Middletown Magazine September 2021

MAGAZINE

SEPTEMBER 2021

BRING ON THE BREW GREAT FLOOD BREWING HAS BECOME A LOCAL STAPLE

LET THE FUN BEGIN Middletown Family Fun Festival & Craft Show is Back GASLIGHT FESTIVAL RETURNS IN SEPTEMBER

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Middletown Family Fun Festival & Craft Show is Back

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KIANA & THE SUN KINGS

BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

Kentucky Railway Museum

Local Group is Making its Mark on the Louisville Music Scene

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Great Flood Brewing Has Become a Local Staple

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BRING ON THE BREW

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Tips and Ideas for Parents and Kids

Doris Sims Helps to Grow Louisville’s Music Festival Scene

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LET THE FUN BEGIN MIDDLETOWN FAMILY FUN FESTIVAL & CRAFT SHOW IS BACK Writer / Julie Engelhardt Photography Provided

booths, business and information booths, and lots of food and a lot of great music.”

The fun kicks off on Friday night at 6 p.m. with vendor booths, a Kidz Fun Zone, and opening ceremonies. On Saturday the festival begins at 10 a.m. and continues until 9 p.m., culminating with the muchanticipated fireworks.

On Saturday there will be tail-wagging events such as the popular dog show in the morning, featuring categories like best Like many other large gatherings and events, the festival was canceled in 2020 due costume, cutest dogs, and dogs that look the most like their owners. Local radio to the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, city celebrities will judge the contest. leaders weren’t quite sure what their plans would be for 2021, wondering if they’d even One of the highlights of the second day is be able to hold the festival this year. The the festival’s parade, which steps off at 11:15 green light was given in the spring to start planning the event, which meant it was time a.m. The parade typically attracts between 1,500 and 2,000 spectators. to get the ball rolling.

As Kentucky residents continue to celebrate the reopening of the Commonwealth, Middletown residents are happy for a very special reason. On Friday, September 10, the city welcomes back its annual Family Fun Festival & Craft Show, an event that was truly missed last year by the community and surrounding neighborhoods.

Diana Polsgrove, owner of Event Logic, has coordinated the festival for 13 years. She’s This is also a very significant weekend, as it pleased that the event will be returning, will be the 20th anniversary of 9/11. The even bigger and better than ever. festival will pay tribute throughout the two days to those who lost their lives, and to the “A lot of the traditional components will be first responders who worked so diligently to returning to the festival,” Polsgrove says. “We’ll save as many individuals as possible. have commercial vendors, arts and crafts

“We usually have anywhere from 40 to 60 entries in the parade,” Polsgrove says. “We will have the Eastern High School band and many of the school’s sports teams participating. There will also be dance teams, the Boy Scouts, the VFW, and politicians. The parade is always led by our city commissioners and our grand marshal.”

6 / MIDDLETOWN MAGAZINE / SEPTEMBER 2021 / TownePost.com

Other fun events during the festival include a petting zoo with pigs, chickens, goats, calves and other cute farmyard animals, artisans and crafters selling unique items like jewelry, soaps and home goods, and of course there will be plenty to eat. Mobile food vendors will be on hand, along with mouth-watering, carnival-style treats.

Entertainment has always been a key factor during this event, including many wellknown musical acts. Wax Factory and the popular Wulfe Bros. will be performing on the main stage located in the parking lot of the First Baptist Church. There will also be solo acts playing in the gazebo located in Middletown’s Wetherby Park.

Longtime festival participants will recall that the city’s First Baptist Church offered an entertaining program called “Broadway on Main” for many years, presented in their main sanctuary.

“It was a 45-minute, fully costumed, fully

set-designed, full orchestra production involving 60 to 70 church folks,” says Dr. Jim Cobban, head pastor at First Baptist. “They did a marvelous job.”

Members would normally begin working on the show several months ahead of the festival, but this year they weren’t quite sure what COVID restrictions would be in place.

Alternate ideas began to form in Cobban’s mind as to what the church members could do for a performance. When one member approached him and mentioned that the festival was going to be held on the anniversary of 9/11, Cobban came up with a new plan. Instead of holding the usual performance, Middletown church choirs would band together to form a mass chorus.

