Students fly high on performance
GLASGOW - Temple Hill Elementary students were treated to a ride in a tethered hot air balloon Thursday for having high attendance throughout the school year.
"Early on Mr. (Jon) Hall challenged the students to do it," said Jane Hammer, guidance counselor.
Hall, who is principal, promised the students a reward if they met the attendance goal. They did. The students had an average daily attendance of 96.5 percent.
"We've never done that before," said Karen Wood, who works in the school's front office.
The hot air balloon is owned by Crawford Hot Air Balloons, of LaGrange, who set up for tethered rides on the school's baseball field.
Nearly all of the school's students took a ride.
Hayley Poynter, a first-grader, was among the last few to go for a ride. She described her experience.
"Well, it's very cool, but it's warm in the top and it's kind of scary when you get real high," she said.
Poynter, as well as other students, got to make paper airplanes and toss them from the balloon's gondola, which she said was fun.
Thursday was the first time she had ever ridden in a hot air balloon, and Poynter said she enjoyed it so much she thinks she might like to do it again.
Riding with her was Chelsea Kinslow, also a first-grader.
"It was very cool to ride in there," she said.
Kinslow was not frightened at all, and like Poynter, she too, thinks she might like to ride in a hot air balloon again some day.
Diane Hammons, a teacher at the school, had ridden in a hot air balloon before and was looking forward to riding in one again.
"I'm not nervous. I'm excited. I did it about five years ago in Ashland, Ohio. They have a balloon festival every Fourth of July. That's where I grew up. I've ridden in balloons and it's fun," she said.
Her co-worker, Wanda Spears, a teaching assistant for preschool, had never ridden in a hot air balloon before Thursday and was surprised by how much she enjoyed it.
"It was a lot fun," she said. "This was my first time and I'm afraid of heights but I loved it."
Attached to the side of the balloon was a banner that read "Just for Kids - Kosair Children's Hospital."
Stewart Crawford, owner of the balloon company, ex-plained that companies advertise on the side of the balloons much the same way they would on the side of a bus.
"This is our 22nd year of representing Norton Healthcare and Kosair Children's Hospital. We operate balloons with their logos on them, but today we are here just as a private business," he said.
While the balloon ride was a reward, it also served as a learning experience for the students.
"We're here to teach them a little bit about the science of ballooning and a little about history. It's not just a fun balloon ride. There's actually some schoolwork going on here, too," Crawford said.
The company operates seven balloons over a 21-state area.
"Any pretty day or evening we're out doing something," Crawford said. "This weekend, for instance, we've got nine operations scheduled between Louisville and Nashville."
On Friday, they have a press event to promote the Louisville Reggae Festival, which is set for Saturday and Sunday. They also have an event at Nashville Shores this weekend.
Crawford and the other pilots with the company also participate in hot air balloon races.
"We go to balloon events in the area. We organize some balloon events in the area," he said. "The Heartland Festival in Elizabethtown is coming up the last full weekend in August and we organize that event. We participated in it for the last 15 years. The balloon race in Bowling Green is certainly one of the largest ones in the area. Whenever people ask about balloon races, if you are from this end of the state, it is always the balloon event in Bowling Green. If you're from a little bit north it's the Kentucky Derby Festival Great Balloon Race and we go to both of those."
Crawford has flown in the hot air balloon race in Albuquerque, N.M., in October, which has been known to attract 750 hot air balloons.
"We're making quite a display here today, but can you imagine 750 hot balloons?" he asked.
Crawford started his own hot air balloon company, he said, because, "It's just a lot of fun."
"It's great outdoor work. You meet great people wherever you go. It's not only exciting to be here today to be a part of Temple Hill Elementary's celebration, but the drive here was just wonderful," he said. "Kentucky is the most beautiful state in the country and I just enjoy working outdoors, working with people and traveling around to do it."
