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Mayor of Lebanon, Missouri celebrates ‘Day of Friendship’ with Lebanon

The mayor of Lebanon, Missouri declared Sept. 20 as a “Day of Friendship” between the Republic of Lebanon and the City of Lebanon, according to the Embassy of Lebanon in Washington, D.C.

Mayor Jared Carr issued a proclamation to celebrate the city’s “bond with the country of Lebanon not only through name, but friendship.”

Lebanon, Missouri has a population of about 14,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. (Facebook/Embassy of Lebanon in Washington D.C.)

Lebanese photographer Fadi Boukaram planted a cedar tree in the city to mark the occasion. Boukaram has made it his mission to visit every city named Lebanon in the U.S.

“Our bond with the city of Lebanon extends back well over half a century, and we look forward to fostering deeper cultural ties and cooperation through our mutual respect of one another,” the Embassy said in a statement.

READ: Full text of the mayor’s proclamation:

WHEREAS, The city of Lebanon and communities across America share a bond with the country of Lebanon not only through name, but friendship; and

WHEREAS, Americans have a growing social, cultural and economic ties to the global community, as we seek to communicate with and understand our partners from different language and cultural backgrounds; and

WHEREAS, our community has historic ties of friendship with the country of Lebanon; and

WHEREAS, the cedar tree is a fitting tribute to the country of Lebanon, its people and hospitality; and

WHEREAS, Though thousands of miles may separate our countries, our communities are bonded in friendship and a historic connection dating back to 1955; and

WHEREAS, The City of Lebanon seeks to renew our bond.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Mayor Carr, City of Lebanon, Missouri, Do hereby proclaim September 20, 2018 as a day of friendship between the country of Lebanon and the City of Lebanon, Missouri, USA. I urge all citizens to become familiar with and be open to learning about other nations and exploring our share of bonds.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the City of Lebanon to be affixed this 20th day of September 2018.

Mayor Jared Carr
Attest: City Clerk Laina Starnes

Examiner StaffSeptember 21, 2018, 9:27 pmSeptember 21, 2018 Comments Off 4230

Lifestyle

PHOTOS: Best snapshots from iconic Jounieh fireworks display!

A group of photographers are being recognized for taking the best photos of the iconic fireworks display in the coastal city of Jounieh, Lebanon.

The fireworks celebrate the Jounieh International Festival, which aims to highlight the Mediterranean coastline.

The festival committee shared photos of the winners on Facebook. The winners are:

1st place: Bachir Mouawad

Bachir Mouawad won first place in the Jounieh fireworks photo contest. (Jounieh International Fireworks)

2nd place: Georges Samaha

Georges Samaha won second place in the Jounieh fireworks photo contest. (Jounieh International Fireworks)

3rd place: Georges Hanna

Georges Hanna won third place in the Jounieh fireworks photo contest. (Jounieh International Fireworks)

4th place: Carine Assaf

Carine Assaf won fourth place in the Jounieh fireworks photo contest. (Jounieh International Fireworks)

5th place: Jean Daoud

Jean Daoud won fifth place in the Jounieh fireworks photo contest. (Jounieh International Fireworks)

Examiner StaffAugust 11, 2018, 1:36 pmAugust 11, 2018 Comments Off 2279

Lifestyle

Lebanese man plants cedar tree in town of Lebanon, Tennessee

A Lebanese photographer planted a cedar tree in the small town of Lebanon, Tennessee as part of his mission to visit every city named Lebanon in the U.S.

Fadi Boukaram told WKRN-TV he is on his second tour of U.S. cities named Lebanon. By his count, there are 47 total ‘Lebanon’ cities in the U.S., including in Kentucky, Tennessee, North Dakota and Oklahoma.

Boukaram said the journey was done as a road trip to explore America’s heartland and any potential connections to the country of Lebanon.

