La Salette Shrine: Hope International Connection and Peace

Most Upper Valley folks are familiar with the La Salette Shrine Festival of Lights display in Enfield, NH during the holiday season, but the shrine is a busy place connected to the Upper Valley Community year-round. Speaking with Father John Patrick Sullivan, the director of the shrine and Roman Catholic priest, one can hear his passion for connecting with people in both his neighborhood, the greater Upper Valley, and the world community.

 La Salette has been a part of the Upper Valley for over 100 years after the Shaker society sold the land to the La Salette group in 1927. Also hosting a school/seminary and a summer camp on Lake Mascoma for a time, La Salette opened its shrine over 50 years ago. All are welcome at the shrine, Father Sullivan says, not just Roman Catholics. “My dream is that it be a center of reconciliation, a place of healing,” Father Sullivan has hosted speakers from a variety of faiths, welcoming friends from the Muslim religion, Native American leaders, Lutheran pastors, and a number of different cultures.

Father Sullivan grew up in Dorchester outside Boston in a “very Irish Catholic family,” he laughs, and had, even as a young person, a desire to join the seminary. He joined at age 16, and continued his work in theology at Catholic University outside Washington DC, graduating and becoming ordained in 1970. “That was right after Vatican II, which was a very exciting time in the Catholic Church,” Father Sullivan says.

Father Sullivan knew he wanted to explore the world and work with people in other countries, but was hesitant to start. “I didn’t know if I had the courage,” he says. But, after 15 years of work with local seminarians near the National La Salette Shrine in Attleboro, MA, Father Sullivan decided to go for it: “I went to South America, I learned Spanish in Bolivia, and I spent about 18 years in Argentina.”

Father Sullivan was deeply impacted by his time in Argentina. “It became my home after I learned Spanish in Bolivia – I could write a book about my mistakes in Spanish,” he laughs, “But I grew to love the people.” He worked in a few different areas in the country which he all enjoyed, but he is particularly touched by his time with small communities in the campo, or countryside, region. Speaking with emotion in his voice, Father Sullivan said, “They were the friendships that I think of most. To see how they really supported one another, they had a lot to teach us about community.”

Father Sullivan came back to the States in 2003 and, after 11 years serving at the National La Salette Shrine, found his way to the Upper Valley. Father Sullivan brought with him the impact his time spent in another culture has had on him. He gives Mass in Spanish regularly not only at the Shrine in Enfield but in Nashua and Manchester, continuing to keep him connected to his time in South America. “It’s good for Americans,” he says, “that we can see our country from outside our own culture, and to see how they can teach us and we can teach them.”

Father Sullivan’s dedication to multiculturalism in his work is manifesting in a new project the shrine is participating in – a Day for Ukraine on June 11th.

The first seeds of the project were sown after a Peace Walk and Candlelight Vigil for Ukraine took place in downtown Enfield on March 6th. Around one hundred residents took part in the walk and vigil hosted by town residents and selectmen. Olga Sobko, a nurse at DHMC whose parents emigrated from Ukraine, sang and spoke at the event. “I just felt very, very struck by hearing the cries of the people suffering in Ukraine,” Father Sullivan says. So he asked the familiar old questions: “What can we do?” and he and a group of eight individuals, including Sobko, came up with the possibility of hosting a fundraiser at La Salette and began planning.

The day is going to feature something for everyone, including children’s crafts with a Ukrainian theme – such as bracelet making and Ukrainian story book reading – and an exposition of Pysanky, or egg “writing,” by local artist Shannon Wallis. Ukrainian artists around New England such as singer-musician Marko Boroda, Ilya Demba Band, and musicians on supilka and bandura, traditional Ukrainian instruments, will be sharing the music throughout the day.

Sobko was once a Ukrainian dancer herself and says,“It felt for me that a Day for Ukraine is not complete without Ukrainian dancers,” so event attendees will also be treated to a performance of Ukrainian folk dance by the Kalyon’ka Dance Ensemble from Stamford, CT. 

A silent auction will be hosted by Dolores Struckhoff with donations from around the area including items made by Ukrainians here in New Hampshire from Kateryna Woodworks. And, of course, all through the day there will be food – a pancake breakfast, a bake sale, a barbeque hosted by the Knights of Columbus and a number of Ukraine dishes including varenyky, holubchis, borscht, and other sweets. “I would just encourage people to come and to enjoy! We’re going to have a variety of options to make the day beautiful,” Father Sullivan says.