Cobban, along with First Baptist Music Minister Leslie Halfacre, Pastor Gary Gibson of United Methodist Church, Kristen Furches, United Methodist’s director of music and worship, and Roberta

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the Middletown Festival,” says Paul Cunningham, band member. “It’s wonderful to have the opportunity for people to come together again. Our show includes patriotic songs popular from the Revolutionary War to present day.”

Vincent, First Baptist member, worked to make this a possibility.

the Wulfe Bros.,” Polsgrove explains.

The fireworks show is produced by local Numbers will include “America the pyrotechnician Bill Loeffler of W. A. Beautiful” with an arrangement of the Lord’s Loeffler Enterprises.

Prayer, “Heal Our Land” and “How Can I “We do close-proximity fireworks, which keep from Singing?” means the crowd will be within 200’ to 300’ of the fireworks,” Polsgrove says. “They not The festival will continue on Saturday only get to see them in the air, but they also night with a beautiful fireworks display at get to see them being fired.”

Wetherby Park starting at 9:20 p.m. The show lasts for approximately 20 minutes.

The Wulfe Bros. are thrilled to be returning “The only fireworks display that’s larger than to this event. ours is Thunder Over Louisville, and our “We always enjoy performing for show will be fired to live patriotic music by

Area business owners are looking forward to the return of the festival.

“I’ve been a part of the community for five years, and one of the things I value and take great pride in is community involvement,” says Holly Coy of State Farm in Middletown. “Bringing back the Middletown Family Fun Festival is very exciting for me and my family, and my business. Throughout the years our children have really enjoyed the parade and all of the fun the festival brings. We look forward to seeing the community come together and can’t wait to see all of the smiles on people’s faces.”

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136 South Main Street New Haven, KY

KENTUCKY RAILWAY MUSEUM A new October event they added last year, called Whistles, Witches and Wine, became wildly popular, selling It’s always fun to step back in time, and when you visit the Kentucky out every night.

Railway Museum, that’s exactly what you get to do. The Kentucky Railway Museum, which originated in Louisville, Kentucky in1954, “Ladies come dressed in full costume, is one of three tourist railroads in Kentucky. The Kentucky Railway some in homemade witches hats Museum moved to its current home in New Haven, Kentucky in and others just looking for a great 1990. “So much of our history is being erased from our nation,” says ladies night out with friends. There’s Lynn Kustes, marketing manager. “We’re trying to preserve a small a costume contest, music and wine piece of that history.” tastings from local wineries.

Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing Photography Provided

Many families visit the museum and take a train excursion especially grandparents who bring their grandkids to let them see and feel that piece of history they experienced during their youth.

Many don’t realize the museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a small staff that relies primarily on volunteers. In fact, they have approximately 75 active volunteers, some of whom come weekly, others monthly, and others just for special events. Volunteers are so crucial in keeping the wheels moving - literally - they are always in search of more.

Each year they welcome thousands of tourists to the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven, Kentucky to enjoy one of the train rides, visit and stroll through the museum or attend a special event. One of their most popular monthly rides is The Great Train Robbery, during which “robbers” on horseback stop the train to collect loot from passengers, which is then donated to the WHAS Crusade for Children. Because this is such a popular event, each year they collect several thousand dollars for the organization. In some years they have donated as much as $7,000 to the cause.

In addition, they offer lots of seasonal rides. For instance, the Autumn Express invites folks to welcome the crisper season with fun activities and pumpkin picking. They also have the Fall Break Express, and the Annual Car, Truck, Motorcycle & Tractor Show, an event that through the years has grown from 20 cars to over 400.

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The train runs throughout the month of December on select dates for the Santa trains. Passengers get to visit with St. Nick, enjoy cookies and hot chocolate and children can participate in themed holiday activities. It’s a sellout event so purchasing tickets early is highly encouraged.

The Kentucky Railway Museum is raising money to restore L&N 152, a 116-year-old steam engine that was donated to the museum in 1956.

Over a thirteen year period from 1973-1986 volunteers of the museum through a labor of love and funding from local sources restored the locomotive. In April of 1986 L&N 152 was back in service pulling several hundred passengers on its inaugural run. In 2008 L&N 152 was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Unfortunately in September of 2011 L&N152 was taken out of service due to boiler issues. A fundraising campaign began in 2015 to make vital repairs and return the engine to service. Thus far between grants and monetary donations the museum has raised just over 750,000.00 toward its goal of 1,000.000.00. For information on how you can help restore this 116 year old icon please go to www.kyrail.org.