Fadi Boukaram visits towns around the U.S. named Lebanon. He posted a Facebook photo in Lebanon, Kentucky. (Facebook/Fadi Boukaram)

Surprisingly, Boukaram told the Nashville ABC-affiliate he found a connection involving a goodwill tour in 1955 from Lebanon to Lebanon, Tennessee.

“What’s interesting to me is the Vice Mayor, who went from Lebanon is actually Lebanese-American. His name was Frank Baddour and he was a dentist and a prominent citizen of Lebanon, Tennessee,” Boukaram said.

The photographer planted a cedar — Lebanon’s national symbol — in a community park near the town’s downtown area.

Boukaram said the town of Lebanon, Tennessee made a special impression on him.

“I started in California and this is the first big Lebanon I passed through,” he added. “I passed through two smaller ones before but they were too tiny, and the weather there is too hot to be able to grow a cedar tree. I love Lebanon, Tennessee. I spent a week here in 2017 when I first came and I just loved it.”

Examiner StaffAugust 9, 2018, 7:25 pmAugust 9, 2018 1 4331

Lifestyle

American photographer transforms Beirut into minimalist artwork

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — American photographer and artist Matt Crump made Beirut his canvas recently, when he took to the streets to photograph local landmarks and transform them into minimalist artwork.

Crump is known for creating a movement called #candyminimal, a photography project which separates subjects in a photograph and edits them into a candy-colored image.

Crump collaborated with Beirut-born fashion designer Ryan Houssari to “glamorize reality” and showcase Beirut landmarks. Houssari is also the creative director of PLASTIK magazine, an independent art and fashion publication.

Crump’s work was recently published in the latest edition of PLASTIK, which was founded in 2009. The magazine’s highly stylized editorials have been acknowledged by the The Printing Industries of America in New York City with the “Premier Print” award in 2010, and the Golden Award for “Best Publication in the Middle East” by the DCCI Publishing Group at the 2009 Dubai Printing and Press awards.

Matt Crump is a full-time artist with a social-media following of over 125,000. Crump attributes his success to his distinctive use of candy-colored negative space and surreal compositions. He open-sourced his brand of photography with the hashtag #candyminimal, inspiring his international audience to create and tag over 50,000 of their own candy-colored photos.

Examiner StaffMay 3, 2015, 5:19 pmMay 3, 2015 Comments Off 2954

Lifestyle

Photo series explores the bedrooms of Lebanese, American girls

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Lebanese-American photographer Rania Matar released a new series called A Girl and Her Room, where she documents the personal bedrooms of Middle Eastern and American girls and compares adolescent cultures in different countries.

In an interview with BuzzFeed, Matar discussed her inspiration for the series as a place that she feels serves as an “extension of the girl.”

“They are so vulnerable at that age. They are trying to fit in … figure out who they are and how they want to present themselves to the world,” said Matar.

Matar says she noticed that the girls made their bedroom reflect their personality, in both cultures.

“Some of them were in very cosmopolitan part of Beirut, some were in refugee camps, and some were in Boston or on the East Coast where I live. But I felt that at the core those girls were going through the same transitional experience,” she told Buzzfeed.

A few snapshots into the series:

For more information about Matar’s book, A Girl and Her Room, click here.

Examiner StaffNovember 10, 2014, 10:47 pmFebruary 7, 2015 Comments Off 3782

Lifestyle, News

Lebanese photographer featured on ABC News ‘This Week in Pictures’

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Lebanese photographer Karim Bechara posted a beautiful photograph of lightning strokes above Lebanon on Facebook on Thursday. The lightning came as a result of heavy rainfall pounding various regions of the country this week.

Bechara used a long exposure to produce the image and captioned: “The reason lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place is that the same place isn’t there the second time.”

Beshara’s photo was featured on ABC News as one of the week’s top photos from around the globe.

Beirut-based ABC correspondent Alexander Marquardt posted the photo on Twitter calling it an “amazing shot.”

See more photos by Karim Bechara below: