April 2024 | Kentucky Monthly Magazine

with Kentucky Explorer

150 th Anniversary of the Kentucky Derby

Renowned Jockey Steve Cauthen Participates in Photography Project

Kentucky Derby Festival

Behind the Scenes with a Jockey Valet Paris Storytelling Festival

Surrounded by the Hoosier National Forest and steeped in rich history, the Resort communities of French Lick West Baden have been welcoming guests for over 100 years. The tradition of hospitality, access to world-class opportunities, and natural splendor provide the perfect getaway. Whether this is your first trip or you have been coming to visit us for years...

Let Us Help You Plan Your Trip Today!

812-936-3418

vflwb.com #MyFrenchLick

Kentucky Derby Festival Schedule of Events

The celebration leading up to the race includes more than 70 exciting events

APRIL

12 A Landmark Kentucky Derby Churchill Downs celebrates the sesquicentennial of America’s greatest horse race with renovations that will enhance the fans’ experience

33 Trusty Sidekicks Valets work hard behind the scenes to keep jockeys outfitted for each race

36 Finding Focus

Famed jockey Steve Cauthen and i.imagine Photography Center collaborate on an upcoming project and exhibition

40 Tales to Be Told Master storytellers will again entertain audiences in Paris in May

Test your knowledge of our beloved Commonwealth. To find out how you fared, see the bottom of Vested Interest.

1. On April 8, Paducah, Marion, Morganfield and Henderson will experience a total eclipse of the sun lasting 4 minutes, 8 seconds. When was the last time Kentucky fell in the path of a total eclipse?

A. 1812

B. 1961

C. 2017

2. Which event draws horses and riders to the Kentucky Horse Park April 25-28?

A. The Kentucky Derby

B. The Kentucky Three-Day Event

C. The Blue Grass Stakes

3. An equestrian triathlon includes competition in which of the following?

A. Dressage, cross-country and show jumping

B. Speed, barrel racing and stunts

C. Jousting, cross-country and rifle shooting

4. John Jackson, who donated the land in London for Laurel County’s courthouse, was the grandfather of Hancock Lee Jackson and Claiborne Fox Jackson, who were the 13th and 15th governors of which state bordering Kentucky?

A. Tennessee

B. Missouri

C. Indiana

5. Williamstown’s Theodore O’Hara

“Doc” Sechrist, a pitcher, appeared in one major-league baseball game on April 28, 1899, for the New York Giants. He walked both batters he faced, but since neither scored and he left without recording an out, he is a rarity without what?

A. Any mention in the record books

B. A Facebook fan page

C. An official earned-run average

6. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gene Swann Graham of the

Nashville Tennessean graduated from which Western Kentucky school?

A. Kentucky Wesleyan

B. Murray State University

C. Western Kentucky University

7. Lucien Hubbard, the brother of artist Harlan Hubbard, produced and wrote 92 films in his career, including 1927’s Wings, which was the first film to do what?

A. Earn $1 million

B. Experiment with color

C. Win the Academy Award for Best Picture

8. Brig. Gen. Noel F. Parrish of Versailles is best known as the commander of which military unit?

A. The Tuskegee Airmen

B. George Armstrong Custer’s backup division at the Battle of Little Big Horn

C. Kentucky Orphan Brigade

9. When Canadian Anna Haining Swan married Letcher County’s Martin van Buren Bates, “the Kentucky Giant,” it was notable because of what?

A. It was illegal at the time (1871) for Canadians to marry United States citizens

B. Anna was two inches taller than Bates

C. Neither had an interest in college basketball

10. Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman played basketball in high school and college before coaching and teaching. Her grandfather played on two NBA championship teams (in 1951 and 1958) after graduating from which Kentucky college?

A. Centre College

B. University of Kentucky

C. University of Louisville

Celebrating the best of our Commonwealth

© 2024, Vested Interest Publications

Volume Twenty-Seven, Issue 3, April 2024

Stephen M. Vest

Publisher + Editor-in-Chief

Editorial

Patricia Ranft Associate Editor

Rebecca Redding Creative Director

Deborah Kohl Kremer Assistant Editor

Ted Sloan Contributing Editor

Cait A. Smith Copy Editor

Senior Kentributors

Jackie Hollenkamp Bentley, Jack Brammer, Bill Ellis, Steve Flairty, Gary Garth, Jessie Hendrix-Inman, Mick Jeffries, Kim Kobersmith, Brigitte Prather, Walt Reichert, Tracey Teo, Janine Washle and Gary P. West

Business and Circulation

Barbara Kay Vest Business Manager

Advertising

Lindsey Collins Senior Account Executive and Coordinator

Kelley Burchell Account Executive

Teresa Revlett Account Executive

For advertising information, call 888.329.0053 or 502.227.0053

KENTUCKY MONTHLY (ISSN 1542-0507) is published 10 times per year (monthly with combined December/ January and June/July issues) for $25 per year by Vested Interest Publications, Inc., 100 Consumer Lane, Frankfort, KY 40601. Periodicals Postage Paid at Frankfort, KY and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to KENTUCKY MONTHLY, P.O. Box 559, Frankfort, KY 40602-0559. Vested Interest Publications: Stephen M. Vest, president; Patricia Ranft, vice president; Barbara Kay Vest, secretary/treasurer. Board of directors: James W. Adams Jr., Dr. Gene Burch, Gregory N. Carnes, Barbara and Pete Chiericozzi, Kellee Dicks, Maj. Jack E. Dixon, Bruce and Peggy Dungan, Mary and Michael Embry, Judy M. Harris, Greg and Carrie Hawkins, Jan and John Higginbotham, Frank Martin, Bill Noel, Michelle Jenson McDonnell, Walter B. Norris, Kasia Pater, Dr. Mary Jo Ratliff, Barry A. Royalty, Randy and Rebecca Sandell, Kendall Carr Shelton and Ted M. Sloan.

Kentucky Monthly invites queries but accepts no responsibility for unsolicited material; submissions will not be returned.

kentuckymonthly.com

Readers Write

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I loved Steve Vest’s “Bully Bear” article (December 2023/January 2024 issue, page 64), but most of all, I loved that he said, “Over the years, being a bully has somehow become equated with leadership.”

I was a school teacher for many years. My students always knew from the very first day that I would not tolerate bullying in my classroom. I put the word “Respect” on the board and sang like Aretha, so I thought (probably not). I am retired now, but many of my kids I see now in the grocery stores and elsewhere remember that I respected them, and they had to respect me.

I get “twitter-pated” when I see our politicians running for office using scare tactics and bullying. I will never vote for anyone who does that, and I agree that our current governor is very nice. I am proud he is where he is. There is so much more strength in kind

words than in cursing, bullying and scare tactics.

I loved the entire article, and as for the ending of the article, remember: Everybody has a history that we regret.

Thank you for giving us wonderful articles in a wonderful magazine.

Sara Fitzpatrick, Shelbyville

• • •

I was reading Steve Vest’s article about his interview with the late, great Bobby Knight. I’ve known Steve so long that when he wrote of that question he asked Knight, I could hear it in Steve’s voice, and I burst out laughing. That would be a moment to have witnessed. Such a quick wit can sure ignite a flame.

Doug Sikes, Sikeston, Missouri

Book Revelations

Thank you for the beautiful article by Evelyn Fallone. (February issue, page 36).

Her reverence for books and the people who read them is touching. I so enjoyed her insight into the secrets revealed by our choices.

I have read her story several times and marvel at the perceptive conclusions she shares—delightful, entertaining and thought provoking.

Carole Harned, Bowling Green

Birthdays

I am a longtime reader of Kentucky Monthly, and I had to say something when I read about Bill Ellis’ birthday (February issue, page 60).

I was born here in Louisville at the old Saint Joseph Infirmary on Dec. 31, 1939, at 12:45 p.m., or approximately 30 minutes before Mr. Ellis!

Maybe someday we can meet and share some life stories.

Jim Kays, Louisville

We Love to Hear from You! Kentucky Monthly welcomes letters from all readers. Email us your comments at editor@kentuckymonthly.com, send a letter through our website at kentuckymonthly.com, or message us on Facebook. Letters may be edited for clarification and brevity.

UNITING KENTUCKIANS EVERYWHERE.

MAG ON THE MOVE travel

Even when you’re far away, you can take the spirit of your Kentucky home with you. And when you do, we want to see it!

John and Cissy Hamilton of Lexington visited Oaxaca City, Mexico, known for its colorful arts and crafts scene.

Bermuda

Belize

Dorothy and Mark Caldwell of Paducah are pictured at the top of Gibbs Hill Lighthouse in Bermuda during King Charles III’s coronation weekend in May 2023.

Belize It or Not – Nancye and Denny Farmer of Louisville traveled to Belize to hike the rain forest, cruise the Monkey River through a mangrove forest, observe manatees and much more.

more to explore...

Be sure to stop by Magee’s Bakery in Maysville to sample Kentucky native George Clooney’s fave—transparent pie.

Beehive Augusta Tavern 101 West Riverside Drive, Augusta beehiveaugustatavern.com

Caproni’s on the River 320 Rosemary Clooney Street, Maysville capronisontheriver.com

Kenton Stories with Spirits

11 West Second Street, Maysville kenton.social

Lavender Hills of Kentucky

229 Conrad Ridge Road, Brooksville lavenderhillsofkentucky.com

Magee’s Bakery

156 West Maple Leaf Road, Maysville

Rosemary Clooney Museum 106 East Riverside Drive, Augusta rosemaryclooney.org

us

maysville + augusta

APRIL 19 • KENTUCKY GATEWAY MUSEUM CENTER

Kentucky Gateway Museum Center 215 Sutton Street, Maysville • kygmc.org

The Kentucky Gateway Museum Center illuminates the past through award-winning dioramas, more than 4,000 regional artifacts and a gallery of fine art related to Maysville and Kentucky. The museum is home to the KSB Miniatures and the Old Pogue Experience.

APRIL 19 • 10:00 AM –4:00 PM

Free Admission

Visit the museum and enjoy FREE admission when you show a copy of your Kentucky Monthly Magazine

APRIL 19 • 5:00 PM –7:30 PM

After-Hours Meet + Greet

Meet us in the Old Pogue Experience for a unique after-hours reception. The exhibit is housed in the historical Limestone Building adjacent to the Museum Center and presents the history of bourbon and the Old Pogue distillery. Refreshments provided by Kentucky Gateway Museum Center and Wandering Kentucky

APRIL 20 • BAKER BIRD WINERY +

Baker Bird Winery + Distillery 4465 Augusta/Chatham Road, Augusta bakerbirdwinerydistillery.com

DISTILLERY

APRIL 20 • 11:00 AM –5:00 PM

Explore Downtown Augusta Head downtown and enjoy the shops, food and scenery that Augusta has to offer. The city is hosting a Spring Fling day, so look for extra special treats and happenings around downtown.

APRIL 20 • 4:00 PM –5:00 PM

Kentucky Monthly Meet + Greet at Baker Bird Winery + Distillery

The Baker-Bird Wine Cellar is the largest, oldest wine cellar in America, on the National Registry of Historic Places, and the only winery to have survived a Civil War battle. Meet us at Baker Bird for a complimentary wine tasting and tour of the historic site. Yes, there will be hors d’oeuvres.

SAVE THE DATE ... MEET US IN MADISONVILLE MAY 11.

We’re celebrating all year! Stay tuned for more 25th Anniversary news, including meetups and suggestions for activities in all our host cities. We will feature them in every issue of the magazine and online at www.kentuckymonthly.com

Looking for covered bridges? Underground Railroad tours? The scenic river towns of Maysville and Augusta offer unique experiences full of history and entertainment.

Minnie Turns 90

Reaching 90 is an impressive achievement, and when you’re internationally recognized folk artist Minnie Adkins, your 90th birthday party is so big that it must take place in a convention center.

On March 9, Isonville (Elliott County) native Adkins celebrated her big day at the Morehead Conference Center with a birthday cake, balloons and approximately 200 guests. The program included speeches from Dr. Raj Parikh, provost of Morehead State University; Lindy Casebier, secretary of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet; and State Senator Robin Webb.

Adrian Swain, former curator and artistic director of the Kentucky Folk Art Center, spoke about running a small gallery in Morehead in 1984, when Adkins brought in some of her carvings. He said he didn’t have the money to pay her outright at the time, so they agreed he’d sell her work on consignment.

Adkins’ art quickly found an audience. “It was new, and people hadn’t seen it before,” Swain said. Dealers in New York, Chicago and Boston began to buy her work for resale, and her national—eventually international—reputation grew.

Speakers noted how Adkins and her late husband Garland brought pride to Eastern Kentucky and shined a light on Appalachian folk artists. Minnie is known for mentoring and being supportive of upcoming artists.

Even the auctioneer, who was auctioning off one of Adkins’ possum family carvings for donations to the Kentucky Folk Art Center, had kind words for Adkins. His voice broke with emotion as he talked about how Adkins had helped him during a low point in his life.

Birthday party organizer Tammy Stone, the administrative coordinator for the Kentucky Folk Art Center, said she enjoyed planning the event. “[Adkins] is a delightful and passionate person who everyone loves once they have a chance to meet her,” Stone said.

Swain told Adkins at the conclusion of his speech, “As a folk artist and human being, you are a true rock star.”

Laura Younkin

AWARD-WINNING NOVEL

The debut novel by Louisville resident and former Kentucky Monthly contributor Ellen Birkett Morris, Beware the Tall Grass, has won The Donald L. Jordan Prize for Literary Excellence, judged by Lan Samantha Chang of the Iowa Writer workshop.

“In this beautiful novel, two stories separated by half a century intertwine to create an indelible narrative of peace and war,” Chang said. “Through surprising and suspenseful turns, Beware the Tall Grass explores the evocative mysteries of time and memory.”

The novel, which was released in March, is the most recent of Birkett Morris’ award-winning works, which include Lost Girls: Short Stories and the poetry chapbooks Abide and Surrender.

8 Barbara Kingsolver (1955), Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame inductee who grew up in Carlisle

8 Kenny Bishop (1966), Dove Award-winning gospel singer from Richmond

9 Kyle Macy (1957), basketball star for the University of Kentucky, coach/commentator

10 Laura Bell Bundy-Hinkle (1981), Broadway actress/singer from Lexington

15 Chris Stapleton (1978), Grammy-award-winning singer, songwriter and record producer from Johnson County

15 Sam Bush (1952), Bowling Green mandolin player, originator of the Newgrass style of bluegrass music

19 Ashley Judd (1968), actress known for her love of UK basketball

23 Lee Majors (1939), Pioneer Playhouse actor remembered as The Six Million Dollar Man 24 Jeff Brohm (1971) head football coach at the University of Louisville

24 Rebecca Lynn Howard (1979), country music singer/songwriter from Salyersville

24 Carly Pearce (1990) Country Music Female Vocalist of the Year from Taylor Mill

28 Bill Goodman (1946), Kentucky Humanities Council executive director

Impress the Guests

PHOTOS BY HANNAH BROWN

Spring brings a season of increased entertaining. It’s the time of year to invite friends into your home or onto your deck or patio for a springtime tea, garden party or Derby Day brunch. Brigitte Prather of WDKY-TV Fox56’s Meal Time Monday offers these delectable dishes that will have guests asking for the recipes.

Brioche French Toast with Orange Vanilla Syrup

8 eggs

2 cups half and half

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 loaf sliced brioche bread (about 14-16 slices)

Butter, for greasing griddle

For the syrup:

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup water

Pinch salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon orange extract

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. In a shallow dish, whisk together the eggs, half and half, vanilla, sugar and salt. Heat a nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Working in batches, dip the brioche bread into the custard mixture and turn, giving the bread ample time to soak up the custard thoroughly.

2. Grease the griddle with butter and cook the soaked bread until nicely browned on both sides and cooked all the way through. You don’t want it to be soggy, so give it plenty of time, flipping it frequently and adjusting the heat so that you don’t burn the outsides before the insides are cooked.

3. If you have leftover custard, don’t waste it—dip and griddle whatever bread you’ve got around—sandwich bread heels, last week’s croissants, a sliced up baguette or stale doughnuts work beautifully.

4. In a small saucepan, heat the brown sugar, water and salt to dissolve. Turn off the heat and add the vanilla and orange extracts and butter. Stir to melt the butter and drizzle this over the cooked French toast to serve.

Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs

12 eggs

¼ cup mayonnaise

½ cup sour cream

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Dash of hot sauce

Salt and pepper, to taste

About 4 ounces smoked salmon

About ¼ cup capers

A few sprigs fresh dill

Everything But the Bagel seasoning, optional

1. Hard boil and peel eggs using your preferred method. Halve the eggs and transfer the yolks to the bowl of a food processor. Arrange the whites on a sheet pan or serving platter.

2. Add mayonnaise, sour cream, Dijon mustard and hot sauce to the food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, although I err on the side of under salting for this recipe, since the smoked salmon and capers both are quite salty.

3. Transfer the filling to a piping bag, if desired, or just scoop the filling into the egg whites with spoons. Top with a small piece of rolled smoked salmon, a few capers and a bit of fresh dill. Season with black pepper and Everything But the Bagel seasoning, if desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Raspberry Lemon Scones

2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¾ stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold

Zest of 1 lemon

1 cup raspberries (frozen or fresh)

¾ cup buttermilk

1 egg, separated

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon raw sugar (can substitute granulated if you don’t have the large-granule raw sugar)

For the icing:

2 tablespoons lemon juice

¾ cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. Dice butter into small squares and work into the flour mixture with fingertips or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse meal, and the butter bits are the size of rice grains. Stir in the lemon zest and raspberries, taking care not to break the berries too much.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg yolk and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula until just combined to form a moist dough.

5. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and form into a ball. With your hands, flatten the dough ball into an 8-inch round and cut into eight wedges with a sharp knife. Transfer the wedges onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them 2 inches apart.

6. Brush scones with the remaining egg white and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake for 17-20 minutes, until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of a scone comes out clean.

7. To make the icing, whisk lemon juice and powdered sugar in a small bowl. Once the scones are cool, drizzle the glaze over the top.

Spring Bowties

1 pound bowtie pasta

1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

½ pound fresh peas or sugar snap peas, cut into ¼-inch pieces

¼ cup olive oil

1½ cups cooked ham, diced

1 lemon, zested and juiced

2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped

¾ cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Cook the bowties until close to al dente and add the trimmed asparagus and peas to the pot in the last 1-2 minutes of cooking to lightly blanch. The vegetables should remain bright green and crisp. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.

