Middletown Magazine March 2023

THAT’S THE SPIRIT

AMAYA WARNELL LEADS EASTERN HIGH SCHOOL CHEERLEADING SQUAD TO GREAT HEIGHTS

Writer / Carrie Vittitoe Photography Provided

Cheerleading hasn’t always been the sport it is now. For starters, when cheerleading began in the 1800s, it was dominated by men and solely for entertainment purposes. This was the era of “Rah, rah, sis-boom-bah.” It was around 1925 when girls and women were allowed to cheer, and since World War II cheerleading has been largely female. Now, rather than just yelling to excite the crowd and support the team, many cheerleaders do Olympic-level gymnastic and acrobatic feats that astound crowds.

Coaching any team requires a tremendous amount of commitment. If coaches are paid for their efforts - and many aren’t - the amount nowhere near touches the time and energy they devote to their teams. Coaching well demands not just telling young people what you want them to do. It requires a dedication to modeling all the behaviors

you expect your young charges to emulate.

Amaya Warnell, the coach of Eastern High School’s cheerleading team, is only 22 years old but she has years of experience behind her. She cheered during her tenure at Crosby Middle School and then went on to Eastern High School with many of her teammates. She even went on to cheer for four years at the University of Louisville, where she is currently completing her degree in communications.

Her coach during her Eastern years was Tyra Anderson, whom she credits with being a tremendous mentor. They remained in touch during Warnell’s college years, and when Anderson decided to leave her position as Eastern’s coach and told Warnell about it, she was interested.

Warnell had given four years of her college life to cheer, but knew she didn’t want to cheer into a fifth year even though she was

eligible. She was busy with coursework and a part-time job, but she still loved cheer. She had to decide whether coaching at her alma mater was something she could realistically accomplish. She knew coaching takes a lot of time. “It was something my heart and mind wanted to do,” she says.

Getting the coaching position was a little surreal for her because of her history with Eastern cheer, but she knew her experience would serve her well. She also knew she wanted to make her former coach proud while ensuring she was a good fit for the team as head coach. Sometimes taking over for a longtime coach can be a challenge because it can feel strange to do things in new and different ways.

Warnell originally worked as an assistant coach at the start of the 2022-2023 season, so she already knew the students. When she became head coach, she had to implement her vision and take on additional

Amaya Warnell

responsibilities. The Eastern High School cheerleading team won its first-ever state cheer championship in December of 2021, so there was a certain level of expectation heading into this new season. While Warnell loves to win and is competitive, she wanted to focus on fostering relationships first.

“My goal is to make sure that the girls are having a fun, positive environment,” she says. “[When I cheered at Eastern] you could tell that we loved each other and had great relationships as teammates. I want people to talk about Eastern as a great environment.”

Supporting positive relationships while developing skills and hopefully winning competitions is a hard needle to thread, and Warnell knows it. “It’s the hardest task ever,” she says. “We have so many girls with all different personalities. The coaches I’ve had in my cheerleading career [focused] on you as a person first before you as a cheerleader. I want these girls to become great young

adults. Cheerleading is amazing, but you can’t do it forever. It shouldn’t be the endall, be-all.”

Even though Warnell looks to her experience as a cheerleader to help guide her as she coaches others, she also reminds herself that the young people she coaches are not her, and might not react to things as she might have when she was the same age. “Sometimes I have to put the ex-cheerleader aside,” she says. “You have to talk to this child how this child responds, not how you would.”

An awareness of mental health issues is an important aspect to Warnell’s coaching. “We didn’t have much of that going on when I was in cheer, or we did but it wasn’t an open thing,” she says. “Most girls wouldn’t say if they had [a problem]. Now that I’m a coach, I see how some coaches can form those mental health issues by the way they interact with the kids.”

While Warnell recognizes cheerleading shouldn’t be the only activity for a young person, it is a sizable time commitment. The team of 19 girls practices on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and generally cheers at games on Friday nights during the football and basketball seasons. This ramps up even more during cheer competition season. “During a competition week they usually practice Monday through Friday,” Warnell says. Some practices take place on the school campus, but the team also practices at GymTyme in Middletown. Practices are usually two hours long. Suffice it to say that the team is spending a lot of time together, which is why it is so important for Warnell that they have a solid relationship.

With four typical cheer competitions, some of which involve travel, the team does a lot of fundraising to cover expenses in addition to their practices and games. Fortunately the team has a strong and supportive booster club, which allows Warnell to focus on

SHOP LOCAL WITH THE BEST SELECTION!

preparing the team’s skills.

When it comes to skills, Warnell reviews the competition video from the previous year to see what the team did well and what they might need to improve upon this year. “Are we upgrading our skills?” she says. “Are we doing things harder than last year?” Of course, last year’s team consists of different people, since there are seniors who move on to college and younger teammates who are brand new to the team. Of course, winning a competition isn’t just about what Eastern’s team is doing. It is also about what the other teams bring to the competition. “You never know what your competitors are going to do,” Warnell says. “They change from year to year.”

Whatever the competition brings, Warnell is excited to be, once again, part of the Eastern High School cheer family, and the team is excited to see where her leadership takes them in the future.

RED ROVER DUMPSTERS

Eddie Hager has worked in the tree removal and trimming industry for years. When filling up a chip truck, it’s helpful to have a dumpster on-site. Hager and Charlie Gorman began to notice, however, that finding dumpsters to rent in the Louisville area was a difficult feat.

“It got to a point where it was two to three weeks out to rent a dumpster,” Gorman says. That’s when a new business idea began to percolate - a dumpster rental business.

Hager was on board, so next was coming up with a name for their business, which launched in February of 2022.

