What's happenin' in Crab Orchard?

IT WON'T BE LONG UNTIL CRAB ORCHARD IS FILLED WITH SPECTATORS TO CELEBRATE THE INDEPENDENCE DAY PARADE BUT THAT'S NOT THE ONLY THING GOING ON IN CRAB ORCHARD THESE DAYS!

ACCORDING TO CITY CLERK NANCY BAKER AND MAYOR JESSE HARRIS, CRAB ORCHARD IS MOVING FORWARD ON SEVERAL PROJECTS INCLUDING BUILDING A STAGE IN THE VETERAN'S PARK IN ORDER TO HOST BANDS, THE JULY 4 MISS CRAB ORCHARD PAGEANTS, A FARMER'S MARKET AND LIVE MUSIC ON A REGULAR BASIS

THE CITY HAS STARTED THE DEMOLITION OF TWO ABANDONED AND BLIGHTED HOMES IN TOWN AND HAS CLEANED UP AN AREA OF OLD TREES BEHIND THE PAST TIME CAFE

CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW FAMILY DOLLAR TREE HAS BEGUN

THE CITY OF CRAB ORCHARD ALSO RECENTLY PURCHASED A NEW FIRE AND RESCUE TRUCK. THE NEW TRUCK REPLACES THE OLD ONE THAT WAS TOTALED IN 2021

IN ADDITION, THE CITY HAS PERFORMED $59,000 WORTH OF MUCH NEEDED REPAIRS TO WATER TOWERS AND HAS INSTALLED NEW SECURITY CAMERAS THAT HAVE BEEN PLACED THROUGHOUT TOWN FOR THE SAFETY OF LOCAL RESIDENTS

THERE’S LOTS HAPPENIN’ IN CRAB ORCHARD THESE DAYS! YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE BY FOLLOWING THE CITY OF CRAB ORCHARD FACEBOOK PAGE OR BY VISITING THE CITY’S WEBSITE ATWWW.CRABORCHARD.KY.GOV.

BY ABIGAIL ROBERTS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

WHEN IT COMES TO PARADES – NO ONE DOES IT QUITE LIKE CRAB ORCHARD AND NOT MANY HAVE DONE IT QUITE AS LONG AS CRAB ORCHARD, ESPECIALLY THE JULY 4 PARADE

MARTHA BASTIN CAN REMEMBER THE FIRST INDEPENDENCE DAY PARADE IN CRAB ORCHARD BACK IN 1974 SHE WAS IN THE FIFTH GRADE AND ALBERT BASTIN WAS HER TEACHER “THAT YEAR WE LEARNED TO SQUARE DANCE,” SHE SAID BASTIN AND HER CLASSMATES WERE PHOTOGRAPHED SQUARE DANCING DURING THE PARADE MARTHA SCOTT AND HER HUSBAND NEWLAND WERE INSTRUMENTAL IN THE CELEBRATIONS, SHE SAID “SHE MADE PROBABLY FOUR OR FIVE FLOATS TO GO IN THE PARADE, IF NOT MORE,” BASTIN SAID

AMONG THE NUMEROUS FLOATS IN THE PARADE WAS A LARGE LOG CABIN, A REPLICA OF A GAZEBO THAT WAS AT THE SPRINGS HOTEL AND A REPLICA OF THE WILLIAM WHITLEY HOUSE

THE DETAILS ON THE FLOATS WERE INTRICATE AND HIGHLIGHTED VARIOUS HISTORICAL SCENES AND SITES OF THE CITY OF CRAB ORCHARD ANOTHER LARGE PART OF THE INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS WAS AN ANNUAL HORSE RACE AT SPORTSMAN’S HILL AT THE WILLIAM WHITLEY HOUSE

SPORTSMAN’S HILL IS TOUTED AS THE PLACE WHERE HORSE RACING IN AMERICA WAS BORN THE OVAL COURSE WAS CONSTRUCTED BY WILLIAM WHITLEY WHO SNUBBED THE ENGLISH WAYS AND RAN HIS RACES COUNTERCLOCKWISE

