Nominate your loved ones for a story:

Nominate your loved ones:

Chris Crowell: Rooted in Service

by | Dec 2024

It might be at a city council meeting, at a Rotary Club fish fry, or at Liberty State Bank’s veteran’s breakfast, but you will always see Chris Crowell involved with the community. Crowell’s roots go deep — he was born and raised in Lebanon, but even more importantly, he has actively worked to get involved in a variety of ways and with a variety of people.

As a member of the city council, Crowell is involved with several committees, but he also takes the time to get to know the people in his ward, even going door to door at times to meet those he serves. With Liberty State Bank, Crowell is one of the organizers of the TennCommUNITY program, walking alongside other banks to uplift local businesses. At First United Methodist, he serves as a lay leader, worshiping and serving alongside his community there. Most of the organizations Crowell has served with for years, some 30 or more. 

“To me, as time has gone on, it becomes kind of a richer experience in the community to be involved, and not just in one thing but in several different things — to meet new people,” Crowell said.

TennCommUNITY is one of the youngest of those organizations. It was organized in 2020 by John McDeerman as a way to support struggling small businesses during COVID-19. The partnership between local banks — Pinnacle, Liberty State, First Freedom, Southern Bank of Tennessee, F&M, FirstBank, and Wilson Bank & Trust as well as the local chambers of commerce — allowed the banks to offer coupons to small businesses in the area after Thanksgiving each year. 

While the pandemic is no longer closing businesses, TennCommUNITY continued on. The banks involved enjoyed cooperating with each other, Crowell said, and enjoyed putting money back into the hands of local businesses.

“We hear lots of stories from individuals who it makes a difference for in their shopping experience at Christmas,” Crowell said. “We also hear quite a bit from businesses that our banks have relationships with, and they enjoy seeing the people come in to their businesses to spend.” 

While the coupons aren’t worth enough to cover all of someone’s Christmas shopping, it can make their money go further. More importantly, it helps encourage people to spend within the community. 

The Lebanon Breakfast Rotary Club has a similar goal of putting money back in the community. Every year they raise some $70,000, then turn right around and write checks back to the community. Service opportunities also abound, and Crowell said anyone who is interested in service only has to ask to find an opportunity. 

“There’s so many ways in the community and so many needs that it’s easy, and all of the organizations that I know of here in the community welcome volunteers or any kind of help with open arms,” Crowell said. “There’s lots of work [to] go around and plenty of ways that people can help.” 

The trick, he said, is to find something interesting and enjoyable and work alongside others — be it through a faith-based organization, a club, or a nonprofit. 

“I certainly would be happy to try to help direct anyone that’s interested in getting more involved in our community and pointing them in the right direction or bringing them alongside several of us here in the community that are working to make it better every day,” Crowell said. 

As Lebanon continues to grow, it becomes more and more important for everyone to stay connected, to work with each other and support each other. Chris Crowell is a great example of how to do just that. GN 

More Good News

Letter From the Editor

Letter From the Editor

A nurse walked down the hallway his mother walked decades before he did. Beep … beep … he could hear the sounds from patients’ rooms. He kept a small keepsake pinned to his scrubs, a pin his mother...

read more
Letter From the Editor

Letter From the Editor

The people of the year 1000 faced division, uncertainty, and fear for the future. They didn’t know it then, but they stood at the edge of change, transitioning from the Dark Ages to the Middle Ages....

read more
Letter From the Editor

Letter From The Editor

AUTUMN SETTLES into our town like a puppy in a warm bed. There’s a magic in the air that only this season can bring. Golden leaves drift gently from the trees, painting the sidewalks in shades of...

read more
Help Is a Click Away

Help Is a Click Away

WILSONHELPS.ORG IS a large-scale, comprehensive, and user-friendly guide to Wilson County’s broad array of available aid. This is the most general way to describe what is an enormous,...

read more
Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

PAYING IT forward describes the beneficiary of a good deed repaying the kindness to others rather than paying it back to the original benefactor. It has also been referred to as serial reciprocity....

read more
A Story of Faith & Peace

A Story of Faith & Peace

IN 2020, less than 6,000 people across the United States became living organ donors, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. Lebanon is proud to be home to one of those brave donors:...

read more
Los Compadres: A Lebanon Favorite

Los Compadres: A Lebanon Favorite

WHEN I’M in the mood for an authentic Mexican dinner, one of my go-to restaurants in Lebanon is Los Compadres. It always hits the spot, and my most recent visit was no exception. Our server, Manny,...

read more
Letter From the Editor

Letter From The Editor

SHE FLASHES her lights and pushes the gas pedal a little harder. The walkie-talkie is too quiet, so she spins the dial and makes her bulletproof vest a little more comfortable. She worked hard to...

read more
A Safe Haven

A Safe Haven

HEROES COME in many shapes and sizes, but at the end of the day, each has the same important quality: they are willing to do difficult things to help people in need. A hero might rescue someone from...

read more
David Ashley: Pick Up Your Cross

David Ashley: Pick Up Your Cross

WITH EVERY heavy step down the road, Pastor David Ashley’s rugged hands grip the weight of a wooden cross — a symbol of strength and sacrifice — carried not for himself but for the countless victims...

read more
Letter From the Editor

Letter From the Editor

OUR FOOD nourishes us, from the soil beneath our feet to the table where we gather with family and friends. The hot sun beams from the sky into the field of sprouting seeds. Farmers rise early,...

read more
Kansha Japanese Express

Kansha Japanese Express

KANSHA JAPANESE Express was an excellent choice for a quick lunch date. It’s a charming restaurant with a nice variety of Japanese cuisine. The atmosphere was laid-back, with a few subtle touches to...

read more
Christy Mock Opens the Prom Doors

Christy Mock Opens the Prom Doors

THE PROM is an American rite of passage that has, through cultural ups and downs, become an enshrined part of adolescence for almost a century. Yet the costs associated with the prom — costs that...

read more
Sherry’s Run

Sherry’s Run

FOR NEARLY 20 years now, in August and September, green bows have been found all around Wilson County, Tennessee. Some people pass by the vibrant bows not knowing what they represent, while others...

read more
President Stumb

President Stumb

AS THE president of Cumberland University for the last nine years, Dr. Paul Stumb has become an important figure both on campus and within the broader Lebanon community. President Stumb recently...

read more
Unexpected Delight

Unexpected Delight

LET ME start by saying that I’m not a fan of bar food, so I wouldn’t choose a sports bar for lunch. However, I recently met a business associate for lunch at Coach’s Eastgate Grille off Highway 109...

read more
From Katrina to Compassion

From Katrina to Compassion

THOSE WHO lived along the Gulf Coast braced for impact or fled further inland despite gasoline shortages and lanes of traffic that steadily crept north. As a nation, we held our collective breaths,...

read more
Recipes: Fuel for Focus

Recipes: Fuel for Focus

RISE AND shine to breakfasts that fuel minds and bodies alike! Celebrate the power of wholesome, delicious meals to kickstart learning and energize young students. We’ll dish up recipes packed with...

read more