Celebrating 31 years in New Haven, the Kentucky Railway Museum gives visitors a chance to climb aboard a vintage train for a ride through the L&N’s Historic Lebanon Branch. For information or to reserve your train excursion please hop aboard kyrail.org.

SEPTEMBER 2021 / 9

Nik Heberlein, Matt Fuller and Zach Barnes

BRING ON THE BREW

GREAT FLOOD BREWING HAS BECOME A LOCAL STAPLE Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing Photographer / Stephanie Hair

After college, Zach Barnes was chatting with his lifelong friend Matt Fuller, who had become a master at brewing beer. As they talked about where the beer market was, an idea began to brew. They discussed opening a brewery in the Highlands.

“We thought that this was something we could do really well,” Barnes says. “We weren’t professionals at that point, but we were making good beer and we were ready for the challenge.”

define the business that were regionally recognizable but have specific ties to the Louisville area,” Barnes says. “We wanted to build the story of the business by exemplifying the story of the place.”

As the friends researched they thought of the Great Flood of 1937, an event that changed the socioeconomic and physical development of Louisville.

“There are stories about how neighbors came together and helped one another out,” Barnes says. “The community changed forever. It may seem weird to name a place after a natural disaster, but following that The two founders brought in a third partner, event people came together to build a Nik Heberlein, and in April of 2014 they stronger, better Louisville. We wanted to opened Great Flood Brewing on Bardstown honor that. Little did we know that we Road. Before they opened their doors, would go through our own version of that however, they needed to come up with a this past year.” unique name.

“We were thinking about ways we could

They had clearly hit on something. When they first opened the Highlands location, 10 / SEPTEMBER 2021

the line was out the door and wrapped around the block.

“Craft beer was booming, and even with great Louisville options there was still pentup demand,” Barnes says.

People loved the concept, the beer and the name.

“When you look at old photos of the Second Street bridge in Louisville that crosses the Ohio, you realize, ‘Oh my gosh, that boat is tied off at the roadway,’” Barnes says.

Patrons enjoyed swapping stories of the Great Flood of 1937.

“People would come in and share how their mother was 8 years old and still has vivid memories of the flood,” Barnes says. “They told how they lived at their cousin’s house for three weeks as water was receding back.”

They hosted community open-mic nights where folks could share their flood memories in a public forum. Enough time has passed that most of the stories are secondhand, passed down through the generations.

Throughout the past seven years, Barnes says it’s been a crazy ride that culminated most recently in the opening of Great Flood Restaurant and Brewery in Middletown, in January of last year. Barnes and his partners thought there was a market on the east end of Louisville that was underserved.

Since the building has a large kitchen, they decided it was the perfect opportunity to open a full-service restaurant.

“It was a natural extension of what we’ve been doing,” Barnes says.

They sell starters, pizza, burgers, salads, sandwiches and sides.

patrons made it clear that they were thrilled to have a brewery in town. Great Flood Restaurant and Brewery enjoyed eight normal weeks of operation before restrictions due to COVID-19 were put in place.

“It’s been a learning process as we have effectively had four or five re-openings in the last year,” Barnes says. “You feel like you’ve opened seven restaurants. Still, as weird as it sounds, we are better having gone through this. Having to learn on the fly “When you drive somewhere, you want to have that full experience,” Barnes says. “Plus, and adapt to every part of the business has benefited us, and the guest that dines and as local guys we were excited to bring our drinks with us.” product back home so to speak, closer to where we grew up.”

The owners have had to learn to reprioritize their goals to ensure that every decision When they opened on Shelbyville Road, Unlike the Highlands area, which has a lot of walking traffic and where folks can get to food trucks on foot, this location requires guests to drive.

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and read. Heberlein, a counselor at a local school, loves to travel, making friends wherever he goes.

The three friends take pride in the work they do, as they each have their own niche.

Barnes calls himself the “finance guy.” He handles sales, media and financial issues.

