VOICE-TRIBUNE APRIL 2024

APRIL 2024

Decades of Decadence: 150 Years of Kentucky Derby Fashion

Derby 150: The History. The Following. The Fun!

Hats off! The Hat Doctor Presents Chenery Derby Hats to Kentucky Derby Museum

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Aaaaannd…they’re off!

The last 150 years of Derby tradition has transformed our city and are an essential part of being a Louisvillian. 75 years ago, the VOICE-TRIBUNE opened its doors the same year as the Kentucky Derby Diamond Jubilee. This month we are officially celebrating everything, including our official 75th Birthday and my first official year as the CEO and Director of VOICE-TRIBUNE.

It’s time to break out the mint juleps and Derby finery for a springtime in Kentucky like no other! This year, as we approach Kentucky Derby 150, the race is on to find that perfect hat, a dazzling pair of heels, or loafers, in my case, a standout dress…or for men, that colorful statement pocket square or bespoke three-piece suit.

It’s time to show off our city at its classiest as we trot about from party to party or an endless stream of celebrations and events. Our April Derby 150 volume is here to inspire your wardrobe selections with our biggest Derby fashion spread to date — curated by Stylists Liz Bingham and Ashlea Spears, our in-house In the Style LOUp columnist. I invite you all to step back in time and experience the history of the Kentucky Derby, including a call back to different decades of Derby fashion with a modern-day twist! For those seeking even more fashion inspiration, we’ll see you soon along the runway of KMAC Couture in April (see our show preview from VOICE-TRIBUNE’s March volume online).

Hear from Kennedy Reid, an American Idol contestant and Ben Fugate & The Burning Trash Band, Next, sports writer Bill Doolittle, poised to attend his 61st Kentucky Derby, takes us through Part 2 of his historical Derby 150 series. He and Co-columnist Russ Brown will also discuss potential contenders in their Excellent Conversation column — along with an early season look at the Bats. Finally, we have a few more Derby-themed pieces for our readers, including photo essays, a look at Woodford Reserve’s new releases, the history of the Derby Rose Dress, and several event previews from the Kentucky Derby Festival.

Cheers to the many VOICES of Louisville!

APRIL 2024

PRESIDENT/CEO, AMELIA FRAZIER THEOBALD

MANAGING EDITOR, AMY BARNES OPERATIONS MANAGER, MARY ZOELLER

CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER, JULIE KOENING

EDITOR, RAGAN VAN HECKE

DIRECTOR OF EVENTS, CHIEF EVENT PHOTOGRAPHER, KATHRYN HARRINGTON

CHIEF GRAPHIC DESIGNER, ANNABELLE KLEIN

EDITORIAL PHOTOGRAPHER, MATT JOHNSON

FASHION EDITORIAL PHOTOGRAPHER,ANTONIO PANTOJA

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT, ALISHA PROFFITT

FASHION STYLIST, ASHLEA SPEARS

DISTRIBUTION: KELLI VAN HECKE, JILL AND JOHN MINNIX

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: AIMEE BOYD, RUSS BROWN, ALISON CARDOZA, BILL DOOLITTLE, ANGIE FENTON, GILL HOLLAND, LISA HORNUNG, KENTUCKY DERBY FESTIVAL, ANDRE KIMO STONE GUESS, ASHLEA SPEARS, AMY STREETER, MADDIE WEILAND, DR. OKSANA ZHURBICH

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: SAM CARDINE JR., JEREMY BLUM, JIMMY CACER, TRE’SEAN DURHAM, DAN DRY, OAKLEY FUGATE, TREY GRIFFIN, CORA HOLLAND, GOODWILL INDUSTRIES OF KENTUCKY, MARC KARZEN, WYLIE CAUDILL, FUND FOR THE ARTS, KENTUCKY DERBY FESTIVAL, ANDREW KUNG, GENNA MILLER, GIOIA PATTON, MICHAEL BROHM, SANTA ANITA PARK, JOHN NATION, BILL DOOLITTLE COLLECTION, CHURCHILL DOWNS, KENTUCKY DERBY MUSEUM, JILLIAN FERRELL PHOTOGRAPHY, GULFSTREAM PARK, KEENELAND COLLECTION, AMERICAN IDOL, RACHEL D. PHOTOGRAPHY, SHUTTERSTOCK, SUSAN’S FLORIST, CHARLIE WESTERMAN, CHRIS WITZKE

CONTRIBUTING STYLISTS AND MAKE-UP ARTISTS: LIZ BINGHAM ROGERS, ASHLEA SPEARS, J. MICHAEL’S SALON

Recipient Dr. Aaron Spalding

By: Russ Brown

Photos by: Genna Miller

Honoring Louisville’s Oncology Heroes: 2024 Spirit of Service Awards

Having endured more than eight years supporting his son Marc’s ordeal while he underwent treatment for leukemia, George Lehmann developed a deep appreciation for the dedication, excellence and compassion of the medical professionals involved in the field of oncology in Louisville and surrounding communities.

So when a friend, Paul Resch — himself a survivor of leukemia — suggested creating an organization to recognize those people, Lehmann enthusiastically embraced the idea and went to work. Thus, the Marc Lehmann Spirit of Service Award was formed in 2013 to honor those whose careers encompass outstanding service to patients and their families, and since has recognized more than 35 physicians, nurses and support staff from the Baptist, Norton’s, Brown Cancer Centers and Hardin Memorial Hospital, ELizabethtown.

The award is overseen by the non-profit Spirit of Service Award Foundation that, working with those leading medical and cancer treatment facilities, identifies exceptionally proficient, patient-centered and empathetic practitioners for acclaim at an annual banquet.

Winners are determined by a nominating and vetting process that involves the Foundation’s steering committee, nominations from current and recovered cancer patients and their families, and previous awardees. The 2023 recipients, honored during a banquet this past February, are Mary Gatton from Gilda’s Club Kentuckiana; Aaron Spaulding, Norton Cancer Institute; Dr. Charles Webb and Dr. John Huber of Baptist Health Louisville & LaGrange; and Reverend Father Nick Rice.

“The public needs to be mindful that this is a hard profession that would destroy some people,” said George, who is a survivor of stage three urethral cancer and whose mother, sister and son-in-law died of cancer. “These doctors and caregivers need to know that their efforts are appreciated. I love having the opportunity to thank some of them. There are some heroic people in oncology. Can you imagine a profession where one is required to help patients face down their mortality day in and day out?”

“These heroic individuals, who approach their work as a professional vocation and a humanistic calling, need to be recognized and appreciated. Put simply, they strive to treat their afflicted much as they would like to be treated were they themselves in that predicament.”

The Foundation also worked to ensure that those entering the medical profession understand the significance of their humanity. In connection with that goal, in the past the Foundation sponsored several future physicians at the UofL School of Medicine’s White Coat ceremony.

“There’s a big burnout rate with oncologists, especially these days, and there’s data that shows the burnout rate reduces when doctors get invested in the patients, not when they separate themselves,” Lehmann said, adding that his son once told him, ‘Dad, I can tell you within two minutes when a caregiver walks in the room if they give a damn whether I live or die.’”

Marc was a freshman in University Speed Engineering School when he was diagnosed with leukemia at 18 years old. He had graduated from St. X High School, where he was a wrestler and an offensive lineman on the football team at 6-foot-3, 290 pounds, described by his dad as a “real

specimen.” He died in 2012 at the age of 27 after a challenging eightyear battle to defeat his affliction. He spent the final seven months of his life in the UofL Hospital leukemia ward. Dr. Huber of Baptist Health was also prominently in Marc’s care.

“Marc was very much in tune with the intentions of the many caregivers he came across in the healthcare setting,” Dr. Huber said. “He could tell within minutes whether a caregiver was truly interested in providing empathetic, compassionate care. This empathetic, compassionate care was very important to Marc and indeed is important to all of our patients. As a medical oncologist, we intersect with patients at often the most difficult and vulnerable times in their lives as they deal with life threatening and often terminal diagnoses.

“As we guide patients through these difficult times, it is our duty and responsibility to provide them with the empathy and compassion they need and deserve. In order to do this we need to see our patients as whole persons, each one bringing their own unique perspectives and emotions. Only by realizing this can we provide the individualized care our patients need, and we try to provide some sense of hope and encouragement along the way. This care takes only a little more time and effort, but to the patients it means more than we can know.

“I am humbled and honored to have received this award. I know first hand what this meant to Marc as I was involved in his care during his illness. The award is an effort to continue to encourage this type of empathetic and compassionate care that is often missing in our healthcare systems today. I am very grateful to George for continuing this effort with his great passion.”

Dr. Salvatore Bertolone, professor Emeritus, University of Louisville, and a 2015 Spirit Award winner, said compassionate medicine understands the blend between the art and science of healing.

“The compassionate caregiver understands the science but also the human feelings and fears of the patient,” he said. “An example: a mom of a teenager with acute lymphocytic leukemia comes to the clinic and says she has two questions. After her 9th question her teenage son says, ‘Mom that’s your 9th question you always do this, let’s go.’ Compassionate caregiving is the art of sympathetic listening.”

Dr. Terrence Hadley, an oncologist at Audubon Hospital noted that he and some of the other doctors jokingly refer to the foundation as the “Be Nice to Patients Foundation” because that kind of relationship is the right approach, although modern technology has interfered with physicians’ ability to interface with patients.

“Nowadays, computers are a big part of it,” said Dr. Hadley of Norton Cancer Institute, a 2017 Spirit honoree. “If you walk through the wards at a hospital you’ll see a lot of doctors sitting in front of computers for a long time. The good thing about computers is we can get a lot of information quickly and coordinate care. The bad part is that sometimes it means less time with the patient.

George and Patricia Lehmann

“So I think the emphasis that George has with the foundation about compassion and spending time with patients is especially important for the young medical students. We don’t want them to think that computers are the end all and be all. We still want them to be focused on spending time with the patient explaining things because patients feel so much better when they understand why things are being done.”

Marc’s father was his primary caregiver throughout his illness, which in addition to treatments in Louisville included an extended stay at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Institute in Seattle and a trip to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., among others. In addition to chemotherapy and radiation, Marc also received a stem cell transplant and an incredible 19 painful bone marrow aspirations.

“That’s probably a world record,” George said. “I had a friend who had six of those and after the sixth, he told the doctors, ‘That’s it. This is barbaric.’

“On a personal level, when your son is fighting for his life at 20 years old, it’s hard to watch and you put everything into it. And when you have a nurse, a doctor or a practitioner of any kind that will come to the hospital room and treat that kid with respect, empathy and compassion, you can’t thank them enough. At least I can’t. So this is my little way of giving back. We’ve been able to recognize some exceptional doctors and caregivers, some of whom were involved in Marc’s care and some who were not. But they all meet our requirements for proficient and caring service to their fellow human beings.”

The foundation also occasionally presents an Inspiration Award to someone who is not in the medical field but embraces the mission of the organization. Among the past winners is Vincenzo Gabriele, owner of Vincenzo’s Italian restaurant, who has hosted the awards ceremony a number of times. The 2023 Inspiration Award winners were career parish Catholic priest, Father Nick Rice, and hospice advocate Mary Gatton from Gilda’s Club.

Another recent Inspiration recipient was the West Chestnut Baptist Church Zion Legion Male Chorus. Sunday mornings they simply show up at various hospitals and stroll around signing gospel music in an effort to lift patients’ spirits.

Anyone wishing to help support the Marc Lehmann Spirit of Service Award can contact George Lehmann at georgeibp1@gmail.com. The foundation welcomes nominations from anyone in the public who has been affected by cancer and experienced exceptional care from an oncologist in the community. Nominations can be sent to the same email address.

Recipient and presenter Dr’s. Aaron Spalding and Joe Flynn

Recipient Dr. Charles Webb

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American Idol contestant Kennedy Reid

Continuing her Journey to a Singing Career

By: Russ Brown

Photos By: Matt Johnson & American Idol

Kennedy Reid’s American Idol journey has now encompassed more than one year, but it still seems surreal to her as she continues her quest to advance after starting in a pool of thousands who applied to get an initial audition. Those are long odds but it didn’t faze the 23-year-old Sellersburg, Ind. native who now lives in Louisville.

“It was just a shot in the dark,” Kennedy said during a recent VOICE-TRIBUNE interview in a funeral home, where she is employed as a mortician. Yes, a mortician. But more about that later.After a friend submitted a video of one of her singing performances, Kennedy had several other auditions via Zoom, beginning in January, 2023. She made the first major cut and was invited to audition for the three-judge celebrity panel of Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie in Los Angeles on the 22nd season for the iconic series.

That episode aired on February 18 and she won a “Golden Ticket” to Hollywood Week after singing the Tina Turner hit “River Deep, Mountain High,” accompanied by her friend Jean Ann on the piano.

“I was extremely nervous,” Kennedy said. “It’s so nerve wracking to audition for anything, but to be auditioning in front of three living legends is extremely so. It’s hard to wrap your brain around, especially in the moment.”

Before the vote, Bryan provided an unexpected treat by joining her for an impromptu duet of John Conlee’s country hit, “Rose Colored Glasses.” Ironically, however, he was the only member of the panel to vote “no.” Perry told her she has “a great voice,” adding, “Let’s give her a break from death and show her what life is all about.”

Jean Ann, 65, of Corydon, Ind., has been playing in bands since she was 18, including with the former Mike Lunsford Whiskey River and Billy Joe Royal. She and Kennedy have been friends since meeting in 2022 at a Conlee concert at Grand Ole Country Music Show in West Point, Ky., where Kennedy was singing and acting as emcee, and Jean Ann was playing keyboards and singing backup in Conlee’s band. They have been doing shows together ever since.

“Her voice is amazing,” said Jean Ann, whose cackling laugh entertained the panel too. “Her vocals just blew me away. I’d never heard anybody who could sing pop, blues, country, Texas swing.”

From Hollywood Week on March 31, Kennedy advanced to Showstoppers on April 1, where she sang “How Great Thou Art,” and also survived that stage of the competition to earn a coveted spot in the Top 24, with 12 taking the stage to compete for America’s vote from Aulani, a Disney Resort and Spa in Ko Olina Hawai’i on April 7.

“It’s been absolutely amazing,” she said. “I feel like I’m still dreaming. It’s not something I ever really envisioned myself doing because I didn’t have the confidence. But I knew I had to try it or the dream was never going to happen. I watched so many amazing singers on ‘American Idol’ and I always thought that could never be me, but here I am and it’s very exciting.”

Kennedy, whose talent is matched by her gregarious personality and beauty accented by her flowing blonde hair, has never taken formal vocal lessons, and there are no musical “genes” in her family. But she has wanted to become a singer/performer since she was four and joined a dance team. She trained in part by singing at nursing homes in the area with the youth pastor at her church.

“I love performing,” she said. “I love being on stage. I developed a love for theater and singing very young, and I haven’t stopped.”

She is enjoying her new life as a celebrity. After her initial appearance on Idol, her Facebook account exploded from 52 followers to 19,000. Plus, she has 40,000 followers on Instagram and 37,000 on Tik Tok and videos of her performances on the internet that have

attracted over two million views.

“It’s like it happened overnight,” Kennedy said. “I haven’t been used to being in the spotlight, so it’s definitely been different. I never thought I would reach that many people. Also, when I go out in public, people sometimes want me to take a photo with them and I absolutely love it. It makes me feel good. It’s a very cool thing.”

Whether she wins the Idol competition or not, afterwards she hopes to have a lengthy and successful career in country music with a goal of eventually appearing on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

And that brings us to Kennedy’s ongoing metamorphosis from the funeral business to show business. While she was studying in cosmetology school, she realized she would like to do makeup and hair on the deceased. She applied at Spring Valley Funeral Home on East Chestnut Street, was hired, enrolled in Mortician School, served an apprenticeship and is now a licensed funeral director in Kentucky. Her grave concern now, though, is music rather than her body of work in the funeral business.

“The goal is to ultimately transition to being a full-time performer,” she said. “I hope everything pans out and I’m able to do that. But I will always keep my funeral director license because it’s never a bad idea to have a backup plan.”

One downside to her Idol fame has been dealing with a certain amount of negativity on social media. She says that two days after her premiere she encountered hate as people started trolling over her appearance, criticizing her hair and makeup. Others questioned her age (Idol contestants must be between 15 and 29), among other insults to both she and Jean Ann.

“They weren’t kidding when they said the music industry can be tough,” Kennedy wrote on a post. She has since become a spokesperson to educate people about internet bullying.

“I want to encourage women, especially younger women, don’t listen to the negative things people say,” she said. “There’s always going to be negativity. I had never been a victim of it until this and I don’t wish it on anybody. People who leave those kinds of comments are pretty miserable anyway, so the best thing I can do is not interact with them and say a prayer for them. I’ve had to take a step back from looking at the comments and just remind myself that I’m good enough, because if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have gotten a Golden Ticket.”

And that could lead Kennedy to a ticket for her dream of a golden singing career.

The Skinny on Doing Derby

By: Angie Fenton

The Skin Group shares tips on how to turn heads and go for the get-noticed glow

Photos by: Matt Johnson Sponsored Content

The excitement is palpable at The Skin Group, a full-service dermatology practice that has cultivated a large, loyal following over the past two decades, an anniversary milestone they and their clients are celebrating. The family-owned private practice – which has a bustling location off River Road in Louisville, and one located in Shepherdsville, too – specializes in General Dermatology, MOHS Micrographic Surgery, and Aesthetic Dermatology services.

The Skin Group is also the place to get the, well, skinny on how to prep for the 150th Run for the Roses – or any big event, for that matter.

Aesthetic Nurse Tanisha Ellison, LPN, and Aesthetic Registered Nurse Christina Crawford, RSN, BSN, who serve as The Skin Group’s Aesthetic Team, offered their collective expertise on how to win and confidently show your skin as we race into the Derby season.

The duo exudes warmth and genuine compassion to every client they encounter. As nurses with a shared passion for skincare, they have woven a tapestry of care and sophistication, creating an atmosphere that feels more like family than a medical facility.

And, frankly, they’re also a lot of fun. (See for yourself by watching Christina and Tanisha on The Skin Group Skinny, a lively livestream that broadcasts from 12:15 to 1 PM on the first Wednesday of every month via the business’ Instagram and Facebook accounts).

“It’s not just a job: it’s a calling,” Tanisha reflected, her eyes sparkling with pride. “To be in this business for 20 years is huge.”

With a focus on stellar personalized care that reaps proven results using state-of-the-art technology and advanced techniques, their practice stands out. “It’s a family here – truly,” Christina affirmed. “We’re lucky to have bosses who are so invested, loving, and caring to their staff and committed to a patient-first philosophy.”

Under the guidance of a dedicated medical doctor in Dr. Robert H. Zax and Practice Manager Lisa Zax, The Skin Group has cultivated a culture of excellence and accessibility. “Having an MD on staff and accessible is invaluable,” Christina explained. “We feel supported and empowered to provide the best care possible.”

The clientele spans a diverse range, from 30-year-olds seeking preventive skincare to 90-year-olds seeking rejuvenation. “We have a mix of clients who travel to both of our respective locations from other cities and towns,”

Tanisha noted. “And lately, we’ve seen a significant increase in male clients.”

For Christina and Tanisha, though, skincare is about far more than just looking good; it’s about feeling confident and empowered. “I want our clients to feel their best selves when they leave our clinic,” Tanisha said. “It’s about more than just skincare; it’s about self-love and confidence.”

It’s also about feeling experiencing a refreshed reset, inside and out. “Before our clients step outside after entrusting us with their care, I want them to love themselves and feel uplifted,” Christina said. “It’s a gift and a privilege to be able to provide that.”

TWO WEEKS OUT

About 14 days prior to the first Derby event you plan to attend (and turn heads!), it’s the perfect time for a VI Peel with a TOX Booster. “It’s great for fine lines and wrinkles and gives amazing results that last 3-4 months,” Tanisha said. The treatment is great for all skin types, doesn’t burn, and comes with a kit filled with products. “The results people are having is beautiful.”

ONE WEEK OUT

Seeking a noticeable refresh to your eyes? The TempSure Radio Frequency Eye Treatment is a popular choice. “It feels like a hot stone massage and gives a lifted look to the eyes,” Christina explained. “And it’s gentle enough for delicate areas like the eyelids.”

TempSure can also be used to tighten loose skin, like the back of the arm, above the knee, back of the legs, and the abdomen.

ONE TO TWO DAYS BEFORE

As the big day approaches, indulge in a Diamond Glow and Hydrafacial for a radiant glow. The treatment is great for exfoliating, suitable for all skin tones and types, non-ablative, and builds ‘n’ boosts collagen. Opt for Dermaplaning before and ZO exfoliating

polishes, and you’ll attain a glow that will have people asking – in Derby speak – where did you go, baby, go? The Skin Group, of course.

DAY OF: DERBY CLUTCH ESSENTIALS

Skincare doesn’t stop at the clinic door. Christina and Tanisha are always prepared with essentials to keep their skin protected and radiant throughout the festivities. Here are their must-have items they’ll carry in the Derby clutches:

• Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield SPF 50

• Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Brush-On Shield SPF 50

• Revision Skincare YouthFull Lip Replenisher

• UPNEEQ eye-opening lift drops

• TSG Clinical Sunscreen (made in-house at The Skin Group)

TREAT YOURSELF

In celebration of Rosacea Awareness Month, the clinic is offering 10% off ZO Rozatrol and SkinMedica Even & Correct Advanced Brightening Treatment Serum.

Additionally, The Skin Group is offering $250 off any series of TempSure treatments, along with a free gift with purchase. And for those seeking a total skin rejuvenation, the Three for Me Laser Treatment Series package, which combines the 1540 Fractional Laser and the Max G IPL Laser, for $100 off of one treatment or $250 off for the series.

The Skin Group

skingroup.org • (502) 583-6647

2307 River Road • Suite 101 • Louisville

1868 W. Hebron Lane • Suite 200 • Shepherdsville

@skingroup.org on Facebook

@theskingroup on Instagram

@theskingroup on TikTok

The Skin Group Team

Dermatology Team: Dr. Robert H. Zax, MD; William Warrick, PA-C; Katie Berryman, PA-C; Brianna Langenkamp, PA-C

Practice Manager: Lisa Zax

Aesthetic Team: Tanisha Ellison, Aesthetic Nurse; Christina Crawford, Aesthetic RN

The Skin Group Skinny

Join The Skin Group from 12:15 to 1 PM every first Wednesday of the month on Facebook and Instagram for their popular livestream where you can learn more about their services and have your questions answered in real time!

LaNia Roberts: Painting Her Future

First-generation college graduate and former LVA student becomes a global art and activist sensation

By: Gill Holland

Photos By: Cora Holland and Tre’Sean Durham

I first met LaNia exactly ten years ago — the summer after she graduated from Central High School. This was long before she garnered her now over 400,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok. She had participated in Governor’s School for the Arts and was featured in an e-blast I received from the Louisville Visual Art Association (now called Louisville Visual Art—LVA), where she had taken their storied Children’s Fine Art Classes. I was intrigued. I journeyed over to her shared and cozy (read: “tiny”) Mellwood studio (she was paying $150/ month). When I saw her prices, I told her to double or even triple them. I still walked away happy with two amazing self-portraits.

Around the same time, the now super famous artist Stan Squirewell visited LaNia. He was profiled in the VOICE-TRIBUNE last year (2023). In 2022, Stan hired LaNia to be his studio assistant and as she says, “really changed my life. Stan encouraged and pushed me in my own studio practice, which led to the huge shift in my new series of work!”

After Central graduation, she was then off to Syracuse University on a scholarship as a first-generation college student, where she got a degree in Painting from its Visual and Performing Arts School. While at Syracuse, she presided over the Black Artist League for three years

LaNia in studio preparing for her fall show with new work

and contributed her voice to the Black Celestial Choral Ensemble. From the early days here at LVA to Syracuse, she discovered in visual art a transformative outlet for (and a profound means of self-expression) her early challenges with her identity as a young Black woman. And now with her hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of online interactions, her visual art has expanded into an online-based social art practice, empowering millions worldwide to embody radical self-compassion, love, and acceptance.

In late winter/spring of 2017 LaNia had a great show across the river in New Albany at the Carnegie Center for Art and History (now called the Cultural Arts Center). I was tickled to see her self-portrait was the artwork selected for the giant banner hanging outside the building to promote the show.

During her junior year, LaNia became the first in her family to embark on international travel (besides some family members’ military assignments), living in Florence, Italy, for four months to study painting, photography, and sculpture. Her connection with Tuscany endured through four recurring art workshops led by master professors from 2017 to 2023. After graduation, LaNia interned at the important arts non-profit Creative Capital and at New York City’s Ronald Feldman Art Gallery. Then she immersed herself in a comprehensive study of Human Rights & Multiculturalism in Cape Town, South Africa. She has now visited twelve countries and says her “new global perspective has resulted in a more acute understanding of [her] own culture and experience growing up in Kentucky.”

In 2019, I did another studio visit, now to her 75-square-foot (yes, seventy-five, that is not a typo) studio at Art Sanctuary. She showed me a fun photo from her trip to Marrakech of her riding a camel! I am pleased to report she now lives and works in a 1,200-square-foot-studio!

This past November she was featured at Art Basel! LaNia recounts: “My first time at Art Basel this past December in Miami was incredible. Showing my work with Claire Oliver Gallery at the Scope Art Show was the most affirmational moment of my career thus far. I’ve dealt a lot with imposter syndrome, and not only exhibiting but also selling my painting at Scope really boosted my self-esteem. Meeting artists from all over the world whose work I admired was one thing; and then having them just as eager to become my friend and love my work in return was another. I was shocked by the support I received and felt a warm welcome into the art world. Art Basel Miami was completely and utterly life-changing for me, especially as a Kentucky girl!”

Every artist has some important moments around an important early sale of one of their artworks, so I asked LaNia about how 21c Art Hotel first acquired her work. “I made my first 21c sale during an exhibition at the Muhammad Ali Center called ‘We Don’t Wither.’ Shepard Fairey came to town during the exhibition to complete the Ali mural in April of 2023. Steve Wilson (co-founder of the 21c Art Hotel group) was there at the reception — I hadn’t seen him in person since before the pandemic. He remembered me, we spoke, and I showed him my work, which was three self-portraits. He stood by them for a while. During Fairey’s speech, Steve Wilson approached me and whispered, ‘How much is the painting in the center?’ I told him the price, and he whispered, ‘Sold.’ It was such an incredible moment for me!”

Faith is very important to LaNia and she exclaims “Hallelujah” joyfully and frequently! She has been attending the Burnett Avenue Baptist Church where she finds the pastor, choir, and community so enriching. She continues to visit churches throughout Louisville in hopes of finding a church home where she finds the pastor, choir, and community enriching.

This fall, LaNia has her first solo show in New York City where she is represented by the esteemed Claire Oliver Gallery, website here, www.claireoliver.com to learn more about dates which are not yet available at time of press.

February 16 – May 12, 2024

Replete with over 80 jewel-like painted portraits and manuscript illuminations reflecting the rich and diverse artistic traditions of South Asia from the 16th–19th centuries, this presentation promises to dazzle visitors of all ages and backgrounds.

This pair of themed exhibitions – The Throne, The Chase, and The Heart and Elephant in the Room – presents a rare opportunity to showcase some of the very best examples of South Asian painting to be seen outside of India and Pakistan.

Organized By

Detail: Madan Murat, the elephant of Sagram Singh II. Rajasthan, Udaipur, Mewar, 1725. Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper; 11 7/8 x 18 15/16 in. (30.2 x 48.1 cm).

The San Diego Museum of Art, Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, 1990.622.

Tickets at speedmuseum.org

Hats will be available during the Derby season:

RODEO DRIVE

LOUISVILLE MARRIOTT DOWNTOWN

Photo Credit: 2024, John Fitzgerald

By:Maddie Weiland

Finding Home: Where Hearts and Houses Align

Photos By: Matt Johnson, Andrew Kung, & Jeremy Blum Sponsored Content

It is most often the case that a Realtor® works with a client to find them a home, but sometimes a home is what leads to finding a client.

Adrianne Hoadley is a Realtor® with Kentucky Select Properties. Real estate is in her DNA, as her mom and aunt are real estate agents and took her to her first showing at just seven years old. Yet, her love of “home” extends beyond brick and mortar. What happens inside its walls is what she loves and is something she has worked hard to keep at the heart of her business. The story of how she connects with her clients and matches them with homes is one worth telling.

Before launching her career in real estate, Adrianne spent several years working in corporate communications at Dell Computer in Austin. In awe of its colonial architecture and cobblestone streets, she found herself moving to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, landing a job at the town’s oldest real estate company before moving to New York City to join a boutique public relations firm. At the core of her work experiences were the relationships she created with clients, partners, and the press, but amongst her rich surroundings is where her infatuation with real estate began.

Adrianne brought her plethora of experience and her love of homes to her Kentucky real estate career. Driven by her relationships with clients and a fierce passion to advocate for them and deliver exceptional customer service, she intentionally seeks out homes that clients might not think about for themselves. More often than not, Adrianne can picture clients in a particular home because her instincts tell her that it could end up being a perfect fit for them.

In the case with her most recent listing, this is no different. In the spring of 2021, Adrianne was touring homes in Louisville and within seconds of stepping into an award-winning designed property, she knew it was a perfect “match” for renowned interior designer Rachel Horn.

Not knowing if Rachel was looking for a home, Adrianne gave her a call and told her she was standing inside the kitchen of a home that was the perfect combination of function and luxury— a 1937 Bauhaus-style kit house first published in The Courier Journal that same year. A meticulous renovation including high-end finishes, a heated saltwater pool, spacious steam room, custom kitchen, and a completely tiled bathroom earned it an AIA 2016 Honor Award.

After the call, Rachel booked a flight from Austin to see this extraordinary home in person.

Adrianne met Rachel when she lived in San Miguel de Allende. Over the past 25 years, Rachel personally guided Adrianne on design and functionality in her own homes, and Adrianne learned about Rachel’s distinct vision and relentless pursuit of beauty. That’s why when walking through the house, Adrianne knew just who to call because she was already envisioning Rachel living in it.

After joining forces to purchase the home, Rachel transformed the interior. She fastidiously designed and sourced custom, bench-made, mid-century and antique furniture and hand-picked every accessory to turn it into the beautiful black and white jewel box home that earned a feature in the 2024 March/April issue of HGTV Magazine.

Whether it’s a special property like this one or others with unlimited potential, it is evident that Adrianne’s love of home has been a defining part of her success as a Realtor®, matching a client with what she really sees in a home: the heart.

Ben Fugate & The Burning Trash Band

By: Gill Holland

Photos by: Oakley Fugate

Kentucky has long been famous for birthing and rearing famous bluegrass, folk, and country music singers and songwriters. From Bill Monroe and Sam Bush, Tom T Hall, Loretta Lynn, Patty Loveless, the Judds, Ricky Skaggs , Dwight Yoakam, to more recently, Tyler Childers, Carly Pearce, Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton; there must be something in the water!

While there are dozens more names that merit inclusion on any list of Kentucky country music stars, here is a brand-new name to put on the radar: Ben Fugate, a young man from Hazard in Perry County. Pronounced “Few-git”. He and his band The Burning Trash Band are releasing this April 12th his self-titled, second record after the success of his first single “Pronounced Appa-Latch-Uh.” The album release party is April 11th at the Monarch Music & Arts Community on Bardstown Road.

Ben grew up imbued with gospel music in a local Perry County Pentecostal church, then became an Elvis impersonator in elementary school and continued performing, playing Lynyrd Skynyrd songs in a cover band in high school talent shows. He also knows a ridiculous number of John Cougar Mellencamp songs! With his Hazard twang and heart-tugging slow country warbles, one could call him a “honky-tonk traditionalist” in the vein of Hank Williams and George Jones.

“This album is a big departure from my garage days with just one mic,” said Fugate. “We aimed to reflect our unique sound, while draw-

ing inspiration from country legends, and I believe we’ve captured that essence!” The Burning Trash Band is an incredibly tight sextet of music veterans, comprising sometimes co-writer Kevin Howard on lead guitar, Travis Fugate on rhythm, Mike Howard on bass, Jacob Mack-Boll on fiddle and Derek Mullins on drums (the latter also wrote “Ticks Blues”).

Signed to our label sonaBLAST!, the band jumped at the chance to come to Louisville to record. Ben, who is a ASCAP registered writer, remembers that time fondly, “Recording at LaLaLand was an experience that provided a state-of-the-art recording experience right in my home state. The guys and I felt right at home when we got to work in the studio and Anne Gauthier (producer and engineer) is amazing at what she does!”

Ben Fugate is a Hazard boy with a mountain of talent, writing songs that will cause your heart to ache and your soul to sing. If you can’t catch Ben at the Monarch record release party, he will also be on Wave Country with Dawn Gee on April 11th.

Let’s close with lyrics from two of his soon-to-be jukebox hits! When asked if the song “County Fuzz” was autobiographical, Ben smiled and said, “no comment.” And if you are wondering what the Dipsey Doodle is, it is a curve outside Hazard where the police would do roadblocks back in the day!

“Lovesick Over You”

The T Shirt in the corner Still smells like you.

Since you’ve walked out, I’ve had nothing to do

Except write this old sad song, of how you left me blue.

It’s Time like these I wonder, what would Hank Williams do? (Chorus)

He’d turn to the bottle to try and ease the pain

He’d only go out when it’s raining to hide the tears from his face

Now I know how he felt when he sung them lovesick blues.

Me and Ol Hank Williams are Lovesick Over You (2ndnd Verse)

I tried to make you stay. Your gypsy heart was set to leave. For a while I was blind but thank God now I see.

I hope he gives you the world. Well, I hope he’s better than me. I’m just a lonesome cowboy ridin’ on my old horse misery.

(Chorus)

Well I’m turning to the bottle - To try and ease my pain. I only go out when it’s raining - To hide the tears on my face.

Now I’m living how he felt when he sung them lovesick blues.

Cause me and ole Hank Williams are Lovesick Over You.

“County Fuzz”

Woke up in this mornin’ in a heap of pain

Last night I held my name for a picture at the ole county jail. I’d worked on a pretty good buzz, ran into the county fuzz, by Dipsey Doodle

And they began to question me

I didn’t want to take their test. They called it resisting arrest

So they forced me in the back of a Crown Vic car.

(Chorus)

Well I said, People, take heed to me. A drunk tank’s no place to be. Signed, an old patron of the county fuzz.

(2nd verse)

Threw all my money in that ole pay phone. Answer baby, I wanna come home.

I’ll make the promise that I’ve made so many times.

Honey, if you’d just listen to me, this old fuzz might set me free

And I’d be in your loving arms for the rest of time.

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By: Amy Barnes

Everything’s Coming Up Roses

Kentucky Painter Lands Signature Roses on Derby 150 Woodford Reserve Bottles

Photos provided by: Wylie Caudill

Known as “the chalk guy” in college, Cynthiana Kentucky native Wylie Caudill’s career took off quickly via word-of-mouth. His work on campus at local events caught the attention of several people, and within a year of graduation, he was gifted with the good fortune of working full-time as a muralist and painter.

Caudill, an EKU broadcast major who started painting and drawing at a very young age, began his initial post-college career working for Kentucky for Kentucky, gaining further notoriety as a regional artist.

“People have always reached out to me since I started doing chalk art,” said Caudill. “There are not a lot of local mural artists and it’s becoming a booming industry.”

Caudill quickly caught the attention of Spendthrift Farms.

“The first time I ever painted a racehorse, it was Authentic,” said Caudill. The horse raced in the 2020 Kentucky Derby. Caudill’s painting included the Winner’s Circle roses that accompanied the winning garland.

“It was my first time painting the roses, and I loved the way it looked,” he said. From there, his work took off; he posted his sky-blue cerulean roses on Tik Tok, and it garnered 6 million views. After that, Caudill included the roses in many of his pieces, and developed a more recognizable style using repeating patterns and florals.

Now based in Lexington, his designs can be found throughout the community, in bars, restaurants and local establishments. A few of the locations include: a mural at The Grove, with an “atmospheric image” inside the bar with a large outdoor space and big trees, a moon and stars; at Lexington’s Summit, with a blue horse surrounded by Kentucky florals (goldenrods, sunflowers, roses and other native flowers to Kentucky); and Crank & Boom ice cream distillery.

