Annual Lebanon Firemen's Picnic set for this weekend

Tuesday, July 22, 2008 12:42 PM CDT

LEBANON - The 76th annual Lebanon Firemen's Picnic will be held Friday, through Sunday, at Lebanon Firemen's Park, County Highway R, Lebanon.

Festivities will begin Friday with the softball and co-ed volleyball tournaments, which will be held throughout the weekend. There will also be a bean bag tournament Friday and Saturday with registration at 5:30 p.m. Friday. To register, contact Kevin Muche at (920) 342-0626.

All musical entertainment for the weekend is free, with no cover charges for the bands. There will also be free shuttle buses from Watertown.

Anyone interested in having a volleyball team can contact Ben Tietz at 925-3145, while those interested in the softball tournament can contact Nic Demetropoulos at 925-3316.

Friday night activities begin with fish fry baskets being served 4 to 9 p.m., with music by the Jolly Time Dutchmen 4 to 8 p.m. The Screamin' Nighthawks will take the main stage at 8:30 p.m. The Screamin' Nighthawks is a five to eight piece band that offers a mix of classic rock, rock with horns, country rock and much more. This year they were the opening act at the Jefferson County Fair for Eddie Money. The Screamin' Nighthawks this year is co-sponsored by A & S Plumbing, Heating & A/C and Maas Brothers Construction.

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The two man horseshoe tournaments will begin at noon on Saturday. Anyone interested in participating can contact Brent Boyd at 925-3459.

The Lebanon Lions will host bingo again this year on Saturday from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Also on Saturday, a free sweet corn roast will begin at 4 p.m. and will be served until gone. Beginning at 4 p.m. there will be live music by Country Storm, a band that plays a blend of contemporary country, southern rock, classic country and old time rock n' roll.

The country/ rock show band, Madison County, based out of Madison will make a return appearance this year at the picnic. This band will take to the main stage Saturday at 8:30 p.m. and play until 12:30 a.m. The eight-piece band has been voted as “Madison's Favorite Local Group of the Year” for the last five years. The band has six vocal parts, and just about every instrument in the country market.

This year Madison County was the opening act for Bucky Covington at the Jefferson County Fair. Kevin Raether of Platinum Realtors and Eric Howlett of Midwest Electric will be co-sponsoring the band this year.

Sunday's activities will begin at 10 a.m. with an outdoor worship service. Envelopes will be provided for the church offering, on which participants may designate the offering to go to their own local church or they can have their offering given to a worthy cause designated by the fire department. One may also bring their own church envelope with the church's name listed on it and the fire department will forward the offering to the congregation.

The picnic will be serving a chicken and ham dinner from 11 a.m. until gone.

The menu includes cream-style or regular chicken, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, coleslaw, fruit, buns, milk, coffee and homemade desserts. Tickets for the dinner are $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 2-10, under 2 are free.

The Lebanon Band, in its 117th season, will perform from 1-3 p.m. and The Goodtime Dutchmen will close out the day with polka music from 3 to 7 p.m..

There will also be a raffle held in conjunction with the Lebanon Firemen's Picnic. Tickets for the raffle may be purchased at the Town and Country Bank in Lebanon or Watertown, or from any fire department member before the picnic and at the headquarters stand during the picnic.

Also at the headquarters stand there will be information regarding the future new park shelter. Those attending the picnic can make donations for the new park shelter or donations to the Lebanon Fire Department at the headquarters stand.

The free shuttle bus from Watertown to Lebanon will run from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Stops for the bus will be Main and Washington streets at the top of every hour, First and Main streets 10 minutes after every hour, and Fourth and Madison streets 20 minutes after every hour. Those helping sponsor the bus this year include River City Distributing-Bud Light, Bismarck's, Thirsty Rhino, Yangers, and Transportation Services of Watertown.

There will be hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, brats, french fries, onion rings, beer, wine coolers, soda and bottled water, plus the picnic will be serving pizza.

The fire department will be also teaming up with Lebanon Lutheran School and Early Childhood Center on Saturday, with some of the proceeds from that day's hamburger stand going to the school and day care center.

The Lebanon Luckies 4-H Club will operate the ice cream stand and games below the band shell serving ice cream, nachos, popcorn, glow necklaces, LED lights and offering old-fashioned carnival games, including fish pond, duck pond, dice toss, soda ring toss, ring toss and ping pong throw.

The annual picnic is a fund-raiser for the Lebanon Volunteer Fire Department.

This year the Lebanon Fire Department is celebrating its 77th year of service. Money raised go towards training costs, equipment purchases and expenses. Volunteers are needed to help in various stands. If any individuals or organizations would like to volunteer, donate or need more information, call 925-3145.