Fuller is the master brewer, and head of lab and production operations.

feeds into the best guest experience which often include long hours. possible. The best part is that they have gone through it together.

“The key to long hours is to say, ‘We’ve done this before. It’s going to be four or five “We’ve all had a blast amidst the challenge,” weeks of 90-hour work weeks, but it won’t Barnes says. “As hard as the last year has last forever. We’ll be back to normal soon,’” been, there is no other group of people with Barnes says. “Then ensure you make good whom I’d rather work.” on those promises.”

Both Barnes and Fuller are married. Kayleah During the pandemic, Barnes has taken to Barnes and Alex Fuller have both been spending a lot of time outdoors walking supportive of their husbands’ endeavors, and reading. Fuller has camped, traveled

“He’s a fantastic brewer,” Barnes says of Fuller. “I’d put him in the top of the state in his ability to make beer taste good.”

Heberlein is a builder, project manager and entertainer.

“Matt and Nik are a great team when it comes to physically building things,” says Barnes, noting that they built out both locations on their own.

When someone grows up in an area, it’s often natural to contemplate moving away

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and trying something new. Barnes was no different, having toyed with the idea.

Ultimately, however, he decided to stay put.

“As you go through adulthood, you build relationships, you build roots and those roots get deeper,” Barnes says. “Plus, we saw a huge opportunity here in Louisville for a craft brewery.”

They look forward to operating in more normal circumstances so they can hit the ground running again.

“It’s nice to have a place where your parents and friends can come in,” Barnes says. “It’s a great community feel around here.”

Barnes’ favorite part of being in the restaurant and brewery industry is that it’s a vehicle for building life experiences. That may involve celebrating an engagement or, more recently, a family that is gathering for the first time in more than a year.

“You get to be a part of these special moments in people’s lives, which is pretty rewarding in itself,” Barnes says. “Though I’m not directly involved in their stories, they will remember Great Flood is where this wonderful thing happened, where they first met their spouse, met up with friends to celebrate a milestone, or had the best burger of their lives.”

Since opening in Middletown, they have received positive feedback.

“We’ve heard a lot of, ‘I’m really glad you’re here,’ and, after the pandemic closures, ‘I’m really glad you’re still here,’” Barnes says.

“People say they want this to be their regular spot for craft beer.”

Great Flood Taproom and Brewery is located at 2120 Bardstown Road in Louisville. Great Flood Restaurant and Brewery is located at 12717 Shelbyville Road in Louisville. For more information, call the Taproom at 502-208-0882, ext. 1, or visit greatfloodbrewing.com.

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SOUNDS OF SUCCESS Tim McGraw with Doris Sims

Writer / Shannon Siders Photography Provided

After 30 years of service with the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau (now Louisville Tourism), Doris Sims was looking forward to some well-earned time off when she retired in January of 2018.

Instead, she hopped nearly right back into the workforce as senior vice president of strategic partnerships for Danny Wimmer Presents, the company behind the Hometown Rising, Bourbon & Beyond, and Louder Than Life music festivals that take place on consecutive weekends in September. Collectively, the events have become known as the Louisville Trifesta.

“I was retired for about 28 days,” Sims says

DORIS SIMS HELPS TO GROW LOUISVILLE’S MUSIC FESTIVAL SCENE

with a laugh.

Her relationship with Danny Wimmer Presents goes all the way back to when the organization first began to scout Louisville as a potential festival site in advance of Louder Than Life’s premier in 2014. The Louisville Mayor’s Office sent an inquiry to Louisville Tourism to research more, and Sims quickly realized that her youngest son Dale had been going to Rock on the Range, the organization’s rock and metal festival in Columbus, Ohio, since its inception in 2007.

“I knew that Danny Wimmer Presents would be bringing a legitimate destination festival to Louisville,” Sims says. “I recall the Grateful Dead days when people were sleeping in their cars and vans, not really 14 / SEPTEMBER 2021

bringing an economic impact. I knew this festival would be different, with attendees filling up hotel rooms and eating at nice restaurants.”

Louder Than Life came at a perfect time for Louisville, when the city was looking for more nontraditional festivals and events to help supplement business that would be lost during the downtown convention center remodel and closure. The festival opened to much success, paving the way for Bourbon & Beyond in 2017 and Hometown Rising in 2019.