Caudill made his debut in Louisville with a mural inside Louisville’s Boxcar PR and will soon paint a live piece of his signature roses for Woodford Reserve at Churchill Downs prior to Derby.

Caudill recently took a national tour with Woodford Reserve representing the 150th signature Derby bottle wrapped in his rose-patterned label. Woodford also recently announced its limited edition of 150 hand-blown crystal decanter bottles created by the artisans of renowned French Maison Baccarat, retailing at $15,000. This thrice-barreled American whiskey has rested in three unique casks – the original bourbon barrel, a cognac cask and a couture barrel whose staves were seasoned in the Kentucky Derby Winner’s Circle. Each is priced at $15,000 and arrives in a bespoke leather carrying case. To pay homage to the famed Garland of Roses, infused the decanter’s crystal stopper with 24K gold to create a striking red color.

To view and learn more about Caudill’s work, and to order prints of his pieces, visit wyliecaudill.com

Celebrate Derby

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Bill and Russ’ Excellent Conversation:

Just a little more Basketball, then on to the 150th Running of Kentucky Derby.

By: Bill Doolittle and Russ Brown

RUSS: Bill, while I know you are chomping at the bit to talk about your favorite four-legged “athletes” and a two-minute race that occurs in Louisville once a year, I am sure you are well aware -- though you may be loath to admit it to this hoops junkie -- that college basketball is a 24/7, 365-day obsession in this area.

Thus, before I let you swing the conversation to Derby 150, there is some unfinished business to address. Lots of it, actually, but since you will grouse if I try to dominate our conversation, I will limit my remarks to a bare minimum. Notice I said “try.”

BILL: By all means Russ. Give us the stuff on basketball. I remember basketball.

RUSS: The big news since we talked last month was the unsurprising firing of University of Louisville men’s basketball coach Kenny Payne after just two seasons. With a 12-52 record and acres of empty seats in the KFC Yum! Center, it would have been a shock if he had survived to stick around for the third year of his six-year contract.

Having known Kenny well since he played for the Cardinals from 1986-89, while I was covering the team for The Courier-Journal,

Photos by: Gulfstream Park, Keeneland Collection, & VOICE-TRIBUNE

Bill Doolittle and Russ Brown

I had mixed emotions about his dismissal. He is a good and caring person and an excellent role model who is always friendly and seems to wear a permanent smile. So I am sorry to see him go. But I recognize that athletic director Josh Heird had little choice, given the economics of the sport in today’s world and the lack of evident progress by the team. Too many double-digit defeats, too many head-scratching plays or non-plays. JJ Traynor (shoulder) and Dennis Evans (undisclosed medical reasons) might have made a difference had they been able to play the entire season, but it’s difficult to believe it would have been enough to save Payne’s job.

As we speak, UofL is involved in a search for Payne’s successor, and almost certainly has hired the new guy by now.

BILL: I think you are exactly right that the new man may already be tabbed. Payne was probably told he was done months ago, and negotiations with agents for new coaching prospects got underway. It’s been very quiet though. Louisville is probably not the destination it once was. I think the main thing is no announcement is going to be made while a new coach’s current team is still playing in the tournament. I’m just not certain who it is. I think we can take UCLA coach Mick Cronin’s name out of it. And I hear Florida Atlantic’s Dusty May is headed to Ohio State. But it might not be decided yet. Some young coaches have their teams playing super. I’d much rather go young, than fall for a retread. Over to you.

RUSS: May isn’t going to land in Columbus, Ohio because the Buckeyes promoted interim head coach Jake Diebler. Then May surfaced as a candidate at Michigan. My guess is that Louisville will either hire him or UCLA’s Mick Cronin, although, Josh Schertz at Indiana State or Eric Musselman of Arkansas was also a possibility at this writing. Scott Drew was Louisville’s first choice, but he took himself out of the running on March 19, saying he was staying at Baylor. I never thought UofL had a realistic shot at him. Just guessing that Drew’s decision had to do with a contract extension and a substantial raise. Why are you so down on Cronin? He would be a great choice, as I have said from the beginning. Impressive resume’ and an interesting personality that would keep Card fans engaged. You mentioned a retread, but I am having trouble getting excited about a coach whose entire experience at the high major level consists of a brief stint at Florida and whose head coaching resume’ lists five years at FAU and one fluky tournament run. Big deal.

BILL: You know everything!

As for Cronin, I remember his foul-mouthed personality. Other than that, he’s a peach.

And I agree you can’t promote a guy off one ‘fluky run.’ But, even if he’s not available, I like the Iowa State coach, T.J. Otzelberger, who just put on a ‘fluky run’ of his own at Iowa State. I’m sure you’ve seen the Cyclones passing the ball? A thing of beauty. But so many of those Plains States teams are passing demons, except Lead Shoes Iowa.

RUSS: By far the biggest tournament story around here was third-seeded Kentucky’s shocking 80-76 loss to No. 14 Oakland University (Rochester, Mich.), in large part due to 10 3-pointers by a former Division III player. Of course, Wildcat Nation had a meltdown and is furious with Coach Cal. UK had gone 26-1 between 1988-2019 in the opening round, but since then is 1-2 with losses to No. 15 and No. 14 seeds. The Cats haven’t won an SEC regular season or tournament championship since 2017 or an NCAA tournament game since 2019. But John Calipari isn’t going anywhere, even if many fans are eager to escort him out of Lexington. He has a “lifetime” contract and the school would owe him $33 million if it fires him. UK’s failures are certain to be rehashed frequently on social media and elsewhere until next year’s tourney.

BILL: Yes, sad for Kentucky followers, but continuing good news for fans of COLLEGE basketball. Each recruiting year, Kentucky manages to hire a limousine load of McDonald’s All-Americans, thereby holding them away from other schools. When the Cats collapse early in the tournament -- and maybe we should give skilled shooter Jack Gohlke and the Oakland Golden Grizzley’s some credit-- it’s POOF! away go all the one-and-done pro prospects, and the tournament continues with players who genuinely wish to compete for a national college championship. Works out great!

Now, on to spring, and the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby. And I’ll tell you, Russ, that the Derby is coming up as a good-old fashioned horse race -- with maybe four or five strong contenders -- and no ‘can’t lose’ wonder horse. Are you ready for some names?

RUSS: Glad you are handing out the bad tips instead of me, Bill.

Lightly-raced Kentucky Derby candidate Conquest Warrior, with Jose Ortiz up, seeks a victory in the Florida Derby to earn a ticket for the 150th Run for the Roses.

BILL: The major Derby preps are being contested as the Voice goes to press, so we don’t know exactly who the big horses will be for the Kentucky Derby – EXCEPT, I think several of the favorites will do very well and march on to Louisville loaded with momentum. Trainer Brad Cox has Timberlake in the Arkansas Derby, and he’s pretty solid. If Timberlake wins in Hot Springs, he could be the Kentucky Derby favorite. In against tougher competition in the Florida Derby is Conquest Warrior. Shug McGaughey trains, with Jose Ortiz up. The Blue Grass Stakes, April 6, at Keeneland, looks like a two-horse showdown between Dornoch, trained by Danny Gargan, with Luis Saez riding, and Sierra Leone, from the Chad Brown barn, with rider Tyler Gaffalione. There’s a longshot from Ireland named Notable Speech, who is trained by Charlie Appleby and ridden by William Buick. If they fly him over, Notable Speech could be very sporty in the 150th Run for the Roses.

Going Back to the Blue Grass, Dornoch has a special cachet, in that he is a full brother to Mage, who won the Kentucky Derby in 2023. No siblings have ever won the Derby, at least through 149 years.

RUSS: I don’t wish to forget spring football. The University of Louisville football team is gearing up for its second spring intrasquad game under coach Jeff Brohm on at 7 p.m. on April 19 in L&N Stadium. The Cardinals started practice on March 19 with six of the 15 sessions open to the public. UofL returns 14 starters from last year’s 10-4 team that lost to Florida State in the ACC championship game, and Brohm added 24 transfers in a class that ranked among the best in the nation.

“We have a long way to go, but I like the makeup of our team,” Brohm says. “They’ve worked hard and have had a good offseason in the

Nattily-attired Argentine trainer Horatio Luro shows off Northern Dancer, winner of the 1964 Blue Grass Stakes and the ‘64 Kentucky Derby. Northern Dancer set a new track record in his Derby victory (2:00 flat) and went on to become a fabulously successful international stallion. The horse is just one racing star featured in a new exhibit at the Keeneland Library celebrating the 100th Blue Grass Stakes.

weight room up to this point.”

BILL: We also need to note the Louisville Bats home opener with Indianapolis on Mar. 29 at Slugger Field. The Bats enjoyed a very exciting season in 2023, marked by the rise of a slew of prospects that graduated to the Cincinnati Reds. We’ll scout the Bats new crop of up-and-comers and report next month.

And in a true harbinger of spring, Keeneland opens April 5, with the Lexington track saluting the 100th running of the Blue Grass Stakes. The race was first contested in 1911 at the old Kentucky Association track (1828-1933) in Lexington, then picked up at Keeneland to head its first Spring Meeting in 1937. Fencing won it. To celebrate, the Keeneland Library has dug through its wonderful archive to produce a major exhibit commemorating the 100 years of the Blue Grass. The exhibit runs from April to August. Admission is free. The Keeneland Library was once located in the Keeneland Clubhouse, but now enjoys a beautiful home atop a grassy hill near the track.

Spring is springing!

Fountain of Youth winner Dornoch is a full brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage.

Radical innovation characterizes the all-new GranTurismo, but the principle behind that evolution has remained constant since day one. Because icons aren’t born overnight.

By: Bill Doolittle

Fauna has as Much Fun as Flora in the Springtime in Kentucky

The big robin – I call him Rob – was knocking off for the day. It had rained overnight, but the sun came up with an April blue sky and Rob and his robin pals had been at it all day long, pulling up grubs and worms from the grassy lawn. Just one after another. With the sun finally going down, Rob got a little hop start and flew up to a tree limb, and a comfortable perch. He leaned a wing over a small branch and smoothed out the feathers on his big orange breast. Miller Time. “You know,” said Rob. “I don’t think I could eat another worm.”

Welcome to springtime in Kentucky, when all the animals and birds and fish – people, too –are shedding winter wraps and soaking in the cool rainy nights and warm sunshiny days. And just like their flora cousins bursting out in color, the fauna are busy with spring, too – in city backyards and over the fields and forests of the Bluegrass State.

It’s funny about the robins. It seems like years

Photos by: Charlie Westerman & Shutterstock

Yearlings living it up at Claiborne Farm.

Photo by Charlie Westerman

ago robins used to head south for the winter, and then return in spring with the other harbingers. But nowadays, the way the winters are so warm, I don’t think they leave at all. And they’re so adaptive. Zoologists say robins are common from sea level to 11,000 feet, and in every state. Probably America’s most successful bird. And busier than ever in the spring.

Same with sparrows. Very busy. You see them out in the yard with the robins, kind of zipping down in alternating squads to grab the worms. A bunch flies up at the same time, taking spots all around the house and yard, rain gutters, light pole, forsythia bush –keeping a lookout, I guess, and communicating with some encrypted sparrow text thread. “All clear!” And down they come from all points. Flash mob!

Then back up.

The blue jays aren’t so many, but they operate the same way, if more cautiously. Looking it all over, heads jerking up-down-leftright … then risking a raid.

Also showing up is a squad of lowlife starlings, who come from down the street. The starlings feed in a horizontal flank. Like those watering machines you see rolling on wheels across midwestern fields. Pulling worms up like a machine. Pretty ugly, with shiny black and purple feathers, and next to no tail. But the good birds don’t say anything. Even the snooty blue jays. Peaceful coexistence, I guess.

A nut! Just where I left it

It’s all very interesting at the water pans I set out on a table in the backyard. Like Central Perk in Friends. The sparrows stop in for a sip. They like to hop around the rims of the bowls, elbowing each other along, making a game out of it. But the robins jump straight into the pans. Constantly splashing and flap-slapping the water … and pooping in it. Yeah, that’s a problem. Robins don’t practice sanitation. Have to change the water all the time. But I don’t mind.

When the water is fresh, the jays and cardinals, and an occasional

mockingbird – they’re the ones with the best songs and shake the longest tail feathers – stop by to enjoy the clean water. The Cardinals are more prominent in winter, posing for Christmas cards by the holly trees. Used to see them a lot in March and April, but the coaching –Oh, wait, that’s another story.

The squirrels also like the water pans and love getting up on the table. The birds don’t seem to mind. It’s fun seeing the whole gang up there.

Speaking of squirrels, they’re fat again this spring. It was a good fall for acorns, and maybe walnuts. The squirrels don’t have any trouble finding nuts they buried over the winter. I mean, they have no idea where they planted them. No idea. But they come down off the fence and go dig anyplace, and … Hey, here’s a nut!

There are predators, of course. Got some big tan and gray hawks who like to operate from the high wires on the electric poles. Especially around noon, picking out lunch.

And a brown cat that operates back in my garage. I think it’s a female, don’t ask me why. I call her Cat. She works at night. Comes over from across the street, and straight up my driveway to the garage. I tried to run her off, but it didn’t take. Finally, I just gave Cat a pass when I noticed I didn’t have any mice in the garage anymore. (Also, regrettably, no chipmunks. Sorry, Chip).

Fortunately, Cat doesn’t bother the rabbits, or I would have to take steps. But the rabbits are fine. They work at night mostly, too. There’s this one I call Rab, who is a female, I think. She hops up close and stands sideways to stare at me. You know how they do. Rabbits have these big round eyes on the sides of their faces. So when Rab is looking straight at me, I only see one eye. Does that for a minute, then hustles along. Lives under a rose bush.

Of course, there are a million dog stories in the Naked City. But we’ll get to them another time.

Three steps from the bottom of the hill to the top

Springtime in the country comes a couple weeks later than in the city, but is every bit as glorious. Especially thoroughbred horses stretching their long legs over bluegrass pastures.

Elliott Walden, of Win-Star Farm, near Lexington, vividly remembers seeing Justify – who would grow up to win the Kentucky Derby – running with his fellow one-year-olds. Yearlings.

“I remember there was a day in March when we were standing out watching and he came up the hill – we have an uphill training gallop – and he just looked awesome,” recalls Walden. “The power, the stride. His whole demeanor. The horse next to him looked like he was running a hundred miles an hour and Justify looked like he took three steps from the bottom of the hill to the top.”

Call me Mr. Peeps

One creature you hear a lot from in the spring is tree frogs, singing the old mating song. You know how someone will say, ‘You never hear a peep out of them.’ Well, tree frogs, you do hear a peep. That’s what they do. Some people call them spring peepers.

Jaymi Heimbuch, a nature writer out of Caltech, San Luis Obispo, explains the tiny frog’s song:

“The call of a male is a single high note repeated in rapid succession,” says Heimbuch. “One frog sounds similar to the peep of a chick — hence the name spring peeper — but when they sing in chorus, they sound like sleigh bells.”

My friend Jim, who lives out in the country with his wife Janine, says that’s a pretty good description.

“Tree frogs, little brown and green things, are the first harbingers of spring,” says Jim.

“They begin in late February into March, squeaking or peeping trying to hook up with a (prospective female) of their own species,” he explains. “They’ll peep most of the night, and you can hear them a little in the morning and at dusk. But they stop in the daytime so they don’t get eaten by herons, or whatever.”

“At our house we open the windows to listen to them as they serenade us to sleep. If it rains a lot they will use the little suction cups on their toes and stick to windows – attracted to bugs that come to the light.”

That’s an idyllic picture, though there are occasional developments.

“We had this one peeper that was on a window and Reggie, a big, five-foot black snake, came on the deck and snatched it! I thought Janine was going to have a fit. I had to go catch Reggie and take him back over to the barn where he was supposed to be working on rodent control.”

FASHION YOUR WORLD BEAUTIFUL

Kentucky Derby Festival Spirit On Display Year-round

While the Kentucky Derby Festival happens only once a year in the spring, you can get a glimpse of the Festival year-round inside the Kentucky Derby Museum. The Festival’s newly-renovated exhibit, sponsored by the Kentucky Tourism, Arts & Heritage Cabinet, was unveiled just in time for this year’s celebration.

The exhibit on a background of vibrant colors showcases events and artifacts synonymous with the Festival season, including the Festival’s signature Pegasus, those colorful Festival jackets, Pegasus Pins, the Royal Court regalia, and Thunder Over Louisville. Guests are also treated to a multi-screen digital slide show with photos featuring the Festival’s beloved events.

There’s a story with each part of the exhibit:

Thunder Over Louisville, an event known for its size and stature, gets its own wall-sized… and as close to life-sized photo…with those signature fireworks on the Ohio River and a neon sign that spells out Thunder. It is big and bold, but for Thunder would you expect anything less? You can almost feel the rumble…

Just as dazzling as fireworks is the Royal Court’s regalia displayed in a glass case next door,

Shared By: Kentucky Derby Festival

Photos by: Kentucky Derby Museum Sponsored Content

complete with the robe, crown, and scepter. One of the Festival’s oldest events, the Fillies Derby Ball has been a cherished tradition since 1957. Produced by The Fillies, Inc., a non-profit women-led organization of community volunteers, the highlight of the Derby Ball is the coronation of the Kentucky Derby Festival Queen, who is chosen by the spin-of-the-wheel among the five Derby Festival Princesses. Each year, the Queen wears a special crown and coronation robe and is given a scepter to fulfill her royal duties.

Five video screens take center stage in the exhibit, scrolling through colorful photos from the many events produced each year by the Kentucky Derby Festival. There’s sure to be a photo from one of your favorite events and you might even see yourself! If you need more information on any of those events, there’s a QR code in the exhibit to take visitors directly to the Festival’s website.

If you’ve ever wondered why the Festival’s symbol is a Pegasus, where those hot-pink jackets came from, or how many Pegasus Pins there are…there’s now an exhibit (and an explanation) for that. To give you a little hint, the Kentucky Derby Festival established the Pegasus as its official symbol with the introduction of the Pegasus Parade, the Festival’s founding event in 1956.

The winged horse of Greek mythology, the Pegasus was chosen to symbolize the magic, energy and excitement the Festival hoped to generate through its first parade…and all the events added in the years to follow. Mission accomplished.

