Slice of Life Story Challenge - Day 31 - Farewell, Lebanon!

    It's Day 30 of the March Slice of Life Story Challenge, and I'm writing a goodbye letter to our                                   house in a series of memories since we will be moving in April.

 

This is the first year in the last three I've been participating the March Slice of Life Challenge that I didn't post every day.  I'm disappointed, but considering it was because of a cruise, I can't be TOO disappointed!  I've enjoyed writing about our home.  We officially move this weekend, so tonight I'm going to say goodbye to the town we've called home for the last 11 1/2 years.

 

 

Lebanon, Ohio is a beautiful, quaint, historic town in southwest Ohio, nestled in between Dayton and Cincinnati.  When you drive through our little town, it feels like you've been transported back to a simpler time - a time when people knew their neighbors, walked through town, sat on front porches, gathered for lunch after church on Sundays, and met for ice cream on a hot summer day.  So much so that we've been the site of a few movie sets (Harper Valley PTA, Milk Money, The Christmas Spirit. and partially, Carol).  I remember watching them put down fake snow and put up all the town's Christmas decorations during the production of Hallmark's The Christmas Spirit, and some people got to get pictures with Nicollette Sheridan.  Producers and directors love Lebanon because it looks like the perfect American small town...and it is.

 

We are the home of the historic  The Golden Lamb Restaurant and Hotel,  Ohio's oldest continually operated business (since 1803) and host to 12 American presidents.

The gazebo next to The Golden Lamb is a picture perfect site for prom photos.

 

 

So is the library!

Our library is beautiful.  I used to meet with my Mock Newbery Club in the gazebo behind it.

 

 

 

 

Our Village Ice Cream parlor has an old-fashioned feel with its wrought iron chairs and small round or square tables.  You can get a yummy lunch or dinner there and great ice cream.  We had one of Katie's birthday parties there.

 

 

 

 

 

The Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad Station is another landmark.  There is a fundraiser every year with Thomas the Tank Engine and many a senior picture was taken there.  In 2007 there was a special Harry Potter event - you had dinner at The Golden Lamb and a ride on the "Hogwart's Express".  Of course we went!

 

 

I taught at Berry Intermediate School for 8 years.  When I started, I was in a third floor room, and it was SO hot!!  I was very happy for the air conditioning when I went to Kings!  However, I loved teaching there with great colleagues. 

  Below is Libby's first day of 6th grade and my first classroom at Berry in 2004, right after we moved from Pittsburgh.

 

 

 

We started attending Lebanon Presbyterian Church soon after we moved to Lebanon.  I remember we first started visiting when two of my students invited me: Bre Bogaert and David Janusz.  They made a little invitation for me, so of course, we went!  It's been a wonderful place to attend church, and it's also beautiful!

 

And last but not least, Lebanon is the town where my some of my best friends live.  It's uncanny how the three of us ended up in Lebanon.  Karan and I have been friends since grade school in Mason (a neighboring town), and we both met Jill in college at Miami University (she's from Cleveland).  After college, we lived in different towns: Mason, Monroe, and Cincinnati, but after my family moved to Pittsburgh and back, we all ended up in Lebanon, which is nothing short of a miracle. Karan and her family built a house in 2002, Jill and her daughter moved to Karan's neighborhood in 2003, and we moved here and built our house in 2004. It's been a wonderful 11 1/2 years living only 10 minutes from them.  I'm glad it won't be much further when we move from here - only an extra 15 minutes away.  It's been great having our kids go to the same district, getting together frequently, and having that history together. 

 

Farewell, Lebanon.  What a wonderful city in which to raise a family, enjoy neighbors and friends, go to school and church, and make a home.