Associated Press content (c) 2008
Ryder Cup activities to use Derby fest tactics
A major sports event. A week of activities where a special pin gets you free admission. And a party at Churchill Downs.
Sound familiar?
Borrowing from the Kentucky Derby Festival, a group of civic leaders is planning a week of events to complement the Ryder Cup golf competition in Louisville in September.
There will be a soiree at Churchill Downs, concerts at 4th Street Live and myriad golf-related exhibits and activities at the Kentucky International Convention Center.
The Ryder Cup -- an event pitting 12 American golfers against 12 Europeans -- will be at Valhalla Golf Club Sept. 19-21, and the sponsoring PGA of America expects as many as 80,000 out-of-towners, including up to 10,000 from overseas.
But tickets to Valhalla, in eastern Jefferson County, are expensive and hard to come by; only about 40,000 a day are expected at the club during the competition.
So to ensure that everyone can sample the Ryder Cup experience, a committee appointed by Mayor Jerry Abramson is planning "The Cup Experience."
The activities -- which are totally separate from the competition at Valhalla -- are designed to allow people "to come and congregate and to get into the spirit" of the international golf event, said committee chairman Stan Curtis.
Organizers recently acknowledged they are still about $500,000 shy of their fundraising goal.
Former Churchill Downs official Karl Schmitt, who is coordinating the events and trying to line up sponsors and volunteers, said the budgets for some activities are "fluid" and cutbacks are possible.
Part of the problem, he said, is that the General Assembly this year, faced with city officials' requested funding of $2.4 million to pay for security and other expenses associated with the Ryder Cup, provided only $1.55 million. Schmitt said $500,000 of the money chopped by the state had been earmarked for The Cup Experience.
He said the sponsors still need to raise nearly $400,000 to offset the reduced state funding. But he said, "We are making strides and are optimistic it's all going to work out."
He said major backing has been pledged by Meijer, Hillerich & Bradsby, Churchill Downs, Aegon, Budweiser, the law firm of Stites & Harbison, Wild Turkey, Glenlivit Single Malt Scotch Whiskey, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Perrier Jouet Champagne, Derby City Custom Motorcycles and 4th Street Live.
Curtis said the extent of planned events for The Cup Experience is unprecedented for a Ryder Cup. He said officials from Wales are studying the activities with an eye toward duplicating some of them for the next Ryder Cup in 2010.
"It's pretty neat to be setting that kind of precedent," Curtis said.
Many helping hands
Tara Guenthner, the Ryder Cup tournament director for the PGA, said the PGA "absolutely applauds" the local effort to create "events the entire community can enjoy. ... It's important for everyone to have fun."
And many businesses, agencies and individuals are chipping in. Greater Louisville Inc., the metro chamber of commerce, is providing office space for the planners, for example, while the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau is helping with public relations. The Greater Louisville Sports Commission is helping to line up volunteers to work the community events.
Metro Parks is assisting with logistics, and the Kentucky Derby Festival is helping with the event pins. Pro golfer Fuzzy Zoeller, honorary chairman of the Ryder Cup Host Committee and a Southern Indiana native, has helped line up golfers and other celebrities coming in during Ryder Cup week, Schmitt said.
Cup Experience pins, similar to the Derby Festival's Pegasus Pins, will go on sale in July for $3 at Meijer, the major Cup Experience sponsor. The pins will sell for $5 at some other retail outlets and also at the Cup Experience events, where they will serve as admission, Schmitt said, adding that the initial production run will be 50,000 pins.
The Louisville East-Middletown Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring The Cup Hospitality Flags at Champions Row. Chamber President and CEO Judy Francis said the plan is to line both sides of Shelbyville Road for 1.2 miles, between the Lake Forest subdivision and Valhalla, with 522 flags, roughly 22 feet apart.
They will include Louisville, Kentucky and American flags, plus flags of the countries represented by the European Ryder Cup players, Francis said.