Fans can see this exhibit (and many more) all year at the Kentucky Derby Museum during its regular business hours.

The Queen’s velvet robe is adorned with a Fleur-de-lis representing the city of Louisville, a Golden Horseshoe representing the Kentucky Derby, Fifteen stars representing the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the winged horse of mythology - Pegasus, a red rose, and a crown. The coronation robe on display in the museum exhibit was commissioned by The Fillies, Inc. in 1974 to mark the 100th running of the Kentucky Derby. It was created by the late Marie Gatipon, a prominent New Orleans creator of Mardi Gras coronation regalia. A new robe just as ornate was commissioned in 2019 to be used for the Queen.

Different sets of the Queen’s crown and scepter have been used at the Derby Ball over the years with the most recent created in 2000.

Louisville’s own Merkley Jewelers was commissioned to design and create the crown in 2000. The crown includes detailed images of a jockey’s helmet, horseshoes, trumpets, a paddlewheel, balloon and Fleur-de-lis. White and yellow gold and sterling silver were used in the design with clouds represented by real pearls and an emerald for the eye of Pegasus.

Seng Jewelers of Louisville designed and created the Royal Scepter in 2000. On the top of the scepter is a crown, adorned with the Fleur-de-lis, and surrounded by pearls. The center portion of the staff is shaped like a julep cup and features three images etched into the silver: The Fillies Crest; a Fleur-delis and the Derby Festival corporate logo. The lower portion includes two perpendicular horseshoes on the base. The name of the Queen is engraved on a silver band on the shaft of the scepter.

By: Aimee Boyd

Louisville’s Annual Gold Rush

Photos by: Kentucky Derby Festival Sponsored Content

The hunt for gold every spring around Louisville (and the state) doesn’t require digging or mining. This gold is hidden inside small envelopes at hundreds of retailers in Kentuckiana as part of the Kentucky Derby Festival’s annual Pegasus Pin Sponsorship Program. For Fans (and Fanatics) it’s the luck of the draw to find a pin envelope with a Gold Pegasus Pin inside...but every pin can win!

The Pegasus Pins are small pieces of plastic that have become a signature symbol of springtime in Kentucky and a collector’s item. The Pegasus Pin program was started as an awareness campaign for the Festival in 1973. At that time, only 10,000 of the plastic pins were produced. Since then, the pin sponsorships have become one of the primary sources of funding for Derby Festival events, with more than 200,000 pins made each year. The pins in essence are individual sponsorships and a way fans can support their favorite events and the annual community celebration.

Each year the Pegasus Pin has a new design. The Derby Festival collaborated with Churchill Downs on this year’s Pin, which celebrates the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby. It features the Festival’s Pegasus symbol and official teal color along with the number “150” in red, a signature color of the Kentucky Derby.

“The Kentucky Derby Festival is a month-long celebration and nearly 70-year-old tradition that started because of the Kentucky Derby. We are honored to partner with Churchill Downs in creating a Pegasus Pin that marks this milestone and will also be a one-of-a-kind collector’s piece for both our community and our guests,” said Matt Gibson, Kentucky Derby Festival President and CEO.

Taking a lesson from Willy Wonka the Festival added the Gold Winner Pegasus Pin to the program in 1987. This year, the lucky finders of the coveted gold pin can register to win a $20,000 cash Grand Prize drawn the week after the Kentucky Derby. With more than 18,500 Gold Winner Pegasus Pins in circulation, the odds of finding gold are approximately 1 in 13. For those who don’t find a gold pin inside their envelope, they’re still in luck because any 2024 pin can be registered for a chance to win one of this year’s 15 weekly prizes, which add up to more than $40,000 in giveaways.

Plus, the small Pegasus Pin (gold or not) comes with BIG perks! A Pegasus Pin serves as free admission to many Festival events (one pin can be used over and over for admission to different events), the pin envelope itself includes coupons with discounts at local retail outlets, and several local businesses offer deals for just wearing a Pegasus Pin into their establishment.

Said Gibson, “We hope everyone will ‘Pin the Town Derby’ and wear a Pegasus Pin to help celebrate our favorite season in Kentucky.”

The Pegasus Pin is a ticket to Festival fun, a fashion staple during Derby season, a symbol of spring in Kentucky, and worth their weight in gold. Sold for $7 in advance and $10 at the entrance to events, the little plastic pins more than pay for themselves through all their added value.

For more information on the program, the perks, where you can hunt for gold pins, and to register your pin for prizes visit PegasusPins.com. Let’s Pin the Town Derby!

Dan Dry for the 150th Kentucky Derby

By: Bill Doolittle

Photos by: Dan Dry

Riding with photographer Dan Dry one day, Dry suddenly says, “Stop, right here!” It was about 100 degrees that August day, and Dan jumped out of the air-conditioned car at a small building where men were up on the roof, laying down hot tar with long brooms, with the black stuff cooking in a big sweltering barrel. Had to be THE hottest job on THE hottest day of the year. But Dan climbs up the workmen’s ladder, says hi, and starts shooting. The next day his men and hot tar image was featured on the front page of The Courier-Journal.

In his Courier days, Dry shot everything, and captured the National Photographer of the Year award – which he said all the newspaper shooters called the POY. Dry had come out of Ohio University, in his hometown, Athens, Ohio, and said his journalism idea always was simple: “Taking pictures of people doing what they do best – being themselves.”

Out on his own, Dry was a Contract Photographer for National Geographic he shot big sunsets and vast vistas in West Texas, and intimate close-ups of people in their native lands. But he was heading for another vista of photographic art. Dry shot big color images for corporate clients that soaked up the atmosphere and art of the subjects. He worked at the University of Chicago, then returned to Louisville to build a private practice with a string of top clients. Today, Dry is the managing director of PriceWeber’s Creative Content Studio.

And he continues to document the Kentucky Derby for longtime client Churchill Downs. This year will mark Dry’s 46th Kentucky Derby. With the 150th Kentucky Derby coming up, Dry shares with VOICE-TRIBUNE readers a few colorful images of a most colorful sport.

Dan Dry with Seattle Slew and Groom, John Pulston on the backside of Belmont Park race track in New York the morning after Slew won the Belmont Stakes and the Tripple Crown in 1977.

BEAUTY FOR ALL

MARC KARZEN’S GONZO DERBY IMAGES

By: Bill Doolittle

Photos By: Mark Karzen

Growing up in Louisville, Marc Karzen never thought much about the Kentucky Derby until he met fellow Louisvillian Hunter S. Thompson on the set of the “Late Night with David Letterman” show in Los Angeles. Karzen was the Letterman show’s still photographer, and Thompson had written “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved,” an outrageous piece published in Scanlon’s Magazine, and a key component of Thompson’s first book,The Great Shark Hunt. Thompson was being hailed as one of the first of a new breed of “Gonzo” journalists who inserted themselves into the story -- a style being hailed as the “New Journalism.” And as anyone who read Thompson’s wild tale might wonder: Could the Kentucky Derby actually be decadent and depraved?

To find out, Karzen came home to Louisville to shoot his own Gonzo photo version of the Derby. The result is a trove of images from the 1984 Kentucky Derby. Swale won the race, a fact that seemed more than not important to Karzen, who divided his time between high-society lawn parties, low-society partying on Central Ave., and moments around the track – most of which seem to take place on wet and muddy days. His images are very colorful in an age when the Derby and other sports events were shot mostly in black and white for family newspapers.

Karzen says he’s working with a publisher, and has arrayed many of his Kentucky Derby images at Karzen.com. A few shown here.

Mike Smith is happy in roses. A blanket for Giacomo and a bouquet for himself.

John Nation photo

Celebrating 150 Years of the Kentucky Derby

Part II: A Twentieth Century Express of Fast Horses and Deftly-spun Stories

By: Bill Doolittle

Photography by: Michael Brohm, Santa Anita Park, John Nation, Bill Doolittle Collection, John Nation, Churchill Downs

Looking around the sporting landscape at the start of the 20th Century, Matt Winn, the general manager and chief thinker and operator of Churchill Downs, saw an explosion of interest in American spectator sports and thought the Kentucky Derby could be a part of it. Baseball, college football, the modern Olympic games – fans were filling up stadiums.

Winn needed a good financial base from which to operate. With ordinary sound business practices, he managed to made a profit in his first year running the track, in 1902. It was the first time Churchill Downs had ever made a profit.

He needed a better source of revenue, and pioneered a pari-mutuel betting system run by the track to replace bookmaking run by bookies. He needed regular citizens to come to the races, rather than just gamblers, and improved concessions and lowered the minimum wager from $5 to $2.

Most of all Winn needed a better Kentucky Derby. The Derby had fallen well below the lofty level given it by Colonel M. Lewis Clark in the first running in 1875. (Which Winn had seen as a 14-year-old boy, standing on the seat of his father’s delivery wagon in the Infield.) Winn needed better horses and went out and got them. He needed cachet and color, and charmed the society set to see the Kentucky Derby as a glamorous national event. And he needed publicity, and so went about gathering up the top sports journalists to write about the Kentucky Derby. And they did.

Winn thought it would be good for the Derby to have its own special day. It had always been contested in May, but he picked the First Saturday in May. He told reporters that he had researched every available weather record of Louisville and discovered that the very best day of spring (not always, but usually) was the first Saturday in May. And the writers printed it. The Kentucky Derby thus got the nick-naming rights jump on baseball’s Fall Classic, March Madness, and the New Year’s Day bowls.

In 1934, Winn told Louisville Herald Post writer Jim Henry that it was all about people and personalities.

“My first love was the Kentucky Derby,” said Winn, “and I saw to it that the owners of the three-year-olds with box office appeal flirted with no other stake but the Derby when Derbytime rolled around. And we played one society queen against another until we steam-rollered Louisville into a one-day capital of celebrities.”

It was a special relationship Winn enjoyed with the writers, one he built from the start – and has carried on long after he was gone. It extended to the movies, and the newsreels that played in theaters before the movies. Radio came to the Derby with Bryan Field and gravelly-voiced Clem McCarthy calling the big race for national audiences. Then television. Now the Internet.

But it started with the writers.

Winn kept an apartment in New York so over the winter he could be close to the big time sports writers, captains of industry, and glittering social personalities. He operated from Broadway to Madison Ave. to Park Ave. He dropped items with columnists, not just about racehorses, but which socialite was entertaining whom at gala party at her Bluegrass horse farm during Derby Week. Regular attendees, and horse owners included Frances Dodge Sloan and Elizabeth Arden Graham. Both won the Derby. So did Mrs. Ethel V. Mars, with Gallahadion getting the job done for her Milky Way Farm. Then Winn was back home to family and his racetrack, to

which he seemed to be adding a new addition onto the Downs every year. Always noting that he just couldn’t find enough seats for all the people who wished to be at the Derby.

Journalist Billy Reed described Matt Winn in Famous Kentuckians:

“He was a pudgy, cigar-chomping man who looked something like Alfred Hitchcock, with a bit of W.C. Fields thrown in. In spirit and style, however, Colonel Matt Winn resembled nobody as much as P.T. Barnum. Or, as Arthur Daley of the New York Times once wrote, ‘He could give cards and spades to Barnum and still win.’

“He was ahead of his time in many ways,” added Reed. “(Today) he would probably be the head of a multi-million-dollar advertising agency on Madison Ave. He was a tough businessman and a shrewd salesman, yet so charming and disarming that a friend once called him ‘the only Irish diplomat in existence.’ ”

The famous syndicated columnists, who were read every day by millions of Americans, loved it all. No Derby went off without Damon Runyon, Grantland Rice, Frank Graham, Ring Lardner, Bill Corum, Red Smith.

Runyon wrote about Broadway characters who also played the horses. As in his Broadway hit “Guys and Dolls.” In the movie version of “Little Miss Marker,” Shirley Temple is left behind by her father as a “marker” with a bookie -- collateral to cover a bet on a horse. Bob Hope and Walter Matthau played the bookie in two movie versions of “Little Miss Marker,” so you can imagine. A recurring character for Runyon was Regret, the horse player, who was “named after the Whitney filly that won the Derby in 1915.”

In 1930, William Woodward, owner of Hanover Trust and also owner of a promising colt named Gallant Fox, sought out jockey Earl Sande – pronounced Sandy – to ride his horse in the Kentucky Derby. Sande was just retired, but Woodward pleaded. Gallant Fox won and Runyon, typing from the press box at Churchill Downs, headed his column with a few lines of verse – as he sometimes did to colorize a moment.

Churchill Downs Photo

Say, have you turned back the pages

Back to the past once more?

Back to the racin’ ages

An’ a Derby out of yore?

Say, don’t tell me I’m daffy,

Ain’t that the same old grin?

Why it’s that handy

Guy named Sande Bootin’ a winner in!

Well, you couldn’t beat that!

American Beauty

Winn believed that the Kentucky Derby should have recognizable traditions.

He persuaded the Kentucky legislature to make “My Old Kentucky Home” the state song, and brought out the University of Louisville band to play the beautiful piece during the Parade to Post, with fans encouraged to sing along. They did, and they do.

Jockey Calvin Borel squeezes cold water across the smiling face of 2007 winner Street Sense

John Nation photo

He noticed that the Kentucky Derby had always had flowers associated with the parties and that someone usually made up a rose bouquet (a couple times yellow roses) for the winning jockey. He called upon a florist friend, Mrs. Kingsley Walker, to make up a blanket of roses to be thrown as a lavish victory mantle over the shoulders of the Kentucky Derby winner. Winn found that back in the 1890’s a New York socialite named E. Barry Wall had attended the Derby just after attending the annual New York flower show. The American Beauty rose had been debuted, and Wall ordered all he get and had them shipped by train to Louisville for his Derby party. Later, sportswriter Bill Corum admired the blanket of American Beautys and called the Kentucky Derby the “Run for the Roses.” A moment of inspiration.

Along in the late 1930’s caterer Harry M. Stevens got into the spirit by serving up mint juleps in the Downs’ dining room. It was actually an old drink, that dated to Col. Clark’s third Derby in 1877.

Kentucky Derby historian Jim Bolus dug up the tale for his book Run for the Roses. For the third Derby, in 1877, Col. Clark’s special guest was Polish Countess Helena Modjeska, and her husband Count Bozenta Chlapowski. The Countess was a very famous European actress and singer, then on an American tour. Clark invited her to attend the Derby and made her the guest of honor at a fabulous Derby party. Clark prepared a mint julep of his own recipe, using Kentucky bourbon rather than the usual gin. (I know. Gin. Can you imagine?) Clark iced the bourbon concoction in a huge silver punch bowl with fresh sprigs of mint for all the guests to enjoy.

“It is for you first of all, Madame,” said Clark as he placed the mint julep bowl in front of the beautiful actress. “We drink to the greatest race of all time.”

The Countess took the bowl up in both hands for a good-sized sip, and instead of passing it along, exclaimed, “Eet ees supreme! Won’t you please please feex anodder such dreenk for ze Count?”

Black Gold for the Golden 50th

Now where were we?

Oh, the horses. How about the 50th Kentucky Derby, in 1924, won by Black Gold?

Black Gold’s story is a wonderful saga of the turf. It begins with a mare named U-See-It, who was an ordinary runner raced by Al and Rosa Hoots around the Louisiana and Texas tracks. The mare didn’t have a lick of fashionable breeding, but she did have a high turn of speed, and when Colonel E. R. Bradley (four-time Derby-winning owner) saw U-See-It run one day in New Orleans, he told Rose Hoots that if she ever wanted to breed her speedy mare to Black Toney (Bradley’s top stallion), she would be welcome.

Rosa Hoots was a full-blooded Osage Indian, and when oil was discovered on her property in Oklahoma, she received a decent royalty. When time came for U-See-It to wrap up her racing career, Mrs. Hoots remembered Colonel Bradley’s offer. Thus the commonly bred mare was loaded on a van and hauled to Bradley’s Idle Hour Farm in Kentucky to be mated with one of the sport’s premier stallions. Evidently the right sparks flew between the king and the chorus girl, and the result was a striking black foal. The Osage called the new oil wealth that was found on their lands “black gold,” and that was the name Rosa Hoots gave to her colt.

Black Gold came on strong as he turned three, winning the Louisiana Derby and whipping a field of nineteen in the Kentucky Derby, including Bradley’s entry of Beau Butler and Baffling.

For many years, until Grindstone in 1996, Black Gold was the only Louisiana Derby winner to win the Kentucky Derby. Black Gold is buried in the infield at the Fair Grounds Track in New Orleans, home of the Louisiana Derby.

Mr. Longtail

I’ll defer to my friend Rick Cushing to explain 1941 winner Whirlaway:

He was half-witted, willful, knuckleheaded, stubborn, and unmanageable. He also was Calumet Farm’s first (of eight) Kentucky Derby winners, first (of two) Triple Crown champions, and a national hero. To his adoring public, he was Mr. Longtail. “He was the dumbest horse I ever trained,” said trainer Ben Jones, but admitted, “He was my favorite Derby winner.”

He was Whirlaway, a brilliantly fast but slightly crazy chestnut with an unusually long tail that reached within an inch of the ground. He astonished fans with his blazing finishes, and he puzzled them, along with his trainer, with his habit of bolting to the outside fence coming off the final turn. He was Calumet’s first great horse.

Heading into the 67th Derby in 1941, Whirlaway was being talked of more as a basket case than a wonder horse. Whirlaway broke his maiden at first asking on June 3, 1940, even though he went to the outside fence and followed it around the entire five-eighths of a mile. In the Saratoga Special, he kicked into gear and passed all his rivals, but blew the turn and went to the outside rail. All of a sudden, he was last again. Arthur Daley of the New York Times wrote: “Did he win? Don’t be silly. Of course he won. He came like the whirlwind he is to triumph in the very last 25 yards.”

Jones worked all winter to cure the bolting habit. But Whirlaway bolted in the Blue Grass and again in the Derby Trial. Jones then made two telling changes: He switched jockeys to Eddie Arcaro, who had won the 1938 Derby on Jones’s Lawrin, and he cut out the leather left eyecup of Whirlaway’s blinkers. That gave the horse a good view to the inside but obscured vision to the right, with the goal to focus the colt’s attention to the inner part of the track.