2. Drain the pasta and vegetables and transfer back to the pot. Add the olive oil, ham, lemon zest, lemon juice and dill.

3. Add the cheese ¼ cup at a time, stirring to combine, along with the reserved pasta water, as needed, to help everything come together. Season with salt and pepper.

Ham and White Cheddar Quiche

1 frozen pie crust

3 eggs

1½ cups half and half

½ teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

¾ cup cooked ham, diced

1 cup grated white cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Bake pie crust as directed on the package for “blind baking” or pre-baking a crust for a custard pie. It will get baked again with the filling, but pre-baking just ensures your crust won’t be soggy.

3. Whisk together the eggs and half and half, and season with salt and a few grinds of pepper. Stir in the ham and cheese and pour the custard over the crust.

4. Bake until set and filling is no longer jiggly, about 40-50 minutes, covering the outside edges of the crust with foil if they are browning too quickly. Cool completely before slicing.

a Landmark

KENTUCKY DERBY

Churchill Downs celebrates the sesquicentennial of America’s greatest horse race with renovations that will enhance the fans’ experience

BY TRACEY TEO

On May 17, 1875, 10,000 cheering horse racing fans at Kentucky’s Louisville Jockey Club, now Churchill Downs, marveled as African American jockey Oliver Lewis brought his chestnut colt Aristides neck and neck with Volcano on the homestretch, the pair surging ahead of the field of lightning-fast Thoroughbreds. They thundered in tandem at such breakneck speed, it almost seemed they could take flight like the mythical Pegasus, but in the last few strides, Aristides broke away and bolted to victory in the inaugural Kentucky Derby.

That was the first of many historymaking moments that have transpired in the last 150 years at this venerated racetrack that is home to the “most exciting two minutes in sports.” As the oldest continuously held sporting event in the United States celebrates its sesquicentennial, there’s no better time to take a deep dive into Derby history and catch a glimpse of how the race is looking to the future.

• • •

The grand spectacle that is the Kentucky Derby is more than the country’s most prestigious horse race.

It’s about the pageantry that plays out in the shadow of the track’s regal Twin Spires. The crowd singing “My Old Kentucky Home,” the red-coated bugler playing “Call to the Post,” the blanket of red roses being draped across the winner are all part of the enduring legacy of the Kentucky Derby.

Churchill Downs, a National Historic Landmark, has many longstanding traditions, but it’s not frozen in time. The biggest change in decades will be unveiled at the 150th Run for the Roses on May 4.

A $200 million redesign to the saddling paddock, where the spirited 3-year-olds are held before the race,

The Churchill Downs grandstand as it appeared on Derby Day 1901, for the 27th running of classic race.

has been underway for more than a year. This treasured area of the track will more than double in size, expanding from 5,000 to 12,000 square feet. The stalls will be moved beneath the Twin Spires for what will surely become an iconic view.

The expansion creates 3,600 premium seats and adds space for 3,250 standing-room-only ticket holders. New club spaces and highend dining options promise to enhance the Derby Day festivities.

Retired Thoroughbred racing journalist and historian Edward

Bowen, 82, who covered 52 consecutive Kentucky Derbys from 1964-2015, has a special appreciation for how the expansion will enhance the crowd experience.

“Having watched the Derby on black-and-white TV screens since childhood, I had a sense of drama connected to the saddling area of the 1950s,” Bowen, who now lives in Versailles, said. “When I began having the opportunity to see the race in person, I realized how few people at the track had the opportunity actually to see into the saddling enclosure.”

It’s sort of like a locker room for horses, because this is where these equestrian athletes get their game faces on before the biggest race of

their careers. Now, it will be one of the first things fans see when they pass through the gate.

• • •

When it’s not packed with horse racing enthusiasts, Churchill Downs is a peaceful place where exercise riders gallop their charges around the track.

Catch these thrilling workouts on a 90-minute Superstars and Spires Tour. Then, go behind the scenes for a peek at Millionaires Row, where celebrity fans in extravagant hats sip mint juleps with an enviable view of the finish line. It’s where Queen Elizabeth II, a lifelong equestrian, viewed the race when she attended the Derby in 2007.

Above, 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage, with jockey Javier Castellano aboard, is led into the Churchill Downs winner’s circle; left, famed jockey Isaac Burns Murphy was the first rider to win the Derby three times.

David Toczko photo; inset, Keeneland Library Hemment Collection

the official poster...

The official 2024 Kentucky Derby poster was designed and created by artist Wylie Caudill, a Cynthiana native. Caudill is perhaps best known for murals and other large-scale art. The poster image contains an arc of 150 red roses that represents the Derby winner’s circle, with the special 150th-year trophy in the foreground and Churchill Downs’ new paddock in the background.

More Derby City Attractions

Louisville takes extraordinary pride in its Thoroughbred racing heritage, but there are plenty of non-equestrian activities beyond the track. Here are a few stops to include in your itinerary.

BUZZARD’S ROOST SIPPING WHISKEYS

The Inside Track is a three-hour distillery tour and whiskey tasting with a meal. buzzardsroostwhiskey.com

THE MUHAMMAD ALI CENTER

Celebrate the accomplishments of a native son who rose to worldwide fame in the boxing ring. Visitors can even shadowbox with “The Greatest.” alicenter.org

On the second floor of the clubhouse is the eye-catching Peb mural, named for Pierre “Peb” Bellocq, the cartoonist who created it. The 36-foot mural features humorous caricatures of every Derbywinning jockey from 1875-2004, including the late Bill Shoemaker, a 4-foot, 11-inch force of nature who won the Derby four times and is widely heralded as one of the greatest jockeys of the 20th century.

The weight limit for Kentucky Derby jockeys is 126 pounds, and that includes the saddle. Shoemaker weighed in at only 98 pounds.

Jacinto Vasquez is also among the pantheon of successful riders. He holds a special place in Derby history because he made it to the winner’s

CONRAD-CALDWELL HOUSE MUSEUM

Immerse yourself in Gilded Age splendor with a tour of The ConradCaldwell House Museum in the historic preservation district known as Old Louisville. conradcaldwell.org

LOUISVILLE SLUGGER MUSEUM & FACTORY

The recently renovated attraction showcases more than 3,000 baseball bats, including those that belonged to baseball legends Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. sluggermuseum.com

THE BROWN HOTEL

Enjoy a Kentucky Hot Brown in the place where it was invented. The Lobby Bar & Grill serves the legendary open-faced turkey sandwich topped with creamy Mornay sauce. brownhotel.com

Joanna Poe photo

Literally Out to Pasture

Ever wondered what happens to racehorses when their careers are over? Some of them end up at the TRF Sanctuary Farm at Chestnut Hall, a 25-acre farm, above, that is part of the nonprofit Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. Located just outside of Louisville, Chestnut Hall offers tours by appointment.

The average age of the 10 horses that reside on the farm is 22. These senior citizens spend their days peacefully grazing in verdant pastures and have a dedicated staff to attend to illnesses or injuries.

TRF Sanctuary Farm at Chestnut Hall

12611 U.S. 42, Prospect 502.509.6775

visithorsecountry.com/trf-chestnut-hall

circle in 1980 riding Genuine Risk, only the second filly (female horse) to win the Derby at the time. The talented Winning Colors became the third and most recent Derby-winning filly in 1988.

Bowen remembers the day Genuine Risk left the boys in the dust.

“Everyone interested in Derby history knew that Regret was the only filly to have won the race [in 1915],” Bowen said. “Then, standing on the roof in 1980 and watching Genuine Risk take charge, I was able to grasp history as it unfolded—‘I’m watching a filly win the Kentucky Derby!’ ”

Bowen was there on May 5, 1973, when the legendary Secretariat became the first to run the 1¼-mile race in under two minutes, the first victory in his Triple Crown sweep. The Triple Crown is a series of horse races that includes the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes, in that order, and it is the ultimate prize in Thoroughbred racing.

“Watching Secretariat win the Derby was very gratifying because it seemed to validate the thoughts he had summoned that he was a very special horse emerging to greatness,” Bowen said. “That impression had

taken a jolt in his previous race, when he was upset in the Wood Memorial [in New York].”

To learn more about Secretariat, visit the Kentucky Derby Museum, adjacent to Churchill Downs. Secretariat: America’s Horse is a permanent exhibit that chronicles the racing career of the powerful colt nicknamed “Big Red” because of the color of his coat and traces his rise as a cultural icon.

Each of the three Triple Crown races Secretariat won is shown on a 10-foot screen, allowing fans, many of whom weren’t around during his lifetime, to travel back more than 50 years to cheer on what can be argued as the fastest racehorse in United States history. The races are thrilling to watch, even though viewers know the outcome. At the Belmont Stakes in New York, Secretariat was so far ahead in the homestretch, it was as though the trailing pack was trying to outrun a freight train. As announcer Chic Anderson put it, he moved “like a tremendous machine,” winning by a phenomenal 31 lengths, the highlight of his record-breaking career.

Secretariat’s trailblazing owner, Penny Chenery, also is honored at the

Photos courtesy of Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation

the Kentucky Derby. Derby Museum. She became known as the “First Lady of Racing” in a maledominated sport.

• •

•

To understand the early years of the Derby, stroll through the Black Heritage in Racing exhibit that chronicles the legacy of Kentucky’s Black equestrians, who dominated the sport in the latter half of the 19th century. They worked as jockeys, breeders, trainers and grooms and were considered some of the best horsemen in the world. Over time, Black jockeys were forced off the track, and, for decades, their contributions to the sport were forgotten.

Artifacts include the purse that held celebrity jockey Isaac Burns Murphy’s 1891 Derby winnings. Born in Clark County, the son of a former slave was the first jockey to win the Derby three times. He rode in 11 Derbys overall.

Having fun on a Derby getaway is a sure bet, but by visiting local equestrian-themed attractions, you’ll leave with a reverence for the Bluegrass State’s Thoroughbred industry and the generations of equestrians who have shaped it. Q

Jockey Oliver Lewis rode Aristides to victory in the first running of

KENTUCKY DERBY FESTIVAL

Official Schedule of Events

BY JACKIE HOLLENKAMP BENTLEY

Photos courtesy of the Kentucky Derby Festival

The Kentucky Derby marks its 150th running this year at Louisville’s Churchill Downs, and the Kentucky Derby Festival is pulling out all the stops to celebrate the race’s preeminence. More than 70 events are planned throughout the region, complete with culinary events, family festivities, music galore and races that involve everything from beds to boats to bikes.

The KENTUCKY DERBY FESTIVAL is a private, not-for-profit, community organization dedicated to providing unique entertainment for the Greater Louisville area.

One of America’s greatest community celebrations, it is known for its whirlwind of colorful events and programs, and how it brings the community together in celebration every spring. With more than 70 special events, there is something for everyone. More details on the 2024 Festival can be found online at KDF. org, or on social media @KyDerbyFestival. *Schedule subject to change.

FAMILY FUN

THE L&N FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

KROGER’S FESTA-VILLE ON THE WATERFRONT

Now in its 18th year, Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront promises fun for festival goers of all ages. Several new events have been added to the schedule.

“Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville is one of the Derby Festival’s signature events, and we wanted to add some offerings for 2024 that the entire family can enjoy,” said Christa Richie, a spokesperson for KDF. Come down to the Waterfront for live music, food, midway rides and a variety of options for family-friendly fun … including balloon glows, a circus and nightly drone shows.

Yes, a circus is making its Fest-a-Ville debut this year. Louisville-based Turners Circus will perform a 90-minute show on May 2, from 6-7:30 p.m.

“Fest-a-Ville goers will be treated to a show packed with aerial silks, rope, sling, aerial hoop and dance trapeze acts by both youth and adult performers from our local circus that has called Louisville home for more than 70 years,” Richie said.

The Festival also added a second night to one of Fest-aVille’s most popular events: The L&N Federal Credit Union Great Balloon Glow. Enthusiasts can see the Balloon Glow on the Waterfront on Thursday, April 25, in addition to its traditional Friday night glowing on April 26.

Balloonists will fire up their balloons and glow against the night sky synchronized to music, all while the balloons remain tethered to the ground. This gives attendees the opportunity to walk among the balloons and talk to pilots.

APRIL 13 Brightside

Spring Community Wide Cleanup

VARIOUS LOCATIONS

Brightside encourages all residents to take part in the Community-Wide Cleanup. All cleanup teams will receive bags and gloves at no cost. Contact Brightside at 502.574.2613 or Brightside@louisvilleky.gov to participate.

APRIL 20 Kentucky

Derby Festival Thunder Over Louisville®

FoodFest and Thunder On the Ground open at 11AM. Airshow at 3PM. Drone Show at 9PM Fireworks at 9:30PM

Downtown Louisville Riverfront, Waterfront Park, River Road and Southern Indiana shoreline

APRIL 5 • 4-8 PM

Caesars Foundation of Floyd County Kentucky Derby Festival FamFest

Floyd County Family YMCA, Downtown New Albany

Family-friendly event with a special preview of the 2024 Festival, featuring inflatables, activities, face painting and more. First 1,000 attendees receive a custom event pin.

Sponsor: Caesars Foundation of Floyd County. Contributing Sponsors: Rumpke Waste & Recycling and Upland Brewing Jeffersonville. Official Selfie Station: Ashley. Media Sponsor: 102.3 The Rose.

APRIL 6 • NOON-4 PM

Zoeller Pump Company

Kentucky Derby Festival Touring Pegasus® Parade

VARIOUS LOCATIONS

This traveling display takes the Derby Festival into the community and through various parks and neighborhoods to help kick off the spring celebration around the city. Routes will be shared ahead of the event to allow fans to decorate their homes and neighborhoods.

Sponsor: Zoeller Pump Company. Contributing Sponsor: Kentucky Venues.

Official Health Care Provider: UofL Health.

Official Hotel: The Galt House Hotel.

Thunder viewing areas: North Great Lawn (Opens at 9AM). Thunder Chow Wagon at Waterfront Park and the East River Road Beer Garden (Opens at 11AM). West Belvedere (Opens at 11AM). Meijer Family Fun Zone at the Big Four Bridge (Opens at 11AM). (No tents, stakes, tape or pets.)

2024 Sponsors: Caesars Southern Indiana, Humana, LG&E, Meijer and UPS. Official Health Care Provider: UofL Health. Official Hotel: The Galt House Hotel. Thunder on the Ground Military Zone Sponsor: Akima. Official Thunder Golf Cart Sponsor: UA Local 502. Allday live coverage on WDRB and MIX 106.9.

APRIL 20 • 2:30-10 PM

Louisville Muhammad Ali

International Airport

Thunder Over Louisville

VIP Rooftop Party, Presented by Kentucky

Proud

Garage Rooftop

Front-row seat for Thunder Over Louisville. VIP General Admission: $200. Premium table of eight: $2,600. Tickets at ThunderOverLouisville.org

Sponsor: Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. Presenting Sponsor: Kentucky Proud. Supporting Sponsor: Akima. Contributing Sponsor: Crushed Ice Events.

APRIL 21 • 1-3PM

The Children’s Tea with The Derby Festival Princesses, Presented by The Fillies, Inc.

Mellwood Art Center

Meet the Kentucky Derby Festival Queen and Princesses at The Children’s Tea, themed “Tea in the Candy Kingdom.” Tickets $35 each. Adults accompanying children also need a ticket. Event suggested for children ages 3-9. Produced by: The Fillies, Inc. For more info and tickets: FilliesChildrensTea2024.Eventbrite.com

APRIL 25-27 L&N Federal Credit Union Kentucky Derby Festival Great BalloonFest Sponsor:

APRIL 26 L&N Federal Credit Union Kentucky Derby Festival Great Balloon Glow

7:30PM Parade of Balloons. 8PM Balloon Staging. 9PM Glow.

Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront

Sponsor: L&N Federal Credit Union. Contributing Sponsors: Kentucky Kingdom & Hurricane Bay, KRC Roofing & Construction and UA Local 502. Official Broadcast Partner: WLKY. Media Sponsor: MIX 106.9.

APRIL 27 • 7 AM LAUNCH

L&N Federal Credit Union

Kentucky Derby Festival Great Balloon Race®

Bowman Field, Public entrance off Pee Wee Reese Road.

Sponsor: L&N Federal Credit Union.

Contributing Sponsors: Kentucky Kingdom & Hurricane Bay, KRC Roofing & Construction and UA Local 502. Official Broadcast Partner: WLKY. Media Sponsor: MIX 106.9.

APRIL 27 • 2-5 PM

APRIL 25 L&N Federal Credit Union Kentucky Derby Festival Great Balloon Glow

7:30PM Parade of Balloons. 8PM Balloon Staging. 9PM Glow.

Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront

Streamed live on WLKY.com on April 25. Broadcast special on April 27 at 8PM on WLKY.

Kentucky Derby Festival Ken-Ducky Derby

11AM: ON-SITE DUCK PURCHASES

AVAILABLE. 1PM: KIDS ACTIVITIES.

3PM: DUCK WADDLE PARADE

THROUGH FEST-A-VILLE. 4PM: CALL TO THE POST & DUCK DROP

Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront

See the launch of 46,000 ducks into the Ohio River for a chance to race and compete for prizes. Proceeds benefit Harbor House of Louisville. Produced by Harbor House of Louisville. To adopt a duck, visit gotducks.org. For more information, go to KDF.org or call 502.717.0072. (Food, drink and pets are not permitted.)

after April 20: $35. Register online at KDF.org

Produced by Exotic Cars and Coffee. Presented by Speedwash Car Wash. Media Sponsor: ALT 105.1.

APRIL 28 • 3 PM Zoeller Pump Company

Kentucky Derby Festival

Pegasus® Parade

West on Broadway from campbell to 9th street

Annual parade that kicks off the Derby Week festivities, featuring colorful floats, marching bands, giant inflatables and equestrians. 2024 theme: “Celebrating Derby 150.” Bleacher tickets along route: FREE to the public courtesy of Churchill Downs. VIP reserved bleacher tickets in TV zone: $50 (includes parking pass and complimentary drinks and snacks). Tickets available at KDF. org or call 502.584.FEST.

Sponsor: Zoeller Pump Company. Contributing

Sponsors: Churchill Downs and Kentucky Venues. Official Health Care Provider: UofL Health. Official Hotel: The Galt House Hotel. Official Broadcast Partner: WAVE.

