PENDLETON — How important is June Jamboree to the people of Pendleton?

At a town press conference in Falls Park about storm recovery — two days after the Memorial Day tornado — the first question asked when officials opened the meeting to the public was whether the storm would affect the annual Pendleton Lions Club- sponsored event.

Pendleton Town Council President Jessica Smith, surrounded by downed trees and other debris, was non-committal but did say efforts were being made for the celebration to go on as planned.

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The efforts, as it turns out, were successful.

With its rides, food trucks, games and carnival atmosphere, June Jamboree, the 53rd edition, opened on time and lasted from June 4-8 as scheduled.

It is an event where the community comes together. So it seems the timing couldn’t have be better.

“It gives us some normalcy,” Erika Whitehead, 35, of Pendleton, said.

The Whiteheads needed it.

They live across the street from the park. Their home had damage to siding, gutters and roof. Their shed is gone.

Erika, her husband, daughter, grandparents and brothers — who live in Indianapolis — are annual visitors to the local festival.

“To have June Jamboree is very important,” she added. “It brings so much joy.”

The storm may appeared to have put the event in jeopardy, but Whitehead said she had no doubt it would go on.

“I know this town,” she said. “There was no way it wasn’t going to happen.”

It’s tradition.

Tom Bannon, 53, lives in Anderson but grew up in Pendleton. He’s been coming to the event since he was 13, missing only a few when he lived out of state.

“It’s always a fun time to celebrate the closeness of the community and enjoy the beauty of the park,” Bannon said. “(Our family) always likes to come, but after the storm, we were definitely going to come this year.”

Current Lions Club treasurer and incoming president Dick Creger saw the damage to the park but knew, like Whitehead, Pendleton would find a way.

It looked dismal at the beginning of the week, but he remained confident.

“We had a lot of folks in the community, the park in particular, and the town leadership — they knew what the jamboree meant to the community,” Creger said. “That was a priority and they were going to make it happen, and they did.”

Creger and Whitehead were a little more optimistic than others.

Falls Park director Aaron Burris had a first-hand look at the damage Monday evening. His optimism was cautious at best. It was much later in the week before he felt assured things would go on as planned.

“I never would have thought it was possible, never in a million years,” Burris, after seeing the park that first night, said. “Fantastic community support, volunteers, our staff — everyone did an amazing job to make it happen.

“(The jamboree) was always on our radar, but I don’t think until Thursday or Friday of last week we thought it was feasible to get done.”

Considering how the park looked and that a tree had fallen through the community building near the entrance to the festival, Creger’s wife Penny, also a Lions club member and incoming treasurer, said there was a chance the event would be canceled.

Luehrs’ Ideal Rides, which provides the amusement rides for the jamboree, were already booked for the remainder of the year. It wouldn’t have happened unless it was going to go on as schedule.

It would have been a big loss to the community, too.

Penny Creger said local local Lions, Kiwanis and Boy Scouts are able to raise $50,000 to $60,000 through the jamboree. And it all goes back into the community.

“It was either now or never,” Penny Creger said at the start of this year’s event. “Everything is set up exactly as planned. It’s just unbelievable.”

Burris said there’s still a lot of work to be done at the park. He has yet to look at the trails, and there are more trees down at the front of the park.

“We’re not out of the woods and we’re taking it a day at a time, putting the pieces back together.”

Those days will come, but not until after the jamboree.

“It’s like Homecoming and a family reunion out here. It’s a community reunion,” Penny Creger added.