Lord Derby, the descendent of the Derby who founded the Derby, at Epsom, from which the Kentucky Derby is patterned, was on hand for the 1930 Kentucky Derby, won by Gallant Fox. The Englishman was asked how to pronounce Derby. “Oh durby or darby, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “But the hat’s a bowler.”

Churchill Downs photo

Arcaro arrived in Louisville two nights before the Derby, and the next morning Jones had the jockey out early for a frightening experiment. Jones stationed himself on his pony at the head of the stretch, ten feet from the inner rail. He instructed Arcaro to take Whirlaway through the narrow opening.

“I could see that old man just sitting there on his pony,” Arcaro recalled. “I was bearing down on him full tilt … but Whirlaway slipped through as pretty as you please. Then I knew we had a hell of a chance at the Derby.”

Whirlaway was eighth after a half-mile and fourth turning for home – where he did NOT bolt – and blazed the final quarter-mile in 23 3/5 seconds. Unfurling his long tail, Whirlaway won by eight lengths in a record time of 2:01 2/5. “He nearly catapulted me out of the saddle,” Arcaro said of Whirlaway’s closing burst. “I felt as if I were flying.”

-- Rick Cushing

When Woody met Meg at the 100th Derby

Whirlaway pours it on in setting a track record in the 1941 Derby.

Eddie Arcaro up.

Bill Doolittle Collection

For the 100th Derby, a record 163,628 fans jammed into Churchill Downs. The Infield crowd was estimated at 90,000 (including one famous streaker who scaled the Infield flag pole, naked).

The 100th Derby went to Cannonade, ridden by Angel Cordero Jr. and trained by Woody Stevens. Also on hand was Princess Margaret, of the United Kingdom, the fun-loving younger sister of Queen Elizabeth. On the winner’s stand after the race, Woody, from tiny Stanton, Ky., met “Meg”, as the British press called Princess Margaret. The two hit it off on the stand, and at the victory reception Woody and his wife Lucille chatted it up with Meg.

Woodford Cefis Stephens had come a long way. He started his first horse in the Kentucky Derby in 1949, ran third with Blue Man in 1952, and second with Never Bend in 1963. He won three Kentucky Oaks and five-straight Belmont Stakes. He had trained for Capt. Harry F. Guggenheim, of the New York museum Guggenheims, and won his second Kentucky Derby in 1984 with Swale, for Claiborne Farm. Cannonade was owned by John M. Olin, of Olin-Mathiesen chemicals.

“One reason I developed a liking for horses early on,” Woody explained in his autobiography, Guess I’m Lucky, written with writer James Brough, “might have been the fact that when my dad hoisted me up on one of them, or on the back of one of them, I was five or six feet higher off the ground, looking down at people instead of up. I got that boost up in the world from him, starting when I was three or four years old. He let me ride them as they pulled the hitch that did the plowing, It provided a lot more pleasure, I found out later, than hoeing tobacco for fifty cents a day. Dad used to say, ‘Woody’s a born horseman,’ and I was happy to hear it, because I didn’t want to be considered a born field hand.”

On the Sunday morning after the 100th Derby, Stephens was on his stable horse, as usual, chatting over the fence with reporters. The reporters wanted racing details, but the winning trainer was still soaking it all in.

“Imagine that,” said Woody, “A poor boy from Kentucky up on that stand with the Princess of England.”

A rivals story, from one side of the rivalry

Whish was the greatest Kentucky Derby rivalry? Affirmed and Alydar? Easy Goer and Sunday Silence? For Art Sherman’s money it was Nashua and Swaps.

It was the 1950s.

Americans were moving west, and among them was young Art Sherman, who was just seven years old when his family left New York for California. A decade later, Sherman was graduating from high school in Whittier, Calif., thinking about what he might want to do, what he might be good at. He was five-feet-three but athletic, and he thought, well, maybe he could be a jockey. Sherman didn’t know a thing about horses, but he caught on as a stable hand, then exercise rider at the Rex Ellsworth ranch, run by trainer Mesh Tenney.

The Big Horse in the barn was Swaps, which won the Santa Anita Derby in fast time under Bill Shoemaker. Suddenly Sherman, a crew-cut eighteen-year-old, was boarding a train with Swaps, bound for a showdown with Eastern star Nashua in the 1955 Run for the Roses.

Sherman, Ellsworth and Tenney threw out their sleeping rolls in the straw beside Swaps and two stable ponies in a special freight car. One might think that would be a dusty, rough assignment, riding with three horses in a rail car across the United States. But for Sherman it was the thrill of a lifetime. “Swaps traveled first class,” said Sherman. “He had half a rail car, and we bedded him down with a bunch of straw, really deep.”

Shipping horses by rail was the custom in those days. Over mountain passes and across wide prairies, the train rambled, with Swaps’s car switched from one train to another to arrive in Louisville four days after leaving Los Angeles. The rail car was dropped on a siding at the L&N Railroad’s Strawberry Yards, three blocks from Churchill Downs. But don’t imagine a brass band on hand to hail the arrival of a vaunted Derby contender, or even a crew to unload him carefully.

“Oh, hell, no,” Sherman said. “We just jumped on ’em bareback and rode them off the train.” Then over to the track and through Gate 5. Sherman chuckled: “I remember when we got there, we figure-eighted him between the barns at Churchill Downs. They were all saying, ‘What in the world? Who are these cowboys?’ ”

On at least one morning, Tenney and Sherman rode up to the back fence so Swaps could get a close look at Nashua on the track. On race day, though, it was Nashua that got the best look at Swaps — from behind. The California-bred chestnut held Nashua at bay down the stretch, drawing away at the end in 2:01 4/5, just off Whirlaway’s 1941 Derby record.

Sherman had a 23-year career as a jockey, then settled in training horses, with his sons, at times. His wife Faye ran the souvenir shop at the track, Bay Meadows. Then, years later, the second Big Horse of Sherman’s life came along. This was California Chrome– a golden chestnut, with flashy white markings -- like white chrome on a customized roadster. California Chrome took no prisoners. He flew into

Louisville on a jet, and led all the way in the 2014 Kentucky Derby.

Easy Goer and Sunday Silence

The presence of a Big Horse is a part of the mystique of the Derby. When there are two Big Horses, the mystique runs even deeper.

This scribe is too young to have seen Swaps and Nashua in 1955. But I was on hand on a magical morning in 1989 when Sunday Silence and Easy Goer stepped out on the track at Churchill Downs at the same time, working not half a minute apart.

That morning attracted more people to the morning workouts than observers had ever seen at any track. All down the backstretch and around the first turn, fans squeezed up to the fence. In the distance, spectators looked like dots and dashes of colors. On the Ancient Downs dirt, a quarter mile apart, galloped two of the greatest horses of their age, set for a showdown six days later in the Kentucky Derby.

Up in a little clockers’ stand, we saw it all, and yet we couldn’t say exactly what we did see. Since they didn’t come on to the track together (they wouldn’t!), the two horses were placed well apart — maybe a quarter of a mile apart — and only one horse was watchable at a time. We lost one of them once … then (Whew!) found him again. Then each flew by in a rush of speed, seconds apart. With hoofbeats you almost couldn’t hear.

When they came back from their workouts, walking, breathing, strutting, each made an impression: Easy Goer strode big and magnificent, rippling with muscle deep through the chest under an orangey-chestnut coat. He had a regal presence.

Sunday Silence, colored “dark-bay or brown” in official horse-color terms, looked almost black, with a refined athletic physique. He wasn’t particularly tall, but in his walk he looked like a tall basketball player making his way along a crowded high school hallway.

The moment came, and then they were gone.

In the Derby, Sunday Silence won. Then won again by a whisker in the Preakness. For the Belmont Stakes, Belmont Park arranged a three-character confab for the press. Woody Stevens “moderated,” if that’s word one could use for Woody. With wise-cracking Charlie on one side, and reserved, but amused, Shug McGaughey on the other. It went on for a while, then Woody told Charlie that Sunday Silence was no lock to win the Belmont. “The buildings get a lot taller when you cross that Hudson, said Woody. “Well,” said Charlie. “I’m not coming in a covered wagon.”

Easy Goer aired in the Belmont under jockey Pat Day. The rivals met once more, at the end of the season in the Breeders’ Cup at Gulfstream Park, in Florida. Sunday Silence won that one.

Headed for the barn

Did we leave any stories out? Only a million. Unfortunately, out of space. We’ll have to save

Affirmed and Alydar for another time. And D. Wayne and Buck Wheat. And Secretariat, Spectacular Bid and Barbaro.

Good Luck!

Derby Through the Decades

We searched our archives to bring you Derby fashion events, pageantry, princesses and more from our past volumes in honor of our 75th anniversary and Derby 150.

1991

Kentucky Derby Museum Ball

We joyfully invite you to toast 150 years of the Kentucky Derby®! Join us for an elegant evening of cocktails, dinner, music and dancing. White- or black-tie attire is required.

Valet services will be complimentary.

Presented by Central Bank & Trust derbymuseum.org/ball

FRIDAY, APRIL 26 | 6:00pm FIRST

The Hat Doctor by Ilana Kogan becomes An Official Milliner of the Kentucky Derby Museum

By: VOICE-TRIBUNE

Photos by: Chris Witzke

Last year, VOICE-TRIBUNE reached out to our sponsors to find a local hat designer for Kate Chenery Tweedy and Sara Manning, the daughters of the Triple-Crown Secretariat Owner Penny Chenery, and The Hat Doctor by Ilana Kogan was the first to respond. The sisters attended Derby 149 in honor of the 50th anniversary of Secretariat’s historic Derby and subsequent Triple Crown win. They wore Hat Doctor hats while celebrating Derby 149 and delivering a speech in honor of their mother and the beloved racehorse, Secretariat (aka “Big Red”).

Kogan took special care in the creation of the Chenery hats, incorporating Secretariat’s signature blue and white checkerboard silk pattern in the design. She even included two original 1973 Kentucky Derby pins.

Recently, the Chenery sisters’ hats were donated to the Kentucky Derby Museum, where they are now on display in honor of their late mother, Penny Chenery, and the Secretariat’s legacy.

The Hat Doctor Ilana Kogan, one of the Museum’s five official milliners, also works as a radiologist. Originally from New York City, she moved to Kentucky in 2005 to attend the UofL School of Medicine. She began her business by creating Derby hats for her medical school classmates by reconstructing and embellishing hats on students’ budgets. Now, the handmade, one-of-a-kind designs showcase her love for creative silhouettes and delicately embroidered details.

Learn more about The Hat Doctor, and view her creations at thehatdoctor.com.

Kentuckiana Honda Dealers

Unbridled excitement awaits with the Kentucky Derby Festival! Post time for the first race is 12:40 PM. But the star of the afternoon will be the third race, which is named for the Festival.

Other event features include reserved seating, open bar, chef’s table buffet, access to live in-room mutuel tellers for a table of eight, and more. FOR INFO AND TICKETS (LIMITED SUPPLY) CALL 584-FEST OR SCAN QR CODE:

Dress: Rodeo Drive

Hat: Mad Hatter 502 Handbag: Rodes

In the Style LOUp

By: Ashlea Spears

Photography: Matt Johnson & Antonio Pantoja

Hair and Makeup: J. Michaels Salon

Location: PrivateFlite Aviation

On Cheyenne:

Hello loves! And we’re off! We are coming up on the first turn. The fashion shows have begun showcasing looks from local boutiques, editorial inspo is inspiring nods from over the years as we begin to celebrate the 150th run of our Kentucky Derby.

As throwback themes seem to be playing a heavy favorite with stylists and creators, what better time to take my monthly advice of taking that style risk and pushing yourself outside the box. Everyone will be bringing their style game more than ever this year, so don’t miss your moment to shine!

I mentioned in March that our local boutiques are bursting with new lines, bold styles featuring eye catching prints and embellished details that will be showstopping for your unique style moment.

Fear not, our local boutique jewels keep tabs on who’s wearing what each day so you won’t have to worry about having a twinning moment at the big event.

The key thing to keep in mind is balance. If you’re picking your outfit first and it’s a statement, I recommend going with a toneddown hat with some whimsical minimal details and or a fascinator with structure. If you’re going big for a hat moment with some serious flair, keep you dress or suiting tailored with minimal embellishments and being mindful of smaller or lighter prints.

I’m excited to see what you all come up with for the events. Send any style questions or advice to my on Instagram at @inthestyleloup.

Toasting to Kentucky Shining in Style, Ashlea

Come On Derby, Let’s Go Party! Celebrating 150 Years of Kentucky Tradition

Jumpsuit: Merci Boutique

Belt: Glasscock Too

Handbag: Von Maur

Fascinator: Big Day Hats

Earrings: Peppermint Palm

Publisher: Amelia Frazier Theobald

Production Assistant: Alisha Proffitt

Photographer: Antonio Pantoja

Assistant: Taylor Christine

Behind-the-Scenes Photography: Matt Johnson

Fashion Stylists: Liz Bingham Rogers and Ashlea Spears

Styling Assistant: Aly Thomas

Hair & Makeup: J. Michaels Salon

Models: Ashley Anderson, Aislynn Renfrow, Alyssa Towning, Cheyenne Mecier, Trevor B., Zach Hammel and Elliot Wilson-Woodrow all with Heyman Talent Agency and Margaret Streeter

Planes: PrivateFlite Aviation

Cars: Blue Grass MOTORSPORT

Clothing: Belle Monde Boutique, Glasscock, Glasscock Too, Mamili, Merci Boutique, Peppermint Palm, Rodeo Drive,

Rodes For Him & For Her, Sassy Fox Upscale Consignment, That Cute Little Shop, Von Maur

Milliners: Attitudes by Angie, Big Day Hats, The Hat Doctor, Mad Hatter

Fine Jewelry: Aesthetics in Jewelry and Genesis Diamonds

Flowers: Susan’s Florist

Derby Decor: Dolfinger’s

Jewelry: Aesthetics in Jewelry

Jacket: Sassy Fox Upscale Consignment

Fascinator: The Hat Doctor

Roses: Susan’s Florist

Dress: Rodeo Drive

Hat: Attitudes by Angie

Jewelry: Aesthetics in Jewelry

Suit: Von Maur

Dress and Jacket: Rodes For Her Hat: The Hat Doctor

Jewelry: Genesis Diamonds

On Ashley:

Bodysuit: Von Maur

Skirt: Rodes For Her

Hat: The Hat Doctor

Handbag: That Cute Little Shop

Earrings: Peppermint Palm

Necklace & Bracelet: Genesis Diamonds

Dress: Belle Monde Boutique

Hat: Attitudes by Angie

Jewelry: Genesis Diamonds

Dress: That Cute Little Shop

Fascinator: The Hat Doctor

Purse: Mamili

Sunglasses: Von Maur

Earrings: Peppermint Palm

On Margaret:

Dress: Belle Monde Boutique

Fascinator: Mad Hatter 502

Purse: Mamili

Shoes: Sassy Fox Upscale Consignment

Flowers: Susan’s Florist

Charcuterie Board: Cultured

Pilliows: Available at Peppermint Palm & Von Maur

On Aislynn:

Dress: Mamili

Fascinator: Mad Hatter

Jewelry: Aesthetics in Jewelry

On Alyssa: Shirt: Glasscock Too Skirt: Belle Monde Boutique Fascinator: Big Day Hats Purse: Von Maur Earrings & Ring: Aesthetics in Jewelry Scarf: Mamili

On Zach: Outfit: Rodes For Him Watch: Genesis Diamonds

On Margaret: Skirt, Sweater & Earrings: Peppermint Palm Shirt: Glasscock Too Fascinator: The Hat Doctor

Purse: Rodes For Her Necklaces & Bracelet: Aesthetics in Jewelry

On Elliot: Shirt, Pants, & Sunglasses: Von Maur

Belt: Rodes For Him

Watch: Genesis Diamonds

On Cheyenne:

Earrings: Merci Boutique

On Margaret:

Fascinator: The Hat Doctor

Jewelry: Aesthetics in Jewelry

On Alyssa:

Dress & Purse: Glasscock Too Consignment

Fascinator: Mad Hatter

Jewelry: Aesthetics in Jewelry

Dress: Rodes For Her Fascinator: Big Day Hats

Handbag: Belle Monde Boutique

Dress & Purse: Glasscock Too

Jacket: Sassy Fox Upscale Consignment

On Cheyenne: Dress: Rodeo Drive Fascinator: The Hat Doctor Jewelry: Aesthetics in Jewelry

On Alyssa: Dress: Sassy Fox Upscale Consignment Fascinator: Big Day Hats Jewelry: Aesthetics in Jewelry

On Ashley: Top & Purse: Rodes For Her

Skirt: Mamili

Fascinator: Attitudes by Angie

Earrings: Peppermint Palm

On Margaret:

Dress & Jacket: Glasscock Too

Fascinator: The Hat Doctor

Handbag: Rodes For Her

Earrings: Peppermint Palm

On Aislynn:

Dress: Glasscock Too Jacket: Mamili

Fascinator: Big Day Hats

Handbag: Rodes For Her

Shoes: Sassy Fox Upscale Consignment

On Cheyenne:

Dress: Rodeo Drive

Hat: Mad Hatter 502

Handbag: Rodes For Her

On Elliot: Suit: Rodes For Him

Hat: Von Maur

On Trevor: Suit: Rodes For Him

On Elliot: Shirt & Belt: Rodes For Him

Sunglasses: Von Maur

Julep Cup: Dolfinger’s

Charcuterie Board: Cultured

On Aislynn: Dress: Glasscock Too

Fascinator: The Hat Doctor

Earrings: Rodeo Drive

Ring & Bracelet: Aesthetics in Jewelry

On Zach: Suite: Rodes For Him

Charcuterie Board: Cultured

On Cheyenne:

Dress: Rodeo Drive

Fascinator: Attitudes by Angie

Purse: Belle Monde Boutique

Earrings: Merci Boutique

On Alyssa: Dress: Rodeo Drive

Fascinator: The Hat Doctor Ring: Aesthetics in Jewelry

On Alyssa: Dress: Rodeo Drive

Fascinator: The Hat Doctor

Ring: Aesthetics in Jewelry

On Aislynn: Dress: Glasscock Too Fascinator: Mad Hatter 502 Ring: Aesthetics in Jewelry Purse: Mamili

On Alyssa: Top & Pants: Glasscock Too Fascinator: Big Day Hats

On Elliot: Suit & Sunglasses: Von Maur

On Aislynn:

Dress: Glasscock Too Fascinator:The Hat Doctor

Handbag: That Cute Little Shop

Jewelry: Genesis Diamonds

On Aislynn: Dress: Sassy Fox Upscale Consignment Hat: Attitudes by Angie

On Cheyenne: Dress & Belt: Glasscock Too

Fur Jacket: Sassy Fox Upscale Consignment Hat: The Hat Doctor

Jewelry: Aesthetics in Jewelry

On Alyssa: Top, Belt & Skirt: Rodeo Drive Hat: The Hat Doctor

Jewelry: Aesthetics in Jewelry

Purse: Peppermint Palm

On Zach: Suit: Rodes For Him

On Elliot:

Suit: Rodes For Him

Sunglasses: Von Maur

Flowers: Susan’s Florist Charcuterie Board: Cultured

On Alyssa: Top, Belt & Skirt: Rodeo Drive

Hat: The Hat Doctor

Jewelry: Aesthetics in Jewelry

Purse: Peppermint Palm

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Celebrating Derby 150: Amy Streeter’s Derby Rose Dress Poised for

By: Amy Streeter, Owner, Susan’s Florist

its 12th Debut on the Red Carpet

Photos provided by: Susan’s Florist & John Nation

It was nearly twelve years ago that we dressed Rachel Wagoner in the first Rose Dress for a Derby season fashion show. My daughter, Margaret, who was only seven at the time, loved being involved in the process of making my vision come to life. She was my “right hand” backstage at the fashion show, helping me adjust the tightly sewn fresh rose skirt and lei for Rachel before she walked the runway. That experience began the “labor of love,” and really solidified this as a yearly Streeter family tradition.