Businesses and individuals across the Upper Valley have come together to make this happen, including some from Lebanon such as the Golub Corporation/Price Chopper Supermarkets and the Lebanon’s Lion’s Club. Father Sullivan was also sure to note individuals from Enfield that have dedicated their time and effort to make this day happen such as John Markowitz, Ed McLaughlin, and Rich Smith – in addition to Sobko and Struckhoff.

In the morning an interfaith service will be hosted by Father Sullivan. Michael Caduto, an award winning author from Vermont, will be sharing his song for children of Ukraine at the start of the service. The event will conclude in the evening with a Catholic Mass in the chapel led by both Father Sullivan and Ukrainian priest, Father Jim Morris. “The act of praying for peace and an end to the violence will be a good way to end the day. We want to really push for diplomacy and reconciliation,” Father Sullivan says.

The proceeds from the event will be going to humanitarian aid in Ukraine, split between the long-standing and well-known UCCA (Ukrainian Congress Committee of America) and the La Salette community working in Ukraine. Father Sullivan speaks of the 11 priests they have stationed there in parishes in both the East and West, some near areas such as Mariupol. “Some are in very dangerous areas and they want to stay with their people, so we’re trying to send support for medical purposes and reconstruction,” Father Sullivan says. Many of the La Salette priests working in Ukraine are from neighboring Poland and are helping people find refuge, coordinating evacuations, and distributing food; in Krzywy Rog in southeast Ukraine, the group is giving out 600 loaves of bread a day.

“The focus of the event is to raise the money to support the people of Ukraine,” Father Sullivan says, “but also to educate people on the beauty of the culture of Ukrainian people and what we can do. Everyone is a peacemaker. We don’t just talk about it; we have to make peace by the way we relate to one another.”

Father Sullivan continues to build community here in the Upper Valley not only through his work at the Shrine, but also by giving Mass in surrounding communities such as Sacred Heart church in Lebanon and volunteering as an on-call priest for Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. He also is on the by-way commission looking to create a by-way on Route 4 along Mascoma Lake, passing by La Salette and the Shaker museum. “We’re grateful to be here. We want to make our property available for any way we can help the town.”

Father Sullivan wants folks to know that anybody is always welcome to come and walk the property of La Salette Shrine. He sums up his passion for connecting across cultures: “I want to just say as clearly as I can that nobody is all alone. We’re not isolated. We have got to break down the fear of connecting with one another. We’re in this together,” he says, “We are a family.”

He wants to remind people to be hopeful and not to be discouraged: “It’s always a choice between fear and love. I go for love every time.”

The Day for Ukraine will take place on June 11th  beginning at 7:30 AM at La Salette Shrine at 410 NH Route 4A in Enfield. More information on both the event and the La Salette work in Ukraine can be found on the their website at www.lasaletteofenfield.org.

Iryna’s story begins ten years back, before Russia’s war on Ukraine ever began. Iryna Petrus – now living in the Upper Valley with her 4-year-old daughter Polina after fleeing Ukraine in February 2022 – first came to Lebanon as a student. Iryna had a degree in engineering from a university in Ukraine, but was looking to improve her English by studying at Lebanon College where she earned her Associate Degree in business administration. She also worked at Elixir in WRJ, where she recalls talking to patrons about Ukrainian independence and history: “I was a really proud Ukrainian back then and even more now.”

Upon completion of her degree, Iryna moved back to Ukraine and put her degrees to use as the head of HR for the Ukraine branch of the IT company Cyprus, based out of Silicon Valley. Through her work there, she completed her master’s degree in HR at Ukraine Catholic University in Lviv and became a corporate coach. In the past year, Iryna started her own business and won a couple of international pageants in the US and Ukraine to boot. “I really had a very good employment history, career growth, and a very successful life professionally,” Iryna says.

Not only had Iryna forged a successful professional life, she had built a life with her family. Her daughter, Polina, was going to kindergarten and enjoying gymnastics and sports. She and her husband, a partner in a small electrical engineering company, had just purchased a new home a week before the war began. “It was simple but we had a good life in Ukraine. We really had our life at home in our homeland surrounded by relatives,” Iryna says. 

All of that changed on February 24th, 2022 when Russia attacked Ukraine. 

Immediately, Iryna and her husband decided she and their daughter would leave the country and he would stay behind. “I escaped Ukraine on the second day of the war,” Iryna says, “We heard how our Lviv airport was bombed and we heard alarms and everything and it was very stressful for us.” It was especially hard for her daughter: “It was very difficult to help my daughter understand what was going on. She was really shocked.” It was the difficulty of having a little one in a country at war that prompted Iryna and her husband to decide she should escape. 