Sims’ professional background in tourism has been a great asset for the festivals, as she has helped to strengthen the bond between the Los Angeles-based producers and the local partners at attractions, hotels, and city

and state agencies both in Louisville and other cities where they operate festivals.

“When I came on board with Danny Wimmer Presents, we didn’t know exactly what I was going to do, but we knew connecting the dots was something I do well,” Sims says. “When I go to a city we partner with, I’m an advocate for that city too. I want to make sure they’re generating as much business as they can for themselves because they partner with us much better in the future.”

For example, Sims highlights that around 60% of attendees at the Louisville festivals are from outside of Louisville and Kentucky.

This generates a lot of hotel business, which in turn generates a large sum of tax dollars coming from nonresidents.

local presence. She and the other festival employees also work closely with bestselling author and bourbon expert Fred Minnick, who happens to be a local and has provided them with many connections in the bourbon world.

The 2018 festival series left much to be desired, with Bourbon & Beyond’s day two being cancelled, and Louder Than Life being scrapped completely due to extremely muddy conditions and rain at Champions Park downtown.

“Champions Park was green and lush, but logistically it was tough,” says Sims, noting that the site off of River Road had only one driving lane going each way. “Danny Wimmer has always said if people don’t have a good experience getting there, it’s going to set the tone for their experience, period.”

Sims works hard to foster relationships with local businesses to give the festivals an authentic, homegrown feel. In Louisville she The producers knew they wanted to keep helped bring on GE Appliances as a sponsor an open-venue concept, and laid the for the culinary stage because of their strong groundwork for a new festival site for 2019,

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named the Highland Festival Grounds.

Located at the Kentucky Exposition Center, the square-shaped venue has a mixture of paved and grassy areas. With the main stages located side-by-side near the entrance, fans maximized their music viewing time while cutting down on walking from one end of the venue to the other.

“Our goal over the next few years is to help the Expo Center create an area that is more park-like,” says Sims, noting that they are looking into planting more trees in the area.

“Danny is always coming up with ideas,” The new site also provided space for the Sims says. “There’s no telling what the future campgrounds, and several hundred hotel will be, but I’m on board. I like change and rooms are within walking distance of the site. new projects, and Danny wants to be as involved in this community as possible.”

As the Louisville Trifesta series continues to grow, so does the audience. Hometown Of course there are some perks to the job for Rising’s premier marked the first time for music lovers. Sims counts Ozzy Osbourne Danny Wimmer Presents to enter the world among the top stars she has met in her of country music, with superstars Luke new gig, and celebrity sightings go all the Bryan, Tim McGraw and Keith Urban way back to when she was working for the headlining the inaugural year.

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“I was walking backstage and saw ZZ Top on their golf cart at a porta-pot,” Sims says with a laugh. “The first years were a little more rural. I thought, ‘We really need to get real bathrooms down here,’ and we finally did.”

The challenges from COVID have been substantial.

“2020 was not easy,” Sims says. “We had to cancel all of our festivals and lay off 75% of our staff. We weren’t even sure we

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would have any festivals in 2021. We had to plan for the worst-case scenario and look for other solutions to accommodate the restrictions that were in place at the beginning of 2021.”

“We knew we would not be able to have the same number of festivals in 2021 as in the past,” Sims continues. “We reduced the number of festivals nationally to four and moved them all to the fall. We made the decision to keep Louder than Life because many of the tickets sold for 2020 deferred to 2021 so we had a good start. We decided to wait until 2022 to bring back Hometown Rising and Bourbon & Beyond.”

In the midst of all the challenges, there have been some new opportunities.

“We partnered with the Louisville Waterfront Park to create a concert series that would not only be conducive to social distancing, but the concerts could be brought to you by Hometown Rising or

Bourbon & Beyond,” Sims says. “The Live on the Lawn at Waterfront Park Concert Series allows us to start out small and grow as restrictions are lifted. We are planning to have 10-plus concerts through September.

So far, 30% of ticket sales are from outside of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio, with 28 states represented from California to New York. Music is not only helping to bring people together, it’s helping to revive the economy in Louisville.”

Even though her retirement was short-lived, Sims seems to have no qualms about where her new path has taken her.

