“Ben Tanis joined the Kindleberger Summer Festival during the summer of 1985, as we produced our first musical, The Music Man. He played a traveling salesman in the cast, and was a critical guide and worker on our set-building crew, establishing from the outset that he was both a player and a vital worker–roles that would continue for many years. Ben exemplified the creative spirit at the core of the Festival: building community through the arts.

And, as many within this community have enjoyed, his involvement was a family event, with his daughters, then grandchildren taking their places each summer in our beautiful park. Ben’s legacy will endure through the lives of children taught in the Parchment Schools, as well as so many touched by his generous creativity as it was expressed and shared through Kindleberger Arts.

Thank you, Ben. It was wonderful to see you again this past year; you will always be a part of the Kindleberger Summer Festival.”