“We wanted something with strong marketing that would be remembered,” Hager says. His cousin, Lee Abshire, reminded him of Red Rover, a childhood game they used to play, and the tagline fit perfectly - “Red Rover, Red Rover, bring a dumpster right over!”

And that’s precisely what they do. The goal of the team at Red Rover Dumpsters is to offer same-day delivery. They also offer straightforward pricing, charging a set amount based on the size of the dumpster. For instance, a 10-yard container holding up to one ton rents for $305. A 20-yard container holding up to three tons costs $445. They also have 15-, 30- and 40-yard containers. A client can keep the dumpster on their property for that price for up to

10 days, although customers often don’t want or need the dumpster for that long, and when they’re done, they usually want it hauled away quickly.

“We’re Johnny-on-the-spot to pick it up,” Hager says.

Red Rover is truly a step above other dumpster rental companies for a number of reasons. Not only do they offer professional, friendly, prompt service with a smile, but they also rent clean, functional, sharplooking dumpsters.

“We’ve been in your shoes,” Gorman adds. “That’s really all our sales pitch has been, because we understand the importance of punctuality and customer service - and time is money.”

One of their happy clients is Sun Tan City, which gave Red Rover their entire contract, spanning three different states.

“Lately I have had nothing but bad experiences with dumpster companies until I found Red Rover Dumpsters,” says the director of facilities for Glow Brands, which owns Sun Tan City, Planet Fitness and Buff City Soap. “[The team at Red Rover Dumpsters] has excellent communication, on-time delivery, and go above and beyond for our special requests.”

Red Rover’s team has also been a help to the community on more than one occasion. For instance, last summer they responded immediately when a 52-foot

trailer spilled over.

“We brought out four dumpsters for emergency cleanup from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m.,” Gorman says.

Many area builders also use Red Rover Dumpsters because they are pleased with the top-notch service they receive.

“We provide white-glove, concierge, VIP service from the minute you call us to the minute we pick it up,” Hager says.

The Red Rover team is looking to eventually franchise across the country. For now, they are focused on providing a stellar experience for their Louisville-area customers.

Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing Photography Provided

Belting Out the Hits

LOCAL ELEMENTARY STUDENT LANDS ROLE IN NATIONALLY TOURING MUSICAL

Karsen Taylor may only be 10 years old, but she’s already a star in the making.

The Jefferson County Public Schools student landed a role in an upcoming musical titled “Hits! The Musical,” which will take audience members on a journey through different decades and genres of music with unforgettable singing, spectacular dancing, costume changes, plus world-class lighting in a first-class, new production. Karsen is part of a young cast that includes 29 singers and 10 dancers selected from nationwide auditions, and will portray many well-known artists throughout the production.

“I’m really excited,” Karsen says. “I get to hang out with my friends. I know all of the other actors.”

Karsen began her quest of landing a role in the musical by way of an open audition that was held at the Seelbach hotel in Louisville, one of 31 cities nationwide to hold auditions for cast members. Karsen went through two auditions at the Seelbach before moving on to a third audition in Tampa Bay, Florida. Karsen was able to beat out thousands of other hopefuls to land a role.

“A cousin of mine sent me an ad for the audition,” says Tiffany Taylor, Karsen’s mother. “She knew Karsen could sing and the audition was coming to Louisville. We asked Karsen if she wanted to audition and she said yes. After the second round, they would be notified if they made the third round of auditions in Tampa Bay. About three weeks later we got that email saying she made it to the next round. That was for a whole week in Tampa. Out of 7,000 kids who auditioned, they cut it down to 70 kids and then to 30.”

Karsen and her castmates will perform a number of hit songs including “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours),” “Hero,” “I Will Always Love You” and “Singin’ in the Rain,” among other popular songs from the 1960s through the present day. The cast will change costumes for each song to reflect the appropriate time period. While Karsen enjoys singing, she and other cast members will also dance and act as they bring the songs to life for the audience.

The ages of the performers range from 10 to 22, making Karsen one of the younger cast members. There has never been a nationally touring show of this caliber with an entire cast between the ages of 10 and 22. The cast will have even more local flavor as fellow Louisville native D’Corey Johnson, a fifthgrader at Bates Elementary School known

for his renditions of the national anthem, is also part of the production.

The family-friendly show should provide fun for everyone, featuring a diverse cast from all over the country. The show was created by Director Cynthia Nekvasil and Executive Producer Bob Gries, giving young performers like Karsen the opportunity to shine on a national stage.

Karsen is in good hands with Nekvasil, as she has overseen the development and careers of Jenna Rubaii, Chloe Lowery, and multiple other “American Idol” finalists, recording artists and Broadway stars. The rest of the creative team for the show has worked with a number of wellknown performers including Rihanna, Enrique Iglesias, Mariah Carey and Usher. Performances last about 90 minutes and include more than 100 songs.

Karsen is working hard to make sure she puts on a good performance. Karsen and her mom were in Tampa Bay leading up to the show, rehearsing with the rest of the cast. She is most looking forward to singing during the performances, which will include songs from her favorite singer, Michael Jackson.

“Practices are going really well,” Karsen says. “They’re really long. We have to be there at

Writer / Gavin LaPaille Photography Provided

Karsen Taylor

like 10:30 a.m. all the way to 5 or 5:30 p.m.”

Karsen, who was born and raised in Louisville, usually attends Stopher Elementary School and is in the advanced program at the school, but is doing home school while practicing and on the road, keeping her very busy.

“I have tutoring in the morning with some of my friends,” she says. “Anything I don’t finish in the mornings, I either do it when I have time during rehearsals or when I get back home.”

The tour of 50-plus cities began February 23 in Asheville, North Carolina, and will go coast to coast, concluding May 8 with a performance in San Francisco. Local fans will have the chance to catch Karsen live when the show stops at the Brown Theatre in Louisville on April 8. Many of Karsen’s family members and friends plan to attend. Lexington, Nashville, St. Louis and Chicago are also part of the tour.