The chamber is selling the flag sponsorships for $795 each, Francis said, adding that many have already been sold. The flags are being supplied by Oates Flag Co. of Louisville.
The chamber group also is sponsoring a Cup Concert Celebration on Sept. 20 near Commonwealth Bank at 12906 Shelbyville Road.
It will start at 2:30 p.m., with music and a tent offering crafts and Kentucky Proud food products. Fireworks will conclude the event at 10 p.m. Admission will be a Cup Experience pin.
Existing events sign on
In addition to the new events, Schmitt said some existing local events have agreed to come under the umbrella of The Cup Experience and share promotions with the Cup-related events.
"We are borrowing a page from the Derby Festival, forming joint partnerships" with the affiliate events, he said.
Those events include: A Taste of Louisville at Kentucky at the convention center Sept. 16; the Louisville Irish Fest on the Belvedere Sept. 13-14; the Ursuline Art Fair Sept. 20-21; the Bourbon Festival in Bardstown Sept. 16-21; and the Original Highlands Art and Music Festival Sept. 13.
Organizers are especially excited about a competition for one-armed golfers being planned during Ryder Cup week.
The Fightmaster Cup, Sept. 12-14 at the Cardinal Club in Simpsonsville, is named for Don Fightmaster of Louisville, a noted one-armed golfer who will be the nonplaying captain of the North American team.
The Fightmaster will be a match-play tournament involving 12 golfers from North America and 12 from Europe. It will be the first international tournament in history for one-armed golfers.
Nancy Hull, whose husband, Robert, is an amputee, is helping develop a Web site for the event.
Hull, who works as a Web designer, said she drives by Valhalla every day on her way to work and recently heard Schmitt speak about the Ryder Cup activities at a business expo.
"I thought, 'What a great thing for our community,'" she said.
She said she views her work on the Fightmaster Web site as "a chance to give back to the community."
Copyright (c)2007 courier-journal.com
Kindred Spirits ends with a pop of the cork
HUNTINGTON -- Mark Phillips is a serious wine connoisseur.
OK, his quirky video wine blog does have a mannequin (Carole Withanee) as his co-anchor, but don't let sideshows distract you -- Phillips knows his wine like Randy Moss knows catching a football.
He just doesn't take himself too seriously.
One of the nation's most popular wine speakers and executive director of the Wine Tasting Association, Phillips is headed to Huntington to close out Marshall Artists Series' Kindred Spirits nearly month-long fundraiser with a riotous pop of the corks.
From 7 to 9 p.m., Friday, Phillips will be speaking at "Starters and Finishers (a seven-course food and wine pairing event) on the third floor of the Touma Medical Museum, 314 Ninth St., in downtown Huntington.
Saturday, Phillips will host a wine tasting at 1 p.m. as part of the "Whites, Reds and Thoroughbreds," Kentucky Derby Party at the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center, a day-long wine festival that features a live band, a silent auction and the running of the 134th Derby on the big screen.
That event runs 1 to 7 p.m.
Phillips who hosted the PBS special, "Enjoying Wine with Mark Phillips," that aired on more than 300 stations making it the most watched wine show in the history of America, said it's the best of times for enjoying wine.
"I think absolutely it is the best of times," Phillips said. "It is a global economy and wines are being made in so many places and what has happened is the technology and the dissemination of that to every growing region has allowed the wine maker to manipulate the wine. I'm not saying that word negatively, but positive in that there are very few bad wines today. A few years ago you might walk in a shop and chances were you might get a bad bottle of wine. It's hard to find a bad wine because winemakers today can correct so many flaws with technology. We are awash with good wines. The downside of that is that I think we are losing some individuality in wines. That is what I try to look for."
Phillips said another great thing these days with wine is that with so many wine-growing regions in the world, there are a lot of very good reasonably priced wines.
