The HAHS Family Comes Together for the Annual Banquet

halifaxpahistory
2 days ago
2 min read

By: Dylan Bowman, HAHS Board Member

June 29, 2026

Jane Mello and Ryan Bowman embrace after Mello is awarded the Robert A. Lyter Award by the HAHS Board of Directors. Photograph by Dylan Bowman.

Our Community

These days we often find ourselves too busy to get out and join our neighbors for a community event. I am one of those people, but there is something in me that always strives to be better...to at least make the effort. Because if we can't know our neighbors and fellow members of a community, how on earth do we expect that community (and by and large, country) to get stronger, healthier, and more robust?

The members of the Halifax Area Historical Society gathered for one such event just last week on June 23rd to partake in the annual banquet at the Halifax Ambulance Building. With a delicious roast beef dinner prepared by the Stoltzfous Family and desserts provided by Society members and their families, stomachs were full all around and a sense of rejuvenation and charismatic energy filled the air.

Adding to this energy was the phenomenal entertainment provided by the HIGHLY skilled Zimmerman Family Band, who played a splendid selection of classic rock and roll and country songs. I was singing along half the time, and I did not fail to notice that most of the others in the room were guilty of the same. It is always an honor to have amazing talent from right here in our own community join us for the evening.

HAHS members enjoy their meal, entertainment by The Zimmerman Family Band, and time with one another. Photographs by Dylan Bowman.

Our Destiny

As the year progresses, I find that there is much to do. Not only because, as is the curse with an organization and community which you love, there is always more and more work to be done...but this is also a year of immense importance.

It is the 250th anniversary of our great nation.

There will never be another 250 America. And that very thought keeps me up at night; there is so much that can, and should, be done by all of us. A celebration is in order, yes of course, but I also feel the great need, more now than ever, to press on into the preservation and sharing of our history. All of us on the HAHS Board do. Records to preserve and organize, photos and videos to digitize, new documentary videos like the new "Halifax: UNCOVERED" series to create, events to plan and execute, and of course, a community to give back to. And you can be a part of all of it.

So here's to a year filled with fresh endeavors and new crusades...let's get out there and make history.