Every florist is going to have their fair share of chaos, and Derby time in Kentucky is nothing short of beautifully chaotic. The rose dress alone entails cutting and cleaning over 500 roses, hand sewing and placing the blooms delicately on the fabric of the dress, and transporting the dress to and from the track. I think of the Derby Rose Dress as a living piece of art.

2019 was the first year that Margaret donned the rose dress. This dress was a particularly special creation, as it was an honor to her late brother, Robert Streeter, who passed away in 2018. When Margaret turned around, viewers saw the “R” which was constructed out of bamboo and adorned with deep red spray roses. The “R” has been a piece that I have included in my design in years since.

My inspiration for the rose dress is pulled from many different facets of our city, and “pretty things” that catch my eye. Each year, I start the process with an image in my head and rough sketch on paper. However, it never is exactly that image, since the dress truly evolves during the process. In the end it is molded into a unique showpiece I am thrilled to highlight on the first Saturday in May. When I designed the first Rose Dress, it felt important for me to show my appreciation to the Derby. I created the skirt as an ode to the Derby Rose Blanket, and the lei as a tribute to the rose garland. Shannon Burton then beautifully presented the Derby Rose Dress for five years.

In 2021, the Rose Dress was worn by Jessie Smith and featured a dramatic bow across the shoulder and a lace cape, of course, all embellished with beautiful roses. Being the first Derby after the pandemic, I wanted my design to celebrate our community and be a remembrance to those we lost. The cape added a “superhero” aspect to the dress to display our gratitude to all our local heroes and to remind all of us that we are all superheroes in some way.

In the last twelve years, four models have assisted in showcasing the Rose Dress. I am thrilled to create a special piece that my daughter will wear to the 150th Run for the Roses. Margaret’s dedication and poise has added an irreplaceable element to the final product as she radiates a sense of pride and admiration walking on the red carpet. It is a long, exhausting adventure but one we consider a privilege. Our labor of love.

Margaret

Margaret, 7 years old

Louisville’s Derby Rose Margaret Streeter

Dress: Rodes For Her Jacket: Glasscock Too Fascinator: The Hat Doctor Jewlery: Aesthetics in Jewelry

Getting Through the Spring Blues

By: Dr. Oksana Zhurbich, Clinical Psychologist, Kentucky Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders

Photography By: Jimmy Cacer Sponsored Content

Depression can be a scary thing. Sometimes, it can feel like things are beginning to spiral downhill and a profound sadness creeps in. Activities and hobbies no longer seem pleasant, insomnia and fatigue begin to prevail, appetite changes wreak havoc, feelings of worthlessness or guilt loom overhead, thinking and making decisions become difficult, and thoughts of death may float by. These are all normal symptoms of depression and we usually associate these low emotions with the cold, dreary winter weather. So why do we continue to feel blue when the weather changes into spring and what can we do?

Research shows that anxiety and depression hit high points in April and there are many reasons for this. One reason may be the change in weather that comes with a sense of having no control over the environment. Another reason may be the sudden increase of sunlight which can often cue the body to produce less melatonin leading to getting less sleep. Another reason may be that during the winter months, serotonin (a feel-good chemical in our body) decreases and we roll into spring with less happy chemicals in our system. Whatever the reason is, the important thing is that there are things that you can do. Here are some tips for getting through these spring blues.

Tune into your diet. Tuning into your diet can help you rebuild the serotonin that was depleted during the winter months. The gastrointestinal tract is the largest producer of serotonin. Through a complex set of steps, serotonin is metabolized from foods that are high in an essential amino acid called tryptophan. These include bananas, pineapples, plums, turkey, and milk. The body also uses tryptophan to make melatonin, which helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle, and uses tryptophan to produce vitamin B3, which is used for energy metabolism. Something as simple as picking up foods high in tryptophan on your next grocery run can be beneficial in combatting the spring blues.

Exercise. Research shows that those who exercise are more cheerful than those who do not. High-intensity exercise releases feel-good chemicals but for most people the real value is in low-intensity exercise that is sustained over time. Depression can cause poor sleep, low energy, appetite changes, body aches, and a higher perception of pain which can all lead to low motivation for exercise. This cycle is hard to break but getting up and moving even a little can help. Five minutes of walking per day (or any activity you enjoy) can soon become 10 and 10 will become 15 and so on. The key is to pick an exercise that you like, something that you’ll want to keep doing, and something that you can sustain over time.

Take action. Taking action towards feeling better is something that is within your control, no matter how dismal the situation or mood may be. You can take action by following these four steps. First, make a list of activities that are positive for you and that you have either enjoyed in the past, currently enjoy, or something new that you think you will enjoy (take a bath, make cookies with a friend, attend a silent disco or charity event, etc.). Second, intentionally participate in the activity by observing and noticing your surroundings, your senses, thoughts, and how you feel in your body during the activity. After you engage in the positive activity, jot down how the activity affected your mood (note if it made you feel more energized, hopeful, accomplished, proud, etc.). Third, find the silver lining, or something positive, in every activity or situation. Notice and appreciate the positive aspects of everyday things and events and savor the moment. Fourth, take ownership of your own contribution to positive experiences. Taking ownership of positive events in your life is just as important as noticing and appreciating them. You have to believe that you can impact and influence positive things happening in your life even if depression is making it difficult for you to take credit for your role in positive events. By taking ownership of your actions, you can begin to feel emotions such as pride, happiness, success, and optimism.

Get help. If you have been feeling depressed for weeks at a time or have lost interest and pleasure in nearly all activities, it may be time to seek help. If your child or adolescent has lost interest in almost all activities, is sad or irritable, it may be time to seek help for them. There are many effective types of therapy and medications for depression and many people regain their life back. It is never too early or too late to seek help.

Dr. Oksana Zhurbich is a clinical psychologist at The Kentucky Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders (KYCARDS) specializing in anxiety and related disorders. If you or a loved one is struggling with anxiety or a related disorder, KYCARDS can offer rapid relief and lifelong change through evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy. If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, help can be reached 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Dial or text 988 from a smartphone or call 911.

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Sammie reaches to the ceiling to elongate her back and stretch her shoulders to relieve stress and tension.

Release Your Stress — The Right Way

By: Alison Cardoza

Photos by: Matt Johnson Sponsored Content

April is stress awareness month. We all experience stress throughout the day. There are two different types of stress; eustress and distress. Eustress is a good stress that enables us to get up in the morning and perform well throughout the day. Distress can be more harmful to the body by causing anxiety.

Cortisol, the stress hormone, plays an important role in the stress response. This hormone regulates a wide range of vital processes throughout the body, including metabolism and the immune response. It also has a very important role in helping the body respond to stress in a positive or negative way. As an adaptive response to stress, there is a change in the serum level of various hormones including CRH, cortisol, catecholamines, and the thyroid hormone. These changes may be required for the “fight or flight” response of the individual to stress. One way to release stress is to exercise.

Many people feel they are restricted at work from movement and physical exertion. Deep breaths and meditation can help release some, but an all over body movement is best. Try these chair exercises today. Start with 15 reps each day.

All of these exercises are to be performed seated in a chair:

1. Sit to stand on and off a chair.

2. Seated bent knee lifts.

3. DB Bicep curls seated in a chair.

4. Front and side arm raises.

5. Calf raises seated.

6. Small abdominal contractions against the chair. Push the small of the spine into the chair. Hold 5 seconds and release.

7. Single leg extension.

8. Knee to chest ab crunches.

9. Single arm reaches to ceiling.

10. Arm circles (clockwise and counter).

We all need to be positive role models. Wake up and say one positive attribute about yourself. Prepping the night before will help eliminate unnecessary stress. Packing your lunch, laying out clothes, and mentally preparing for your day will be a great start. In the morning, make your bed and leave your house as clean as possible, so you can come home to a tidy atmosphere. Pre-planning and making these little changes can naturally eliminate unnecessary stressors.

Alison Cardoza, ACSM Certified Personal Trainer and Fitour Group Exercise Instructor at Baptist Health Milestone Wellness Center. BS Exercise Science and Sports Medicine with a minor in Health Promotions from University of Louisville. Former UofL Ladybird and NFL Colts Cheerleader.

Sammie is performing a front arm raise.

Mary is performing a DB Shoulder press.

Summer Eliason’s Cabin & Tipi

By: Lisa Hornung

Family photos By:

Inerior Photo By:

Andrew Kung

Jillian Ferrell Photography

Lots of people have cabins at the lake, where they spend their summer weekends with family, enjoying getting away from home. But not many people have their own tipi (tepee) to sleep under the stars like Native Americans once did.

Designer and entrepreneur Summer Eliason does. Well, sort of. Hers, while made by a company that creates traditional Native American tipis, also has air conditioning.

Eliason and her family often visit Patoka Lake, Ind. Eliason said her mother and stepfather, Susan and Lucky Vervilles, had two boats on the lake. They would stay at West Baden Springs in the past, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, they decided to buy a cabin.

First, they looked to build but decided against it. Eventually, they found one to buy and renovate in Birdseye, Ind., which is about 10 minutes from the lake, Eliason said. “We just had to do some updates, because it was built in like the late ’80s, early ’90s. And it kind of had been let go. And then it kind of grew into two lots just to not have neighbors.” The family bought a neighboring lot, and eventually another neighboring cabin.

But Eliason had always had a love for the West. As a child, she had Navajo print decorating her room, and she later studied at the University of Colorado. She named the cabin Buffalo Creek, a nod to her CU Buffs. While decorating the cabin with Western decor was fun, she found an even better idea -- a tipi.

She bought a 26-foot tipi from Nomadics Tipi Makers, a company based in Bend, Ore. The company makes tipis of multiple sizes and materials that reflect the use of the structure for the purchaser with respect to the land and culture of Native Americans. The company also created the tipis from the 1990 movie, “Dances with Wolves.”

The tipi, adorned with hand-painted bison and other Native American motifs, has beds, a game table and animal hydes for a western touch. When it arrived, Eliason said it hadn’t occurred to her that the tipi needed a floor, so they had to build a deck to put it on. It has a small air conditioner and a “critter-guard,” an extra feature from the tipi company. And it’s become kind of an attraction, she said. “People in the neighborhood are like, ‘What is this?’”

The cabin, which was renovated over time by two uncles who live in Evansville, has Pendelton blankets, taxidermy and deer-horn chandeliers. She also has several prints from one of her favorite Colorado artists, collage artist Dolan Geiman. The garage is the family’s game room, with ping pong, air hockey and ax throwing. Out by the tipi, there is archery.

Eliason bought some of the decor and furniture from her vendors for her Frankfort Avenue store, Summer Eliason Design, but she and her mom shopped other stuff at consignment stores and Eyedia Design It Again (now closed). They tried to keep the budget low for some items. They tried to keep both cabins and the tipi consistent with furniture and decor to make sense together.

The family, including Eliason’s husband and children -- Peter Thurman Jr., Halston Thurman, 11, and Hutton Thurman, 8, and sheepadoodle Oreo -- uses the tipi as an extra space for visitors to stay, glamping-style. Oreo is an especially big fan.

Heitzman Traditional Bakery and Deli is Moving into its 5th Generation with Old-Time Ingredients

By: Lisa Hornung

Photos by: Matt Johnson Sponsored Content

Most people in the Louisville area know the Heitzman name. We associate it with delicious baked goods -- cakes, pies, doughnuts or butter kuchen. But while Heitzman Traditional Bakery does make delicious sweets, it’s far more than just a bakery.

Heitzman Traditional Bakery and Deli is a full-service restaurant, bakery and catering company. The company has been in Louisville for 133 years, founded on Burnett Avenue in Germantown by Jacob Heitzman in 1891. Jacob’s great-granddaughter Marguerite Osting Schadt now owns the business with her husband Dan Schadt, and soon will pass it down to their son Matthew, who will run it for the next 30 years, Marguerite Schadt said. Matthew Schadt, 25, will become the fifth generation to own the business, and he’s been working at the bakery cafe full time for the past two years.

“Jacob Heitzman came over on the boat from Germany, and he was

actually a brickmaker at the beginning of his life,” Marguerite Schadt said. “And he thought the business was too hot. So, he was trying to find something a little bit more … I can’t say that it was more air because you couldn’t have air conditioning in a shop (and it wasn’t available at the time). But just looking for something a little bit not as hot and humid.”

Jacob’s son, Charles Heitzman, bought the bakery in 1934. His daughter, Mary Agnes Heitzman Osting, and her husband, Paul Osting, bought it in 1954, making them the third generation of the business. Marguerite Osting, the youngest of five, began working at Heitzman’s at age 6, as much as a 6-year-old can. She later met her husband Dan Schadt, who also worked at Heitzman’s, and they would eventually become the fourth generation to own the business.

They moved the business to 9426 Shelbyville Road in 2000, where it remains today. The facility is more than 6,000 square feet, and houses the entire operation of baking, catering and the cafe.

“We’re more than just a donut shop,” Marguerite Schadt said. “We’ve been doing catering for over 65 years. We can do bartending, whole wedding receptions, rehearsal dinners. We rent out our space here in the dining room for bridal parties and showers. We do that a lot.”

The company has 18 to 20 full-time employees, including two full-time chefs. It has 10 part-time employees and a fleet of three trucks. “We’ve got longevity with our employees, too,” Schadt said. “We’ve got some employees that have been with us as long as 38 years. I’ve been working for 45. My husband has worked here for 43.”

A recent addition to the shop has been a windowed wall where guests in the dining room can watch the bakers in the shop work. The new wall was installed in December. “It’s really the big adults -- the big kids -- are enjoying it more. It’s amazing how people just stand up and see it. They just love the look of the muffins coming out, the chocolate cake coming out, the hams all that,” Schadt said. It’s something that people really don’t see anymore. It’s not coming out of a box, you know. It’s literally being made by people’s hands.”

Schadt emphasized that all the food from Heitzman Traditional Bakery and Deli is made with whole ingredients, just like you’d make at home. There are no preservatives, and nothing is made with

mixes. It’s all fresh and made by hand.

“Food is always a part of a party. And that’s what we’re here for, is to accommodate (customers),” Schadt said. “And I think that’s one of the reasons we have done so well is because there is food at every party, and we just try to keep it 100 percent. We try to make it as fast as we can, and people seem to be coming back. So, that’s what we enjoy.”

She said the company ships anywhere for people nostalgic for Heitzman’s goodies. And having the history of each item adds to the joy. “If anybody needs to know how something is made or how it was actually started in our business, there’s always a story behind it,” she said. “That’s the beauty part about it because I can name each individual and tell you a story behind it. For instance, the butter kuchen, like where it started and what’s in it. You know, a lot of people love it so much. When people bring it up, it’s a good memory, and it brings people back home. That’s what we want to keep alive in our in our in our community.”

Community, tradition and family bring Heitzman Traditional Bakery and Deli into the 21st century and beyond. “We want to let people know that we are here because we are here for the community,” Marguerite Schadt said.”We’re not really here for the almighty dollar per se, but really for the community. And that’s what we’ve been doing in our family for over 133 years.”

A Game-Changer for Louisville!

New Goodwill facility brings top-notch and long-neglected offerings to West Louisville

By: Gill Holland

It has been said that Louisville is a town of neighborhoods. Most folks stick close to their neighborhoods, except for downtown excursions to Actors Theatre for a play, the Yum Center for a game or concert, or NuLu for its fabulous food, bars, and local shopping scene. So most folks are probably unaware of the game-changing $120 million investment that has happened in West Louisville over this past year.

For those of us who have bemoaned the various bad decisions made by city leaders over the decades that led to Broadway being a less than attractive boulevard for pedestrians, Louisville now has at, 28th and Broadway, an attractive and huge building built right up to the sidewalk with parking in the rear (as it should always be in urban settings).

“The investment that Goodwill is making in West Louisville is more than a 125,000 square foot building,” said DeVone Holt, Chief External Affairs Officer for Goodwill Industries of Kentucky. “It’s a bold symbol of hope for people in a community that has been overlooked and underserved for decades.”

Photos provided by: Goodwill Industries of Kentucky

The building is airy, spacious, with wireless and room for all, and to be clear, 125,000 square feet is about three acres under roof! The $50 million Goodwill ‘Opportunity Campus’ paired with a $70 million Norton HealthCare Center adjacent on the southern Parkland side. This represents the first medical center built west of 9th Street in over 100 years. The two facilities occupy twenty acres and there is a sheltered bus stop right in front. When a group of us toured it this past month, they were still working on the sidewalks, the parking area, doing final painting, and they were in the early stages of building out a café which Blak Koffee will operate. Blak Koffee is the hugely popular coffee shop in Russell on Jefferson and 12th and already a destination for morning meetings for many.