APRIL 29 • 6-7 PM

Samtec Kentucky Derby Festival Great Bed Races

6PM Parade of beds

7PM Racing Broadbent Arena

Beds aren’t for sleeping during Derby Week. They’re for racing! Beds on wheels compete in a race around a figure-eight during this annual tradition. 2024 theme: “Celebrating Derby 150.” $12 KEC parking. $150 entry fee for a team of five.

Sponsor: Samtec. Contributing Sponsors: Kentucky Venues, Texas Roadhouse and UA Local 502. Official Broadcast Partner: WAVE. Media Sponsor: Classic Rock 107.7.

FREE ADMISSION WITH 2024 PEGASUS PIN®

TUESDAYS THROUGH MAY 7

Kentucky Derby Festival

Main Event Pegasus Pin Tuesdays

Main Event, 12500 Sycamore Station Place

Wear your 2024 Pegasus Pin and get special deals and promotions, like a walk-in special every day, and on Tuesdays, kids eat free with a food purchase of $11.99 or more. (*Kids 12 years old or younger.) More info at PegasusPins.com.

SPONSOR: MAIN EVENT

KENTUCKY DERBY FESTIVAL EXOTIC CARS & COFFEE PRESENTED BY SPEEDWASH CAR WASH

APRIL 26 • 7 AM LAUNCH

L&N Federal Credit Union Kentucky Derby Festival Great Balloon Rush Hour Race

Bowman Field

Sponsor: L&N Federal Credit Union.

Contributing

APRIL 27 • 4-8 PM

Kentucky Derby Festival

Exotic Cars & Coffee

Presented by Speedwash Car Wash

Judging 4:30-6:30PM

Awards 7PM

Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront, Great Lawn

Enjoy exotic cars, muscle cars, imports, German and American favorites from all over the region under the lights. Entry fee to display a car: $30. Late entry fee

MAY 2 • 6-7:30 PM

Louisville Turners Circus at Kroger’s Fest-a-ville

Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront, Great Lawn

Louisville Turners Circus will perform aerial and ground circus acts, including aerial silks, rope, sling, aerial hoop and dance trapeze. (Food, drink and pets are not permitted.)

Automobile enthusiast? Then come back to the Waterfront on April 27 for the second annual Exotic Cars and Coffee Car Show. Muscle cars, hot rods, imports and more from America and around the world will be on view beginning at 4 p.m.

Have a vehicle to show off?

Entrance fees are $30 up to April 20 and $35 up to the show. Register online at KDF. org. Awards will be given for Best of Show, Best American Muscle and Best Euro/ German/Import.

Fan admission to the car show, the Balloon Glow, the circus and most of the Fest-aVille events is free with a 2024 Pegasus Pin®

PNC KENTUCKY DERBY FESTIVAL TOUR DE LOUSM ACTIVE

The Festival’s premier cycling experience, the PNC Tour de Lou, is changing its start and finish locations and rewarding each participant with a little bit of bling.

The festival has moved the road race’s start to the NuLu Marketplace on Main Street in NuLu for all three distances (20 miles, 30 miles and 62.1 miles, or metric century). From there, cyclists will pass through Louisville’s scenic parks and historic attractions, including NuLu, Old Louisville, the Olmsted Park System and, of course, Churchill Downs.

The course will take cyclists back to NuLu Marketplace for the big finish, where, for the first time in the race’s 11-year history, all participants will receive a commemorative medal.

“We’ve always said the PNC Tour de Lou is the best tour of our city on two wheels, and this year, participants will get to see even more of what we love about our community with the addition of the NuLu neighborhood,” said Matt Gibson, Kentucky Derby Festival president & CEO. “Cyclists come from across the state and country to ride with us every spring, and this special medal is a way for them to commemorate their time in Louisville.”

Race Day is set for Sunday, April 14. Registration is open at kdf.org/TourdeLou. Entrance fees vary by race distance.

THROUGH APRIL 26

Norton Sports Health Kentucky Derby Festival Training Program

15-week training program for the GE Appliances Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon and Marathon. Kick-off Thursday, For more info, log on to DerbyFestivalMarathon.com

Sponsor: Norton Sports Health. Race

Sponsor: GE Appliances, A Hair Company.

Contributing Sponsor: Swags Sport Shoes. Media Sponsor: 99.7 DJX.

APRIL 6 • 4 PM

Kentucky Derby Festival Racing Louisville FC Soccer Game

Lynn Family Stadium

Louisville City FC hosts Indy Eleven. Limited-edition LouCity/ Derby Festival scarves and warmup tops are available. For tickets and to shop: LouCity.com

APRIL 11-21 Stockyards

Bank Kentucky Derby

Festival $1 Million Hole-inOne Golf ContestSM

April 11-19, 10AM–8:30PM (Closed April 20 for Thunder)

April 21, 10AM–5PM Semi-finals 6PM

Seneca Golf Course Driving Range

$1 per swing. Take a swing at $1 million. Special promotions daily. Grand Prize: $1 million. First Prize (if no Hole-in-One): $5,000. April

13: Jr. Day – Under 18 get two swings for $1. April 15: First Responders and Veterans get two swings for $1. April 16: Ladies Day, Ladies get two swings for $1. April 17: College Day, College students get two swings for $1. Weekdays: Senior Special 10AM–2 PM, 62 and up get two swings for $1.

Sponsor: Stock Yards Bank. Contributing Sponsor: Louisville Parks & Recreation. Official

Luxury Vehicle: Cadillac/Courtesy Cadillac. Media Sponsor: WLKY TV.

APRIL 13 • 10 AM -8:30 PM

Junior Day at Stock Yards Bank Kentucky Derby Festival $1 Million Hole-inOne Golf ContestSM

Open daily through April 21. (Closed April 20 for Thunder.)

Seneca Golf Course Driving Range

Under 18 get two swings for $1. Over 18 is $1 per swing. Grand Prize: $1 million. First Prize (if no Hole-in-One): $5,000.

Sponsor: Stock Yards Bank. Contributing Sponsor: Louisville Parks & Recreation. Official Luxury Vehicle: Cadillac/Courtesy Cadillac. Media Sponsor: WLKY TV.

APRIL 14 PNC

Kentucky Derby Festival Tour de LouSM

Staggered start based on distance: 62.1 Metric Century –8AM, 35-mile ride – 8:10AM, 20-mile ride – 8:20AM. Open course cycling event with three distances for beginners to experienced cyclists. Entry fees and registration info at KDF.org

Sponsor: PNC. Contributing Sponsors: Scheller’s Fitness & Cycling and West Sixth Brewing. Supporting Sponsors: Churchill Downs, Louisville Bicycle Club and Louisville Water Company. Nutrition Sponsor: Kroger. Media Sponsor: ALT 105.1. and 102.3 The Rose.

APRIL 15 • 10 AM -8:30 PM

First Responders and Veterans Day at Stock Yards Bank Kentucky Derby Festival $1 Million Hole-in-One Golf ContestSM

Open daily through April 21. (Closed April 20 for Thunder.)

Seneca Golf Course Driving Range

First responders and veterans get two swings for $1. Other participants pay $1 per swing. Grand Prize: $1 million. First Prize (if no Hole-in-One): $5,000.

Sponsor: Stock Yards Bank. Contributing

Sponsor: Louisville Parks & Recreation. Official

Luxury Vehicle: Cadillac/Courtesy Cadillac. Media Sponsor: WLKY TV.

APRIL 16 • 10 AM -8:30 PM

Ladies Day at Stock Yards Bank Kentucky Derby Festival $1 Million Hole-in-One Golf ContestSM

Open daily through April 21. (Closed April 20 for Thunder.)

Seneca Golf Course Driving Range

Ladies get two swings for $1. Other participants pay $1 per swing. Grand Prize: $1 million. First Prize (if no Hole-in-One): $5,000.

Sponsor: Stock Yards Bank. Contributing

Sponsor: Louisville Parks & Recreation. Official

Luxury Vehicle: Cadillac/Courtesy Cadillac.

Media Sponsor: WLKY TV.

APRIL 17 • 10 AM -8:30 PM

College Day at Stock Yards Bank Kentucky Derby Festival $1 Million Hole-in-One Golf ContestSM

Open daily through April 21. (Closed April 20 for Thunder.)

Seneca Golf Course Driving Range

College students get two swings for $1. Other participants pay $1 per swing. Grand Prize: $1 million.

First Prize (if no Hole-in-One): $5,000.

Sponsor: Stock Yards Bank. Contributing

Sponsor: Louisville Parks & Recreation. Official Luxury Vehicle: Cadillac/Courtesy Cadillac.

Media Sponsor: WLKY TV.

APRIL 19 • 7 PM

Kentucky Derby Festival 2024 Louisville Spring Football Game,

Presented by Paul Davis Restoration

L&N Stadium

Louisville is gearing up for its second season under Jeff Brohm, who guided the Cardinals to a 10-4 record and the school’s first appearance in the ACC title game. Join us for an exciting look at the Cardinal football team in partnership with the Kentucky Derby Festival to help kick off the Derby season! Don’t miss your chance to purchase the commemorative UofL Pegasus Pin® that will include exclusive offers! For more information, visit GoCards.com

Produced by the University of Louisville. Presenting Sponsor: Paul Davis Restoration.

APRIL 20-28

Kentucky Derby Festival Volleyball Classic

One of the country’s largest and oldest outdoor volleyball tournaments featuring sand and grass volleyball for all levels of play. 2024 is 35th annual event. For more information, call The Volleyball Connection at

502.582.3530 or visit BaxterJacks.com

Contributing Sponsors: ASICS and Mikasa.

Sand Divisions at Baxter Jacks

APRIL 20-21: 9AM-6PM

APRIL 27-28: 9AM-6PM

Grass Divisions at Seneca Park at the Tennis Courts

APRIL 27-28: 9AM-6PM

APRIL 21 • 6 PM Stock Yards Bank Kentucky Derby Festival $1 Million Hole-in-One Golf ContestSM Semi-Finals

Seneca Golf Course Driving Range

Grand Prize: $1 million. First Prize (if no Hole-in-One): $5,000.

Sponsor: Stock Yards Bank. Contributing Sponsor: Louisville Parks & Recreation. Official Luxury Vehicle: Cadillac/Courtesy Cadillac. Media Sponsor: WLKY TV.

APRIL 23 • 6 PM

Stock Yards Bank Kentucky Derby Festival $1 Million Hole-in-One Golf ContestSM Finals

Seneca Golf Course Hole No. 8

Free for spectators. Grand Prize: $1 million. First Prize (if no Hole-inOne): $5,000.

Sponsor: Stock Yards Bank. Contributing Sponsor: Louisville Parks & Recreation. Official Luxury Vehicle: Cadillac/Courtesy Cadillac. Media Sponsor: WLKY TV.

APRIL 26 • 6-7 PM

Kentucky Derby Festival Ohio Valley Wrestling Run for the Ropes

Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront, Great Lawn

Special meet-and-greet with OVW stars at 5PM, followed by six big matches including a special “Every Man for Himself Free-forAll” over the top rope Battle Royal. For more information, call 502.759.7665. (Food, drink and pets are not permitted.)

Produced by Ohio Valley Wrestling.

APRIL 25-27

Dick’s Sporting Goods Kentucky Derby Festival Race Expo + Packet Pickup

KENTUCKY EXPOSITION CENTER, FREEDOM HALL

Thursday, 4-8PM Expo and Packet Pickup

Friday, 11AM-9PM Expo and Packet Pickup

Two-day expo where you can see the latest running gear, get nutritional advice, pre-race running tips and pick up your race packet for the GE Appliances Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon and Marathon®.

Sponsor: Dick’s Sporting Goods. Contributing Sponsors: Deloitte, Kentucky Department of Tourism and Kentucky Venues. Official Nutrition Sponsor: Publix Super Markets. Media Sponsor: 99.7 DJX.

APRIL 27 • 7

AM

GE Appliances Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon + Marathon®

Kentucky’s largest day of road racing with both 13.1-mile and 26.2mile routes. Free for spectators. DerbyFestivalMarathon.com.

Sponsor: GE Appliances, a Haier Company. Official Race Medical Provider & Training Partner: Norton Sports Health. Contributing Sponsors: Churchill Downs, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Kentucky Department of Tourism, Louisville Water Company, Powerade and TEN20 Craft Brewery. Official Finish Line Sponsor: Louisville City FC/Racing Louisville FC. Official Bourbon Retail Partner: Evergreen Liquors. Official Refuel Partner: Prairie Farms. Official Hotel: The Galt House. Official Nutrition Partner: Publix Super Markets. Official Timing Partner: Rumpke Waste & Recycling. Official Pace Team Sponsor: Ken Combs Running Store. Official Broadcast Partner: WLKY. Media Sponsor: 99.7 DJX.

PEGASUS PIN ®

While the Kentucky Derby Festival and Churchill Downs are separate entities, they appear in a collaboration on this year’s Pegasus Pin to mark the Run for the Roses’ momentous anniversary.

Each pin features “150th” in red (the Derby’s signature color) and the beloved Pegasus symbol in teal (KDF’s official color).

“The Kentucky Derby Festival is such an important part of the way our community celebrates the Kentucky Derby season each year,” said Casey Ramage , vice president of

marketing and partnerships at Churchill Downs. “We were thrilled that KDF chose to honor the 150th Run for the Roses with a Pegasus Pin design that reflects this milestone.”

Those who are lucky enough to have purchased one of the 18,000 Gold Pins will be entered into weekly prize drawings, with a grand prize of $20,000 to be announced May 10. To be eligible to win, register Gold Pins online at PegasusPins.com .

MAY 10 PEGASUS PIN® GOLD PIN WINNER GRAND PRIZE DRAWING

Gold Winner Pins are eligible to win a new $20,000 cash Grand Prize given away on Friday, May 10. To be eligible, register pins online at PegasusPins.com. Drawings broadcast on WAVE.

REPUBLIC BANK

KENTUCKY DERBY FESTIVAL BOURBONVILLE®

While Kentucky may be known best for the Run for the Roses, its signature adult drink is a close second. What better way to celebrate both iconic attractions than a night dedicated to all things bourbon.

KDF’s Christa Richie describes the Republic Bank Kentucky Derby Festival BourbonVille as “the ideal event for bourbon enthusiasts.”

Hosted by Louisville’s Frazier History Museum, BourbonVille kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on April 11 and features not only bourboninspired cuisine and cocktails but also bourbon tastings and samplings from numerous Kentucky distilleries.

Participants can hobnob with master distillers and browse the museum’s exhibits. A rooftop party with music and a cash bar have been added to this year’s BourbonVille event.

For tickets, visit www.kdf.org/bourbonville. Tickets are $75 for general admission and $125 for VIP tickets. All participants receive a commemorative glass and event pin.

APRIL 11 • 6:30-9:30 PM Republic Bank

Kentucky Derby Festival Bourbonville®

Frazier History Museum

Taste signature drinks from Kentucky bourbon distilleries, enjoy bourbon-inspired cuisine and meet the master distillers. Tickets: $75 general admission; $125 VIP experience. General admission tickets include bourbon and food tastings, commemorative glass and swag bag, access to Frazier exhibits and BourbonVille pin. VIP includes complete event experience, VIP room, plus 5:30PM early access, exclusive bourbon tasting experience and premium gift bag. (21 and over only. Must present ID upon entry.) Tickets available at KDF. org, or call 502.584.FEST.

Sponsor: Republic Bank. Contributing Sponsors: Caesars Southern Indiana, Crushed Ice Catering, Danny Wimmer Presents, Four Roses and UA Local 502. Media Sponsors: Classic Rock 107.7 and The Voice-Tribune. Official Luxury Vehicle: Cadillac/Courtesy Cadillac. Official Safe Ride Home Partner: Kentucky Office of Highway Safety. Official Selfie Station: Ashley. Supporting Sponsor: Kroger.

APRIL 16 • 5:30-8 PM

Kentucky Derby Festival “Taste of Derby Festival®”

Louisville Slugger Field

Features exquisite fare from more than 50 of Louisville’s finest restaurants and more than 20 bourbon distilleries and beverage companies. Highlights include a Wine & Spirits Pull. Tickets: $90, available in advance only. (21 and over only.) Coordinated by Dare to Care Food Bank and is their largest fundraiser. All proceeds support efforts to end food insecurity. For more information, call 502.966.3821 or visit tasteofderbyfestival.org

Presenting Sponsor: Brown-Forman Corporation.

APRIL 25-MAY 3

Kentucky Derby Festival Chow Wagon®

Open daily 11AM-11PM except

Sunday NOON-10PM

Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront

Outdoor food & live music venue. Happy Hour Weekdays

4–6 PM $4 beer at the Beer Garden. (Food, drink and pets are not permitted.)

Sponsor: Kroger. Music Stage Sponsor: Miller Lite.

APRIL 28 • 11AM-1:30 PM

Mayor’s Derby Brunch on the River

Riverside, the FarnsleyMoremen Landing

A festive brunch featuring a traditional Kentucky breakfast, music, live auction, and tours of the property including the Moremen Family Chapel. Tickets $120. Produced by Riverside, The Farnsley-Moremen Landing. For tickets or information, call 502.935.6809 or RiversideLanding.org

APRIL 29 • 5:30 PM

Kentucky Derby Festival Knights of Columbus Charity Dinner

5:30PM Social Hour. 6:45PM Opening Ceremonies. 7PM Dinner.

Galt House Archibald Cochran Ballroom

Dinner tickets $50. Produced by the Bishop Spalding Council of the Knights of Columbus. For tickets, call 502.893.2220.

admission tickets include wine tastings, light appetizers, shopping, souvenir glass and WineFest pin. VIP includes 5 PM early entrance, opportunity to barrel taste local wine, VIP gift and access to private room with seating and food stations. (21 and over only. Must present ID upon entry.) Tickets available by calling 502.584.FEST or online at KDF.org

Sponsor:

APRIL 30 • 6-9 PM

Commonwealth

Credit Union Kentucky Derby Festival WineFest

Mellwood Art Center

Sip and savor more than 100 local wines from Kentucky wineries. Tickets: $25 Non-drinking Designated Driver; $75 General Admission; $125 VIP Experience (Limited Availability). General

ENTERTAINMENT + SOCIAL

DRONE SHOW AT KROGER’S FEST-A-VILLE

For the first time at Fest-a-Ville, the night sky will be dazzled by choreographed drones dancing over the Waterfront sky every night, beginning April 25.

“We’ve heard from Festival fans how much they love the drone show at Thunder Over Louisville, so we wanted to offer a sampling of that at our Derby season entertainment venue on the Waterfront,” KDF’s Christa Richie said. “We will have three different drone shows in rotation over the nine-day run of the event, so you can come to Fest-a-Ville multiple nights and have an opportunity to see an entirely new show each time.”