“She will have a lot of family and friends there,” Tiffany says. “They started buying their tickets last summer when she found out she was going to be in it.”

Karsen says she is most looking forward to seeing her dog, Mocha, on her trip home. “I am excited,” she says. “I really want to see my dog. He is a poodle.”

Karsen, who has been singing since she was 3 years old, has done some plays at her school and in community theater, and this is her first touring production. In addition to singing, Karsen was a flyer on a national champion cheer team, which is her favorite sport, and also enjoys the TV show “Dance Moms.”

experience has taught them a lot about show

business. Tiffany or her husband, Kevin, will be with Karsen every step of the way as she embarks on this journey.

“It’s all new to us, understanding the business and how things work,” Tiffany says. “The play is wonderful. It’s going to be really awesome. The dancing and singing are very good. Louisville should be proud that two of their own made something so big like this play.”

Karsen says she hopes one day to have her own TV show.

“We’re really excited and very proud of her accomplishments,” Tiffany says. “We can’t wait to see what the future holds.”

For tickets, tour dates and more information on how you can see Karsen, go to thehitstour.com. You can also follow “Hits! The Musical” on social media. Cast members have racked up thousands of likes and views on TikTok.

Local Honey, Bourbon Honey, Bee Venom Spicy Honey, Cinnamon Vanilla and Many More!

Gourmet Coffee “Sourced Globally - Roasted Locally” with Lattes, Espresso, Cold Brew

Delicious Pastries Made Fresh - Scones, Brioche Muffins, Cinnamon Rolls

Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing Photography Provided

Prior to 2013, Joel Gonia was working full time as a business consultant, meeting with accountants and attorneys regarding various business acquisitions. Following the recession, however, much of that work fell away, so Gonia began searching for something to fill the void. He stumbled upon beekeeping and enjoyed it, because he loves being outdoors and learning something new.

“I got stung a few times, but that’s part of the deal,” says Gonia, who started out with two hives and grew to 400 within three years. “I thought I could do my part in helping to save bees because the pollination they provide is essential to our food chain.”

Beekeeping, which was a hobby at first, quickly turned into a commercial venture after Gonia attended several beekeeping

HONEYBEAR FARMS FOUNDER OPENS TWO HONEY DEPOT & COFFEE HOUSE LOCATIONS

conferences. He chatted with speakers, who became resourceful mentors. With their assistance, Gonia began teaching seminars and hosting the Louisville Bee School, a popular activity that has drawn as many as 200 participants in years past.

In 2018 Gonia decided to open a beekeeping store called HoneyBear Farms (doing business as The Honey Depot), where he sold beekeeping equipment and honey to the Louisville market. According to Gonia, the fastest-growing segment of the population showing an interest in beekeeping is women, followed by teenagers.

For three years the business was going strong. For instance, schools used to take field trips to the farm to learn all about beekeeping. The Honey Depot was also one of the five approved excursions in the area for Airbnb. That meant that anyone who booked an Airbnb reservation when

coming to Louisville would be asked, after making their reservation, if they would like to visit The Honey Depot. That exposure meant they did close to 100 tours in 2020. These tours were not indoor seminars. They were hands-on, interactive tours in which participants learned all about honeybees and safety.

“We put on the [beekeeping] clothes and took [participants] outside,” Gonia says. “It was a three-hour tour and people loved it.”

Unfortunately, in the fall of 2021, Gonia was notified that he would have to vacate his property due to a road-widening project. He searched for another location that would work but never did find something that fit the business model. They ended up relocating to their warehouse in Fisherville, Kentucky, two miles down the road, but it was a different market without any traffic exposure, and that was significant.

“We had a stabilized business before, with a very high traffic count and a very low overhead environment because we were able to operate as a farm,” Gonia says. “Since operating commercially, it has been extremely challenging.”

In the last year Gonia has been trying to think outside the box, figuring out next steps for his business to survive. In August he opened Honey Depot & Coffee House, located near downtown Mount Washington on Bardstown Road. It was a segue into a new concept for which they roast, grind and sell their own coffee, and also sell honey, honey-based products like beeswax candles, jams and jellies, soaps, bee-themed jewelry, and other bee-themed merchandise.

“Our coffee is sourced globally and roasted locally,” Gonia says. “We refer to Honey Depot & Coffee House as the artisan community coffee shop that sells honey.”

In September of 2022 they opened a second

“OUR COFFEE IS SOURCED GLOBALLY AND ROASTED LOCALLY. WE REFER TO HONEY DEPOT & COFFEE HOUSE AS THE ARTISAN COMMUNITY COFFEE SHOP THAT SELLS HONEY.”

— JOEL GONIA

location in downtown Jeffersontown on Watterson Trail, in Gaslight Square, and are currently in the process of incorporating a drive-through there. Their honey is also available around town at many stores, including the Fire Place and A Taste of Kentucky, and at neighborhood farmers markets throughout the spring and summer.

Eventually, Gonia hopes to open a total of five Honey Depot & Coffee House locations. First he wants to get the two stores stabilized. He would also like to get reconnected with schools and other organizations, as they were before the move.

“We have always been community oriented based on our previous experience operating as a farm,” Gonia says. “Now as a commercial enterprise, it just takes longer to reconnect with those organizations.” Although they used to sell their own honey, they can no longer do that since they don’t have as many hives. Therefore, they purchase honey from other beekeepers

from around the state - but it still tastes great. They sell different flavors of honey. Their base honey is Kentucky wildflower because it is predominant in Kentucky and surrounding states.