Lviv is only about 50 miles from the Polish border. On a normal day, Iryna says, it would take about an hour to reach Poland, but it took her nearly 30 hours. “There were lots of cars, some people were just walking or running.” Iryna recalls seeing children with no parents. “They were just crossing the border by themselves,” she recalls “That was a very difficult experience to go through.”

Once in Poland, the question of what would happen next settled on Iryna. “When I got to Poland, I didn’t know for how long we’d be gone. Where would we go? When will I be back?” Iryna and her daughter had only one small suitcase between them and her daughter was only able to grab one doll. Iryna and Polina stayed for ten days in the home of her mother’s former employer. 

It was during this time in Poland that Iryna received messages from friends she had met at Lebanon College. “All of them were texting me: Come over, we will help you, we will support you!” However, Iryna’s daughter did not have a US Visa and the line to apply at the embassy was so long they would have had to wait until June. 

Luckily, another friend stepped in. Iryna’s previous employer from her time working at Elixir, longtime Lebanon real estate developer, Mike Davidson, invited Iryna to stay in his apartment in Mexico as long as they needed and apply for a US visa there. Iryna felt she had no choice as she does not speak Polish well and it was becoming difficult to manage expenses. So with Davidson’s help, she made it to Mexico only to run into the same issue as in Poland; the line at the embassy was even longer – the next appointment for them would be in July. Iryna thought, “Okay, what do I do here? I am stuck again, in Mexico, with my little one.” 

An answer came: they would cross the border by foot into Texas at Piedras Negras. Davidson drove Iryna and Polina to the border, and Iryna met with another Upper Valley couple she knew from Elixir, Alice and David Glass. Iryna had kept in touch with the Glasses over the years. When the war started, Iryna says, “They also raised their hand saying we would like to help you and your daughter – what can we do?” 

“That’s how we ended up in the Upper Valley,” Iryna says, now staying in the Glass’ Lebanon home, “We truly got lucky with support from Mike and the Glasses,” Iryna says.

When Iryna looks back at her journey, she remembers the difficulty but also how she was guided by helping hands. She doesn’t recall the pain or stress. “I knew I had to make it. I just remember focusing that I have to make it, to save Polina, to save her life.” Iryna remembers that every single day of the 83 days she spent fleeing Ukraine she was getting bad news from home and hearing of Ukrainians bravely defending the country. “I really focused on little steps,” she says, “Little missions – what has to be done to save myself and my daughter.” 

Now in the Upper Valley, Iryna is figuring out what comes next. She is grateful to be in a safe home and safe place where people are looking out for her, but the stresses do not disappear. She is working on getting her daughter travel papers; as of now, Polina cannot leave the country. Traveling on a tourist visa, Iryna is also unable to work and finding it difficult to obtain her work visa, waiting over a month for a response. “That is a very difficult part because it could be that the country will benefit when I work and support myself, but I cannot do it because I’m not eligible right now,” she says. 

She speaks of former employers who have reached out looking to hire her and notes the current employee shortages in this country. She worries that the difficulty of managing applications – she herself had to hire a lawyer for assistance – may discourage Ukrainian refugees from coming to the states: “I am lucky because I have friends who support and host me, but there are not a lot of people like that who have connections and can be here like I am.” 

“It would be very good for the government to lose a little bit of those rules which are very difficult for Ukrainians right now. Even for me – I hold a US degree, I’ve been here, I lived here, I speak the language, but it’s very difficult to overcome all the bureaucracy just for the eligibility to work and for people who want to help.”

Along with concerns about expenses – she mentions that there is a huge difference between Ukrainian and American currency – Iryna is struggling with the lack of healthcare for herself and her daughter. “You need safety to feel comfortable,” she says, “and now I am not feeling safe.” 

Iryna also has her family back home in Ukraine to think of. “I’m the only one from my family who escaped,” she says, as she is the only who speaks another language. In addition to her husband, Iryna’s mother, sister, and two nephews, aged 12 and 21, remain in Lviv. Her sister stayed in part due to her children’s ages: “It’s easier for her kids to understand what’s going on if they have to go and hide and stay silent.” 

Two of her husband’s business partners joined the Ukrainian volunteer army while the partners elected her husband to stay and run the business. He volunteered to assist those in his company escaping Ukraine, arranging transportation to Poland, and supporting those who volunteered. “Half of their company is already fighting,” Iryna says. Her husband has also volunteered with Ukraine Catholic University, sorting humanitarian aid and shipping it across Ukraine and donated the use of his trucks to the Ukrainian army. “He’s happy to be helpful, giving his time to be of help to the Ukrainian army,” Iryna says.

