community Health Care & Working Moms of Milwaukee;

  • Kristin Blanchard Stearns, Lakeshore Community Health Care;

  • Lindsay Harrison-Eirich, Engaged Marketing Co.;

  • Rebekah Hintzman, Ruff Academy, Woof Daycare, Pawtisim, Ruff Rage Room;

  • Tricia Ann Brost, Brost Group Real Estate; and

  • Whitney Zimbal, Nevvo'z Pizza.

The award winner will be announced during a luncheon Nov. 10 at The Bull at Pinehurst Farms Golf Course-The Manor. People can register to attend the luncheon online at sheboygan.org or by calling the Chamber at 920-457-9491.

Welcome to your weekly dose.

Start your week here in weekly dose, a roundup of local community news. Here are more things happening in the Sheboygan County community:

Volunteers donate more than 1,300 hours to help Sheboygan residents: Habitat for Humanity Lakeside’s Rock the Block brought more than 200 volunteers together to complete home repairs in Sheboygan’s Gateway Neighborhood in late September.

Habitat’s annual event aims to increase safety for residents of a select neighborhood. This year’s event included replacing porches, removing yard waste and installing new storms doors. Several projects focused on assisting residents safely age in place by installing grab bars and handrails.

“Habitat strives to help entire communities flourish,” said Volunteer & Community Engagement Coordinator Lorrigan Puls in a news release. “That goes beyond our Home Buyer Program. Home repairs and community projects like an alleyway cleanup may seem insignificant, but they impact many people on a daily basis.”

The three-day event resulted in improvements to homes and the neighborhood. The Gateway Community Garden received two additional garden beds and the alleyways running parallel to Erie Avenue received needed trimming.

A month has passed since volunteers gathered to work on nine homes in need of repair, and Habitat has continued to wrap up the larger projects throughout October. Now, its team prepares to plan for next year’s event.

Sheboygan North/South Drama to stage ‘Freaky Friday’: Sheboygan North/South Drama will present “Freaky Friday: A New Musical” Nov. 4-6 and Nov. 10-12.

Shows will be at 7 p.m. Nov. 4-5 and 10-12 and at 2 p.m. Nov. 6.

Tickets are $12 and can be purchased here.

The show will be in the auditorium at Sheboygan South High School, 1240 Washington Ave., Sheboygan. Run time is 2 hours and 15 minutes with a 15-minute intermission.

Sheboygan police chief earns national Champion for Kids Award: Sheboygan Police Chief Christopher Domagalski was recently selected as a recipient of this year’s Champion for Kids Award at the International Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference in Dallas.

A news release said the award is given each year by the organization Fight Crime: Invest in Kids to a select few chiefs of police, sheriffs and prosecutors across the U.S. who have shown a commitment to both public safety and the success of the next generation.

Sheboygan Police Chief Christopher Domagalski speaks during National Night Out at End Park, Tuesday, August 7, 2018, in Sheboygan, Wis. National Night Out is a community-police awareness-raising event.
Sheboygan Police Chief Christopher Domagalski speaks during National Night Out at End Park, Tuesday, August 7, 2018, in Sheboygan, Wis. National Night Out is a community-police awareness-raising event.

“Chief Domagalski has been a champion member of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids for nearly as long as he’s been chief of police, willing to do anything to advocate for kids and families who need the support,” said Josh Spaulding, national director of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, in the news release. “He’s been an effective advocate in particular for families gaining access to the early childhood care and education programs they need to set their kids up for success early in life. He has also been a powerful supporter of voluntary home visiting programs — key programs that help parents provide safe, nurturing environments in their children’s earliest years.”

For Domagalski, the issue is personal. The news release said "he frequently refers back to his time raising his five kids, and he knows the local childcare landscape and his Sheboygan community well."

“It’s an honor for me to receive the 2022 Champion for Kids Award,” Domagalski said in the release. “Creating a safer community for our kids has been one of my highest priorities as a law enforcement leader. And I look forward to advocating on behalf of our youngest Wisconsinites for years to come.”

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a national organization of more than 5,000 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and violence survivors that advocates for strategies to reduce crime and put kids on the path to successful lives.

Sheboygan church a collection site for Operation Christmas Child: Crossroads Community Church, 4321 County Road A in Sheboygan, will host a drop-off for Operation Christmas Child this November.

Drop-offs at the church will be 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. Nov. 14-20 and 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Nov. 21.

Operation Christmas Child has been collecting and delivering shoebox gifts — filled with school supplies, hygiene items and fun toys — to children worldwide since 1993. Individuals, families and groups can transform empty shoeboxes into fun gifts. The project partners with local churches across the globe to deliver gifts to children in need. A step-by-step guide to creating a shoebox gift is on the “How to Pack a Shoebox” webpage at samaritanspurse.org.

Participants can find the nearest drop-off location and hours of operation as they make plans to drop off their shoebox gifts. The online lookup tool is searchable by city or ZIP code. Signs at each location will identify the drop-off.

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Contact Brandon Reid at 920-686-2984 or breid@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @breidHTRNews.

This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Sheboygan ATHENA Award nominees unveiled, plus Rock the Block results