BASTIN SAID THE RACES WERE ALWAYS FUN “IT WAS PRETTY FUN I RAN IN IT ONE YEAR BUT IT WAS IN THE ‘80’S,” SHE SAID “BECAUSE MRS SCOTT OWNED THAT PROPERTY OUT THERE WHERE THE RACE TRACK IS, I WAS ABLE TO GET OUT THERE AND PRACTICE SO COME THE DAY FOR THE RACE, AND I TAKE OFF AND I’M FLYING AROUND THROUGH THERE AND I THINK I’M IN THE LEAD AND I GET OVER TO THE BACKSIDE OF THE RACETRACK AND HE CUTS ACROSS THE TOP HE JUST TURNED AND WENT ACROSS THE TOP EVERYBODY ELSE WENT ON,” BASTIN SAID LAUGHING MARTHA SCOTT WORKED VERY HARD TO MAKE THE PARADES A SPECTACULAR EVENT, BASTIN SAID "SHE ORDERED ALL OF THIS MEMORABILIA,” SHE SAID, POINTING TO VARIOUS PIECES FROM PAST PARADES INCLUDING BICENTENNIAL PIPES, GLASSES, ASHTRAYS AND PENDANTS “EVERYBODY GOT INTO IT THERE WERE BABY CONTESTS THEY HAD ARM-WRESTLING CONTESTS THEY HAD HORSE PULLS” SHE SAID “THEY HAD THE MISS CRAB ORCHARD PAGEANT ”

IN PHOTOS OF PAST PARADES, THE STREETS OF CRAB ORCHARD ARE PACKED WITH SPECTATORS, MEN IN SUSPENDERS WATCHING THE HORSE-PULLING CONTESTS WHILE WOMEN IN BONNETS CARRYING PARASOLS WAVED FROM THEIR FLOATS

ACCORDING TO NEWS ARCHIVES, THE CRAB ORCHARD BICENTENNIAL, WHICH TOOK PLACE IN 1975, BROUGHT NEARLY 5,000 PEOPLE TO THE SMALL TOWN THE TOWN ENJOYED A BURGOO DINNER WITH BEANS AND COLESLAW BEFORE ENJOYING THE LARGEST PARADE IN THE CITY’S HISTORY THAT YEAR TOMMY HODGE WON FIRST PLACE IN THE BEARD CONTEST AND DOLLY MIRACLE BEAT KAY SHELTON FOR FIRST PLACE IN THE “HUSBAND-CALLING” CONTEST DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM WHITLEY WERE ALSO RECOGNIZED AND MRS VIRGINIA SHAW GAVE THE HISTORY OF CRAB ORCHARD “THERE WAS STUFF GOING ON ALL OVER TOWN LIKE I SAID THEY HAD ARMWRESTLING, ANYTHING THAT THEY COULD THINK OF WE HAD SQUARE DANCING, OF COURSE THE HORSE RACES,” BASTIN SAID “MARTHA SCOTT TRIED TO MAKE IT PERFECT ”

DURING ONE OF THE EARLY CELEBRATIONS, SCOTT EVEN WROTE AND DIRECTED A PLAY, WHICH WAS ACTED OUT AT THE WILLIAM WHITLEY HOUSE “ONE YEAR SHE SAT AS ESTHER WHITLEY AND TOLD ESTHER WHITLEY’S STORY,” BASTIN SAID “LATER ON DURING THAT WEEKEND THEY HAD WILLIAM WHITLEY DAY - I THINK THAT WAS IN 1980, WHEN THEY INVITED ALL OF THE WILLIAM WHITLEY DESCENDANTS IN ” BASTIN SAID SHE PARTICIPATED IN ALL OF THE PARADES IN THE EARLY DAYS, WHETHER IT WAS ON A FLOAT OR ON THE BACK OF A HORSE

THE PARADE HAS BEEN A STAPLE OF THE CRAB ORCHARD COMMUNITY FOR NEARLY 50 YEARS AND CONTINUES TO BE THE MAIN EVENT FOR THE TOWN EACH YEAR