Iryna is thankful she is able to see and speak with her family every day. She remembers the shock of losing connection when the Russians took out Ukraine’s internet. “I was abroad and didn’t know what was going on, but in six hours, we got it back.” 

For those who continue to wish to help those in or fleeing Ukraine, Iryna recommends starting with the basics: “Put yourself in the shoes of someone: What do you need the most? It’s always very good to ask what is needed right now: How can I help you right now?”

Iryna carries a remarkably positive attitude considering everything she has been through, holding her composure in the face of circumstances most of us cannot imagine. She encourages people to stay united and stay strong: “All of us are getting very tired now – I’m Ukrainian and I’m very exhausted with the stress and worries. I would really hope and ask people to stay motivated, stay tuned, just to pray and get united for the peaceful hope that we overcome this all together. You never know who might need help sometime.” 

She expresses her gratitude for the people in the United States: “I’m very proud that the US did not stay behind, they really stepped in.” She adds this fight is not just for Ukraine, but for democracy, for a better future for all of us. “We should not give up. We’re seeing that Ukrainians do not give up and all of us who are here watching should not give up.” 

In an area such as the Upper Valley with a tiny Ukrainian community, Iryna expresses how much the support means to her: “I wanted to share how touching it is when you see Ukrainian flags, houses painted in our Ukrainian colors, and how people support Ukraine.” She wants to say “thank you so much for all of those little actions, even thinking about us really touches my soul.” She says this support also impacts those fighting in Ukraine: “I’m sure that a lot of Ukrainians who fight there and see how the world got united and supports us motivates them to get out and fight for the day.” 

She looks forward to the day when Ukraine can return the favor by helping other countries in need of assistance and she can welcome us to Ukraine: “We invite all of you to come to our homeland, to our Ukraine, when we rebuild it. And I’m sure the day will come.” 

Muriel Maville, owner of Muriel’s Donuts in Lebanon, had never baked before opening the shop with her husband Francis in 1967. “I was a mother; I was at home!” Muriel laughs, “I hadn’t even gone out to work. In the beginning I didn’t even know if I even wanted to do it, but it all worked out alright.” 

To say that it worked out alright is an understatement; Muriel’s Donuts has stayed in business for 54 years, with Muriel and her family baking up delicious donuts for a loyal customer base and the new faces that come in to try the treats they’ve heard about from friends and family, and in regional and national publications. 

 Muriel and Francis are both Upper Valley natives, with Muriel hailing from Hanover and Francis born and bred in Lebanon. Muriel recalls that she took the business course in high school, anticipating becoming a secretary when she finished school. However, she met Francis and the two married shortly after graduating high school in 1955. They quickly started their family, which grew to include five boys. The two lived in Lebanon while Francis worked three jobs to keep things afloat. When Francis’ aunt Marie was looking to sell her donut-shop business and property, Francis saw a chance to spend more time with his family. 

 Francis soon realized, Muriel recounts, that running the business would take two, and “that’s when I came in the business with him, my youngest one still in the playpen in the backroom here.” In the beginning, Muriel made the batters and Francis made the donuts. “We didn’t know a thing when we started,” Muriel laughs. Muriel and Francis started selling their donuts at local shops, some that no longer exist such as Mike’s, Oscar’s, and Riverdale, and one that still does: The Little Store on School Street. “We delivered our donuts in tomato boxes,” Muriel remembers, “and they put them in jars on the counter.” 

At that time, all they had was the round “old-fashioned” donuts. Over the years, however, the two of them expanded their offerings, adding the crullers and the ever-popular jelly sticks. They also incorporated the cinnamon sugar and plain sugar flavors “The cinnamon sugar has really caught on as of late,” Muriel says, “and there will be people coming in, and boy, all they want is that cruller! We really added to the original.”

The original recipe was handed down from Francis’ aunt Marie, the first proprietor of the shop. Once, Muriel remembers, this story fell into contention as someone else tried to claim ownership of the recipe. “Somebody else came in and tried to tell me that their grandmother made the recipe,” Muriel says. So, she asked Francis’ grandmother and she said, “‘Oh no, I sat here while I watched her make up the recipe. I watched my daughter make it.’” 

