The Lebanon Festival is fairly new to our little community. Four years ago the Lebanon Festival was started by Rebekah Thompson out of a desire to provide something that would bring the community together for one day! Back then she was basically a committee of one and worked very hard to bring people out. She continued her efforts for three years! Rebekah has since stepped down as the Festival chair and we were all sorry to see her go. It is because of her that we have the Festival today; it is because of the foundation she laid and the fundraising she did that those of us following in her steps can bring you a bigger and better Festival in 2017!
It is our understanding that there is possibly some confusion in the community as to who we are and what our purpose is so we want to take some time and fill you in! One misunderstanding is that The Lebanon Festival and the Historical Society are one in the same. Though the Lebanon Festival feels it has a very good working relationship with the Historical Society and both groups have agreed to help one another out on their respective events, they are not the same. The goal of the Lebanon Festival has been and will continue to be to bring the community together. It's a day where local residents can showcase their talents, abilities and missions to the community. It's a place where new families can come and meet other families. It's a place where moms and dads can bring their kids for a day of fun and it's hopefully a day where people can leave feeling good about where they live! The purpose of the Historical Society, as we understand it, is to keep the heritage of Lebanon alive! Their work is so important in order for the future of Lebanon to know how our town was founded and all that took place 250 years ago! As one member shared with us, "If we don't tell the younger generation then when we are all gone, no one will know the history and there wont' be anyone to pass it on."
Lebanon is celebrating it's 250th Anniversary in 2017! The Lebanon Festival met with the Historical Society back in January of 2016 to talk about what each committee's plans were to honor the year. Each group is planning their own event, the Lebanon Festival in May and the Historical Society in July. We have been and will continue to be in touch about what each of us is planning so that we don't overstep one another but it's important to know that we are united in our efforts and are doing all we can to support each other's events. The Lebanon Festival is using "250 Years" on it's advertising this year, not to cause confusion but rather to remind the town of this very important milestone for Lebanon.
We are asking the community to get behind both of these events and support the efforts of both committees in bringing the community together and recognizing our town and it's history! The Lebanon Festival plans to keep the community abreast of all we are planning as we finalize things right here on our website, as well as on our Facebook page! We welcome any questions or comments you have for us and you can leave us a message here, on Facebook or by emailing us at lebanonfestival1@yahoo.com.
Over the years Lebanon has had a lot of negative press; so much fighting, backbiting and slandering. We believe Lebanon is ready to move past those days into a future that shows surrounding communities that we are united and we support each other! Won't you join us?