An estimated 75-100 drones will activate for the shows, beginning at 9:30 each night and right after the Balloon Glows on April 25 and 26.

Admission is free with a Pegasus Pin®.

APRIL 13 • 10 AM -8 PM

Kentucky Derby Festival Block Party, Presented by Churchill Downs, Humana and Park

Community Credit Union

Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center

Community celebration of Derbytime traditions featuring local food, fare and fun. Plus, live entertainment showcasing local talent and family-friendly activities all day! Admission is FREE.

Sponsors: Churchill Downs, Humana and Park Community Credit Union. Contributing Sponsors: Brown-Forman, Ford Motor Co., Heuser Hearing Institute, Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet and ZEON. Stage Sponsor: Ford Motor Company. Supporting Sponsors: BRAINFREEZE: Cones for a Cause, Erica Denise Entertainment, Louisville Parks & Recreation, MELANnaire Marketplace, The Hope Buss and The Hope Village.

APRIL 13 Fillies

Derby Ball, Presented by Cadillac

Cocktails, 6PM; Queen’s Coronation, 7PM; Call to the Post/Dinner, 8PM; Dancing 9PM-1AM

The Galt House Hotel, Grand Ballroom

It’s the Derby Ball that starts it all! Experience an evening of “Old Hollywood Glam” featuring dinner, dancing and live entertainment by Radiotronic. Tickets $300 each or $3,500 for a

table of 10. Tickets available at KDF.org, or call 502.584.FEST.

Produced by The Fillies, Inc. Portion of proceeds benefits Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation. Presenting Sponsor: Cadillac/ Courtesy Cadillac. Official Sponsor: Total Wine & More. Contributing Sponsor: Capital Access Corporation – Kentucky. Supporting Sponsors: Class Act Federal Credit Union and Schmidt Associates.

APRIL 15-16 • 6–11 AM

AT&T Kentucky Derby Festival Morning Line

Radio stations from around the region will broadcast their morning shows live from the Kentucky Derby Museum.

Sponsor: AT&T. Contributing Sponsors: Kentucky Department of Tourism, Kentucky Derby Museum and VisitLEX. Supporting Sponsors: Derby City Gaming Downtown and Lynn Family Stadium.

APRIL 19 • 11:30 AM

Kentucky Derby Festival They’re Off!® Luncheon, Presented by Bae Systems

The Galt House Hotel, east Grand Ballroom

Official Kentucky Derby Festival kick-off luncheon. Featured Speaker: Sugar Ray Leonard.

Tickets: $130 each or $1,040 for a table of eight. Tickets available at KDF.org, or call 502.584.FEST.

Presenting Sponsor: BAE Systems. Contributing Sponsors: Fifth Third Bank, The Galt House Hotel and Kentucky Proud. Official Luxury Vehicle: Cadillac/Courtesy Cadillac. Media Sponsor: Louisville Business First. Supporting Sponsor: Jeff’s Donuts.

APRIL • 25-MAY 3

Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the WaterfrontSM

Open daily 11AM-11PM except Sunday NOON-10PM

Waterfront Park

ULTIMATE ENTERTAINMENT

EXPERIENCE featuring new nightly drone show, concerts, family fun, food, kids’ inflatable playground and midway rides. (Food, drink and pets are not permitted.)

Sponsor: Kroger. Music Stage Sponsor: Miller Lite. Pegasus PlayVille Sponsor: Norton Children’s. Pegasus PlayVille Contributing Sponsor: Holiday World.

APRIL 25-MAY 3 •

9:30 PM Drone Show at Krog’ers Fest-a-Ville

Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront, Great Lawn

Food, drink and pets are not permitted.

APRIL 26 • 8 PM

Frankie Moody at Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville

Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront, Chow Wagon Music Stage

Food, drink and pets are not permitted.

Sponsor: Kroger.

APRIL 27 • 1-3PM

Kentucky Derby Festival Saturday Soiree Drag Show

Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront, Chow Wagon Music Stage

A drag show featuring some of

Louisville’s finest entertainers. $250 VIP experience includes prime seating for a table of six, $50 in food and drink tickets, and a special swag bag for each VIP guest. Food and drinks available for purchase. (18 and over only. Food, drink and pets are not permitted.)

Produced by Louisville Pride Foundation.

APRIL 27 • 6:30PM-MIDNIGHT

Kentucky Derby Festival Triple Crown Trivia and After Party

The Galt House Hotel, Archibald Cochran Ballroom

An evening of Kentucky-themed trivia, dancing, live band, silent auction and casino-style games. All funds raised support I Would Rather Be Reading. Individual tickets: $25 (for after party only and cash bar) or $100 (includes three-course meal, one round of Kentucky-themed trivia and access to the after party.). Table of 10, $1,000 (includes threecourse meal, one round of

Kentucky-themed trivia, and access to the after party). For information, call 502.710.9710 or iwouldratherbereading.org/ triplecrowntrivia

Produced by I Would Rather Be Reading.

APRIL 28 • NOON-5PM

Kentucky Derby Festival Custom Car Showcase at Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville

Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront, Great Lawn

Enjoy beautifully painted and detailed custom cars from all over the United States and Canada. (Food, drink and pets are not permitted.)

Sponsor: Kroger.

APRIL 28 • 6-9 PM

Kentucky Derby Festival GospelfestSM, Presented by Passport Health Plan by Molina Healthcare and Republic Bank

Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the

Waterfront

Gospel artist and choir showcase.

Sponsors: Passport Health Plan by Molina Healthcare and Republic Bank. Media Sponsor: B96.5 FM.

APRIL 30 Kentucky Derby Festival Texas Hold’em Tournament

4:30PM boarding and check-in; 6PM tournament begins, plus one-hour cruise.

Belle of Cincinnati, docked at Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront

$125 Buy-in includes 10,000 in chips and commemorative pin. Add-ons available 1st hour of play $50 for 5,000 in chips. $2,500 first place prize. Payouts for 10% of field. Payouts based on 325 players, payouts pro-rated based on actual number of players. $15 for guests. LICENSE# ORG0001638. Register by calling 502.584.FEST or online at KDF.org

Supporting Sponsor: Louisville Poker Tour.

MAY 4

150th Running Kentucky Derby

Gates open at 9AM Churchill Downs

For Derby information contact Churchill Downs at 502.636.4400 or visit KentuckyDerby.com.

APRIL 30 • 5-8 PM

Kentucky Derby Festival Happytail Hour

Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront, Great Lawn

A pet-friendly (leashes please!) social event. (Food and drink are not permitted.)

Produced by Metro Animal Services.

APRIL 30 • 8 PM

The Jesse Lees at Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville

Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront, Chow Wagon Music Stage

Food, drink and pets are not permitted.

Sponsor: Kroger.

MAY • 1-5 PM

Kentucky Derby Festival Louisville Urban League Derby Gala

Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center

The Annual Derby Gala, “Mardi Gras Louisville,” will feature performances from Jon Batiste & Mannie Fresh. Produced by the Louisville Urban League. All proceeds benefit the Louisville Urban League. Tickets: $250. For tickets: LUL.org/derby-gala, or 502.585.4622.

MAY 2 • 7:30 PM

Midnight Star at Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville

Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront, Great Lawn

Food, drink and pets are not permitted.

Sponsor: Kroger. Media Sponsors: B96.5 FM and MAGIC 101.3.

MAY 3 Shepherd Insurance Kentucky Derby Festival Great Steamboat Race

4:30-5:30PM boarding. 5:45PM departure. Race begins at 6PM

The Belle of Louisville and the Belle of Cincinnati will compete for bragging rights on the Ohio River. Awards presentation immediately following on the Belle of Louisville. Tickets on the Belle of Louisville $200 (limited availability). For Belle of Louisville tickets, call 502.584.FEST or visit KDF.org. Tickets on the Belle of Cincinnati$80 General Admission, Cruise Only; $125 Dinner and Cruise. For Belle of Cincinnati tickets, call 800-2618586 or visit BBRiverboats.com Free spectator viewing at Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville and along the banks of the Ohio River.

Sponsor: Shepherd Insurance. Official Patient Care Provider: PPL Therapeutic Services, PLLC. Contributing Sponsors: 1/ST BET and Captain Morgan. Official Bourbon: Brough Brothers Distillery. Media Sponsor: Q103.1. Supporting Sponsors: Belle of Louisville and Belle of Cincinnati.

MAY 1 • 8:30 PM Movie Night at Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville

Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront, Great Lawn

Featuring: TBA (Food, drink and pets are not permitted.)

MAY 2 • 11:30 AM

Kentuckiana Honda Dealers Kentucky Derby Festival Day at the Downs

Churchill Downs, Fourth Floor, Skye Terrace

Celebrate Thurby at the track with a great view and allinclusive ticket. Tickets: $425 each or $3,400 for table of eight. Tickets available at KDF.org, or call 502.584.FEST.

Sponsor: Kentuckiana Honda Dealers. Contributing Sponsors: KRC Roofing & Construction and SoIN Tourism. Media Sponsors: MIX 106.9 and The Voice-Tribune.

MAY 2 • 7-9 PM

Kentucky Derby Festival Ohio Valley Wrestling Live

Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront, North Great Lawn Live televised Ohio Valley Wrestling event. Special meetand-greet with OVW stars at 6PM. For more information, call 502.759.7665. (Food, drink and pets are not permitted.)

Produced by Ohio Valley Wrestling.

MAY 4 • 4-9 PM

HB&B V Derby Day Party

Mellwood Art Center, DaVinci Room

Wear your Derby best for the Hats, Bowties & Bourbon Derby Day Party produced by Kentucky Community Enrichment Foundation (KCEF). A portion of the proceeds will support the Louisville Kappa League (youth mentoring program) that aids in college preparation and tutoring. (21 and over only.) Tickets and more information: derbcitynupes.com

MAY 10 Pegasus

Pin® Gold Pin Winner Grand Prize Drawing

Gold Winner Pins are eligible to win a new $20,000 cash Grand Prize given away on Friday, May 10. To be eligible, register pins online at PegasusPins.com Drawings broadcast on WAVE.

Trusty Sidekicks

Valets work hard behind the scenes to keep jockeys outfitted for every race

BY KEN SNYDER

Search “your first day on the job” on the internet, and you’ll find website after website with tips for making it successful. For a jockey valet (rhymes with “ballot,” not “ballet”), the best suggestion Raul Vizcarrondo might have is: “Come prepared for anything.” It’s highly doubtful, though, that he was prepared on Derby Day 1998 for a swift kick from a testy Thoroughbred in the Churchill Downs paddock that drew blood.

The affable native of Puerto Rico and former jockey smiled as he remembered the incident. “I finished my day. I limped, but I made it,” he said.

To amend slightly the old Marines’ slogan, and with all due respect, Vizcarrondo is one of the few, the proud, the insane. Who else would work a job demanding courage (foolhardiness?) in spades, energy to work at a nonstop pace (even with a limp), extreme organizational skills, and ability to stay calm amid semichaos while racing against the clock?

Kentucky Derby Day is all these things on steroids for jockey valets. Twenty Derby riders crowd the jockeys’ quarters, most from out of town, plus 13 local riders in other races. It takes 13 Churchill Downs

valets and seven more imports flown in to help with saddling.

• • •

A jockey valet manages the silks and equipment of a jockey. That’s like saying a car mechanic repairs cars. There’s a little more to it.

For one, there’s a lot of travel by foot—from the jockeys’ quarters to the paddock to the racetrack and back to the jocks’ quarters each time the valet’s rider has a mount. On Derby Day 2023, Vizcarrondo’s jockeys, John Velazquez and Gerardo Corrales, both rode in seven races including the Derby (Vizcarrondo had help with saddling from an out-of-town valet), a light day compared to the valet for jockey Tyler Gaffalione, who rode in all 14 races on the day.

Each race is a merry-go-round of sorts for the valet, starting with a trip to the silks room next to the jockeys’ quarters for the shirt his jockey will wear and corresponding helmet cover. The valet then goes to a work area in front of his jockey’s stall to lay out the silks, cover the jock’s helmet, check out the saddle girth (think belt for a horse), set out a stack of cleaned or new goggles, set out the jockey’s whip and saddle, and consult his racing program for the number his jockey will

wear on a numbered arm band. The last thing is to consult a white board where the clerk of scales has posted the jockey’s weight that day. The valet will look at the weight his jockey is required to carry for the upcoming race and select a weighted pad that, when added to the jockey’s weight and equipment, meets that weight.

The job then shifts outdoors. The valet carries the saddle to the paddock and, with the horse’s trainer, saddles the horse—ideally without getting kicked. Once finished, the valet goes out to the racetrack rail to wait for his rider after the race. He unsaddles the horse if his rider’s mount did not finish in the top four (jockeys on those horses must weight out on scales in the winner’s circle while holding their saddles), collects the jockey’s whip and helmet, and hustles back to the jocks’ quarters to do it all over again. With all this physical activity, it is somewhat rare for a valet to be overweight.

The bane of all valets are talkative jocks, especially ones who finished in the top four of a race. One maddeningly cordial jockey, who shall remain anonymous, will spend time talking to the trainer, groom, owner, security guard, mint julep vendor—anybody, while his valet pulls out his hair.

Once back in the jocks’ quarters, the valet has about 10 minutes to clean boots or saddles, lay out clean pants if needed on a muddy day (valets hate those days), and put out clean goggles for his riders. Valets can serve three and even four riders.

“You learn how to get faster,” Vizcarrondo said nonchalantly.

It is an exercise in dodging people as valets scramble in a space way too small for the number of jockeys on Derby Day. Amazingly, the experienced hands, including

the imports from other racetracks, manage to keep the bumps and “excuse mes” to a minimum.

Stalls for jockeys line the walls in the central room of the quarters, and there’s enough of them for all 20 Derby jockeys plus non-Derby riders

SCOTT SERIO/ECLIPSE

in other races that day. Valets assemble “tack” (saddle and other riding equipment) in front of the riders’ stalls.

(The term “tack” comes from fishing “tackle” and the Dutch word “takel” for gear associated originally with a ship’s rigging.)

The Derby race provides valets a breather, as there is an hour leading up to it instead of the half hour between other races.

had to wait seven years for a permanent spot to open after that Derby Day.

So, what’s the appeal for this job? Practically all the Churchill Downs valets have a background in racing. Vizcarrondo is a former jockey who rode mostly at Thistledown Race Track in Cleveland for seven years and was a graduate of the famed Puerto Rican jockey school (Escuela Vocacional Hípica) at the Camarero Race Track outside San Juan. Like many athletes, jockeys say they most miss the camaraderie of their fellow athletes in the jocks’ quarters after retirement. That was the case with Vizcarrondo.

He moved to Louisville and Churchill Downs after retiring due to injuries and waving the white flag of surrender to the extra weight that retires many jockeys, who are required to maintain a strict riding weight. Vizcarrondo began exercise riding in the morning and rode for racing luminary D. Wayne Lukas, among others. Today, he gallops horses exclusively for trainer Helen Pitts, who is based at Churchill Downs.

Vizcarrondo’s first day as a valet came about in 1998 when Willie Martinez, a jockey and friend, got wind that Churchill Downs was short one valet. He called Vizcarrondo, who had mentioned an interest in the job to Martinez.

Valets at Churchill Downs are members of a union, so Vizcarrondo

“Willie told me, ‘Whenever they call you, you gotta work,’ ” Vizcarrondo said. He was third on the waiting list when two valets ahead of him dropped out.

“I was at home watching TV, and someone at Keeneland [in Lexington] called me at 11. Eleven-thirty I’m on the highway,” he said, probably lowflying on I-64 to get there. He made it and has been at it ever since. •

It might surprise people to know that many jockeys leave tack at racetracks around the country when they know they’ll be back. If nothing else, jockeys will leave helmets, as they are cumbersome to pack. In Velazquez’s case, he also leaves pants and undershirts. But jockeys ship their saddles from track to track.

Jockeys use multiple saddles of varied sizes and weights that can range in cost from $200-$400. According to Vizcarrondo, jockey Joel Rosario brought to last year’s Derby “five or six saddles.” It is the valet’s duty to unpack, prepare and have on hand everything an out-of-town rider ships in and have available everything the local guys need.

The only link to the original valets (back when they were val-lays) in the 1400s in France is that valets had the

responsibility for the clothing of the people they served. Racing silks, pants, and boots come under that heading. Not sure, though, that French valets provided toiletry articles such as soap and shampoo, and it’s highly doubtful they had shower sandals back then.

Vizcarrondo has those items ready, along with soft drinks or water preferred by the jockey, candy and other snacks.

Vizcarrondo takes pride in knowing exactly what each jockey likes brand-wise, checking levels for things that need replenishment.

Valets pay for those items themselves, and the riders reimburse them. Churchill Downs pays a day rate to valets. Jockeys also pay their valets and traditionally will “stake” a valet 5 percent of a purse. A winning rider can mean a windfall for a valet.

The jocks’ quarters are a pressure cooker with fame and fortune on the line for the riders. Fights between riders are not unheard of after a race—including the Derby—and not surprising given the danger involved in piloting half-ton animals in close quarters with other riders. A jockey endangered by a mistake another rider makes in a race usually is not open to an explanation.

Unlike golf, where caddies are often bag-carriers and part-time psychologists, valets keep mum with a jockey having a tough day, even an experienced valet like Vizcarrondo.

Occasionally, a rider is grumpy with a valet when things aren’t going well. The response is universal from Vizcarrondo and the other valets: “I just leave them alone; I just do my job. Later, they’ll be OK. The next day, many of them will apologize.”

The valets understand the pressure. And when it comes to a high-strung Thoroughbred kicking in the paddock, it’s press on, even with a limp. Q

Finding

Focus

Famed jockey Steve Cauthen and i.imagine Photography Center collaborate on an upcoming project and exhibition

BY TINA NEYER

Triple Crown-winning jockey Steve Cauthen greets teens at the door of i.imagine Photography Center in Union.

After a day in school, the sleepyeyed kids offer a smile and a limp handshake—all but one, a boy a bit taller than Cauthen’s 5-foot, 5-inch frame. He’s a curly-haired seventh

grader known as “the 8-track lover” because of his fascination with a donated tape player in the breakroom. But there is more to his story.