“Not only do I get to enjoy music I love and am passionate about, I get to take a lot of the things I’ve learned over the last 30 years in the hospitality industry and apply it to the musical festival world,” Sims says. “It’s exciting in this stage of my life to be able to be doing something new, yet able to bring my talents and things I’ve learned over the years to this industry.”

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Corn Mazes

The time has finally come to tackle those favorite fall activities we all love, and it’s the perfect time to come together and enjoy them with family and friends.

With fall comes a great mix of warm and cool weather, and getting outside is a must. Enjoy time outside exploring during the day, and then grab a blanket and get cozy around a fire at night. Here are a few ideas - some new, and some tried and true - for that fall to-do list of yours.

Apple Picking

One of the best parts of fall is the apples. Head over to your local orchard and have fun picking apples as a family. While you’re there, enjoy some ice-cold apple cider and maybe even some apple cider donuts. Then take your pickings home to make your own apple sauce, apple pie or apple crumble.

Corn mazes are all the rage these days. They keep getting bigger, better and more creative. Some people prefer scary mazes, but the ones you can get lost in for hours without being scared half to death are just fine too. If you take kids, keep them close or maybe grab a megaphone before you go, just in case. However you like your corn mazes, this is a great fall activity to do as a family. Look up a museum or farm nearby to see what they have to offer.

Nature Scavenger Hunts

The crisp fall weather is great for exploring, and why not add a little challenge to it? Print off a great fall scavenger hunt list, pack some snacks, and pick your favorite trail to search on. One list for the family will do just fine, but take pictures with your finds to make it a little more fun. You could even make this a yearly tradition and put all the photos together in a memory book.

SEPTEMBER 2021 / 21

Pumpkin Power

Just like apples, it’s the time of year for pumpkin everything - pies, lattes, rolls, muffins, and don’t forget those pumpkin seeds. When this time of year rolls around, there’s no limit to what you can do with pumpkin, so have fun with it.

Decorate Pumpkins

Another fall must-do is pumpkin decorating. Head to your favorite pumpkin patch and pick a few pumpkins of various sizes. Look for pumpkins with unique shapes and interesting markings. Bring them home and have at it. Get creative with carving, painting and adding accessories.

Go Geocaching

If you don’t already know what this is, you are in for a real treat. It’s like treasure hunting but close to home, and while the treasure might just be documenting your name on a tiny piece of paper and putting it back, this is fun for everyone. Download a geocaching app and begin your hunt. This is something fun to do that’s a little different, and provides a good time for the whole family. Sometimes there are hidden gems very close to home.

Go Hiking

Spring and summer are not the only times to hike. Fall is actually ideal with its cooler temperatures. Pick a state park to explore together as a family. Take in the gorgeous, changing scenery while enjoying a little outdoor exercise.

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Sit Around the Campfire

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Fall Foliage Drives

The leaves on the trees in the fall are just the best, and while there are some locations that may have more vibrant colors than others, there’s an amazing amount of beauty to be found in the trees this time of year. Challenge yourself and keep a count of how many different colors you can find.

Be Thankful

Lastly, start your very own thankful jar. Decide how often you want to write down what you are thankful for. Try jotting down notes every day for the month of September or October, and then pull your notes out and read them for Thanksgiving. Write down events, memories or even small treats you enjoyed. It’s a sweet and easy way to remind yourself that it’s a wonderful life, and to enjoy the little things.

Hopefully this gives you a starting point for fall activities to try with the family. Take in as much as you can and have a great, safe and fun-filled fall!

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KIANA & THE SUN KINGS KIANA & THE SUN KINGS TO APPEAR AT TODD’S AUTUMNAL JAZZ FEST Writer / Carrie Vittitoe Photographer / ©Sally Jean Wegert 2021

They all wanted to continue playing gigs together outside of school.

You might not expect chemistry to be important to four Bellarmine University jazz “What I noticed with them is that there studies students, but it was. wasn’t a lot of sidestepping,” Del says. “We knew how to speak each other’s musical Oh, not that kind of chemistry - covalent language right off the bat.” bonds, isotopes and Avogadro’s number.