"My number one goal is to find the best, cheapest wine possible," Phillips said. "I taste expensive wine throughout the week and a lot of it I wouldn't buy because there are so many great values out there for under $15 a bottle. Generally, with the Euro exchange rate it's a little tougher on us but nevertheless there's some wines from a wine region called Madrid where wine is coming out from the winery at $1 a bottle and they're sold in America for three or four times that and they are very good."
Phillips, who's had stories about him in The Washington Post, Washington Times, Marie USA Today, ABC News, Reuters News Service, Forbes, National Public Radio and FOX-TV, said one of the up-and-coming wine regions in the U.S., he believes, is Washington state. Other regions with good wine and good value are still found in southern France, southern Italy and Greece.
Friday, Phillips said he will talk a bit about what foods go well with what wines. Saturday, he will give a wine tasting seminar to help people "understand how to taste wine, when to microwave wine and when to freeze wine."
Whether serious or dripping with sarcasm, Phillips for sure is happy to come and share one of his life's passions.
"Wine is so versatile," he said. "Whether you've opened some wine on the beach watching the sunset with someone you love, walking the dog or using power tools, it may be the perfect accompaniment. You can find the wine that matches the occasion for your tastes."
Copyright (c) 2008 Herald-Dispatch.com All Rights Reserved.
Pre-race festival is as important as Kentucky Derby
What is it like to travel to Louisville, Ky., for the Kentucky Derby? Simply, awesome.
The Kentucky Derby Festival, dating back to 1956, starts two weeks before the Kentucky Derby, which is always the first Saturday in May. The festival welcomes many people from across the world to experience firsthand some of the beautiful sights and sounds of the Horse Racing Capitol of the World. Louisville, often pronounced Looaville, Luhvul, Lewisville, Looaville, Looeyville, etc., provides southern charm to more than 1.5 million visitors during this time period. With more than 70 events offered, locals and visitors can find almost anything to participate in during Louisville's Mardi Gras.
Thunder over Louisville starts the festival off with a bang with the largest fireworks display in the nation. Along with barges floating on the Ohio River, the Second Street Bridge connecting Louisville and Indiana is closed to traffic and lined with fireworks entertaining hundreds of thousands of people along the waterfront. During the next two weeks leading up to the Derby, some of the many festival events include numerous sporting events, the Pegasus Parade showcasing the Derby Princess Court, fashion shows, A-list charity dinners... and the list goes on from there.
Another exciting event occurring the Wednesday before the Derby is the Great Steamboat Race. Since 1963, the Belle of Louisville has challenged the Delta Queen of Cincinnati to a 14-mile paddleboat race down the Ohio River, taking roughly 1 1/2 hours. For a select few, tickets may be purchased to catch a ride and be right in the middle of the race. Also, fans lining the river cheer along with many more at home watching coverage from overhead news helicopters to see which boat wins the Golden Antlers traveling trophy.
All of the festival events are designed to build excitement and enthusiasm up to the main events -- the annual running of the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby. Historic Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby, opens to visitors for Dawn at the Downs the week of the big races. Any visitor can go for breakfast from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and watch the Oaks and Derby horses going through their morning workouts on the track. For most people, this is the only way the can get to Millionaire's Row Derby Week, but trackside along the rail also provides great views of these beautiful and talented animals.
The Festival in the Field occurs the Thursday of Derby Week. The infield, a grassy area on the inside of the one-mile oval track, is opened to the public these few days each year to accommodate the large crowds. The event provides live music from great bands with paid track admission during the day of the races. Because of the fun party atmosphere and people watching, the infield provides a lot of entertainment in and of itself. With a general admission price ranging from $3 on Thursday to $40 on Saturday, people line up early in the morning with chairs and blankets to claim a spot on the fence line. Without doing so, one may not even see a horse the entire day.
Friday, also known as the Day for the Ladies, is the running of the Kentucky Oaks. Usually the 10th of 11 races, the Run for the Lilies is for 3-year-old fillies (female horses). With schools being closed and many people taking off work, Louisville residents comprise the bulk of the 100,000 patrons. Not to be outdone by the Derby, the Oaks awards the winner with a beautiful garland of lilies in the winner's circle.