The boy, Owen, tells Cauthen that his great-grandfather rode a horse that won the Kentucky Derby, but he doesn’t know much else. Cauthen fills the awkward silence. In 1950, Middleground won the Derby and the

Belmont Stakes, and finished second in the Preakness. Jockey Bill Boland, Owen’s grandfather, rode the horse and is a member of the National Racing Hall of Fame.

The moment that Owen meets Cauthen encapsulates the project in which 10 students from i.imagine will participate—2024 FotoFocus Biennial: Backstories.

Founded in 2010 in Cincinnati, FotoFocus is a nonprofit organization that celebrates and champions photography as the medium of our time through programming that ignites a dialogue between contemporary lens-based art and the history of photography. This year’s celebration unites artists, curators and educators from around the world. It encompasses projects across Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Northern Kentucky— the largest of its kind in America.

i.imagine offers photography clubs and education in marketing and business—it has a snack shop run entirely by students. A darkroom filled with cameras, film hung by clothespins, and enlargers—one of which is a Vietnam-era machine used for mapping during the war—expose kids to a world of possibility through photography. Throughout several rooms that once housed a Sunday school, backdrops for studio shots and donated cameras and equipment invite creativity.

At 16, just a few years older than the children he’s come to meet at

i.imagine, Cauthen lay unconscious for 10 hours after being thrown from a horse during a race. His size and the fact that he was unconscious led to recuperation in a pediatric ward. As he mended, he visited the cancer ward and was encouraged by patients to get better and go back to racing. That was the same year he broke records both as an intern and professional jockey: 487 wins and $6 million in purses.

He says now, “To get back on a horse after an accident like that takes courage.” It’s not that he wasn’t afraid but that he overcame the fear. To do that isn’t easy, but he remembers those cancer patients’ words of encouragement.

“When I started, I had no idea I could be as successful as I turned out to be,” he says. He would go on to win the 1978 Triple Crown aboard Affirmed, then win every major race in Europe over the next 14 years.

Cauthen hopes to give the students an opportunity to discover aspects of the racing industry that they can focus on to tell their story through the camera lens.

A FOCUS ON PHOTOGRAPHY + EDUCATION

When we think about taking pictures, the first thing that comes to mind likely is a smartphone. Snap as many images as possible and hope one reflects what is seen with the naked eye. Social media, phone storage and computers are littered with pictures. Cloud storage seems infinite until the load of unused images overwhelms it and us.

i.imagine Photography Center, the brainchild of Shannon Eggleston, exposes kids to the art and the practicality of the craft, both as a hobby and a career. Eggleston, who taught in K-12 classrooms prior to founding i.imagine, believes that there is no right or wrong in a photograph, and the same is true for the students there. When they look through the lens, there is an opportunity to tell a deeper story.

Eggleston began the organization as a professional photographer in 2014, and i.imagine gained nonprofit status in 2016. Students like Zoey Hoffman, who has been affiliated with i.imagine since sixth grade, keep

photos by i.imagine photography

the goals of the organization alive.

One of her photos of the Roebling Bridge that spans the Ohio River is an example of Eggleston’s mission. Richard Hunt, the owner of Roebling Books & Coffee, had donated his father’s Rolleiflex camera to i.imagine. Zoey, an unsuspecting student, captured the image of the bookstore’s namesake bridge. The backstory gives deeper meaning to this oftphotographed icon.

“For me, being part of i.imagine is having a safe creative environment,” Zoey, now a 12th grader, says. “When we take photographs, our hearts pour into them, and having people also look at our photos and say, ‘Oh, wow, that’s really cool,’ validates our emotions and perceptions of the world. Being in i.imagine has just let me present myself in a way that feels more comfortable and less exposing. I’m still expressing myself but behind a camera, where I feel freer.”

Students come from all walks of life. Luke Rogg, a high school junior, stops by i.imagine in farm boots, work pants and a bright orange T-shirt with a firefighter insignia on the front. He doesn’t have as much time for photography anymore because he, like Cauthen, knows his path. Luke is in

training to become an emergency medical technician and firefighter when he finishes high school.

He makes eye contact with certitude and says, “What I’m taking away from [i.imagine] is you don’t always have to be perfect. It’s just how you view yourself and your work. And from that, you can make yourself.”

Eggleston nods her head in agreement, as if Luke’s words add value and meaning to her work and that of the staff. In addition to Eggleston, i.imagine employs three teachers and two interns. Eggleston has a penchant for inviting people to give of themselves—students, staff and volunteers alike.

SNAP JUDGMENTS + SPLIT SECONDS

“Decisions have to be split second,” Cauthen says of a race, “and if you make them in a split second and a half, it’s too late, and then you end up causing yourself more danger by not being able to make a definitive decision.”

Programming over the coming months, culminating in an exhibit in the fall, occurs in three well-thought-

out phases. Nationally recognized photojournalist and i.imagine staff member Madeleine Hordinski leads students in preparation for field work by helping them focus on what they want to learn from the experience. They complete a summary to guide their journey through the world of horse racing.

The kids then meet Cauthen at New Day Ranch, a riding program in Verona for children with various emotional and therapeutic needs. There, Cauthen joins Beth Long, director of the ranch, to teach the kids the language of horses, how to approach the spirited animals, their anatomy and basic safety rules. As Eggleston says, “My goal is to provide many different ways for the kids to organically immerse in the backstory.”

With Cauthen’s help, the students will gain access to the backside of Turfway Park to focus on stories of grooms, exercise riders, breeders like Cauthen, and the untold stories of four-legged friends in the stables— goats, dogs and ponies employed to calm the horses. “There’s more to racing than a jockey, a trainer, and an owner,” Cauthen says.

Cauthen offers opportunities to

Steve Cauthen, center, with photography project participants

catch the students’ imaginations. He says, “I’ll try to fill in the blanks of what I know about racing, or if I can’t, I’ll find somebody who can.” Along the way, he hopes they will be intrigued and want to know more and, hopefully, take some good photos. The key, he believes, is to capture their imagination and to learn how something came to be.

Before summer, Cauthen hopes to have the students visit his farm, also in Verona, and witness what a day in the life of newborn foals is like—that is, if Mother Nature cooperates, and the foals are born on time. His love of the industry is what fuels this mission to expose young people to every aspect of racing. “Human and equine interaction on the backside and around the track is the stuff that comes from farms like mine, where it begins,” Cauthen says.

During the summer, students will meet to curate the exhibit. They will make choices, hone stories for showing, and cultivate a presentation with Cauthen.

A grand opening of the exhibition in October will include a panel discussion led by Hordinski with Cauthen and some of the students. The goal is to present what students learned from the experience.

A LASTING IMPRESSION

“The beauty of art and the beauty of photography is a way that we can each immerse in it. A piece of art is different for everyone. There’s no right or wrong to it,” Eggleston says. That is the uniqueness of the i.imagine mission: to cultivate students to capture the beauty and intrigue of the world around them. With Cauthen’s help, that goal can be realized. Q

Whatever

taste for adventure, London, KY is the ideal place to start. Because here, on the edge of the great Appalachia, surrounded by pristine forests, lakes, rivers and amazing history, unforgettable adventures begin right outside our door. VisitLondonKY.com.

LAUREL RIVER LAKE

Master storytellers will entertain audiences in Paris in May

Tales to Be Told

BY MARY S. LOVELL

At first glance, visitors to Bourbon County may notice the rolling hills and green pastures.

Thoroughbreds dot the landscape beside the pristine barns of the Bluegrass region. Miles of wooden fences signify the biggest industry in this part of the state.

About 20 miles from Lexington is the charming town of Paris, the county seat. There you will find antique stores, a boot boutique that stocks fashionable clothes, a photography shop that captures the essence of the town and country, the smell of home-roasted coffee, shops with a wealth of gift items, a Mexican grocery, a Vietnamese restaurant, places to get homemade pies and rolls, a leather shop, a print shop and several restaurants.

If you arrive in Paris on the second weekend in May, you are in for a treat—the Paris Storytelling Festival. Five professional storytellers will be in town from surrounding states to promote their art, and most performances are free to the public. The only events with a fee are adult storytelling on Friday night (it’s a hoot!), a buffet breakfast in a refurbished old train station, and a storytelling dinner on Saturday night in the backyard of the Wallis House, home of the The Garden Club of Kentucky.

Beginning Friday, the tellers travel individually to all the local schools, as well as those in neighboring Nicholas County, and a local nursing home. Friday night is a time for adults. Tellers keep the audience in stitches as they weave tales a little on the raucous side.

Saturday is the real meat of the weekend. That morning, visitors may enjoy a buffet breakfast at an old railroad depot-turned-restaurant called Trackside and stories from two of the tellers, or they can opt out of the breakfast and bring a chair for free storytelling.

Located at 134 East 10th Street, Trackside Depot has been a Paris landmark since 1882. As a train depot, the site was crowded with salesmen, students and people traveling for business and leisure. Sometimes, it was used to ship racehorses to New

York and Baltimore, with their owners in the first-class compartment. Farmers often exported their hemp and grain products to faraway markets, along with sheep, cattle and hogs, which were sent to Chicago. Celebrities for the new opera house on Main Street arrived and departed by train. Fans and diners can still hear and see the trains pass by the depot, and the engineers usually wave as they pass.

• • •

After the morning storytelling, visitors have the choice of participating in a jam session with a whistling, guitar-playing storyteller or listening to a horse story from yet another raconteur at the newly built Secretariat Park in downtown Paris. The jam session will be held in the old Paris post office, which is now the Hopewell Museum and home to much of the history of the city.

On Saturday afternoon, visitors can hear tales from all five tellers at the Storytelling Showcase under a tent in the arboretum of the Wallis House. Each teller will have 20-25 minutes to tell a story and give the audience a preview of what to expect at the upcoming dinner.

That evening, visitors will enjoy music while they heap their plates from a catered buffet dinner and listen to the stories after they eat. Adults and children can view the trees and flowers planted on the Wallis House grounds as they listen to a variety of stories from the tellers.

The storytellers this year will be Bil Lepp, Donald Davis, Donna Washington, Andy Offutt Irwin and Carolina Quiroga Sheila Arnold, a renowned storyteller in her own right, serves as the festival’s adviser and brings some of the top performers to Paris. She has been performing at the festival since its 2017 beginning.

“The Paris Storytelling Festival is one of many storytelling festivals throughout the country and even throughout the world. But it will always be close to my heart,” Arnold said. “Each year, I sit down with the president [Mary S. Lovell] and help decide which storytellers to invite the next year.

“The festival has grown over the seven years it has existed, evolving into

MAY 10–12, 2024

Information on the Paris Storytelling Festival schedule and tickets for the dinner, buffet breakfast and adult storytelling on Friday night can be found online at parisstoryfest.com, the Paris Storytelling Inc. Facebook page or by sending an email to ParisStoryFest@gmail.com.

an event in which national storytellers are now contacting us about the event in hopes of performing.”

Lepp has headlined the Paris Storytelling Festival since its inception. Hailing from West Virginia, he is an All-American storyteller and a five-time winner of the West Virginia State Liars’ Contest. He has performed at storytelling festivals across the nation and is a regular performer at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee.

Lepp leaves people falling from their chairs with laughter as he tells stories he has written about the antics that he and the make-believe Skeeter got into while growing up in West Virginia. His stories are always funny and contain a bit of universal wisdom.

“It’s been great to be part of the Paris Storytelling Festival over the past few years as it grows into one of the best festivals in the region,” Lepp said.

This is the first time Donald Davis has graced the stage in Paris, but he

has been pursued every year as one of the best in the business. Born in the story-rich region of Southern Appalachia, he weaves tales that leave audiences laughing, crying and sighing as he leaves “a lump in the throat” of each listener. The author of more than 30 books, he is a regular at the National Storytelling Festival.

Donna Washington is no stranger to the storytelling circuit. Her forte is scary stories, but she also tells tales from Greek mythology, African and African American folktales, fables and Jack Tales (folktales from the Southern Appalachian Mountains). Washington started life as an “Army brat,” moving from Colorado, where she grew up, to South Korea, where she spent five years in school. She

is very animated as she weaves her stories.

Carolina Quiroga intersperses her stories with some Spanish as she relates Latin American and Hispanic myths, legends and mysteries. She also tells traditional Hispanic tales, personal stories, tall tales and ghost stories.

Andy Offutt Irwin often includes fictional stories of his 85-year-old, widowed, newly minted physician aunt, Dr. Marguerite Van Camp, using an old lady voice to portray her humorous rants. But he is equally at home telling stories of Johnny and his brother Kenny and growing up in integrated schools. He will be performing in a jam session at the Hopewell Museum.

The festival nears a close on Sunday morning in five different churches, as the tellers relate a final tale before heading home. Then, the Paris-Bourbon County Public Library will host a showing of The Paris 3, a documentary of three Black girls who were refused service in a Paris eatery in the early 1960s, prior to desegregation, leading to positive changes in the community. All three women are still alive and have been invited to attend the showing, along with the granddaughter of one of the women. There will be a facilitated open discussion after the showing. Q

Bookstore

ARGILITTE Black’s Bookshop 7625 Romeo Ridge 606.922.2805

blacksbookshop.com

FORT THOMAS Blue Marble Books 1356 South Fort Thomas Avenue 859.781.0602 bluemarblebooks.com

ASHLAND Broadway Books 1537 Winchester Avenue 606.694.7100

broadwaybooksaky.com

LOUISVILLE Carmichael’s Bookstore 1295 Bardstown Road 502.456.6950

carmichaelsbookstore.com

LOUISVILLE Carmichael’s Bookstore 2720 Frankfort Avenue 502.896.6950

carmichaelsbookstore.com

MOREHEAD CoffeeTree Books 159 East Main Street 606.784.8364

coffeetreebools.com

LEXINGTON Joseph-Beth Booksellers 161 Lexington Green Circle 859.273.2911

josephbeth.com

MAYSVILLE Kenton Stories with Spirit 11 West Second Street 606.407.6037

kenton.social

STANFORD Kentucky Soaps & Such

203 West Main Street 606.365.0808

kentuckysoapsandsuch.com

DANVILLE Plaid Elephant Books 115 North Third Street

859.449.2100

plaidelephantbooks.com

FRANKFORT Poor Richard’s Books 233 Broadway Street 502.223.8018

poorrichardsbooksky.indielite.org

HAZARD Read Spotted Newt 221 Memorial Drive 606.373.4811

readspottednewt.com

COVINGTON Roebling Books & Coffee 306 Greenup Street 859.292.1560

roeblingbooks.com

DAYTON Roebling Books & Coffee

301 Sixth Avenue 859.308.7086

roeblingbooks.com

NEWPORT Roebling Books & Coffee (and Art) 601 Overton Street 859.669.3181

roeblingbooks.com

BEREA Taleless Dog Booksellers 204 Estill Street 859.302.8757

thetalelessdog.com

EDDYVILLE The Shire Bookstore 115 Newman Drive 254.245.0439

theshirebookstore.com

This photo from 1919 shows the parking lot of Churchill Downs. The year was a big one for Thoroughbred racing, with Sir Barton winning the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. In 1950, the title of Triple Crown was used officially by the Thoroughbred Racing Association, and Sir Barton was named the first Triple Crown winner retroactively.

God’s

Historic Latonia Race Track -- page 50

Kentucky Derby was the 27th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on

Kentucky Explorer

Charles Hayes Jr. • Founder

Stephen M. Vest • Publisher

Deborah Kohl Kremer • Editor

Rebecca Redding • Typographist

One-Year Subscription to Kentucky Monthly: $25

Spanning the Kentucky River

Did you know Kentucky is home to the only threespan Warren deck truss S-bridge in the United States? The Jo Blackburn Bridge, also known as Tyrone Bridge, carries U.S. 62 across the Kentucky River between Anderson and Woodford counties.

The 1,256-foot-long bridge was commissioned by the State Highway Commission of Kentucky and built in 1932 by the Virginia Bridge Co.

Running parallel to the Blackburn Bridge is Young’s High Bridge, a railroad cantilever bridge built in 1889, one of the oldest and tallest still standing today. Both bridges are near Wild Turkey Distillery.

Looking for Back Issues of Kentucky Explorer?

We have a select number of back issues of Kentucky Explorer from 1986-2000. Back issues are $5 plus shipping.

If you are in search of a certain issue or are interested in adding an issue to your collection, please contact Deb at deb@kentuckymonthly. com to see if it’s available.

Can’t Make a Pie Without the Filling!

In the February issue of Kentucky Explorer, we ran a recipe for Brown Sugar Pie from Old Talbott Tavern, and the historic recipe got cut off. Unfortunately, only the pie crust recipe appeared!

Here is the complete recipe. We apologize for any inconvenience.

A chestnut colt named Aristides won the first Kentucky Derby in 1875, winning the top prize of $2,850.

The Old Talbott Tavern in Bardstown

God’s Oddling: The Possum

By Roger Guffey, Lexington

When most people think of animals in Kentucky, Thoroughbred horses come to mind, but Virginia opossums may be a close second. Possums are inextricably linked to the culture of the Appalachian Mountains and embody the wellknown stereotypes of “hillbillies” that the rest of the country is reluctant to abandon. The state legislature surely missed the boat in 1968 when it designated the gray squirrel the state mammal because the possum would have been a much better choice. Nearly all Kentuckians in the state have stories about possums they like to share.

will need when they leave their mother four to five months later.

The mortality rate of baby possums is extremely high, and the lifespan is only about two years in the wild and four years in captivity. Their body temperature of 94-97 degrees Fahrenheit may explain why rabies infections are extremely rare in possums.

The Virginia Opossum, Didelphis virginiana, is the only marsupial in North America. Australia is famous for a variety of marsupials—from kangaroos to wallabies and wombats—and South America is home to dozens of such animals.

The word “opossum” is derived from an Algonquian word meaning “the white one.” The possum ranges throughout the eastern half of the United States from southern Canada, southward to Central and South America. Possums were not native to the West Coast, but they successfully colonized the area. The possums there are descendants of animals brought there by immigrants relocating during the Great Depression.

Possums are the embodiment of an animal designed by a committee rather than a deity. They are a perversion of the ugly duckling story. Baby possums are cute, but they grow uglier as they age. Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, the commander of Christopher Columbus’ ship the Nina, described it as a monster whose front resembled a fox, but “the hinder a monkey, the feet were like a Mans, with ears like an owl; under whose Belly hung a great Bag, in which it carry’d the Young.” Pinzón captured one and presented it to King Ferdinand of Spain.