“We don’t have any fields of flowers large enough to have a predominantly single source like clover so we can’t have clover honey,” Gonia says. They take the area’s wildflower honey and infuse it with different flavors like bourbon honey. They also sell their bee venom flavor, which is a spicy honey, as well as cinnamon vanilla, lavender, elderberry and others. In case you didn’t know, there is a big difference in taste between locally produced honey and the kind you buy in grocery stores.

“A lot of times in the big-box stores, you really don’t know what you’re buying,” Gonia says, noting that stores purchase honey from all around the world. “It’s important to buy domestic honey. It’s

important to buy regional honey and local honey. Occasionally you can even buy neighborhood honey.”

Honey, which is made with pollen, nectar, water and soil from trees, is beneficial for health in two ways. Firstly, it’s a naturally occurring antiseptic, so if eaten on a regular basis, it cleanses you from the inside out. Gonia claims that rubbing honey on a cut will often quicken the healing faster than an ointment purchased at a drug store. Honey can also be good for allergies as it can strengthen the immune system.

“As you eat more honey it will help you over a period of time,” says Gonia, who notes that if you eat honey from beyond a couple of states away, it’s still good for you if it’s real honey that hasn’t been pasteurized and filtered. However, from an allergy standpoint, you won’t get much benefit in terms of immunities because you’re ingesting pollen that is different from pollen within the Ohio Valley.

“We know that honey has been beneficial for a long time,” Gonia says. “People have been harvesting it as far back as 3500 B.C. There are drawings on cave walls. It’s been traded as currency.”

Gonia is still doing his part to save the bees. “There have definitely been some gains and some pitfalls along the way,” Gonia says. “As a company we have evolved from hobbyist beekeepers to becoming a retail coffee shop selling honey.”

Gonia’s favorite aspect of working in this field is interacting with the community and teaching them about bees. For instance, did you know that one out of three foods you buy at the grocery store requires pollination?

“We love to sell coffee and honey, but really what we’re trying to do is educate people about the importance of honeybees,” he says. “Honeybees are the number one pollinator in the world, so if you remove

them from the equation it’s difficult for us to survive on our food supply.”

They hope to continue honeybee education for one simple reason.

“Beekeeping is in our DNA,” Gonia says.

Honey Depot & Coffee House is located in Mount Washington at 435 North Bardstown Road, and in Jeffersontown at 10512 Watterson Trail.

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MARCH CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ACROSS

1. Mouth roof

5. Produces (egg)

7. Ocean mammal

8. Hoarse sound

9. Invalid

10. Bake in oven

11. Opponents

13. Part of eye

14. Sloops or ketches

18. Plan

21. Horse’s gait

22. Gold lump

24. Send abroad in disgrace

25. Kitchen professional

26. Loose flesh

27. Not healthy

28. Iridescent gem

29. Fume

DOWN

1. Play the part of

2. First Greek letter

3. Washstand jugs

4. Made do

5. High-protein pulses

6. Shouting

12. Set fire to

15. Zeppelin

16. Detestable

17. Meet (requirements)

19. Australian bird

20. Significant

22. Ants’ homes

23. Social blunder

NEW KENTUCKY HUMANE SOCIETY CEO BRINGS ENTHUSIASM & EXPERIENCE

Writer / Grace Schaefer Photography Provided

As incoming CEO of the Kentucky Humane Society, Alisa Gray is a professional lifesaver.

“When I was little, I had a dog-walking business . . . I charged fifty cents for half an hour around my neighborhood, because I loved dogs so much,” Gray says. “We also lived by a creek and had a lot of wildlife, so I would always try to help if there was an injured animal. So, I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian.”

Gray began to first volunteer when she was 12 years old with Meals on Wheels, along with her grandmother. Ever since, she’s remained passionately involved in volunteer and nonprofit work.

After graduating from the University of Kentucky with a doublemajor in psychology and public relations, Gray worked for the Lexington Humane Society before moving back to Louisville and exploring social work.

“I loved it, but honestly, I missed the animals,” Gray says. “The animal welfare world is addicting. Once you’re in it, you just

become so passionate about it, and I don’t think I’ll ever leave it.”

Gray worked at Metro Animal Services before finally joining the Kentucky Humane Society, where she quickly found the ideal combination of her love for animals and her passion for nonprofits. She was home.

The Kentucky Humane Society ranks as the state’s largest animal welfare group, with roots reaching back to 1884. KHS works with dogs, cats and horses in need of homes. In addition, the organization offers aid to pet owners with a spay/neuter clinic, pet food bank, behavior classes, a pet help line, boarding, the CARE-avan mobile clinic and an equine program.

With focuses on positivity, compassion, inspiration and changemaking, KHS is forward-thinking in relation to pets and people.

“Animal welfare now is very much focused on socially conscious sheltering and making sure the whole family is supported,” Gray says. “It’s not just finding an animal a home, it’s making sure that animal, throughout its life, has support. It’s the mix of the social work aspect, psychology, loving animals and finding homes for animals.”

Alisa Gray, KHS CEO

So far, Gray has worked in donor relations and stewardship, typically meeting with people who love animals and who may want to support KHS programs.

“Seeing them get excited and connected to the mission is so cool and it’s just so inspiring,” Gray says. “We get excited about a new program or alignment with a foundation, and we get to try something new – that’s been so neat. We keep moving forward, keep looking at the community and what the needs are – nationally, locally – and then trying things out. We’re able to support and add programs or services or people…I want to do more. I don’t really stop much.”

While serving the animals in need in Kentucky has been a joy, Gray also reflects on the individual interactions that have made lasting impressions: rescuing wild horses in eastern Kentucky, watching a blind kitten play and walking – later, fostering – a special Pitbull who had never seen grass.

Gray also provides disaster relief, where many of her favorite animal stories have come from.

