The winner of the Small Business Saturday Prize Basket is Kay Gass of Lebanon. The prize is a basket of goods from over 30 local businesses valued at $1,077. The Small Business Saturday event Basket winner checked in at Bloem Kind Boutique at The Mill at Lebanon. Over 400 check-ins were logged at a variety of stores on Small Business Saturday. The winner is notified by the Chamber of Commerce a week after the event. The Square Merchants were a part of a digital marketing campaign for Small Business Saturday. This is the 2^nd year of a shop small focus through partnership of the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce, The City of Lebanon, and Historic Lebanon. We encourage everyone to continue to shop small and continue the community experience through the holiday season. 

Kay Gass explained her enjoyment from the shopping event. “Our family enjoyed an exciting shopping day in our community. The stores were packed and the experience was fun.” 

Pictured: Left- Kay Gass, Winner of the Prize Basket; Right- Rachel Carlton, Owner of Bloem Kind Boutique

Lebanon Christmas Parade to Begin Holiday Season with a Great Amount of Cheer

The Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce and the City of Lebanon are proud to announce the 2017 Lebanon Christmas Parade, scheduled for December 3.

This year’s theme is “Christmas Movies Come to Life.” Participants are encouraged to choose a Christmas Movie theme for their entry.

The 2017 Grand Marshal will be famed country music artist and actress Irlene Mandrell.

Irlene Mandrell was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, and is the youngest sister of the world famous country trio, The Mandrell Sisters.  Irlene and her sisters come from a musical family. She began playing the drums professionally when she was eleven.  Irlene is a Country Music Hall of Fame Walkway of Stars inductee. She has received many awards including two comedy acts of the year awards from Music City News.

 Though music has always been her mainstay, Irlene has enjoyed an extraordinarily varied career as an actress, model and performer.  Her first television series, Barbara Mandrell and The Mandrell Sisters that aired on NBC and also in the UK, had forty million viewers.  The show featured good-humored interplay between Irlene and her sisters. 

Irlene’s television credits also include a guest appearance on The Love Boat and appearances on a variety of game shows and talk shows including Hollywood Squares, The Match Game, Tattletales, Password Plus, The Mike Douglas Show, The Tonight Show, Bright Lights & Country Nights, This Week in Country Music, Oprah and many others. She also starred in the country variety series Hee Haw for its last eight years.

In addition to her many stage and television appearances, Irlene has enjoyed great success as a spokesperson.  She has pitched products to millions of American homes; these products include Swift Premium Brown & Serve, , Smith and Wesson firearms, Lea Furniture, Realtree Accents,  Country Crock Margarine, ChoiceDek, Cover Girl and 9 West shoes, Harmony Guitars, Natures youth and  Allied Home Medical. 

Currently she is working on an inspirational book that includes stories about her family.  She is also releasing an album with her daughters singing backup and her son drumming. This album will be dedicated to those who serve our Country.

The parade begins at 2:00 p.m. at the former Lebanon High School location on Harding Drive. Traveling Park Avenue to East Main Street, around the Lebanon Square, exiting to West Main Street, ending at Liberty State Bank and DT McCall & Sons on West Main Street.

Float entries are strongly encouraged. The cost to participate in the parade is $25 per entry. Participants may request to be judged on overall appearance, creativity and adherence to theme for a chance to win cash prizes in one of five divisions: Church, Commercial, Civic, Youth, and Horse. Applications are available online at www.lebanonwilsonchamber.com/chamber-events/lebanon-christmas-parade or at the Chamber office, located at 149 Public Square.

Irlene Mandrell

 Raelee’s Legacy hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony sponsored by BankTennessee conducted by the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce on September 23th at 2:00 p.m.

Heather Parris was joined family and friends. They opened a new playground in the community.

Raelee’s Legacy is a non profit organization with a goal to bring enough awareness and education to the medical community and to families so that Febrile Seizures do not take the life of another child.

For more information visit www.raeleeslegacy.org.