Possums fascinated Europeans as an animal that seemed to be made from the spare parts of others. It has a scaly, prehensile tail; a pink nose; perpetually unruly salt-andpepper pelage; 50 teeth, of which 10 are incisors; and hind feet with thumbs that give it a distinctive track.

The possum was the first specimen of a marsupial that Europeans saw, and its reproduction adaptation mystified them because the babies are carried in a pouch on the stomach rather than in an internal uterus. When the embryos emerge about 12 days after conception, they are the size of a honeybee. They are blind and underdeveloped and have to clamber through their mother’s fur to the pouch, where they attach themselves to one of the 13 nipples they find there. If there are more than 13 embryos, the surplus will die. They remain in the pouch for 10 weeks before they emerge and piggyback on their mother’s fur. During this time, they learn the survival skills they

Possums are notorious for their legendary ability to feign death when attacked by predators. They involuntarily enter a catatonic state where the body goes limp, its eyes close, breathing stops, the mouth falls open and drools, and the bowels discharge their contents. Trying to rouse it by poking it is a waste of time because it appears to be dead. Many wild animals have evolved to avoid eating dead prey that might carry disease. This comatose state lasts for a few minutes or hours.

Possums have other extraordinary adaptations to protect themselves from threats such as poisons. They are immune to pit viper venom and bee and scorpion stings. Researchers have recently used possum digestive juices to produce inexpensive antidotes to snake venom that do not have the nasty side effects of traditional antivenins. They are walking garbage disposals with a digestive tract that can detoxify botulism, ricin and many other chemicals that will kill most animals because their blood serum has a lethal toxin-neutralizing factor, or LTNF, that protects them from harm.

Various sources claim that possums have a special fondness for ticks, but this has not been substantiated by scientific studies. They eat ticks, but they do not catch Lyme disease that ticks carry.

Possums’ only negative economic impacts are their notorious attacks on poultry and their eggs. Possum furs are sold on the market for the fashion industry. Believe it or not, possums are killed for their meat and sold in cans, a delicacy popular in the South, and one that I will never taste. Yuck.

Possums figure prominently in the culture and stories of Appalachia. The most famous possum is Pogo Possum, a comic strip created by Walt Kelley that ran in newspapers from 1948-1975. This anthropomorphic character frequently dabbled in politics and philosophy and was touted as candidate for president in 1952 and 1956 perverting the “I Like Ike” slogan to “I Go Pogo.” Pogo’s most memorable line is: “We have met the enemy and he is us,” a quote that never goes out of style.

Automobiles are a major source of mortality in possums as encapsulated in this joke: “Why did the chicken cross the road?” “To prove to the possum it could be done.”

The legendary Man o’ War lived in the Bluegrass State for most of his life but never raced at a Kentucky track.

“I Remember”

Memories of Taylorsville

By Chuck Sharpe, Houston, Texas

Kids were fortunate growing up in Taylorsville in Spencer County in the 1960s and ’70s. It is a small farming community in the valleys carved by the Salt River and Brashears Creek about an hour from downtown Louisville. It was a great life. As we were growing, up my friends and I played baseball, softball, football and basketball. We played sports in the snow and rain and in cow pastures or on the street. We played basketball year-round and were huge University of Kentucky basketball fans. I remember listening to UK games on the radio with Dan Issel, Kevin Grevey, Jack Givens and other great players. Radio reception was better in a car. So on many nights, I was in the driveway in the family car listening to UK games with Cawood Ledford doing the play-by-play.

We worked on farms during summers and after school—in dairy barns, hauling hay, cutting tobacco, and planting and harvesting vegetables. During one of the coldest Decembers I remember, a friend and I were stripping tobacco in an old barn, and it was about 5 degrees. It was a day you didn’t want to work outdoors, but that day remains a great memory.

Taylorsville did not change much until the dam on the Salt River was built, creating Taylorsville Lake in the early ’80s. I worked several summers for the surveying crews mapping the boundaries of the lake and park. I have always wondered why the dam was not designed to be hydroelectric to power some residences and businesses in

The Center of the Household

By Lois Johnson Wilcox, Piqua, Ohio

The dining room in the six-room house of Big White Oak Road was the busiest room in the Johnson home. On the wall beside the china cupboard hung a calendar from Lawson Hardware Store in Greenup County. The calendar had pictures of an Irish home and included instructions on how to plant crops for human food and also for farm animals. The china cupboard held the dishes and glasses we used for meals. Not many dishes matched.

There, you would also find Clabber Girl Baking Powder cans, which were the Johnson children’s drinking glasses. These cans also were used as flower vases for family and friends buried in the Quillen Family Cemetery on Rt. 7 in Greenup. There was a small cabinet that held the sugar bowl, salt and pepper shakers, a jar of syrup or honey, and a butter dish. Most of these were placed on the dining table at dinner and supper.

the county. The dam is important for flood control, but apparently, hydroelectricity was not cost-effective. With the lake and the recreational potential came many land developments, which changed the landscape of the county.

I left Kentucky around 1976 for college and work but visited Taylorsville recently for a 50-year high school reunion. One big change in town is my high school building is gone, yielding to the “new” one just outside the old town proper on the other side of Brashears Creek. I saw many old friends and had a great time. Driving around the county and town brought back good memories, such as evenings after school, when we had foot races across the Brashears Creek bridge going toward Mt. Washington. I won a few of those, or at least that is how I remember it.

The people of Taylorsville are friendly and generous and would help anyone in need. One winter, we had a huge snowstorm. I was driving about 5 miles outside of town one evening and slid off the road into a snowbank about 5 feet high. I walked about a mile to a lighted dairy barn, where a farmer was tending to his milk cows. I entered the barn and explained my situation. He did not know me, nor I him, but he agreed to drive me to Taylorsville, where I could find some friends to help tow my car out of the snowdrift. I will never forget that gentleman for helping out a stranger on a cold winter night, and I wish I could thank him again.

To me, Taylorsville still has its small-town charm and is still, I think, primarily a farming community. I am glad it hasn’t changed much over the years, and I hope to again visit the town where I grew up.

The table had six chairs and a long wooden bench for the children. We used the dining table to wash the dishes three times a day. It is where Mom, my sisters and I sewed clothes and made quilts for the five full-size beds used in the family. The room also was used to strip tobacco, which was our only cash crop.

On hot summer days on the farm, Mom fixed lemonade using lemons, sugar and cold well water, as we had no ice. This was served before supper. Also on hot evenings, she fixed us cereal with milk from the coal cellar. If the milk had turned bad, we ate the cereal with well water on it. In that weather, the kitchen would be too hot to cook a meal. We had no electricity, so we didn’t have air conditioning or even an electric fan. We could take a dip in the pond on our 100-acre farm to cool down.

I’m the only living member of this Johnson family of 13 children—10 of whom reached adulthood. We were proof of how living on a farm and eating homegrown vegetables helped us to stay healthy along with fresh air and sunshine.

Lesson Learned the Hard Way

By Carol Ingle, Scott County

I started living with my granny in Wayne County in the 1950s, when I was 3. My daddy took me and my mother to my granny’s for a visit. He got a job in Ohio and was staying with his brother. He was supposed to come to get us, but after a few months, Mom and everybody else realized he was not coming back. My daddy couldn’t read or write, so there were no letters or postcards. He didn’t send any money, so Mom had to do whatever she could to make money.

There was a shirt factory in Monticello, but it wasn’t hiring. She filled out an application anyway.

Mom got a job cleaning for a very old lady one day a week. I don’t remember her name. I remember that old lady because I got into some awful trouble one time at her house. I used to sit on the porch with her while Mom mopped the house. This old lady kept eating chocolate. She never offered me any of it. I’d stare at her, wanting some so bad. She kept it in a little can. I’d watch her open the can, sprinkle the chocolate into the lid, pull her bottom lip out, and empty the powder onto the inside of her bottom lip. It looked so good. I loved chocolate. She’d

My Family’s Farm in Bald Knob

By Vicki Easterly, Frankfort

In 1775, my immigrant ancestor, Victor David Waits, settled on a farm in Bald Knob (Franklin County), where my great-granddaddy, granddaddy and daddy stayed.

I still smell the pungent cut hay and tobacco-barn smoke; I still hear the day-breaking cackle of the rooster outside my window; I still see the fog billowing over the meadow in the hollow. And I remember the seasons.

The winter of 1994, Daddy was dying of cancer. I gently cared for him, but thoughts of death beat at my heart like a Shaker broom that brutal winter. I learned to cut wood and build a fire. We were beautifully stranded. The creek froze into a glimmering glazed twisted pastry. The trees stood naked and strong, black against white. Despite the hardships and impending grief, that was my most blessed season.

Spring came. Daddy left us. I cried. One hundred twenty-three acres of verdant hills, downy meadows and an ambling creek became mine.

That summer, I built a one-room log cabin. I decorated it with flea market finds and found curtains with deer scenes on them. I wrote by day and scampered across the field to the moss-slippery creek, where unknowing water cooled the tadpoles and me with its eternal flow. I sat on the porch by night and listened to coyotes and katydids until the black night woods embraced me in a warm blanket of peace.

Fall came with its glorious orgasm of red, yellow and sienna—the crunch of rust leaves in the woods, the pine scent as I walked in deeper, the fragrant musk of the damp ground. I felt at home under the umbrella of evergreens. My being breathed in the life of the forest. I burst with love for the land and the season.

wipe around her lips and chin because that chocolate melted and drained out. Then, she would spit the chocolate out into a can. Why on earth was she spitting it out? I asked Mom, and she laughed and said, “It’s not chocolate. It’s snuff.” I didn’t care what she called it because in my child’s mind, it was chocolate, and I wanted some.

One day when the lady went in the house, I grabbed the can, opened it, put some in the lid, and pulled out my lower lip just like she had. I dumped it in my mouth. Oh my goodness, it was awful! I put the lid back on and ran into the yard. I started gagging and Mom ran outside to see what was wrong. She saw all the brown stuff on my blouse and face. I started to throw up. Mom was so mad at me. I was so sick, but Mom still pulled up my skirt and spanked my bottom for stealing.

She cleaned me up and marched me to the porch where the old lady was sitting. She made me tell the lady what I had done and tell her I was sorry. I had swallowed some of the snuff, and I was turning green. I can’t remember how many times I vomited, but I was sick. The lady didn’t accept my apology; instead, after she paid Mom, she told her never to come back. Not only was I sick, but I cost her a job that she desperately needed.

For 30 years, I clung to my beloved farm, but seasons change. Women do, too. Our green pubescence becomes warm russet. The autumn of our lives sets in like a welcome breeze. But once-young arms and legs become slow and knotted. Seventy-year-old feet can’t carry us through the ancient trees anymore.

Last year, the kids said I was getting too old. “Too old for what?” I asked. Their looks were their answers.

The “For Sale” sign went up. A young couple with two boys bought it. I knew it was best—for them. But I still grieve my farm like the loss of a best friend. No one understands how I can grieve a place. So I write my lamentations to myself. I mourn alone.

I feel a blood-piecing of my soul when I think I can never go there again. Yet I find peace and even joy when I remember the things of my farm.

Especially in the fall … That’s when it hurts and soothes me most.

Northern Kentucky’s Historic Latonia Race Track

By Dr. James C. Claypool, Kentucky Sports Historian, Park Hills

During the early 1880s, Milldale was a quiet little community located just a few miles south of the thriving city of Covington. In 1884, Milldale was incorporated as South Covington, but locals referred to the new city as Latonia because of its proximity to a popular nearby mineral springs, named after the Greek goddess Latona. At that time, Latonia had a population of around 1,500, and most of the residents were of German/Irish descent, a fun-loving group, to say the least. Gambling, drinking, sporting events and boisterous partying were commonplace. In 1883, a group of Northern and Central Kentucky horsemen had established a new Thoroughbred racetrack in Latonia destined to become one of America’s foremost racecourses, which, as a contemporary newsman noted, “hit the ground a-running.”

Opening day, June 9, 1883, saw a crowd estimated at between 8,000-10,000. The featured race that day was the Hindoo Stakes, named for the 1881 Kentucky Derby winner. Three of the horses competing would finish exactly as they had in the Derby a few weeks earlier in Louisville. Soon, Latonia’s top race’s name was changed from the Hindoo Stakes to the Latonia Derby, and the game between it and the Kentucky Derby was on! For several years that followed, the Latonia Derby offered larger purses than its rival Derby in Louisville, and it was not unusual for Kentucky Derby winners to ship and compete in what some considered to be the more prestigious Latonia Derby.

In the years that followed, Latonia grew and prospered, while Churchill Downs staggered through changes of ownership and dwindling Derby fields that on two occasions (1892 and 1905) saw just three horses competing. During that time, many of the top horses, trainers and owners came to Latonia to race on a track that was recordsetting fast. The purses offered at Latonia set national standards on eight occasions. During this period, Latonia led North America’s tracks in total purses. This was all too much for Matt Winn, who, after becoming an executive at

Churchill Downs in 1902, would make the Kentucky Derby into America’s premier 3-year-old race while also establishing Churchill as a significant player in the Thoroughbred racing industry.

In 1919, a consortium headed by Winn bought all the Thoroughbred tracks in Kentucky, subsequently closing the Kentucky Association Race Track in Lexington and converting Louisville’s Douglas Park into a training facility, while continuing to keep the profitable track in Latonia open. For several more years, Latonia continued to attract top-flight competition, and the track was profitable. Its Derby, however, was significantly downgraded, while Winn focused his energies on the Kentucky Derby’s ascent. With the advent of the Great Depression, everything changed. Churchill and its Derby hung on, but Latonia began a slow, fatal decline. In 1939, the end came when Latonia closed after its fall meet, and it was announced its properties had been sold to the SOHIO Oil Corporation (Standard Oil Company of Ohio).

Latonia was no more, but fond memories of the “Grand Old Track” would linger for generations, even into today. A new track bearing Latonia’s name opened in Florence in 1959 and continues to operate, though it was renamed Turfway Park in 1986. Although the new Latonia track has gone through many ownership changes, the most significant change occurred in 2019, when—reminiscent of Winn’s times—it was purchased by the Louisville-based corporation that operates the Kentucky Derby.

The story of Latonia Race Track ’s long history and its acquisition by Churchill Downs is chronicled in a new book by Dr. James C. Claypool and Bob Webster titled A Tradition Reborn

To purchase a copy signed by both authors, mail a payment of $27 per book to: Jim Claypool, 1004 Park Drive, Park Hills, KY 41011. Shipment will be immediate upon receipt of your order.

The Kentucky Derby was created by Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr.

Early Traffic on the Ohio River

By Clifford W. Dowell Jr., Louisville

In the early 1900s, boat docks were all along the Ohio River to accommodate the needs of small towns and to aid farmers in hauling their produce and livestock to market. Produce from Jackeysburg (later called Union Star), Sample and other towns was hauled to Stephensport to be shipped to market by steamboat or sometimes a small packet boat. Merchants received supplies via these boats, and their mail also came by boat. The boats also served as passenger vessels.

In the early 1920s, a boat ran every other day. The last boat to run was the Southland, which made its final trip in 1930. Boats on the Ohio included the Morning Star, the Tell City and the Lena Mae. The Richard Ray was primarily a passenger boat that carried drummers and salesmen daily between Stephensport and Leavenworth, Indiana. Those mentioned above were only a few of the passenger and commercial boats. There were many more.

Sometimes, showboats came up and down the Ohio River providing entertainment. Often during the summer months, several came in for a landing, much to the delight of the townspeople. Villagers ran down to the waterfront to see the showboat that had a calliope playing, whistles blowing and flags flying. Some of the most famous showboats were the Golden Rod and the Cotton Blossom. The Golden Rod was tied up at the docks in St. Louis and was a stage for melodramas in the summer months. Small town churches discouraged their members from attending the shows that had “dancing girls in skimpy costumes.”

There were fearful times for the steamboats during the Civil War. The Morning Star was built in 1864 for the Louisville-Henderson Mail Line Company. Her first trip was on Dec. 22, 1864. Returning from Evansville, Indiana, the following day, she was stopped by guerillas near Lewisport. They boarded her, terrorized the passengers and crew, and helped themselves to the cigars and whiskey in the bar room. The guerillas killed two ill soldiers who were aboard and robbed the safe of $2,700.

They finally left the boat upstream at Hawesville in Hancock County.

The steamship, Alice Dean, was boarded by the Morgan Raiders near Brandenberg on July 9, 1863, and destroyed by fire.

• • •

The J.M.White was built in 1878 and named for its popular captain, J.M. White of Cloverport (Breckinridge County). It was the most expensive and elaborate steamboat ever built at that time. The ship ran primarily between New Orleans and Vicksburg on the Mississippi River. On Dec. 13, 1886, while it was tied up at a wharf in Louisiana, a spark engulfed the ship, which led to gunpowder stored in the hold exploding. The cargo, which consisted of 3,600 bales of cotton, 8,000 sacks of seed and 400 barrels of oil, was a total loss. About 40 passengers were on board, and 26 died from the fire.

White died in 1880 and is buried in the Cloverport Cemetery in Breckinridge County. It is said he is buried in the standing position, but this has not beenverified. His monument on the cemetery hill faces the west bend of the Ohio River and resembles two steamboat smokestacks.

… grandson of explorer William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Top, the Cotton Blossom; middle, the J.M. White; and, bottom, the Morning Star.

Right, the final resting place of Capt. J.M. White, inset.

Kentucky Derby Winners with Ties to Harrodsburg

By Bobbi Dawn Rightmyer, Harrodsburg

Harrodsburg, which is recognized as the oldest English settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains, also has ties throughout history to the Kentucky Derby.

Leonatus, winner of the ninth Kentucky Derby in 1883, was noted for his stamina and durability. His owners, George Morgan and Col. Jack P. Chinn, were from Mercer County.

Leonatus was foaled in 1880 on Fountainbleu Springs Farm in Harrodsburg. He died in 1898 in Bourbon County. Leonatus raced only once as a juvenile, finishing second. As a 3-year-old, he put together an amazing string of victories, winning 10 stakes races in just 49 days.

A week before the 1883 Kentucky Derby, Leonatus won the Blue-Ribbon Stakes in Lexington. In the Derby, he won by three lengths. Leonatus’ Derby jockey, Billy Donohue, was reported to have bet his entire life savings on his mount. Leonatus went off at 2-1, so Donohue had lucrative Derby Day.

