It’s become one of the area’s most anticipated annual festivals, but the Taste of Montgomery County also fulfills a very important role. The Taste raises funds for the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum, located on the grounds in Crawfordsville where Lew Wallace penned his masterwork, Ben-Hur. The 9th annual Taste of Montgomery County occurs this Saturday, August 22, from 12:00-10:00 p.m.
The site of the Taste, the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum on 200 Wallace Avenue, was once General Wallace’s backyard, lying just north of his home on Wabash Avenue. Hundreds of Taste-goers will congregate near the bronze statue of Lew to hear the great live music beneath the shade. General Wallace set up his rocking chair under the spread of a giant beech tree. This allowed him to work on his writing in peace and solitude. Wallace wrote a significant portion of Ben-Hur under this tree, known as the Ben-Hur Beech Tree.
The General’s Study building is one of the gems of Crawfordsville. It has seen visitors from around the globe for more than 100 years. The General’s original artifacts and personal memorabilia fill the Study. Most of them have been in the Museum’s collection since Wallace’s death in 1905.
Gate sales from Taste of Montgomery County directly benefit General Lew Wallace Study
Revenues from the gate sales at this year’s Taste will go to fund the Museum’s extensive programming and annual exhibit. In celebration of the Indiana Bicentennial celebration, the museum’s annual exhibit will focus on the Golden Age of Hoosier Authors. The Golden Age started with Lew Wallace’s Ben-Hur. Museum programming in 2016 will include the popular Adult Lecture Series, a Hoosier Authors Book Club (beginning this fall), and a summer youth camp.
Last year, the museum provided educational programs for 1,288 adults and children on-site and 562 off-site. In addition we gave regular, daily tours. Your admission ticket directly helps the museum provide these programs and create new and innovative programming in the future.
Tickets for the Taste can be purchased at the gate for $5 for adults and $3 for students. Children 6 and under are free.
The Lew Wallace Study would like to thank Title Sponsors of this year’s event: the Montgomery County Tourism Commission, Franciscan St. Elizabeth Health- Crawfordsville, Howard Miller, the Journal Review, The Paper of Montgomery County, and Christi Hubler Chevrolet.
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