After getting input from about 3,000 west Louisville residents about what the assets, challenges, needs and desires of local residents were for the area and the facility, Holt adds, “never before has our city seen a coming together of programs, services and organizations like the ones that will exist on the Norton Healthcare Goodwill Opportunity Campus.”

Coming together under one roof to partner in this endeavor will be Kentuckiana Works, Big Brothers Big Sisters, YMCA, Volunteers of America (VOA), Park Community Credit Union, Kentucky College of Barbering, the University of Louisville College of Dentistry and Legal Aid Society.

There will be drop-in childcare, and a community room for everything from Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to gatherings and birthday parties.

The wi-fi will be strong in the Technology Center ,since residents of West Louisville have low rates of internet and computer access. Park Community Credit Union will help with second chance banking for folks in need, as well as financial literacy.

While all the groups just started moving in during February, the grand opening is slated for late March. The entire community is involved in many ways, from where the financing came from, to you, the reader, as a future volunteer! The city of Louisville under Mayor Craig Greenberg committed $5M, the James Graham Brown Foundation $1M, and there were many other major contributions from PNC, Gheens Foundation, Jewish Heritage Fund, First Financial Bank, Truist Bank, to name a few. For me, the biggest AHA! moment was learning that Goodwill employees themselves believe in this project so much that they together have donated $180,000!! That is a LOT of money (and buy-in) from a group of hard-working folks that are not necessarily earning a lot.

The Goodwill Opportunity Center will employ about 200 people at around $60k/year — great jobs in an area where the average income now is about $21k. The HealthCare Center will offer another 300 or so jobs. Together, the campus will deliver an unprecedented collection of services that will serve 65,000 local residents, and prepare thousands of people for new and better career opportunities.

“It’s no secret that the people of west Louisville are burdened with more than their fair share of our city’s woes, but this 20-acre campus that Goodwill is building with Norton Healthcare is a transformative approach to support residents who are looking for a ‘hand up’ in life,” said DeVone Holt.

“At Goodwill, we meet wonderful people who only need an opportunity, who need a ‘hand-up’ and then just watch them go. They do great things. They just constantly amaze us,” Luttrell said. “Our goal is for the West Louisville Opportunity Center to help move people from deep poverty all the way to the middle class.”

For those who would like to learn more, updates can be had at GoodwillWestLouisville.com, and the social media channels

@goodwillky!

Thank you to our sponsors for your continued support:

Aesthetics In Jewelry

Attitudes by Angie

Baptist Health/Milestone Wellness Center

Barry Wooley Designs

Belle Monde Boutique

Big Day Events

Bittners

Bluegrass Motorsports

BW Luxe Home Outlet

Cultured

Details Interiors

Dolfinger’s

Genesis Diamonds

Glasscock Boutique

Glasscock Too

Integro Wellness Institue

J Michaels Spa & Salon

Julene B Samuels MD

Kentucky Derby Festival

Kentucky Derby Museum

Kentucky Select Properties

KMAC Contemporary Art Museum

Liquor Barn

Laura Rice - Lenihan Sotheby’s International Realty

Louisville Zoo Events & Catering (SSA Group)

Mad Hatter 502

Mamili

Melanie Galloway - Lenihan Sotheby’s International Realty

Merridian Home Furnishings

Merci

Peppermint Palm Petals

PrivateFlite Aviation

Rodes For Him & Her

Rodeo Drive

Sassy Fox

Speed Art Museum

Susan’s Florist

That Cute Little Shop

The Hat Doctor

The Skin Group

Wellspring

Von Maur

Elizabeth & Ryan Parsley

By: VOICE-TRIBUNE

Photos by: Rachel D Photography

Elizabeth Deye and Ryan Parsley met during college; they bonded over their love of the great outdoors, their shared group of friends, and all things rustic. Years later, they began dating and married this past February. Below, Elizabeth shares their love story and the sentimental and traditional touches the two incorporated into their wedding ceremony.

How did you meet?

“Ryan and I met when I was in college in 2012 through his cousin Aubrey, who is a good friend of mine. We spent many weekends around each other at the lake, but it wasn’t until Aubrey began dating Ryan’s friend Colby that we really started to get to know each other. We started dating in August of 2020 after spending a weekend at the lake with Ryan’s family and friends.”

Tell us about the proposal, or the moment you decided marriage was the next step.

“The proposal took place on my birthday on the walking bridge in Louisville. Ryan told me we had plans to celebrate my birthday, and were going to take a walk on the bridge. When we got to the end of the bridge, Ryan completely surprised me with a proposal in front of all of our family and friends including my little sister, Emma, who came all the way from Portland, Oregon. After the proposal and photos were taken, we proceeded to The Parlour in Jeffersonville to celebrate our engagement with everyone.”

Where and when was your wedding?

“Our wedding was at St. Agnes Catholic Church on February 3, 2024. We chose St. Agnes because it is where Ryan went to grade school and we both became Godparents to his nieces at the church. The church itself is beautiful and we thought it was the perfect place to begin our lives together.”

“Our reception was at the Gheens Foundation Lodge at the Parklands. The big windows overlooking the creek and surrounding gardens captured mine and Ryan’s elegant and outdoorsy personalities perfectly. We wanted a cozy and personal feel to our wedding that allowed us to be present with our guests. The Gheens offered the perfect balance of a rustic yet elegant venue that truly reflected who we are as a couple.”

Who were your vendors?

“The Mayan Cafe (Louisville, East Market Street) catered our wedding. Ryan and I knew we wanted some kind of tacos at our wedding and after eating at the restaurant, we knew they were the perfect fit. We loved the idea of being able to go back to the restaurant to eat on our anniversary to have a taste of our wedding food. The staff at Mayan was absolutely wonderful to work with and truly handled everything. RK, who is in charge of catering for Mayan Cafe, helped coordinate with other vendors as well to make for a seamless planning process. They definitely went above and beyond to make our wedding day special.”

“Our wedding cake was a three-tiered cookie cake made by Bakedbymb. Mary Beth Clark, owner of Bakedbymb, is a friend’s sister who is local. Ryan and I attended a wedding where Mary Beth had made a similar cookie cake and after tasting it, we knew it was what we wanted. Mary Beth also made several additional cakes to serve to the guests at the wedding.”

“Our photographer, Rachel Ballard, lives in Berea, Kentucky. I saw photos of a wedding Rachel shot and loved the light and natural look of her photos. Rachel took our engagement photos in Lexington at Keeneland and the Arboretum. Ryan and I are both not big on having our photos taken, but Rachel’s bubbly personality brought fun and comfort to our photo sessions. Rachel was able to capture our personalities in our photos, which we will forever cherish.”

“My mom’s friend Amy is the owner of Louisville’s Susan’s Florist, who created all the florals for our wedding. Susan’s went above and beyond in designing our floral arrangements to perfectly represent Ryan and I as a couple. I am a big fan of plants, and wanted a natural green look for our flowers. Amy added Bells of Ireland and Veronica to my bouquet to give it the natural feel, as well as turkey feathers. Ryan enjoys hunting, and we wanted to add a little something to tie that into our

wedding. We used bourbon bottles for our centerpieces to add a touch of Kentucky, as well as to represent Ryan’s favorite drink.”

“My wedding dress was from Rebecca’s Bridal Boutique. My brother-inlaw’s sister, Kaitlyn Fink, who is also a close family friend, works at Rebecca’s and was able to assist me in picking out my dress.”

“My sister Sarah was our wedding planner. Sarah is the Director of Patron Experience and Events at Keeneland, so she has a lot of experience. It was very special to have my sister be able to help plan our wedding and allowed us to really add some personal touches.”

Where did you honeymoon, and/or plan to honeymoon?

“The day after our wedding, we flew to Florida and stayed at the SunSeeker Resort in Port Charlotte, Florida for a few days. Ryan’s parents have a house in Port Charlotte so we were familiar with the area and were able to visit some of our favorite local spots. We also plan to travel to Key West this summer.”

Did you incorporate any family legacy, honorary memories or significant heirloom pieces into the event?

“Ryan’s grandfather, John Ryan, gifted his wedding ring to Ryan, his only grandson. His grandmother, Anita Ryan’s father (Christian) was a jeweler and made the ring for John 62 years ago.”

“I wore my mother, Gail Deye’s sapphire tennis bracelet and a necklace, both gifts from my dad. This was my ‘something blue and something borrowed.’”

“As a small gift, I gave my Dad, Tony Deye, a tie to wear for our wedding with a special touch. At the bottom of the tie was a picture of my Dad and I and the note “forever your Bitty Bee.” Bitty Bee was a nickname my dad gave me when I was about three years old, and has called me ever since.”

“The last little personal touch was a token given to my niece Norah as a flower girl gift. On Norah’s flower girl stems was a small pendant that said “Today you’re a flower girl but one day you’ll hold the bouquet. Keep this charm as your ‘something old’”.

Tell us about any other special details you incorporated into your wedding day.

“As a surprise to Ryan and a representation of his favorite hobby, duck hunting, each member of our wedding party blew a duck call as Ryan and I entered the reception.”

I am a third grade teacher at Saint Mary Academy, and truly love my job. I couldn’t invite my whole class to our wedding, but wanted to find a way to incorporate my students into our day. My students answered different questions about love and marriage, and answered them on cards for our table numbers. It worked out perfectly as this year I have 24 students, and we had 24 tables at our wedding, so each student was represented. Their responses were honest and sweet in addition to providing some laughs.”

Fund

for the Arts

Celebrates

its 75th Anniversary Campaign Art is What We’ve Been Looking For: Louisville and the City of Artists

By: Andre Kimo Stone Guess | President and CEO of Fund for the Arts

Our world feels as if it is more divided than ever, as if there is nothing that can bring us together or get us to hear one another. We know that communities are at their best when people are united under a common banner, theme, or purpose. We are crying out for unity but struggling to find the right catalyst.

At Fund for the Arts, we know that art is that unifying catalyst.

We believe that art is a right, not a privilege, because art is a fundamental expression of the human condition. Art is the way that we make sense of the world around us. It’s how we celebrate, tell stories, mourn, and heal. It’s how we connect.

Louisville is recognized as a city whose arts community punches above its weight. We are one of the smallest cities in the country to have all the major arts institutions — orchestra, opera, ballet, fine arts museum, regional theatre, and children’s theatre. We are home to internationally famous conductors, have raised Oscar winners and record-setting rappers, produced Pulitzer Prize-winning new plays, and taught painters whose work hangs in some of the most prestigious museums in the world.

Trip J Band at Celebration of the Arts 2023 Photo by Bill Wine

Andre Kimo Stone Guess

Photo by Marvin Young

And according to Americans for the Arts’ Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 Study (AEP6) Louisville’s non-profit arts and culture sphere is still a powerful one, generating over $517 Million in direct economic activity and over 7,900 jobs in Louisville/Jefferson County in FY22. The study also found that non-profit arts and culture audiences spend an average of $45.09 per person, per event, and that nonlocal attendees spend nearly twice as much as locals, generating momentum and financial power in a world still adjusting to the lasting effects of a pandemic.

Since 1949, Fund for the Arts, one of the first two United Arts Funds in the country, has raised over a quarter billion dollars to foster the arts ecosystem. We believe the arts are not only relevant, but vital to everyone in this community. In the past decade, we have grown our recipient pool for operating grants from 5 to 27, stretching across every discipline, budget size, and mission, as well as adding a whole new quarterly grant program designed entirely based on community listening sessions.

Alongside Louisville Metro Government and libraries across the region, we have facilitated the Cultural Pass program, distributing over 221,000 Passes and granting young people FREE access to more than 77 venues in the community. Plus, we continue to invest in students and teaching artists via 5x5 and TAG grants to help connect young people with the arts in their learning environments.

We should be proud of this history and gravitas! It’s no small thing having all this right here at home. But we are more than a City of Arts.

On September 9, 2023, in honor of our Celebration of the Arts event and the start of our 75th Anniversary Campaign, Mayor Craig Greenberg proclaimed Louisville a City of Artists, a place where anyone can make a life in art—no matter what they do for a living. There is one huge difference between a City of Arts and a City of Artists—and that’s YOU.

Whether we realize it or not, everyone in our community creates and consumes art every single day, regardless of age, ability, race, gender, sexual orientation, resources, income, ZIP code, etc. — from car-singing, to kitchen-dancing, from make-it-at-home mixology to amateur herbology, from taking in a play to taking ballet classes, from weaving tangible threads on a loom to weaving the threads of your history into a narrative.

Art makes it easier to share in the humanity of others. It is the key to unity that we have all been looking for. At Fund for the Arts, we are dedicated to generating resources for, investing in, and supporting the incredible art, artists, and arts organizations that make up our City of Artists, and that includes you. Invest in your own art and be ready for the incredible connection you will find in this community.

I Am An Artist and a proud citizen of our City of Artists and so are you…

Trip J Band at Celebration of the Arts 2023

Photo by Bill Wine

Fund for the Arts Board Chair Nicole Yates, President and CEO Andre Kimo Stone Guess, and Mayor Craig Greenberg at Celebration of the Arts 2023

APRIL 10

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Chenoweth Square

Derby Trot

Chenoweth Square 5:00PM

APRIL 11

Bourbonville at The Frazier

The Frazier History Musuem 6:30PM

APRIL 11

Derby 150th Tribute Dinner

The Kentucky Derby Museum 5:30PM

APRIL 11

Fascinator Affair

The Waterfront Botanical Gardens 11:30AM

APRIL 12

Frazier History Museum

20th Anniversary Gala

The Frazier History Musuem 5:30PM

APRIL 13

Kentucky Derby Festival

Block Party

Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Complex 10:00AM

APRIL 13

Fillies Derby Ball

The Galt House 6:00PM

APRIL 13

JDRF Gala

The Seelbach 5:30PM

APRIL 13

Puppypalooza

Westport Village 11:00AM

APRIL 13

KMAC Couture

Paristown 7:00PM

APRIL 14

Tour De Lou

Downtown, Louisville 8:00AM

APRIL 16

Taste of Derby Festival

Slugger Field 5:30PM

APRIL 19

They’re Off! Luncheon

The Galt House 10:30AM

APRIL 19

Down Syndrome of Louisville

Gallop Gala

The Galt House 6:00PM

APRIL 20

Thunder Over Louisville

Kroger Fest-A-Ville on the Waterfront 2:30PM

APRIL 23

Wellspring Derby Preview Party

Churchill Downs 6:00PM

APRIL 25

Balloon Glow

Kroger Fest-A-Ville on the Waterfront 7:00PM

APRIL 26

Kentucky Derby Museum Ball

Kentucky Derby Museum 6:00PM

April 27

Mini Marathon

Intersection of Main and Brook Street 7:00AM

APRIL 27

Kentucky Bourby

Progress Park 6:00PM

APRIL 27

KDF Cars & Coffee

Louisville Waterfront Park 4:00PM

APRIL 27

Cherokee Triangle Art Fair

Willow Park 11:00AM

APRIL 28

Mayor’s Derby Brunch on the River

Farnsley-Moreman Landing 11:00AM

APRIL 28

Pegasus Parade

West Broadway 3:00PM

APRIL 29

Great Bed Races Broadbent Arena 6:00PM

APRIL 29

Knights of Columbus Dinner The Galt House 5:30PM

April 30

502’s Day

Churchill Downs 11:30AM

April 30

HappyTail Hour

Kroger’s Fest-A-Ville on the Waterfront 5:00PM

April 30

Wine Fest

The Mellwood Art Center 6:00PM

May 1

Louisville Urban League Gala

Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center 5:00PM

May 1

Great Steamboat Race

The Ohio River 4:30PM

May 1

Biscuits and Bourbon Kentucky Derby Museum 10:00AM

May 1

Champion’s Day Churchill Downs 11:30AM

May 2

KDF Festival Day at the Downs

May 3

May 3

Unbridled Eve The Galt House

May 3

Fillies and Lilies

The Kentucky Derby Museum 6:00PM

May 3

Barnstable Brown Gala The Barnstable Brown Mansion

May 3

Fillies and Stallions

The Mellwood Arts Center 10:00PM

May 3

Silks Bash

Locust Grove 7:30PM

May 3

Revel at the Races

The Ice House 10:00PM

May 3

American Lung Association

Derby Eve Gala

The Seelbach Hotel 8:00PM

May 4

KMAC Derby Brunch

KMAC 10:00AM

May 4

150th Kentucky Derby Churchill Downs 11:30AM

2024

OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE

Your moment. Your memories. Your Festival.

Show your love for the biggest & brightest celebration with Official Kentucky Derby Festival merch — and official memories.

SHOP DERBY SEASON AT KDF.ORG

February 15, 2024

INDIA EXHIBIT PREVIEW & RECEPTION

The Speed Art Museum hosted a private tour of its newest exhibit, India: South Asian Paintings from the San Diego Museum of Art. Attendees enjoyed a cocktail reception followed by the tour of the historic exhibition with the exhibition’s curators. The evening ended with a private dinner at the home of Bali Chainani, one of the members of the Advisory Council for the exhibition.

PhotosbyKathrynHarrington

Judy Shapiro and Murray Rose

Anne Joseph and Shelly Zegart Speed Art Museum Director Raphaela Platow

Andrew Zhao, Alan Kamei and Shelly Ann Kamei

Juliet Gray, Lynn Kunau and Lisa Barr

Chandrika and L Srinivasan with Vidya Ravichandran and Vik Chadha

Frank Weisberg, Murray Rose and Eliot Russman

Catherine Surratt, Roxana Velasquez, Erika Holmquist Wall and Gray Henry Ladan Akbarnia

Janie and Tom Scovil with Carol Hebel and Sue Spencer

Ruby and Vijay Gopal with Ursula Melhuish and Shagun Singh

San Diego Museum of Art Executive Director and CEO Roxana Velasquez.