After two weeks of non-stop activities, all the excitement ends with the running of the Kentucky Derby, which started in 1885 -- this year will mark the 134th running. The whole state of Kentucky is buzzing with Derby activities. For those who cannot attend the races, there is a party somewhere to watch the races. For 3-year-old thoroughbreds, there is no greater achievement than winning the Kentucky Derby. Trainers and owners work extremely hard for six to nine months to have their horse peak on the first Saturday in May. Many factors of the Derby make it like no other race in the world. The Derby usually consists of 20 horses, but all the horses would have only faced six to 14 horses in any previous race. Also, the Derby is at a marathon distance of 10 furlongs (1.25 miles), farther than the horses have raced before. Lastly, with more than 150,000 people in attendance, horses have to handle the noise, constant camera flashes, crowded saddling area, etc. Jockeys say that the horses hit "a wall of noise" as they round the run going towards the finish line in front of the grandstand. In the end, only one horse will wear the garland of roses and join the prestigious list of Kentucky Derby Champions. Because of all this, the Kentucky Derby is truly one event everyone should experience before they die.
Copyright 2008 Post-Bulletin Company, LLC All Rights Reserved
Derby's greatest hits
The Kentucky Derby, I've been told, is one of the most raucous, refined and exhilarating celebrations the city has to offer.
I've heard tell of achingly beautiful mornings at Churchill Downs' backside, the infield's high-octane insanity, the explosive magic of Thunder and Oaks Day, when the locals get dolled up and pack the track.
But sadly, the closest I've gotten to the Derby so far is the trackside dining scene (a burger at Wagner's, great tacos at Santa Fe). I didn't grow up slathering tenderloin with Henry Bain sauce or munching on salty country ham sandwiched between layers of cracker-crisp beaten biscuit.
So with absolutely zero first-hand experience with Derby cuisine, I turned to the archives of The Courier-Journal and found yet another tradition that's part of the annual Derby festival -- the running of the recipes.
'Oh, Do-Dah Day'
My research started some months ago, when my sainted aunt Barbara -- a former Lexington resident -- sent me her 1971 Courier-Journal and Times Cookbook by former food editor Lillian Marshall.
In the four-page spread titled "Oh, Do-Dah Day," Marshall laid out a buffet featuring Kentucky spring leg of lam, fruit in wine jelly, watercress dressing, toasted mushroom loaf and a gleaming silver platter topped with six picture-perfect mint juleps in appropriate sterling cups.
Do-dah day, indeed.
I dug into a few other archival issues, read yellowed pull-out recipe collections from the 1940s and perused old files of clipped recipes around the office. I got acquainted with the long string of Louisville's newspaper food editors, from Marie Gibson (also known as Marie Wigginton, who died recently at age 100) to Sarah Fritschner (still very much alive and kicking). I read works and recipes by Marion Flexner, Alice Colombo, Camille Glenn, Elaine Corn and the legendary Cissy Gregg.
By the time I worked my way through decades of Derby's Greatest Hits, I understood a great deal about the classic brunch foods and how a yearly recitation of the recipes is part of the Derby ritual.
When Colombo lamented in a 1988 headline "It must be Derby time again and you're wondering why we're printing them again," it means that reader requests have given certain dishes classic status. And though it's possible to suggest updates to the Derby Day menu, we will always revisit these Kentucky classics before the bugle blows for post time.
Cissy and Sarah
My Derby research taught me a lot about how the personalities of the different food editors helped shape the way Louisvillians cook and eat.
Sometime in the 1950s, Gregg stood proudly at her test kitchen stove next to the headline "Here We're Serving You Our Finest Foods." From 1942 to 1963, she penned many of the iconic recipes and defined many classics as the "Courier-Journal Home Consultant."