Less than a week after the Kentucky Derby, Leonatus won the Tobacco Stakes and, three days later, he won the Woodburn Stakes. Another win came at the Hindoo Stakes— later known as the Latonia Derby—where legendary African American jockey Isaac Burns Murphy rode him. These wins were followed in close succession by victories at the Ripple Stakes, Himyar Stakes, Dearborn Stakes, Green Stakes and Illinois Derby.

In 1916, Harrodsburg had another Kentucky Derby winner. George Smith was a black colt named after a noted turfman. George E. Smith, who was also known as “Pittsburg Phil,” was once an owner of the colt’s dam. The horse was bred by Fred Forsythe and Christopher “Kit” Chinn and was foaled at their Fountainbleu Farm in Harrodsburg. This 42nd Kentucky Derby, had a field of nine horses. George Smith was ridden by American Racing Hall of Fame jockey Johnny Loftus and clocked a winning time of 2:04.00. The payout for the race was $10.30 to win, $4.80 to place and $2.90 to show.

In 1980, Genuine Risk, who was foaled on Harrodsburg’s Shawnee Farm, became only the second filly to win the Kentucky Derby. Genuine Risk was the first filly to compete in all three of the American Triple Crown races, placing second in both the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.

Genuine Risk again made history when she was mated with Secretariat in 1982. It was the first union between two Kentucky Derby winners. Unfortunately, the resulting colt was stillborn. She continued to be bred over the next 17 year, but produced only two living foals—Genuine Reward and Count Our Blessing. Neither colt ever raced.

Another Harrodsburg connection is 1886 Kentucky Derby winner Ben Ali, who was named after his owner, James Ben Ali Haggin. Born in Harrodsburg Haggin was a descendant of one of the state’s first pioneer families. He is the namesake of the Ben Ali Stakes at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington.

Lexington Oliver Lewis was the first jockey to win the Kentucky Derby.

Marker photos by Keith Rightmyer

Why Did Boone Settle Kentucky?

By Dr. Marshall Myers, Richmond

Most Kentuckians are quite familiar with the daring deeds of Daniel Boone. (He sometimes spelled his last name without a final “e.”)

Well known are Boone’s triumphant escape from the Shawnees; his rescue of his daughter from the American Indians; and his monumental trek from some distance back to Fort Boonesborough to warn its occupants of an impending Indian attack.

But Boone, reflective about his trips to Kentucky, said that he had lost “[two] darling sons and a brother by savage hands, which also have taken from me 40 valuable horses and abundance of cattle. Many dark and sleepless nights have I spent, separated from the cheerful society of men, scorched by the summer sun and pinched by winter’s cold,” he wrote.

If he lost all of these things, what made him want to settle the “howling wilderness” that Kentucky seemed to be?

The answer may simply be that Boone was overcome with the beauty of the place. He said that the Cumberland Mountains were formidable. The Natives showed him the Cumberland Gap, the way of exploration for many years to come, a tough but a sure route. Boone called Kentucky “paradise” and could not see himself or his family deprived of it, no matter the costs. “The pleasure of the beautiful level of Kentucky … I had a pleasant ramble … in which myriads of trees, some gay with blossoms, others rich with fruits,” Boone wrote. “Nature here was a series of wonders, and a fund of delight. Here, she displayed her ingenuity in a series of animals that presented themselves in perpetual view.”

Boone soon wanted his entire family to experience the “grandeur” of Kentucky, to live amid the wilderness and experience the excitement that would be theirs.

Boone must have been quite convincing about the beauty of Kentucky, for in 1774, he convinced Governor Dunmore of Virginia to take three garrisons and mark the way by survey to the Falls of the Ohio River to make it entirely possible to settle along the survey lines and to be a part of the war against the Shawnee as part of the governor’s rule “through the wilderness … that was so wild … and horrible.”

Boone was so distracted by the charms of the wilderness that he didn’t see that how easily the Natives could capture him. He was fascinated by a “melancholy” that overtook him and made unable him to look at his surroundings.

Another day, he was struck by the “inconceivable grandeur” of Kentucky, again overwhelmed by its beauty. “No populous city, with all its variety of commerce, even amid such stately structures none could compare,” he wrote. He had never experienced this much grandeur in his life. Its sheer presentation captivated him as nothing before, and he seemed not able or unwilling to escape it.

Later, while on a mission to get salt for the community,

Boone was again captured by the Shawnees. Soon, he became the “favored prisoner,” learning the language and the hunting techniques of his captors, winning the exclusive favor of the chief. In fact, he roamed the wilderness freely.

The Shawnee chief was so enamored with Boone that he turned down several hundred dollars offered by the British to buy him and offered him the freedom he desired. Boone never expected that he himself would be involved in his own “parole.”

His prowess with a bow and arrow and gun matched the chief to the degree that made Boone alert to the uneven comparison. At Chelicothe (a village near present-day Xemia, Ohio, not to be confused with Chillicothe), “I spent as comfortable as is,” he wrote, “not a worrisome kind of care.”

Boone’s fascination with the beauty of Kentucky did not diminish his need to bring his family to the “great meadow.” And he vowed to make this a reality. Kentucky was in “his blood,” and he could not shake it.

Why did Boone feel the way he did? Time and time again, he went back to Kentucky. His answer to that question seems to be quite superficial to the modern ear.

He ended his explanation with a short phrase designed to prompt even more questions: because he was “an instrument ordained to settle the wilderness.”

Jockey Diane Crump is the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby, in 1970.

Top, Cumberland Gap; above, Daniel Boone statue on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University.

Kentucky Historian Laureate: Dr. Thomas D. Clark

By John W. McCauley, Lexington

The Commonwealth has known no greater historian than Dr. Thomas D. Clark. His books and lectures were superlative, and his work has spanned decades. This Guggenheim Fellowship recipient forged a path and left his mark. I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Clark some years ago, and what a great experience it was to talk with the dean of Kentucky historians.

Thomas Dionysius

Clark was born on July 14, 1903, in Louisville, Mississippi, the son of a cotton farmer and an educator. This unique young man from the rural South had to jump several hurdles during his early education. He dropped out of school following the seventh grade and helped on the family farm. He also became employed by a local sawmill. During this period, Clark’s mother, a teacher, encouraged him to return to school, and that he did. After a stint on a dredge boat, Clark was accepted at Choctaw County Agricultural High School, where he played football and graduated in 1925.

Clark went on to work his way through the University of Mississippi, where he graduated with honors, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1928. It was at Ole Miss that he developed a passion for history, especially Southern history. Following graduation, he was offered a scholarship to the University of Kentucky, where he earned a master’s degree in history. Financial struggles plagued Clark, and he was offered a fellowship at Duke University to further his education. While at Duke, Clark met his future wife, Mary Elizabeth Turner, and earned his doctorate in history in 1931. The couple had two children, Elizabeth and Bennett, and had been married 62 years at the time of Mary’s death.

In 1931, Clark became a professor of history at the University of Kentucky and immediately began work to build the program. This historical preservationist was named head of the history department in 1941. He dedicated years of service to the preservation of historical records at the University of Kentucky. He also worked with Gov. A.B. “Happy” Chandler to preserve state historical

records, which brought about the establishment of the Kentucky Archives Commission in 1957. Clark was named the commission’s first chairman.

In his spare time, Clark enjoyed spending time with friends in an informal group known as the “Lexington Book Thieves.” In addition to Clark, some of the more notable members were Lexington author, Lincoln collector and scholar William H. Townsend; historian/author J. Winston Coleman Jr.; and University of Kentucky presidents Frank L. McVey and Herman Lee Donovan. This distinguished group met for almost 30 years and made numerous contributions to Kentucky’s literary community.

Clark stepped down as history department head in 1965 and retired from teaching in 1968. The distinguished professor had a positive impact on students during his tenure that was second to none. Following his retirement, Clark remained active and was a key figure in the establishment of the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives in 1982. He was an outspoken proponent of education.

In the book, Thomas D. Clark of Kentucky, my friend, the late Sen. Walter Baker from Glasgow, wrote, “Tom Clark is undoubtedly more knowledgeable about Kentucky, its history, its leaders, and its people than any other person.”

Baker, like Clark, was extremely well respected, and that was certainly a powerful endorsement. In 1990, Clark was named Kentucky’s Historian Laureate by the Kentucky General Assembly. In a ceremony at the state Capitol, he received numerous accolades, including heartfelt comments from Gov. Brereton C. Jones.

In 1999, at age 94, Clark was present for the dedication of the Kentucky History Center, a project that he strongly supported. Following his death on June 28, 2005, at the age of 101, Gov. Ernie Fletcher presided over a ceremony renaming the Kentucky History Center the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History. He was survived by his second wife, Loretta Gilliam

Clark’s first book, The Beginning of the L&N (1933), is a rare collectible, and A History of Kentucky (1937) became known as his most notable book. During his lifetime, Clark authored and edited 35 books. While they are too numerous to mention, this author has a good collection of Clark’s work. Among my favorites are The Rampaging Frontier (1939), Pills, Petticoats & Plows (1944), The Southern Country Editor (1948) and Bluegrass Cavalcade (1956), with each book inscribed by Clark to his good friend, Bill Townsend.

Clark, who had served as president of the Organization of American Historians and editor of the Journal of Southern History, was laid to rest at the Lexington Cemetery. He was the last living member of the Lexington Book Thieves.

In 1938, spectators at Churchill Downs were able to go through a newly built tunnel under the track …

Thomas D. Clark

Photo of Clark courtesy of the University of Kentucky Special Collections

A sampling of Clark’s books

Kentucky’s Unexplainable Light Display

By Bobbie Smith Bryant, Jefferson County

On a cold winter night in January 1837, a few men were out fox hunting in the hinterlands of Western Kentucky. The hunters were from the hamlet of New Concord (in what is now Calloway County), located near the Tennessee River. As their dogs bounded out of sight with noses to the ground, all were focused on the task at hand. Suddenly, something caught their attention, and the men found themselves watching the evening sky.

Stars glittered against a canvas of black, when two bright balls resembling full moons presented themselves. The balls of yellow light were located near one another and remained stationary. It was such a strange spectacle that the men grew excited and hurriedly made their way home to tell their families.

The dust had barely settled from the pioneer trails leading to Calloway County. Only 15 years had passed since the first log cabins had been erected. There were no more than a few hundred people living in their tiny farming village at the time. But tales such as this unusual phenomenon in the heavens traveled like a nor’easter blowing in from Canada.

A nearby newspaper picked up the incredible story told by the fox hunters, and before long, it was reprinted in several newspapers in other states. The names of the men have been lost to history but not their extraordinary sighting. A journalist for the Tarborough Press of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, wondered if this peculiarity might be related to the “gorgeous pageantry of the heavens which was seen all over North America and Bermuda on the night of January 25th.”

Aha! Finally, an explanation for the curious objects seen by the men. On Tuesday, Jan. 25, 1837, those who took notice of the sky were treated to a rare display of light made by an aurora borealis. The event was significant enough that numerous newspapers from several New England states reported the brilliant light.

CLASSIFIED ADS

BURLINGTON ANTIQUE SHOW

10 min. south of Cincinnati. First show of season, Sunday, April 21, 7am-3pm. +200 dealers, rain or shine, 513.922.6847. www. burlingtonantiqueshow.com

VACATION CONDOS FOR RENT — Need a relaxing getaway?

2BR/2Bath villa on Hilton Head Island. Multiple pools and private ocean beach. Westin Resort amenities plus free golf and pickleball daily. 3BR/2Bath lakefront condo in Cadillac, MI. Indoor pool/fitness room. All-sports lake. Leave message at 502.292.3100.

KENTUCKY EXPLORER MAGAZINE We have a select number of back issues of Kentucky Explorer from 1986-2000. Back issues are $5 plus postage. If you are in search of a certain issue or are interested in adding issues to your collection, please contact Deb at deb@kentuckymonthly.com to see if it’s available.

This short blurb is provided from a first-hand description:

“The column of light was seen slowly extending itself towards the east; its color being of a transparent red, approaching carmine. In the course of one or two minutes the northeastern part of the heavens was lighted up with the pale yellow light mostly seen during the appearance of the Aurora. The planet Jupiter was about 15 degrees above the horizon and shone brilliantly; in a short time, the column of rosecolored light had extended itself entirely across the northern part of the heavens, so as to envelop the planet, and the dense clouds, from behind which the Aurora mostly throws out is coruscations, lay along the whole horizon from west to east.”

—Philadelphia U.S. Gazette, Jan. 28, 1837

Apparently, the late 1830s was a major period for auroras to be seen, as there was a weak period in the sunspot cycle. There had been a previous sighting of this same type of event on Nov. 17, 1835. Then, another aurora borealis made a spectacular appearance on Nov. 13-14, 1837. It was so remarkable that a wood engraving depicting it was crafted.

WANTED — Paying cash for large diamonds; collections of vintage wrist and pocket watches; gold and silver coins; sterling flatware and serving pieces; gold and silver jewelry; collections of arts and crafts and pottery; antique advertising signs; antique walking canes; pocket knives; collections of antique guns and swords; military collections; early hand-crafted crocks and jugs; musical instruments; call Clarence, buyer for more than 35 years; 606.531.0467.

(F-D)

WANTED — All types of antiques and collectibles. Top prices for gold, silver and costume jewelry. Scrap gold. Gold and silver coins. Wrist and pocket watches. Collections. Early post cards and fountain pens. Civil War swords and other military items. Vintage toys. Pocket knives. Lighters. Old eye glasses. Pottery and stoneware. All types of railroad items. Advertising signs. Handmade quilts. Marbles. Jars. Much much more. Complete and partial estates. Call Clarence, buyer for more than 30 years, at 606.531.0467 (F-D)

by Bill Ellis

The Nature of Humor

“People

show their character by what they laugh at.” —German Proverb

Ihave always been interested in the nature of humor. There is humor in the Bible. In Genesis 17:17, Abraham laughed when told that he and Sarah would soon have a son named Isaac, a name that means “he laughs.”

One of my favorite examples of Appalachian humor is so long, it is actually a story:

After many years of marriage, a woman dies. Her husband must walk down the mountainside to call the funeral home. The mountain is steep, causing the funeral home to send up a crew of men in a four-wheel-drive vehicle. When the crew arrives, the old fellow is sitting on the front porch surrounded by his rather large family. He motions for the men to go inside his home. They emerge with his dearly beloved wife on a stretcher. Just at the bottom of the steps, her right arm falls to the side, touching the limb of a tree. She immediately wakes up. All are amazed—the children, grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, friends and neighbors sing for joy. Hallelujah!

The old man and his wife live for several more years on their mountaintop home. Again, the wife dies. The old man calls the funeral home. The four-wheel-drive hearse again laboriously climbs the mountain. The men again carry the woman down the steps.

“Boys,” the old man says, “look out for that tree over there.”

Are you smiling yet?

There are many jokes and funny stories about animals. Cats and other animals are not nearly as funny as dogs, apparently. There must be literally dozens of jokes or funny stories about dogs. The punch line of the most famous of these stories is “That’s not my dog.” You’ve seen this portrayed many times on the Doc Martin series on KET and in movies such as the original Pink Panther with Peter Sellers.

One story begins this way: A man in a fancy automobile stops in front of a house where an old man is rocking on his front porch with a large dog dozing beside him. The man, a salesman with previous knowledge of canines, eyes the dog. “Does your dog bite?” he yells at the old man (of course, all old men are deaf).

“My dog don’t bite,” says the old man, gently rocking in his chair.

The salesman exits his auto, and as soon as he steps on the porch, the old dog leaps up, snarls with saliva dripping from his mouth (so, I exaggerated this a bit), and rips the pants off the salesman, who runs to his car and slams the door.

After catching his breath, the salesman nervously rolls down his window.

The dog returns to his encampment beside the old man, who continues to rock in his chair as if nothing has happened.

The salesman shouts at the old man: “I thought you said your dog didn’t bite!”

The old man laconically (I like that word) says, “_____________.” You had fun knowing the answer all along, didn’t you? Or, if not, you are among the rather humorless folk who like a story only one time, I suppose.

A more modern dog story is about a man sitting on a park bench with a dog beside him. Another man approaches and sits beside the dog. The dog turns its head toward the stranger. “Good morning!” says the dog.

The stranger is flabbergasted. “Your dog can talk!” he exclaims. The owner just shrugs. The dog turns again to the stranger and says: “I used to work for the Secret Service, and then I finished off my career with the FBI in Washington. When I retired, Joe here gave me a nice home, and we walk here in the park every day.”

“Your dog can talk!” exclaims the stranger. “It’s amazing. Will you sell him to me?”

“I guess,” says the owner. “But he’s lying. He never worked for the FBI or the Secret Service.”

Back when far Western Kentucky was solidly Democratic, “they” told this joke. In a solidly Democratic precinct, someone casts a vote for the Republican candidate. The election official (a Democrat, of course) calls the local boss. “Someone just voted for the Republican,” the official reports.

“Oh,” says the boss, “don’t worry about it.”

When it happens again, the election official calls the local boss again. “What should we do?” asks the distraught person.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. The fool is probably drunk,” the boss says.

(When I cast my first ballot as an 18-year-old at a warehouse on Snow Hill, the precinct official opened my ballot. When I asked what he was doing, he replied: “I just wanted to see how you voted.” Welcome to “Realpolitik” Kentucky style, Billy Ellis.)

On with humor. This story can be told in several forms. I will tell it in a Shelby County version, but it can even be told in a European or even Tibetan version. It goes like this:

The Ellis boys spy a hog walking along the side of the road. Not having had fresh bacon for some time, they decide to kidnap the animal. They place the hog between two brothers sitting in the back seat of their old sedan.

Sure enough, there soon appears the flashing light of the sheriff’s car pulling beside them. “I’ll take this one”

the old sight-deprived, hearing-impaired “High” Sheriff says.

As he walks over toward the boys’ auto, the “quickthinking” Ellises place a hat on the hog and a coat over its shoulders.

“What are you good-for-nothing Ellis boys doing out this late at night?” asks the old sheriff. “I thought I knowed all of y’all.”

One of the brothers pokes the hog in the ribs. “OINK,” it says.

The sheriff looks over the inhabitants before telling them to go on home.

When he returns to the patrol car, the deputy asks what was that all about. “I thought I knowed all that Ellis bunch,” exclaims the sheriff, “but that Oink Ellis is the ugliest one of the whole bunch.”

This story originated from a medieval Christmas story, of all places. You can look it up.

There is an Irish version of a story explained by John B. Keane. The Kentucky version goes this way:

A sophisticated man is driving in Eastern Kentucky and stops to ask directions from a farmer plowing a field. “How far is it to Ashland?” he queries.