“It’s one of the greatest things in the world. I love being able to help an animal in need and see them come in potentially sad or broken and see the progress that they make with us, through fostering, and through the medical support we can provide,” Gray says. “There’s honestly nothing better that I can think of – it’s just so rewarding, and I get to lead an amazing group of people that are so talented and dedicated. It’s a dream.”

Despite a passion for her career and a strong history of service, Gray never expected to become KHS’s CEO. Yet, when it was time, she was the unanimous pick.

“Lori Redmond, KHS’s current president and CEO, decided that she wanted to transition and slow down a bit,” Gray says. “I’m thrilled she’s staying on board.

We worked on a succession plan with our board, it’s falling into place, and I couldn’t be happier. It’s a dream job. If you’d told me this when I was a little girl, I would’ve screamed with enthusiasm.”

In the six months leading up to the official transition in April 2023, Redmond and Gray have continued to work side by side. “She’s done so many great things for animals in our city and our state, so I’ve just been learning from her and talking about the future,” Gray says. “I feel very fortunate and grateful.”

NOW, IT’S TIME TO LOOK TO THE FUTURE.

"I hope to continue Lori’s legacy,” Gray says. “We have a great organization and the opportunity to grow.”

Being a lifesaver certainly isn’t just for the KHS staff – any Kentucky resident can play their part. Gray understands the impact of donations. In fact, she’s raised philanthropy by 240% in her first eight years at KHS. Gray hopes to see continued volunteer work and an increase in fostering.

“If you're fostering, you're caring for that pet and then making room for another, so we can take twice as many,” she says.

not too late to explore a more sensible approach to your healthcare

“Getting involved super easy. We try to do everything to support you and get you ready and make you successful. We also provide all the medical support, food, bedding and crates.

Gray emphasized it’s free to foster—the pet just needs a home with love and support. In addition, Gray remains excited about the LOVE 120 Initiative, designed to touch every county in Kentucky by 2029. Saving lives doesn’t stay behind county boundaries.

IT’S NOT WORK TO BE DONE ALONE.

"It's definitely not just me,” Gray says. “It's the whole team – great people working their tails off and continuing to save lives and working with great partners in the community and nationally. It's great to collaborate and work together… the sky is the limit.”

Ultimately, the Kentucky Humane Society is on track to continue much as it has in the past: with a focus on lifesaving brought with love, all unified around care for every life. And under Alisa Gray’s marvelous leadership, the Kentucky Humane Society’s lifesaving mission is only just beginning.

If you’re interested in volunteering with the Kentucky Humane Society, you can call (502) 272-1070 or visit kyhumane.org.

Wellness FROM THE GARDEN

starting). This is a good place to begin.

There is one place where I am certain we can go and be perfectly safe. There is no mask needed, no threat of standing too close to one another, and no one coughing on you. There is great peace, and even great wellness, to be found in a garden.

My entire yard is fondly called “the garden.” There is plenty of work and exercise to be found here year-round. It is where I find joy, and what I love teaching people about the most - how to grow a more beautiful life.

March is the beginning. It is the time I wait for all year. The spring equinox will arrive on Saturday, March 20 at 5:37 a.m. I love how precise spring is. She knows right when to get here, and it is always when we need her the most.

Begin your work with taking stock of your property. With a cup of coffee in hand, walk your property and dream a little. What do you want to change? Would you like to grow more cut-flowers, and bring them indoors for family dinners? How about some more privacy - do you need to plant a screen of trees? I usually begin by looking for the damage the winter harshness has created. With pruners along for the walk, I will discard any broken or unsightly limbs from woody plants. (Note: I always sharpen and clean all my tools prior to

Most importantly, begin to remove winter debris. Remove any remnants of last season’s garden. I always use a general granular, organic fertilizer and sprinkle around the base of the newly exposed green shoots. If the soil is thawed enough, I will edge the beds and get a crisp, sharp outline around each area. I try not to rake too much, as this will expose the weed seeds lying just under the soil. I want to leave those dormant as long as possible.

Weeding comes soon enough!

A spring snow in the garden often causes some panic. Many worry that daffodils will start to sprout too early. Folks often ask me, “Will they be OK?” The answer is most often yes.

Here’s the deal. Mother Nature has the whole timing thing down. She is all about timing. When you see those little crocus sprouts, or the tips of your tulips begin to emerge, don’t worry too much. They know what they are doing. If you want to cover them with a little newspaper or a sheet because a blanket of ice is coming, do it - especially cover if the flower buds are well emerged.

I adore the perfect timing of it all. English gardeners have long believed in timing when it comes to the moon’s incredible power, particularly the gravitational pull. The Farmer’s Almanac reads, “Folklore is rich among

farmers, given their close ties to earth and her natural rhythms.” The moon’s new and first-quarter phases, known as the Light of the Moon, are considered good for planting above-ground crops, putting down sod, grafting trees, and transplanting in the late spring. Also, you have to love this tip: “Dig your horseradish in the full moon for the best flavor.” This is good to know for that savory Bloody Mary. Now that’s wellness!

While I love the perfect timing of it all, it is OK to “force” a few things along the way. Now is a great time to plant small vessels with wheatgrass seed to use indoors for your Easter table centerpieces. Wheatgrass is like regular grass seed, but the blade is thicker for a more pronounced tuft of green.

Also, get out and clip a few branches off your blooming trees, and place them in a vase of clean, warm water. Put them in some sunlight, and in about two weeks their buds will “break” and begin to swell. Soon you will have fresh crabapple, cherry, dogwood or redbud blooms indoors - all good varieties for forcing. This is a great task for children to do and can inspire their curiosity in the garden.