The recipe has certainly stayed a perennial favorite for Upper Valley citizens. Muriel has seen up to four generations of families come through Muriel’s for their donuts. “Kids will come and then they’ll come in with their kids, and a lot of them come back to buy the donuts for Grammy or Grandpa.” Even with many new faces coming in, Muriel still knows a lot of her customers, “If I don’t seem to know them, they’ll tell me who they are, ‘Oh, I’m so-and-so’s son, I’m his grandfather, or I went to school with your kids.’”  

 After her husband passed in 2013, Muriel took over working at the counter. “That’s when I started making the donuts and waiting on people, and it just came to me. I didn’t think I would like it, but I did.” 

 The response she gets from customers is Muriel’s favorite part of the job. “I love just making people happy because they love ’em. You can see the love in their eyes and the smile on their face and that’s what I like best is making people happy.” 

 Muriel’s Donuts certainly do make folks happy; people come from all around the region for a Muriel’s donut. She shares the story of NH Chronicle filming a piece on the shop. “Chronicle called me several times and I kind of refused them all until I finally saw that wasn’t going to work, so I let them come and interview me.” She remembers what happened the day after the piece aired, “I opened up and there was a line out the door! People from all over the state had come to see what they had seen on Chronicle.”

 With 54 years under her belt, Muriel’s youngest son Chris now helps in the shop and, according to Muriel, will probably be the one to take over when she’s ready to retire. Muriel gets asked all the time by worried customers if she’s going to go out of business, but she says, “Everything will continue the way it is, and I’ll probably still be hanging around. I’m not going anywhere, and when I do, you’ll see one of my kids here. That’s my plan.”

 With three of her sons – sadly two of her five boys passed away in the 2010s – in nearby Lebanon and Canaan, twelve grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, and a few #1-in-the-state recognitions to boot, Muriel is content. Making people happy she says, “is a gift that I never tire of. I’ve never wanted to go do something else.” From Muriel and Francis’ beginning in 1967 to today, the story of Muriel’s donuts is one of happiness and family, “I never had baked before, but when we started this, it just fell into our lives. It worked for us. It makes me feel good that I’ve been able to be successful and make people happy.” 

Brian Cook, executive director of Revels North, and his team are finding innovative ways to bring Christmas Revels to our community. A part of our Upper Valley community since 1975, the Christmas Revels celebration made the move to the Lebanon Opera House in 2019. Cook and his team concocted the idea of a heart-warming animated Revels film for the 2020 season but were determined to have an in-person performance for 2021 and have created a new conceptualization of Revels to make that happen. “We see this as another chance to reinvent what we do. We feel like, let’s have some fun with this. We don’t want to let a little thing like a pandemic interfere with a tradition that goes back to 1975,” Cook said. 

This year, Christmas Revels is going to be a two-part extravaganza with both an outdoor portion in Colburn Park that will be free to the public and ticketed events in the Lebanon Opera House. 

The outside portion of the program will be, in Cook’s words, “classically Revels,” and feature traditional favorites such as Dona Nobis Pacem, The Shortest Day recitation, and Lord of the Dance. This program will include two half-hour performances daily of the festival at 4 and 5:30pm. “All of the standards of the community chorus and your Christmas Revels will be there, and it will have everything you expect year after year, plus even more happening in the park besides these performances, so we hope it will be both familiar and surprising,” Cook said. New pieces will also be included, such as a hit song from last year’s animated film titled Julian of Norwich, better known as Bells of Knowledge. Cook hopes the free outdoor performance and festival will prove welcoming to newcomers to the Revels: “Hopefully it will be an invitation to people who’ve never tried Revels before to give it a shot.”

The indoor portion of the festival in Lebanon Opera House will be a series of different concerts by three guest artists. “We wanted to capture three performers – each very different from the other and each exceptional at what they do,” Cook said. 

The Friday night performance will feature Eden MacAdam-Somer, a composer/performer/improviser who weaves together violin, vocals, and percussive dance. “[Eden’s] range of interest and cultures is staggering,” Cook said. A timely highlight of her performance, Cook believes, will be her knowledge of the music of Afghanistan. “She’s traveled to Afghanistan about six times in the last 15 years and taught at the music school in Kabul. So, she’s soaked in Afghan music, and I anticipate that will be part of her show.”

The Saturday performances feature Dr. Richard Antoine White, a classical tubist. His performance will present his music and life story, which will include a 30-minute documentary about his journey from experiencing homelessness in Baltimore to performing as a world-renowned musician in prestigious symphonies. White also has a personal connection to the area as he grew up with Revels North artistic director Nils Fredland and his performance will feature local musicians. “[White] is coming at a really interesting time in his career,” Cook said, “He just has an amazing life story.”