The farmer laconically replies, “I don’t know.”

“How far is it to Lexington?”

“I don’t know.”

Several times, the driver asks, “How far is it to (fill in

the blank)?” To which the farmer always replies, “I don’t know.” The exasperated driver finally says, “You don’t know very much, do you?”

The farmer says, “Well, at least I ain’t lost!”

•

Well, how can you explain humor?

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” —Proverbs 17:22

“Humor is then seen to be as nearly indefinable as beauty.” —Steve Allen, The Funny Men

“There is a thin line between ‘to laugh with’ and ‘to laugh at.’ ” — Richard Pryor

E.B. White said, “Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested, and the frog dies of it.” Biologists would probably disagree.

I have heard of someone dying laughing but never witnessed it.

This is our first reading on the importance or unimportance of humor. There is more to come in following issues.

Readers may contact Bill Ellis at editor@kentuckymonthly.com

Bill’s brother, Oink Ellis

by Gary Garth

Snakes

Venomous snakes are potentially deadly but, statistically, pose a very small risk to your health, as you are more likely to die from a bee or wasp sting (3,300 average deaths per year in the United States), being mauled by a dog (17 average deaths per year in the U.S.), or being struck by lightning (82 average deaths per year in the U.S.) than dying from a venomous snake bite (five average deaths per year in the U.S.).

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful. About 9,000 venomous snake bites are reported in the U.S. each year, but only about 1 in 1,800 is fatal.

Someone you know probably suffers from ophidiophobia. That’s a fear of snakes. This is unfortunate because there are very few snake-free zones on the globe, with the arctic and the antarctic being the least serpent friendly.

Kentucky, by comparison, is fairly snake friendly, being home to 32 species of snakes. Four—the eastern garter snake, common water snake, gray rat snake and black racer (all non-venomous)—have been documented in every county. A few others are isolated to specific areas. All are part of the outdoor landscape, and with the warming days of spring, many will be on the move.

Fear not, said state herpetologist John MacGregor. Any snake you happen to encounter will only be interested in avoiding you.

Enjoying a hike or picnic in the park? It’s unlikely you’ll encounter a snake, MacGregor said, unless you’re looking for one.

“Most folks who visit state and national parks, city parks, state forests, nature preserves, et cetera never see a single snake,” he said.

“On the other hand, those of us who make it a point to always look under rocks, logs and debris often find plenty of snakes.”

While only four the state’s 32 known species have been documented in every county, a few others, including the eastern copperhead, common worm snake, ring-necked snake, eastern hognose and rough green snake, are found in most counties. Garter snakes do well in urban areas because of their preferred diet of earthworms. The common water snake can thrive everywhere, including rivers, streams, lakes, backyard ponds and concrete paved drainage canals. This is the critter sometimes encountered by stream fishermen and often wrongly identified as a water moccasin or copperhead. MacGregor said the ringnecked snake is probably the most abundant across the state, but the small, slender animals are rarely encountered, preferring to hide beneath flat rocks or other cover.

• •

•

While most of Kentucky’s snakes are harmless, a few are not. Four are venomous: the eastern copperhead, timber rattlesnake, northern cottonmouth (water moccasin) and western pygmy rattlesnake. Of these, only the copperhead is found statewide.

Venomous snakes are dangerous— potentially deadly—and should be left alone. If you’re prowling around a potential snake habitat—rocky outcroppings, downed timber, a backyard wood pile or outbuilding with junk piled around it, for example—wear proper footwear and watch where you put your hands. MacGregor said snakes sometimes venture into yards “with lots of landscaping materials, woodpiles, abandoned or collapsed buildings, and/or lots of junk laying around.”

JOHN MACGREGOR

PHOTO

The copperhead is Kentucky’s most abundant venomous snake and responsible for nearly all the state’s reported poisonous snake bites. Where are they found?

Not quite everywhere, according to MacGregor.

“[They] are found in most of Kentucky’s forested habitats and seem especially common in several large areas, including all of Eastern Kentucky, the knobs region, the Mammoth Cave region, and the area in and around Land Between the Lakes,” he said, adding that they are “quite rare” in a few areas.

“It is very unusual to find one in the Bluegrass Region,” MacGregor noted, adding that he has lived and hiked in Jessamine County for more than four decades and in that time has seen fewer than a dozen copperhead snakes. “All of these have been along the cliffs and wooded slopes near the Kentucky River.”

Reported bites from venomous snakes in Kentucky are rare. Fatal snake bites are extremely rare. According to MacGregor, there have been six snakebite-related deaths in Kentucky during the past half century. All involved timber rattlesnakes that were being handled during religious services, and none of the victims were known to have sought medical attention.

If you or a companion should suffer a venomous snake bite, MacGregor said to remain calm and seek immediate medical attention. The best treatment for snake bite, it is often said, is a set of car keys.

“Venomous snakebites in the U.S. are almost never fatal if prompt medical treatment is received,” MacGregor said, noting that a defensive bite from a venomous stake is sometimes a “dry strike,” in which no venom is injected, although this

should never be assumed.

Avoiding trouble is usually simple. MacGregor said most bites occur when someone is attempting to catch, handle or kill a venomous snake. If you spot a snake, leave it alone. To identify a snake, take a photo (keep at a safe distance) and email it to info.center@ky.gov. It will be forwarded to the state herpetologist (MacGregor) for identification. Include the location and date, if available.

Be cautious. Be careful. But don’t be afraid.

“If you are out hiking, watch the trail in front of you,” the herpetologist advised. “If you are walking in or near a wooded area at night, carry a flashlight—most snakes tend to be nocturnal during the warmer months of the year.”

MacGregor said snakes need not be feared, but he understands that some people do fear them, noting that his mother was “terrified” of snakes and that, while he has spent his adult life studying snakes, he’s “quite afraid” of several things, including yellow jackets and hornets.

“People have irrational fears of all sorts of things including spiders, insects, mice, squirrels, dogs, cats, bats, birds, horses … you name it. Name any creature with more than two legs, fewer than two legs, or even a few that have only two legs, and there are people out there who are afraid of it.”

An excellent source for snake information is the well-illustrated booklet Kentucky Snakes, produced by the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. For a free download, visit fw.ky.gov/Wildlife/ Documents/kysnakebook.pdf

Readers may contact Gary Garth at editor@kentuckymonthly.com

Guard the Yard

Like all critters, venomous snakes pay no attention to property lines, and no one wants to encounter a copperhead or other snake (venomous or nonvenomous) in their backyard. To reduce the chances of an unpleasant meeting, state herpetologist John MacGregor recommends the following:

Keep your grass cut and shrubbery trimmed. Snakes prefer ground cover and generally avoid open areas, where hawks and other predators can get them.

Clean up the surroundings. Roofing tin, plywood, discarded paneling, automobile hoods and the like attract both rodents and snakes. (Much to my surprise, I once discovered a large but unidentified black snake under an overturned canoe.)

Dress properly. Wear sturdy shoes, watch where you step, and watch where you put your hands. Be especially watchful when cleaning up fallen tree limbs and debris from summer storms, as copperheads and other snakes often take cover under these objects during the day.

When you go outside at night, use a flashlight, even in your backyard. Copperheads and many other snakes are most active at night during hot weather and sometimes prowl near houses searching for rodents.

Rodent-proof your home as much as possible. Snakes often follow scent trails left by mice, and this can result in copperheads and other snakes entering basements, garages and crawl spaces in search of food.

If you see a venomous snake, it’s generally best to leave it alone. Most snake bites occur when inexperienced people try to kill, capture or handle snakes. MacGregor said that a freshly decapitated snake is still capable of delivering a serious bite. If given the chance, almost any snake will retreat from a human and try to hide.

gardening

by Walt Reichert

Orchard Planting

Last month, I wrote about starting gardens from scratch on our new property because nothing is there but open fields. This month, we’ll tackle starting an orchard.

Whenever I have moved, my first plants in the ground have been fruit trees. That’s because I know it will be a minimum of three to five years before I get my first crop. And I just like the challenge of growing my own fruit.

On my current property, I have six apple trees, three peach trees, two pears and a plum. Most of those have been in place since we moved here in 2001 and have been bearing fruit for years. Well, at least those years when Mother Nature cooperates and doesn’t send late frosts like she has the last couple of seasons.

OLD APPLES

On my new property, I want to include at least a couple of older apple cultivars, mainly as an experiment, and a couple of tried-and-true disease-resistant types that I grow now.

Back in the 1960s, my dad planted two Grimes Golden apple trees when we moved to a new house in the south end of Louisville. Grimes Golden is an old variety, said to be a parent of Golden Delicious. I remember Grimes Golden as not particularly pretty but easy to grow and very flavorful. So, I want one of those. My favorite apple for flavor is Winesap, an old cultivar that is crunchy and tangy but sweet. I’ll get one of those, too. I may try Cox Orange Pippen or Newtown Pippen, old varieties dating

back to the 1700s and said to be very flavorful.

For most backyard apple growers, I also recommend diseaseresistant varieties because they cut down or eliminate the need to spray for fungus and blights. I really like Enterprise, which tastes a lot like Winesap, and Liberty, which tastes like McIntosh. They are good producers and almost disease free. Note that you want at least two different apple varieties to pollinate each other.

All of my apple trees will be dwarf varieties. Dwarf varieties bear fruit faster than semi-dwarf and standard types, are easier to spray, and certainly are easier to pick from. The rootstock Bud 9 is a good choice for dwarfing apple rootstock in Kentucky.

PEACHES, PEARS, CHERRIES AND PLUMS

Peaches can be frustrating to grow because the crop is often lost to late frosts, but I can’t have an orchard without at least one peach tree. I’ll probably have three or four on the new property. If I could have only one peach tree (and you need only one peach variety), I would have a Redhaven. I have grown it for years, and it is the most reliable bearer of beautiful, deep red peaches. I may get an earlier peach, Sentry, and also a late one, Cresthaven. My peaches, like the apples, will be on dwarf rootstock.

I find pears tougher to grow than peaches, especially the European pear types that are what most people think of when they think of a pear. The Asian pears are much easier to grow in Kentucky, but their flesh is firmer and

drier, and their flavor reminds me more of apple than pear. If you do try a European pear, be sure to get one that is marked disease resistant to fireblight. Fireblight is a difficult disease to manage and can infect your apples. Moonglow and Seckel are fireblight-resistant European pears.

Finally, I’ll put in at least one cherry and one plum. The University of Kentucky does not recommend trying sweet cherries, although I’ve picked gallons of them off trees at a friend’s house. Still, sour cherries are more reliably hardy here, and I like Montmorency. Sour cherries can be grown with very little spraying because they ripen early, usually in early June.

If you are shopping for plum trees, note that many of them require two varieties to produce well, but I like Santa Rosa, which does not require another pollinator nearby. Plums have a bad habit of blooming too early most years, and you will lose some or all of the fruit. But a plum is a handsome tree and worth having, even if you get fruit only one year out of five.

CULTURAL TIPS

When it comes to planting fruit trees, it’s location, location, location.

The best spot for your home orchard is on the highest ground in the vicinity. It doesn’t have to be planted on a hill but definitely avoid low places for two reasons: Low spots drain poorly, and fruit trees require excellent drainage. And trees in low spots are more apt to get bitten by late frosts.

Space trees so they will be just about touching at maturity but not overwhelming each other. Plant dwarf trees 12-15 feet apart. Semi-dwarf trees should be planted at least 20 feet apart, and standard trees (you really don’t want those) should be planted at least 30 feet apart. Dwarf trees, especially dwarf apples, should be staked or otherwise given some type of support so they don’t blow over in high winds.

For the first several years after planting, keep the weeds down, either by mulching or mowing closely. Small trees do not compete well with weeds that grow at their base. If you use mulch, keep the mulch at least a couple of inches away from the trunk, and remove it in winter so you’re not creating living quarters for voles that will chew on the trunk and possibly kill the trees.

For at least a year, water deeply during dry spells. Drip irrigation lines are handy if you have several trees. Or poke a couple of holes in the bottom of five-gallon buckets, set them at the base of the tree, and keep those filled with water.

When the trees start producing fruit, you will need to spray for insects and perhaps disease. Contact your county Extension office and ask for the Backyard Fruit Tree spray guides. They will tell you what and when to spray.

I know it’s going to be another few years before I get the fruit crops I’m expecting, but planning and waiting make up half the fun.

Readers may contact Walt Reichert at editor@kentuckymonthly.com

APRIL 2024

7

1

2

On Your Feet: The Story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan, SKyPAC, Bowling Green, 270.904.1880

9

Glenn

3

Kentucky Spring Premier Horse Show, Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, through April 5, 859.233.4303

19

Ashley McBryde: The Devil I Know Tour, The Louisville Palace, 1.800.745.3000

28

30

Ongoing Stitches in Time Exhibit, Kentucky Museum, Bowling Green, through July 26, 270.745.2592

Exhibit, Speed Art Museum, Louisville, through July 31, 502.634.2700

“In

learning I had cancer was a shock. As I made the decision about where to receive treatment, I was led to the outstanding treatment facility that was here at home — the

I’m

– Robert Staggs

Weep No More, My Lady

My first Derby memory was the 98th running, which we, a group of street urchins, watched through the fence along Longfield Avenue. We didn’t see much, if any, of Riva Ridge’s 4-length win, but we heard the crowd and slapped our jeans with willow branches as Cawood Ledford called the race on our General Electric transistor radio. Teenage girls in checkerboard halter tops jumped for joy (in slow motion) as Ron Turcotte won his first of back-to-back Derbys.

I’ve seen my share of Derbys—three (or four) from the infield, seven or eight from the press box, one from the roof. One year, I had a seat on the homestretch, five rows from the rail. That was the year of the monsoon, when I left the track and, by the time the Derby started, I was at a friend’s annual party in Audubon Park.

My strongest memories are from covering the Derby in the old fifth-floor press box, a living museum of sportswriters, including everyone from Billy Reed to Frank Deford Once a year, I sat with them, but I wasn’t one of them. There wasn’t a Pulitzer on my résumé.

STEPHEN M. VEST Publisher + Editor-in-Chief

That was going to change on May 1, 1993, when I met a blind man selling pencils outside the Longfield Gate. We chatted about the Derby and how he’d attended more than a dozen without seeing anything but the blurry shadows of patrons passing by. He talked about the Marine Corps Band and Ledford’s calls dating back to the 1950s.

I quickly called the newspaper office to announce that I had it—a Derby story worthy of a spot above the fold. I had the next Red Smith Award-winning story.

Red Smith, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer for the New York Herald Tribune later The New York Times, is famous for his quote about the ease of writing: “... simply sit down at the typewriter, open your veins and bleed.”

• • •

My 3-minute interview with Earl, a blind Salvation Army volunteer, would complement the interviews from the night before at the Louisville Deaf Club’s Derby Eve Party.

As I negotiated the crowd on my way to the press box, I formed the story in my head. I already had the headline

Kwiz Answers: 1. C. An eclipse

written. It was perfection. “Day of Winning Colors followed by Sunday of Silence.”

Winning Colors won the 1988 Derby, and Sunday Silence in 1989. It was memorable and poetic.

The story was secondary, but what a tale I had. I interviewed Ed Cook, a groom and walker, who had worked at Churchill Downs for over a decade without hearing the Call to the Post or “My Old Kentucky Home.” Through an interpreter, he told me how he enjoyed watching the horses and the people, especially the beautiful women.

At the Deaf Club, I spoke to visitors who camped behind the old Parkmoor Bowling Alley—Susan Swanson, a cab driver, and Sam Goodman, a deaf bagpipe player who tended the deaf club bar, which was nothing like I expected. It was loud, and the live band had the bass cranked up so it shook the light gray cinderblock building near the corner of Third and Winkler.

“It’s the opposite of what you’re accustomed to,” said Tom Kurk from Chicago, screaming over the band’s sound as a couple continued their sign-language conversation, seemingly oblivious to the band starting.

Eric Raff, my host, asked how I liked the band. “Are they any good? You know, I can’t hear the music. I can only feel it.”

• •

•

In the press box, described the beauty of the sights, sounds and smells: “The crack of the whip. The roar of the crowd.” This was good stuff. “The Derby is a living, breathing orchestration.” Between the fifth and sixth race, I hit the send button on my TRS-80 computer, knowing I was making sports journalistic history, especially with that headline that I was sure would carry the day.

Sea Hero won. The sun had set when we cleared out of the press box and made our respective trips home.

Adrenaline kept me up most of the night. I leaped from my bed in anticipation when the newspaper hit my front porch. Down the steps I flew, knowing the Red Smith Award was in my grasp. “It’s just a matter of days until Sports Illustrated or The New York Times calls,” I mused.

I picked up the paper on the porch. My story was above the fold, with my byline. The headline: “Deaf and blind can enjoy Derby in own special ways.”

I placed the newspaper on the kitchen table and went back to bed.

passed over Southwestern Kentucky on Aug. 21, 2017. The next total solar eclipses over Kentucky will take place in 2093 and 2099; 2. B. The Three-Day Event, sponsored by Defender (formerly Land Rover); 3. A. These are the three equestrian disciplines that make up the Kentucky Three-Day Event; 4. B. Missouri; 5. C. Since Sechrist did not record an out or allow an earned run, he did not have an ERA; 6. B. Graham served in the Navy during World War II before earning a bachelor’s degree from Murray State (then College) in 1948; 7. C. Originally released as a silent film in 1927, Wings was rereleased with synchronized sound in 1928 and won the Oscar in 1929; 8. A. Parrish began his command as director of training and went on to command the unit and, to improve morale, arranged for celebrities such as Lena Horne and Louis Armstrong to visit the Alabama base; 9. B. and C. She was taller and college basketball wasn’t played until 1891; 10. C. Jack Lillard Coleman was a third-team Little All-American as a center for the UofL Cardinals.

Shelbyville • Simpsonville • Shelby County, Kentucky

visitshelbyky.com

ShelbyKY is Your Bourbon Destination. As the perfect Kentucky Bourbon Trail® getaway, ShelbyKY is home to Jeptha Creed Distillery and Bulleit Distilling Co. and is a short drive from your other favorite Kentucky distilleries.

ShelbyKY brings breathtaking accommodations, one-of-a-kind dining, luxury shopping, and fun-filled outdoor recreation to the table — there’s no shortage of adventure to find in Shelbyville, Simpsonville, and Shelby County.

Start planning at visitshelbyky.com.

Spring