Wellness truly can come from the garden. Enjoy her beauty, the exercise and fresh air, and even the quiet time to think and ponder - all without a mask! Enjoy growing a more beautiful life my friends.

Writer / Carrie Petty Photography Provided

Carrie Petty

BUILT ON HISTORY

LOUISVILLE TOURISM CONTINUES TO BOOM

Louisville has accomplished an enviable feat; it has become a brand that represents a vibrant and multifaceted city. Its journey to be recognized as more than the site of the Kentucky Derby or the home of the Louisville Slugger Factory is aided by a rich history, unique geographic location and friendly hospitality. In recent years, the city has increasingly become known as a place that offers attractions for multiple types of visitors. As Bourbon City, it appeals to couples and individuals who come for the Urban Bourbon Trail. It also attracts families who visit Museum Row, the Louisville Zoo or Kentucky Kingdom and Hurricane Bay.

The brand logo is its name and the fleur-delis centered in the middle is a nod to King Louis XVI of France, Louisville’s namesake. The city, founded by Revolutionary War hero George Rogers Clark, began in the late 1770s

as a settlement on the Ohio River, close to the Falls of the Ohio. Since there were dangerous rapids, it was necessary to unload cargo before boats reached the falls. The result was the development of a major shipping port which continues today. This area was also the meeting place of Clark’s younger brother, William Clark, and Meriwether Lewis. After recruiting local men, they began their famous exploration of the Louisiana Purchase. Later, in 1875, the Kentucky Derby was begun by Lewis Clark, who was George Rogers Clark’s great nephew.

The location has the distinction of being within a day’s drive of 60% of the continental United States. Post the Covid-19, Louisville Tourism has reached out to these areas to promote all the city has to offer. Michael Fetter, the organization’s Director of Marketing, has been with the organization for five years.

“It’s been a wild ride. We had a record year

for tourism in 2019,” Fetter says. “Then the pandemic hit. We had to push on the breaks and really rethink what we were doing. We had been promoting Louisville as a place to fly into to experience Bourbon Country, much like people fly into San Francisco to visit Napa Valley. Instead of targeting places like Los Angeles, we had to recalculate.”

“The question was- how can we continue safety while respecting peoples safety,” he says. “We started up again, then stopped and rethought, then started again. Now the focus is on bringing awareness of Louisville as a travel destination to markets such as Indianapolis and other sites within a four to five or even six-hour drive of us. It is the long weekend.”

Writer / Julie Yates

Photography Provided

Michael Fetter, Louisville Tourism Director of Marketing

Louisville’ bourbon connection is undoubtably a huge asset for tourism. Most of the world’s bourbon is produced in Kentucky and the state’s history is woven throughout the industry. Louisville’s Urban Bourbon Trail consists of establishments dedicated to sharing stories and lore while educating participants on the facts behind bourbon production.

“Bourbon tourism has been a thing for a while. The Evan Williams Distillery Experience began in 2013 but even before that, in 2006, the brand ‘Come to Kentucky for Bourbon Country’ was launched. Now we promote Louisville as Bourbon City. The Urban Bourbon Trail started with about eight to 10 bars and restaurants that focused on bourbon. Now there are 40 on the trail. Ten distillery experiences have reopened since COVID-19, and each tour ends with an expansive tasting session. Reservations are needed as the facilities

definitely get booked out,” Fetter says. Another facet to Louisville is that it is a great destination for a fun family weekend. Kids don’t realize they are getting a history lesson when they experience cruising down the Ohio River on a steamboat via the Mary M. Miller or Belle of Louisville riverboats. Sports lovers and boxing enthusiasts will enjoy learning about how determination enabled a local legend to triumph at the Muhammad Ali Center. Across from the downtown center is the expansive Waterfront Park where events, concerts and festivals are scheduled throughout the warm weather months.

“The biggest surprise people have when they come to Louisville is how much the city has to offer. There are lots of tidbits about the area people don’t know,” Fetter says. “We have a walkable downtown with so many things to do and great parks. Museum Row on Main Street has seven attractions within close proximity to each other. The Old Louisville area has the largest collection of both shotgun houses and restored Victorian homes in the country. We also have the second most cast-iron facades outside of Soho in New York.”

Besides Kentucky fried chicken, Louisville is known for unique dishes that a visitors love to sample. The ‘hot brown’ originated at the

Brown Hotel and while it might be classified as an open-faced sandwich, it’s a meal. Slices of ham, turkey and bacon atop toast are smothered in gravy and baked, making it a substantial lunch or dinner. Burgoo stew is another tradition, and dates to pre- civil was times. Like the hot brown, it includes several different meats but also vegetables.

No one should leave the city without having a slice of rich chocolate derby pie. There are many versions to be had around town, but the original recipe was developed in 1954 by the Kern family for their restaurant, Kern’s Kitchen. The eatery has trademarked the name and the recipe is kept top secret.

Fetter shares that 90% to 95% of visitors who participate in surveys say they would come back. Louisville Tourism’s job is to get them to initially come to the city, and he is quick to point out that the organization doesn’t do it alone.

The word gets out through connections with both social media digital business and local travel-based entities. Building partnerships with neighborhood associations, restaurants, hotels, venues and attractions is key. Large travel sites such as Expedia, Priceline and Trip Advisor offer information to travelers that can point them in directions that will make the most of their visit. In addition, Louisville

Tourism maintains close ties with groups such as Louisville Forward, an economic development organization and Greater Louisville, Inc., GLI, the metro area’s chamber of commerce.

The most visited page of Louisville Tourism’s website is the Calendar of Events. Anyone with an upcoming event or activity can submit to it. It is a great resource in communicating happenings around the city especially during the holiday season.