Amelia Theobald and Stacy Funk

February 16, 2024

AFTER HOURS AT THE SPEED

February After Hours was a memorable event that celebrated the opening of India: South Asian Paintings from the San Diego Museum of Art. The evening featured a variety of activities including art making, a tour of the exhibit, Cardinal Bhangra & Cardinal Saathiya Dance performances and Louisville Silent Disco with Bollywood music. Guests enjoyed the Indian-inspired food and cash beverage bar by Marigold Catering, with sweet treats and delectable bites available at their popup.

PhotosbyKathrynHarrington

Brice Gordon and Mary Eliese Merrill

Annie Golemboski and Jared Bennett Catherine Surratt and Jessica Bivens

Michael Roberts, Andrew Winston, Julie Lutes and Isaac Van Heuklon

Mella Abraha, Fawwaz Turkmani, Khushi Pola and Qasim Haider Cassandra Magann and Chenoa Buster

Preeti Desaigoudar, Malavika Prasad, Jessica Sorrell and Arpita Lakhotia

Julia, Susan and Nicole Repishti

Terri Holtze and Joanna Degean

Dre Brown and Kristina Carpenter Tamina Karem and Victor Shpilberg

February 17, 2024

LUNAR NEW YEAR

DINNER AND AUCTION

Asia Institute-Crane House hosted its Lunar New Year Dinner & Auction at the Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center. The evening featured the tastes, sights, and sounds of the Lunar New Year and included a silent and live auction. Guests enjoyed a six-course meal of elevated modern Asian cuisine, signature drinks, wine, and Asian-inspired canapés. The evening also included sake and soju tasting, tea tasting, as well as a signature dragon-themed cocktail. Another highlight of the night was the local Asian entertainment which included a River Lotus Lion Dance, a Dragon Dance by choreographer Oreya Ou, and Cardinal Bhangra dancers.

PhotosbyKathrynHarrington

Courtney Canty, Amanda Stratton and Amanda Troutman

Liz Kennedy and Kimberlie Thompson

Executive Director of Asia Institute Crane House Joel Buno with Paul Wagner

Kendra Sheehan, Yuxin Ma and Aijie Wang

Cheun Liu, Tom Lewis, Kayla Wang, Sherry Yang and Randy O’Connor

Jill and Harry Borders

Lakshmi Santhosh, Saravanan Murugan and Pushkala Parekh

Moonhe Baik and Shiping Hua

Grace McKenna, Isaiah Kim-Martinez, Molly Jett and Jack Heim Sunita and Rijan Manandhar with Vahid Mockon and Shabnam Mockon

Ye Ben, Taylor Martin and Yi Ren

Khoa Nguyen, Andrew Winters, Lesey Harris, Jocelyn Fetalver and Gemma Fetalver

Sam Yauwanta and Dakota Chitrakar

Tuyethoa and Vinh Thai

Erica and Patience Fields

February 22, 2024

MARCH ON FRANKFORT 6OTH ANNIVERSARY

The Frazier History Museum, Louisville Metro Government Office of Equity, and the Courier Journal presented March on Frankfort: The 60th Anniversary. Attendees had the opportunity to engage with organizers of the march, listen to accounts from participants, and delve into its historical impact. Discussions also explored the current state of civil rights and race relations, identified threats to progress, and emphasized individual roles in fostering positive change. The event featured special music by the Sankofa Players from Roots 101 African American Museum.

PhotosbyKathrynHarrington

Thom Crimans and Verna Goatley

Rev. Lewis Newby and Sarah C. Newby Rep. Keturah Herron and Lacey T. Smith

Sentator Gerald Neal and Representative Keturah Herron

Rev. Louis Newby, John Johnson, Raoul Cunningham, Charlene Holloway, Senator Gerald Neal and Representative Keturah Herron

Panelists joined hands to sing ‘We Shall Overcome’

Panelists joined hands to sing ‘We Shall Overcome’

John Johnson, Raoul Cunningham, Charlene Holloway and Senator Gerald Neal

Chaka Cummings, Veda Morgan and Bennie Ivory

The Sankofa Players from Roots 101 African American Museum

Collections Manager Tish Boyer and Senior Curator Amanda Briede Kimberly and Art Clay Senator Gerald Neal

February 22, 2024

LET’S TALK ABOUT BREAST HEALTH

It was a Galentine’s Event to remember!

Participants enjoyed an evening filled with education, luxury, and empowerment at the Medical Transformation Center. Dr. Paige provided insights into the cellular medicine approach to lifelong breast health. Light refreshments were savored as attendees explored the Hope Scarves Booth and engaged in meaningful conversations. Spare scarves were also donated during the event.

Photosby Gioia Patton

Angela Sheehan, Krista Garrett, Sara Kelley and Nancy Woosley

Theresa Pierce and Krista Garrett

Medical Transformation Center’s Terri Paige and Dr. Carl Paige

Christine Seay, Liz Ellison-Brown and Theresa Pierce

Terri Paige and Tonya Brinksneader

Tonya Brinksneader, Dr. Carl Paige and Linda Jansing Lisa Pence

Anne Lewis and Carol Ellison

Stephanie Russ and Sara Kelley

Medical Transformation Center’s Dr. Carl Paige

Executive Director of Hope Scarves Anna Laura Edwards Debra Locker Griffin

February 24.2024

40th ANNUAL RED TIE GALA

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kentuckiana hosted their largest annual fundraising event, the Red Tie Gala, at the Louisville Marriott Downtown. Business and community leaders, supporters, and partners gathered for an impactful evening. Attendees enjoyed a cocktail hour, a three-course meal, complimentary beverages, live and silent auctions, a cork pull, music, and dancing. The highlight of the evening was hearing heartwarming stories of how RMHCK made a difference in families’ lives.

Photosby Gioia Patton

George Bartolo and Teresa Fabian

Erin and John Kirk

Natasha Cummings

Hunt Rounsaville, Christine Muller and Dr. Salvadore Bertolone

Ronald McDonald House Board President Sam Castle and Amanda Castle Anita and Scott Tomchek

Ronald McDonald House CEO Hal Hedley and Mindy Hedley Angel and Scott Burdette

Ronald McDonald House co-founder Dr. Salvadore Bertolone, and Kathy Bertolone Sara and Mark Farmer

Jill and Clay Rhodes, Dava and Ryan Helton, Krista and Jonathan Ross, Betsy and Johnathan Thomas

Andrew Miller and Jane Tierney with Diane and Larry Smith

McDonald’s franchise owner and Ronald McDonald House board member Matt Dodd

Carly and Austin Ivey with Mason and Gabby Neubauer

Shawn and Amanda Burke with Dylan Coyle and Anna Wilt

Damita Adams

McDonald’s franchise owner Jon Peter and friends

Jan and Travis Haire

Wendy Steudenheimer, Rachael and Emmett Cosgrove with Patrick Steudenheimer

Austin and Michelle Diener with Matt and Emily Thompson

Brittany Welsh and Maria Bardolf Eckerle Barbara and Mike Grider

February 24, 2024

KENTUCKIANA HEART BALL

Over the past century, the American Heart Association has been at the forefront of saving lives and advancing scientific discoveries, always in collaboration with organizations and individuals who shared their vision for better health. The Heart of Kentuckiana Heart Ball brought together supporters with a common goal: to raise essential funds ensuring the continuation of their vital work. The American Heart Association hosted their annual Heart Ball at the Omni Hotel. Guests enjoyed dinner, a live auction, an after party and live music by The Party Feels.

PhotosbyKathrynHarrington

Courtney Kessinger and Brendon Sandven

Tanya Howard and Danielle Lurie

Brandi Arington, Randy McMillion and Charlene Flowers

Jeff Callaway and Ethan Almighty

Karen Pearce, Sharon Young, Donna Kerberg, Michele Seewright, Melissa Bennett and Mary Bland with United Auto Workers

Ashley Green and Emily Campanell

Bert Barber and Dr. Tracy Barber

Rob and Tammie Jay with Bridget Kazay and Nathan Jay

Bill Mennish and Laurie Gillespie

Rick Grimes, Pam and John Walker with Ken Spence

Kevin and Leslie Parrott

Mike and Shea Beckwith

RJ Sargent and Angila Darcy

Tony and Angie Springate

Rachel and Daniel Rothschild with Manish and Anu Sharma

Matt and Kelly Taylor with Greg and Peg Hostettler

Karen Pearce, Sharon Young, Donna Kerberg, Michele Seewright, Melissa Bennett and Mary Bland with United Auto Workers Jeff and Dana Callaway with Ethan Almighty Ferenc and Mary Nagy with Abby and Kurt Wittmer

Miss Bullitt Blast Yolanda Evans and Pamela Jackson

February 25, 2024

WHITE ROSE WEDDING SHOW

Photosby

The sixth annual White Rose Quinceanera and Wedding Show was held at Signature Venues. Attendees had the opportunity to explore a diverse range of vendors offering affordable options for weddings, anniversaries, sweet 16 parties, and quinceaneras. The first 250 attendees had a chance to win a door prize - a Black Tie Experience same-day wedding photo album.

KathrynHarrington

Aminata Taore and Oumar Kebe with Maman Couture

Kristi Drehmel with First Unitarian Church

Tiana Watkins with Waters Edge Winery and Bistro

Andeja Teschae and Jasmine Bischof with Bless This Tress

Chris Mayo and Kamesha Bowman Monica Rangel and Kelvin Shorter Kor’ee Jackson

Darnell and Nedelka Crawford with Limitless Event Rentals Kendra and Therron Cunningham with Gimme Some Suga

Chris Mayo, Kamesha Bowman and Sha’lori Moore

La’Quiesha Richardson with Walk By Faith Events and Designs Maureen Koppel and Ty Lockhart Brian Taylor with Caal World Wide Limousine

March 1, 2024

GIRL CRUSH OPENING RECEPTION

Attendees were invited to crush on incredible female artists at the Girl Crush art show curated by Kris Thompson & Cindy Norton. The event, hosted at ART PORTAL, featured a lineup of talented female artists showcasing their unique styles and perspectives.

PhotosbyKathrynHarrington

The artists of Girl Crush

Kris Thompson and Quincy Nelson

Britany Baker

Mae Daughtrey and Eden Webb

Theresa Carpenter Beames

Mary Carothers

Casey Dressell and Suyun Sun

Skylar Smith and Uhma Janus

Charles Ellis and Anne Borders

Jared Rondinelli, Sara Olshansky and Vicki Hutchason

Chelsea Powers, David Jester and Morgan Wessel

Taylor Bryn and Rachel Schmidt

Susie Trejo Williams and Susie Harrison

Tammy M Burke

DOCTORS’ BALL

Held at Hazelnut Farm, the Greater Louisville Medical Society hosted its annual Doctors’ Ball. Funds from the Doctors’ Ball support initiatives for improved access to medical care, healthy food, clean air, and more. Guests at the Doctors’ Ball enjoyed locally-crafted meals, bourbon and wine pairings, a silent disco, and live music by the Todd Hildreth Trio.

PhotosbyTreyGriffin

Brenda Tuckson and Emily Cash

Joe Tackett and Francine Cortes Katie Galanaugh and Kristina Lowe

Dr. Jonathan Velez, Mrs. Oksana Velez, Dr. Roberto Cardavelli and Dr. Kathryn Cardavelli

Audrey Summers MD, Ali Farooqui MD, JD Kolter MD and Emily Cash

John Roberts, Janet Smth, Jenie Donovan and Pat Donovan

Alicia Wickliffe, Diane Fahrbach, Evelyn Soete and Mike Lorch

Carl Smith, Monalisa Taitor MD, Divya Cantor and David Cantor

Susan Strack, Dr. Mary Fallat, Patti Sacra and Danielle Dresner

Caroline Burns, Pat Purcell and Frank Burns

Al Martin MD, Mary Helen Davis MD, Chrissy Schrodt and Randy Schrodt MD

Dr. Sam Yared, Susan Yared and Sarah Huff

Andrew Lowe, Shawn Arvin and Inga Arvin

March 2,

50th SPEED ART MUSEUM BALL

The Speed Art Museum Ball stands out as the Speed Art Museum’s premier yearly fundraiser, serving as a cornerstone for supporting the museum’s mission to celebrate art continuously. This event treated guests to a captivating cocktail hour and dinner held within the museum galleries, immersing attendees in the museum’s rich artistic environment. As the night progressed, Late Night at the Speed unfolded, offering guests an opportunity to dance, savor desserts, and groove to the tunes provided by The Block Party Experience

Deji Lasisi and Sazi Dube

Stephen Lewis and Douglas Riddle Rachel Greenberg and Annie McLaughlan

Carin Isaacs and Ron Wolz with Callie and Henry Crockett

Allen and Kate Latts with Chris and Morgan McGarvey

Rolandas Byrd, Alicia Beeler and Michael Washburn

PhotosbyKathrynHarringtonandSamCardineJr.

Catherine Surratt, Erika Homquist-Wall and Kim Spence Judy Shapira and Murray Rose

Joyce Duncan Mills, Bryan Mills, Krissie White and Geoff White

Billy Watkins, Steven Bowling and Brent Dierson

Shelly Breier, Mayor Craig Greenberg and Rachel Greenberg Shiao Woo and John Shaw-Woo with Pam and Dan Lawson

Michelle Staggs and Theresa Carpenter Beames Peter Priest and Matthew Laukhuf Alfred and Tawana Bain

Tawanda Chitapa, Susan Dabney Lavin, Woo Speed, Raphaela Platow, Allan Lavin, Lopa Mehrotra and Rishabh Mehrotra

Rex and Cici Matheney

Steven Bowling Cheri Collis White Jeff and Tracey Frazier Tracey and Jeff Frazier, Amelia Theobald, Patrick D. McLane and Julia Carstanjen

Richard Cleary, Helen Bragg Cleary, Bryan Armstrong and Senator Cassie Armstrong

Shelly Ann Kamei, Tawanda Chitapa and Alan Kamei

Dawne Gee, Woo Speed and Tawanda Chitapa

Mayor Craig Greenberg and Rachel Greenberg, Ellen and Max Shapira, Lieutenant Governor Jaqueline Coleman, Sara and Tommy Floyd with Heather Dearing

Philip and Elizabeth Poindexter with Missy and Jim Allen

Jeff Frazier, J.R. and Amy Streeter, Rachel Greenberg, Mayor Craig Greenberg and Tracey Frazier with Amelia and Parker Theobald

Woo Speed, Lisa Brendeo and Kasey Maier

Alisha Proffitt and Cobie Adamson

Kaye Bowles-Durnell and Connie Goodman

Paul and Karen Casi

Melvin Turner

Colleen Clines and Clay Cook Maren Schikler and Lisa Turner-Schikler Will McBride and Simone Sibley-Mcbride

Ellie Davenport and Carson Anderson with Max and Annabelle Klein Jennifer and Brett Hale with Sarah and Aaron Yarmuth

Fred Siegel and Pat Ballard Lee Receveur and Mandy Watkins

Darlin Hruska, Sarah Downs, Emma Rhodes, Laurel Rigg, Ankita Nair and Vice President of The Fillies Jocelyn Dave Deshawndra Ray, Benjamin Werth Bingham Miller and Quincy Nelson

Ashley and Rob Penta, Aaron and Sarah Yarmuth with Amelia Theobald

Colleen Devlin and Bridgett Smith

Jenee Rue Sastry and Bali Chainani

Dylan Chadwick and Bri Bowers

TAILSPIN ALE FEST

Tailspin Ale Fest made its return marking 11 years of celebration at historic Bowman Field. Highlights of the event included a selection of 250+ American Craft Beers, a Bourbon Barrel Beer Bar, Cider & Sour Bar, Cox’s Cigar Lounge, Drake’s Silent Disco, Live Music by Tony & the Tan Lines, 10 Local Food Trucks and more. Attendees enjoyed the day of festivities while drinking for a cause, as Tailspin Ale Fest 2024 benefited Pints for Parkinson’s and TKO Parkinson’s.

PhotosbyKathrynHarrington

Colette Wagner and Chasity Hebner

Lisa and Sarah Phelan

Mike, Tom, Doug and Anne Pifer Ashley and Bryan Kennison with Maximo Suave and Maria James

Joanie Prentice and Anne Pifer

Don Forrest with Vintage War Birds

Neville Barrett and Denise Hager

Rob Givens and Todd Reifert with Vintage Warbirds and Hanger Five

Dave Sipes and Gayle Newcom

Brian U’Sellis, Drew Johnson, Kayla Phelps and Taylor U’Sellis

Moiseeva Evgeniya, Chris Hill, KC, and Alina Dicarlo

Shane Chess with Keith and Jessica White

Jeremy Satterly, Bethany Hardesty and Aaron Harper

Dani and Owen Powell

Erin and Marty Ernst with Keith Hines

BEACON BALL

The transformation of the Intergenerational Life Center was celebrated at Harbor House’s Annual Gala, known this year as the “Beacon Ball.” Held at the Marriott Louisville Downtown, the event symbolized Harbor House’s commitment to radiating love and safety throughout the community. The opening of Kentucky’s first Intergenerational Life Center in October 2023 marked a significant milestone for Harbor House, allowing them to expand services targeting the intergenerational community. With innovative programs and services tailored to seniors, people with disabilities, and children, the center aims to enhance the quality of life for all.

Photosby Gioia Patton

March 9, 2024

Eleanor Riggs Darren Patrick and Jennifer Swope

Harbor House Chef Susan Mancuso and Harbor House volunteer Lisa Bisson

Brooklyn Agnew, Harbor House Director of Development Karen Fallon and Harbor House Event Manager Kelly Green

Debbie Robertson, Celena Olliges and Linda Hillenbrand Jackie Warner, Jacqueline Smith and Kimberly Jones

Harbor House Treasurer Dennis Riggs and Patty Riggs Ashley and Matthew Iles Senator David Yates and Lindsey Yates

Brianna Grattan, Mike Settles, Belle Taylor, Ryan Hamilton III, Maggie Cooper, KC Colorado, James Inmon, Reneé Speight, Charles Paige and Gary Taylor Harbor House’s Karen Fallon, Suzanne Bowman and Suzie Walker

Emily Drexler, Leisa Drexler, Tom Drexler, Harbor House CEO Maria Smith, Morgan McGarvey, Becky Popham, Greg Popham Jami Hernandez, Donna Morris, Debbie Peden, Bobbi Brown and Laura Surles

Sherrie and Gary Scott Amber and Ken Oliver Jami and Will Hernandez

50% Off April 15th Through May 15th!