Finally, Sunday will star Còig, one of Atlantic Canada’s premier Celtic quartets. Hailing from Cape Breton, the three-time Lebanon Opera House veterans are “right in the wheelhouse of Revels” with their passionate performances of traditional and contemporary Celtic music. “This is in line with what audiences have come to expect from Revels in 45 years, so this will be the familiar performance and MacAdam-Somer and White will be something new,” Cook said. 

While the theme of this year’s celebration is officially Lighted Candles in the Winter Trees – a line from the recitation The Shortest Day (a Revels regular) – Cook and his compatriots decided not to focus on a particular cultural theme due to the new form of the performance. “This unique situation gave us the flexibility not to focus on one particular culture. We’re hoping that through this festival we are able to capture the overall breadth of interests, cultures, and traditions that Revels likes to explore.” 

For Cook, the Christmas Revels is a family affair. From participating in the show in 1981 as a child, to having his children involved in the performance between 2011 and 2017, to acting as director beginning in 2019, Christmas Revels has been a thread throughout Cook’s life. It was his children’s participation in the project that led to his becoming executive director, Cook said. 

Cook’s first year with Revels in 2019 ushered in the first performance of the Christmas Revels in Lebanon after making the trek over from Hanover where the show had been performed since 1975. “The first show did really well,” Cook said, “We were delighted with both the Opera House and the town and excited to establish new roots in Lebanon. The Revels community was excited about the Lebanon Opera House.” Cook reports hearing such remarks as: ‘It was so much easier to get parking,’ and ‘We had such a great meal at Three Tomatoes or Salt Hill!’ “Our audience immediately felt good about the new home,” Cook said.

Cook is hoping this year’s festival will continue to deepen the connection with Lebanon and that “the free outdoor portion downtown will be an invitation for people in town to come and give us a look, whether it’s for the first time or the first time in a long time.” 

Even before moving to Lebanon, Revels North has had ties to the town. Erling Hystad, a member of the Lebanon city council, has been involved with Revels since the very first show in 1975. Originally behind the scenes, he became a performer and will be in this year’s show. Additionally, the Revels board features Lebanon and West Lebanon residents such as President Kim Rheinlander, Treasurer Mandy Spencer, and board member Karen Zook, owner of Scratch Supply Co. This year’s show also features a recent Lebanon High School graduate, Sam Clifton, who both attended Revels as youngster and first performed in 2019: “It was a great way for Revels to begin a relationship with Lebanon as a community, and the city has been right by our side as we figured out our plans for both last year’s efforts as well as this year’s.” Several members also work in the Lebanon community, in the schools or Upper Valley Music Center. “It’s pretty fun to have Lebanon represented in all generations,” Cook said.

Lebanon has also provided Revels the flexibility to create an event they may not have been able to do in Hanover. “The ability to do what we are doing is made possible by this town. There are eight other cities who perform the Christmas Revels and we’re the only one trying to do something this crazy. The reason we can do it is the proximity of Lebanon Opera House to Colburn Park and the vibrant downtown that surrounds it. This is only because of what Lebanon has to offer.”

Cook is excited about continuing to build the relationship with Lebanon in the future. “The town leadership is excited about the arts and the culture commission is really enthusiastic about us coming to town.” Cook is eager to have “Lebanon families get excited about this and view this as their own.”  

Cook notes that Christmas Revels is only possible through the support of the community, such as with a grant from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and Mascoma Bank underwriting the festival for the fourth year in a row. He also encourages folks to donate if they like what Revels is doing and want to support offering this to the community for free. In addition to the free outdoor performance, the indoor ticket prices are reduced, and the Saturday matinee will feature an $8 youth ticket. 

Cook is most excited about making this year’s festival as broadly available to the public as possible and providing the opportunity for people to gather and celebrate. “I think being able to get people back together in downtown Lebanon this year will be a thrill for all of us, because ultimately that’s what this organization is about. It’s about gathering the community to celebrate.”

The Christmas Revels Festival will be held on December 17, 18, and 19 with free outdoor performances in Colburn Park at 4pm and 5:30pm and activities, vendors, and artists from 3-7pm. Indoor performances at the Lebanon Opera House are at 8pm on Friday, and 1:30 and 7:30pm on Saturday and Sunday. The outdoor performances will be mask optional. LOH will be seating at reduced capacity and requiring masks.