“The future is very bright. There are new hotels and restaurants popping up in downtown and neighborhoods such as the east market district of downtown, NuLu

(New Louisville), as well as places like St. Matthews,” Fetter says.

“Tourism is important to the city for the business it bring and it’s the people of Louisville that sell it. Louisville has its own southern hospitality. It’s not considered to be part of Midwest but not the true deep South either. Louisville is the front porch of the south,” Fetter says.

You can visit the Louisville Tourism website at GoToLouiville.com or by calling 1.888.568.4784. Louisville Tourism is on Instagram as @gotolouisville and on Facebook as Louisville Tourism.

“It’s not the sizeofthedog inthefight, it’s the size of thefightin thedog!”

Writer / Amanda Spalding, MSN, RN Photography Provided

You’ve worked a full day, cared for children, elderly parents or both. All you want to do is grab something quick to eat, go home, pour a glass of wine and binge watch the latest buzz-worthy series on Netflix, then catch up on Facebook. You drag yourself to bed later than you wanted, only to wake up and start the cycle all over again. You’re feeling tired, anxious, depressed, or burned out. What can you do?

Self-care to the rescue. Selfcare is the ability to care for the mental, physical, spiritual and social aspects of your life. It is not selfish or ‘pampering.’ It is essential to functioning in a world that can be increasingly overwhelming. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) defines self-care as “the

ability of individuals, families, and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and to cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a healthcare provider.”

Much like a car requires maintenance, our ‘self’ requires a plan to restore, renew and recover. Self-care is a way to help clarify and prioritize your personal health and mental wellbeing. It involves identifying various areas of your health that are concerning and creating a plan to actively address those concerns.

While there are numerous areas to address when it comes to selfcare, the following seven are the most common; emotional, physical, mental, social, spiritual, practical and professional. Take a look at how you feel about these areas, or how satisfied you are with them. Perhaps your physical health is not ideal, or you feel dull and mentally bored. Journaling about each area for a few days can also help. Take the time to check-in with yourself and listen to what you need.

Next, come up with a plan to address these areas. Keep it simple. You don’t want to be overwhelmed by your self-care plan! One of the first self-care skills to master is the most difficult: carving out time to work your plan. There is nothing bad about scheduling ‘me time,’ in fact, you can’t effectively care for anyone or anything else if you are not taking care of yourself.

Schedule your self-care time in your calendar. Make it an essential appointment and keep it. Time is both a finite resource and a commodity. You make the decisions on where and how you spend your time. Practice scheduling small self-care tasks daily and honor those commitments. While we can’t make time, we can choose how to spend it.

Use your smart devices to help with self-care. Calm is an app that can help you learn how to meditate, relax and help you fall asleep. Endel is another

great app for self-care. It allows you to select a mode based on your activities, and Endel will play music with a beat and mood that helps with focus, energy, or sleep. You can also set reminders on a smart device that can help you work a self-care schedule.

Incorporate exercise into your daily routine. It doesn’t have to be hard core, high intensity interval training (although HIIT is a great way to get your mind off your stressors and focused on yourself). Walking, swimming, or yoga are excellent forms of exercise that can be gentle on your joints and body. Regardless of which exercise you choose, make the effort to appreciate it. Notice how you feel before you start: are you tense, frustrated, anxious? Then, allow yourself to get lost in the sensation of movement. Focus on your breathing, the sounds, and smells and how your muscles feel while engaged in activity. Then, when you are finished, notice if your mood or physical sensations have changed.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) DEFINES SELF-CARE AS “THE ABILITY OF INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES, AND COMMUNITIES TO PROMOTE HEALTH, PREVENT DISEASE, MAINTAIN HEALTH, AND TO COPE WITH ILLNESS AND DISABILITY WITH OR WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF A HEALTHCARE PROVIDER.”

Perhaps one of the most neglected areas of self-care is adequate sleep. The Mayo Clinic recommends sticking to a set sleep schedule and turning off light-emitting screens before going to bed. Avoid checking e-mails one last time and turn off the cell phone. If you have a job that requires you to sleep during the day, black-out drapes can help. Without adequate sleep, people run the risk of health issues such as obesity, high blood pressure and irritability. Harvard University has identified microsleep as a period where your brain does not respond, and you don’t react. Microsleep, which lasts mere seconds, also contributes to both fatal and non-fatal motor vehicle accidents.

You may discover you need more assistance learning how to provide yourself care. Don’t be afraid to reach out to a trusted health care provider, a life coach, a personal trainer or an accountability friend. While engaging a professional in the self-care field may be costly, a few sessions with a professional can help get your practice off the ground.

Self-care can be hard work. It can involve working on some difficult

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areas of your life such as unhealthy coping mechanisms. You may need to take a hard look at habits and relationships that don’t serve you anymore. It may involve exercise, avoiding your favorite comfort foods, turning off social media or getting up early to find an hour of quiet to journal, read or exercise. Don’t hesitate to reach out for assistance. It doesn’t mean you are weak; it means you love yourself enough to give yourself this gift.

Self-care can involve a wide range of healthy activities. Establishing healthy routines and coping mechanisms is challenging, especially when your new habits and actions are new. Don’t give up. And, if you decide that massages and facials are part of your self-care routine, more power to you! Self-care is what you make it.

Movie Memories

A LOOK BACK AT THE EAST DRIVE-IN

In the 1940s and 1950s, Jerry Shinbach was working for Howard Hughes, who owned a company called RKO that made films. Jerry worked for the indoor movie theater portion of RKO. In the late 1950s Jerry jumped into the outdoor movie business, purchasing three drive-in theaters in the Louisville area, including the East Drive-In.

“He didn’t know much about drive-ins at the time, but he knew everything there was to know about indoor theaters,” says his son Bruce Shinbach, whose father continually pestered him to move to Louisville and partner with him in the business. Bruce, in his 20s and a Chicago stockbroker at the time, was happy on his life path, but his father was relentless.