When her successor, Marshall, put out The Courier-Journal and Times 1971 cookbook, people still clung to their Gregg favorites. (The book's cover boasted the inclusion of "91 Favorite Cissy Gregg Recipes …") Even today, 25 years after she left the paper, readers request Gregg's recipes. Fritschner ran the Courier's food section for well over 20 years, and in that time brought many new classics into the Derby Day canon. Her writings reflected the growth of the modern-day Derby Festival -- expanding our view of Derby fare to include Thunder picnics, carb-loading pasta for the marathon and box lunches for the Oaks.
Fritschner also literally wrote the book on Derby entertaining, "Derby Start to Finish" (Butler Books, 2006), which collects many of her favorite recipes and menus.
As I go into my first Derby, I hope to experience the same thrill the diehards describe as the first weekend of May approaches. I also hope that I'll get the chance to sample these traditional Derby foods and savor Louisville's springtime celebration one bite at a time.
Copyright (c)2007 courier-journal.com
Derby Festival issues royal "APB"
Louisville, Ky. - The Derby Festival has issued an APB - All Princess Bulletin - to locate members of past Royal Courts.
The first Derby Festival Princess was crowned in 1957, the second year of the Festival. Since then, More than 250 women have been named to the Royal Court. Previous Princesses have included former Kentucky Governor Martha Layne Collins and Gail Gorski, the first female pilot ever hired by United Airlines.
The Derby Festival's Royal Court Program is coordinated by The Fillies, Inc., a volunteer group that works closely with the Festival and helps raise funds to support the Kentucky Derby Festival's Foundation. The Fillies, Inc. and the Festival would like to find out where all the past Princesses are now.
"This year is the 50th Anniversary of the Fillies Ball. We want to include as many Past Princesses, as well as invite them to other reunion events," said Nancy Rust, President of The Fillies, Inc. "But, when you have 250 women over a 50-year-span, it's hard to keep up with their whereabouts."
Past Princesses can call the Festival for more information at (502) 584-FEST or provide their contact information online at kdf.org/royal-court/
Each year, the Royal Court represents the Derby Festival and the city of Louisville as official ambassadors for the springtime tradition of the Kentucky Derby Festival. They attend nearly every official Derby Festival event. One of the five women on each Court is then crowned the Derby Festival Queen by a spin-of-the-wheel at the annual Fillies' Derby Ball.
The Derby Festival is an independent community organization supported by 4,000 volunteers, 400 businesses and civic groups, Pegasus Pin sponsorships and event participation. It entertains more than 1.5 million people annually. This involvement has made the Festival the largest single attended event in Kentucky and one of the leading community celebrations in the world.
(c) 2008 Belo Kentucky, Inc.
Kentucky Derby Festival takes first step in going 'green'
The Kentucky Derby Festival has opted to begin offsetting carbon emissions produced by electricity use at its Louisville headquarters by enrolling in Louisville Gas and Electric Co.'s Green Energy program.
Through the program, LG&E residential and business customers can "offset" their emissions by donating money, which is used to develop renewable energy sources. Donations are made in $5 increments.
For each $5, LG&E ensures that 300 kilowatt hours of renewable energy is delivered to the Kentucky transmission grid from the Mother Ann Lee hydroelectric plant near Harrodsburg, Ky.
An average residential customer who uses 900 kilowatt hours of electricity each month can completely offset their carbon impact for $15 per month, according to a news release.
The Kentucky Derby Festival joins more than 390 customers currently enrolled in the program. The organization said it plans to completely offset the more than 18 tons of carbon dioxide created each month at its headquarters.
"This is just the first of many steps the Festival is taking to go green," Mike Berry, Kentucky Derby Festival president and CEO, said in the release. "The plans we will unveil in the coming weeks are just the beginning of a long-term commitment to become more environmentally responsible."
(c) 2008 American City Business Journals, Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved.
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