KESHENA, Wis. — With the return of warmer weather in Wisconsin, the leaders of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, Oneida Nation, and Bay Bank are ready to further showcase their collaborative and unique mixed-use development that opened in Menominee County and on the Menominee Reservation earlier this year with a week’s worth of festivities—both indoor and outdoor.
Daily grand-opening activities, including door-prize giveaways and chances to enter a drawing for three grand prizes, will be held May 24-28 at Bay Bank and building neighbor Standing Pines Convenience Store. The complex, located at N201 and N209 Highway 47-55 in Keshena, is adjacent to Menominee Casino Resort.
A ribbon cutting is planned for Tuesday, May 25, at Bay Bank and Standing Pines, which features an Amoco gas station, convenience store and car wash.
Tribal leaders from Oneida Nation, which owns Bay Bank, and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, whose Wolf River Development Company (WRDC) owns and manages Standing Pines Convenience Store, are scheduled to make remarks, along with executives from Bay Bank and Standing Pines and other local dignitaries. Representatives from Bay Bank and Standing Pines will simultaneously cut a long ribbon spanning the entrances of both businesses.
Shawano radio station Frog Country (WJMQ-FM 92.3) will be on site May 25 for a live broadcast to promote the new development and give away prizes.
“This grand opening for Bay Bank and Standing Pines Convenience Store is the culmination of a tremendous and historic partnership between the Menominee and Oneida Nation tribes that started nearly a year ago last summer when we came together to break ground for the project on this same site,” said Jennifer Peters, WRDC general manager.
WRDC opened Standing Pines Convenience Store on Feb. 22, seven weeks after Bay Bank officially joined the Menominee community with the opening of its Keshena branch Jan. 6. Keller, Inc. led the construction of the 6,100-square-foot project.
Green Bay-based Bay Bank, which is the only tribally owned bank in the state of Wisconsin, became the first bank on the Menominee Reservation and in Menominee County. Bay Bank provides full-service banking services at the Keshena location with lobby and drive-thru hours Monday-Friday and a self-service Interactive Teller Machine (ITM) available 24/7.
“Our expansion to Keshena and Menominee Nation since the start of 2021, the 26th year of Bay Bank serving Northeast Wisconsin, has been nothing short of inspiring,” said Jeff Bowman, Bay Bank President and CEO. “Our dedicated, expert and passionate team at the Keshena branch is well-connected to the Menominee region, and we are proud to stand for the future of all people there.”
Bay Bank will have daily giveaways for anyone who stops in at its Keshena branch the week of May 24-28. The bank also will highlight its consumer loans, mortgages, and checking and savings accounts throughout the week.
Standing Pines Convenience Store will have daily T-shirt giveaways for the first 10 customers at different times to be determined each day. The store also will offer free hot dogs and bags of popcorn for customers throughout the week.
Standing Pines and Bay Bank are sponsoring three grand prizes that will be drawn May 28 from all entries received during the grand-opening week. The grand prizes are a grill package, a boys’ bicycle, and a girls’ bicycle.