“I came to Louisville in 1964 and fell in love with Louisville and the people who live here,” says Shinbach, who recalls the first day he was driving into Louisville from Chicago. “I got on 65 near Broadway and came to an intersection with heavy traffic. Being from Chicago, I thought it would take 20 minutes to merge into this line

of traffic, but a car motioned me in right away. I thought, ‘Great Scott! That would never happen in Chicago!’ That was my first memory of being in Louisville.”

During that fateful year, he met a nice Kentucky girl named Edie, whom he married. He settled into life in the drive-in biz. One day in the early 1980s, Jerry called his son and said, “Your mother and I are retiring and moving to Florida. The business is all yours.”

It was essentially a “tag, you’re it” type of situation. Though Shinbach was stunned, he was ready for the torch to be passed because he loved the job.

“It was fun to feature a good Disney film and know that hundreds of cars were going to show up,” says Shinbach, who used to arrive at 7 a.m. on weekends to make tons of ice cream sundaes, which they put in the freezer so they would be ready for the evening show.

There was also excitement in getting a new film in and not knowing the kind of business it would generate. Selecting movies was part of the job. Shinbach hired bookers, who lived in bigger cities and screened nearly

every movie that was made.

“I would go on their opinion of how good they thought the movie was and the revenues they would produce,” Shinbach says. “Every once in a while a booker would say, ‘I saw this movie and there are no big stars in it, but it’s one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen.’”

Such was the case with the George Segal and Glenda Jackson film “A Touch of Class.”

“That was a huge hit,” Shinbach says. “So was the cowboy movie ‘Billy Jack.’”

Disney movies were always popular, as were Clint Eastwood films. The biggest blockbusters he can recall were “Jaws” and “Star Wars.” Sometimes they had dusk-todawn shows when they played horror films that started at midnight and ran until 4 a.m.

“They were terrible movies with lots of blood and guts, but kids loved them,” Shinbach says.

The East Drive-In employed a projectionist, a cashier, several concession workers, and two ushers who took tickets and patrolled

Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing Photography Provided

Mural Artist Liz Richter

the lot to make sure everyone was behaving. The biggest issue they had were teenagers who would cut speakers off posts and steal them. One night they found a bunch of speakers missing so they blocked the exits and alerted the authorities. Ultimately, they found the thief with 50 speakers in his trunk. The police called his father, who insisted that his son was a good boy who would never do such a thing.

“The officer told him, ‘Open the trunk,’” Shinbach says. “Once he did, the dad didn’t have much else to say.”

It wasn’t unusual for people to sneak into the facility in an effort to save a buck (well, maybe 85 cents). Many kids thought they were clever, but the drive-in staff was one step ahead.

“If a car came in with a driver and two persons in the backseat, and the rear of the vehicle was sitting 2” off the ground, you knew the guy had people in the trunk,”

Shinbach says with a chuckle. The staff would charge the admission and let them in. Then they would almost always drive to the back row. The front gate would radio back to one of the ushers a description of the car and license plate. Then the usher would pull up next to that vehicle and wait.

“This was in the summer so it was very hot,” Shinbach says. “After 20 minutes you’d hear banging in the trunk and voices calling, ‘Get us out of here!’ Usually it was the driver’s girlfriend and somebody else. We just made them pay and let them stay.”

In 1966, when business started to wane, Shinbach tore down the theater to build a shopping center. Though it was a good move, he does have one regret, and it’s one his wife will never let him live down. When he was cleaning out space prior to the teardown, he threw away all of the original movie posters - known as one sheets - that went in the display cases.

“I had ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Jaws’ and hundreds of others, and I threw every one of them out,” Shinbach says. “Had I saved them, years later, no telling what I could have sold them for to collectors.”

Last year the property managers of Best Buy (managed by Bilyeu Enterprises) commissioned artist Liz Richter to paint a 9’x9’ mural on the back of the building. They had always been enthused that this was the land where the drive-in once stood, and they wanted to commemorate the rich history of the property when Shelbyville Road was just open fields on either side and the Watterson Expressway was not yet constructed.

“Those old enough to remember the theater do so with great nostalgia, and this work was to serve as a reminder of that special past life,” says Richter, who gathered as many historic photos and descriptions as she could and compiled them into one scene.

“I focused on the nostalgic feel of a drive-in

theater and built the composition around the large screen,” says Richter, who was drawn to the photos from the 1940s of this magical, huge, new mid-century structure in what looks like a pasture. “It was a symbol of St. Matthews farmland making a cultural shift into suburban or even metropolitan modernity. It was the beginning of a new era.”

Richter set the scene in the early 1960s and tried to fit in as many details as possible from the historic photos, such as the ticket booth, highway sign, picket fencing (it really was pink) and show board with two of the most popular movies that were shown, “Fantasia” and “The Sound of Music.”

“It’s a terrific portrayal of what the drive-in theater was,” says Shinbach, noting that the mural incorporates Bob Colglazier’s Ranch House, which sat on the corner of the drivein. “They had a disc jockey every weekend so the kids would eat dinner there, stay for the music, then hit the drive-in afterwards.”

Back in the drive-in heyday, there were thousands of theaters all across the country. Today there are a few hundred, if that. Still,

something special remains about drive-ins.

“People liked being out in the elements, watching a show on a huge screen with family and friends,” Shinbach says. “No need to get dressed up. You could take the kids with you and if they were crying or screaming, it didn’t matter much. Pickup trucks would come with kids in the back wearing pajamas, and they would back in with their speakers. It was lots of fun, and lots of great memories.”

To see more of Liz Richter’s artwork, visit lizrichterart.com.