We’re talking about the chemistry that The other members who joined the band comes when musicians understand each later, including Trevin Little (sax), who other and can easily translate each other’s went to Morehead State University, as well musical language. From the start, it was this as DeQuan Tunstull (keyboard) and Fiona latter kind of chemistry that made the core Palensky (drums), both of whom went to founding members of local band Kiana & the University of Louisville, came to Del’s the Sun Kings - Kiana Del (vocals), Phillip attention during jam sessions. She quickly Bullock (bass), Harris Boyer (guitar), discovered that making music with them felt and Matt McKay (flute) - know they were just as easy and smooth as it did with her creating something special. other band members.

“We were playing together in various jazz ensembles, but for my senior recital in 2017 I had them play and we just gelled so much,” Del says.

24 / SEPTEMBER 2021

“It was this innate, instinctual kind of trust,” she says. “I really enjoyed the way they play their instruments.”

Merging the two groups of musicians required a lot of practice to ensure everyone knew what they were doing and didn’t step on each other’s toes musically.

“A seven-piece band can sound like chaos really quickly,” Del says.

It was important for the musicians to think of themselves as a big-band group, even though that isn’t the style of music they play. Del says every player in the band has a role.

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“Our music works very much like a play,” she says.

The band recorded the song in 2019 and released it in 2020. Their five-song EP called “Chrysalis” came out in June of 2021.

Del describes the band’s music as jazzinfluenced, with elements of soul as well as rhythm and blues. Their musical influences are artists who have dabbled in different styles that fuse jazz with other genres. Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Erykah Badu, pianist Robert Glasper, and Esperanza Spalding are among the band’s many inspirations. Kiana & the Sun Kings get together every week to practice. If they are preparing for a gig, they spend most of their time rehearsing. When time allows, they work on writing.

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A tune called “Metamorphosis” by Boyer was the creative spark that led the band to begin delving into making their own music. When he brought the sheet music to the band, he knew what the vibe was and where he envisioned it going.

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When the septet began playing gigs together, they were performing only jazz standards but would sprinkle in some covers of songs by Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. The more frequently they performed, however, the more often they heard fans ask, “Why don’t you play some original songs?”

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a musician and doesn’t know anything about being a performer to think that time rehearsing and performing are the only two chunks of time that bands spend doing anything, but this is far from the truth. In reality, there is a lot of preliminary community engagement that happens before, during and after performing.

someone doesn’t have an education in jazz theory doesn’t mean they aren’t real musicians with skill and talent who need jam space. While Del lived in Germantown, with the support of neighbors and an openminded property manager she created Half Step Haus, a space in her living room where musicians of all stripes could perform.

“I’m always putting myself in venues and in front of bigger clients that would book us for corporate events or weddings,” Del says.

“Before the pandemic, I would go to three shows in a night.”

The idea behind this monthly event was to give musicians a weekday option to perform, so they didn’t have to forgo money-making opportunities on weekends, with alcohol-free options and a suggested donation at the door rather than a cover charge. The Sun Kings acted as the house band for Half Step Haus and would help a self-taught or new musician play some tunes in front of a crowd.

Supporting the music community is both a natural interest for her as well as a way to make connections that might lead to shows for the band.

Participating in the local music scene made Del realize there was a dearth of accessible spaces for musicians who weren’t able to go to college and study music. She and her bandmates recognized that just because

“It was my attempt at building a healthy and non-transactional community within the music community,” Del says.

COVID put a stop to those efforts. With 50

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TODD’S AUTUMNAL JAZZ FESTIVAL LINE UP AT ASCENSION LUTHERAN CHURCH (SEPTEMBER 11TH)

4:00-5:00 / Carly Johnson & Craig Wagner 5:00-6:00 / Kendall Keyz Carter trio 6:00-7:00 / Kiana and the Sun Kings 7:00-8:00 / Dave Clark Quartet 8:00-9:00 / Java Men 9:00-10:00 / Harry Pickens trio people in a Germantown living room, there was no safe way to make it happen. Plus, Del ended up relocating to an apartment during the long months of the pandemic. She is still interested in continuing what she started.

“We’re brainstorming some ways to continue doing it, but it is difficult to find all-ages spaces that we can welcome people into,” Del says.

play in Cincinnati and Indianapolis. Now that all members are fully vaccinated, they are looking forward to performing again regularly in Louisville and beyond.

“The pandemic put a hard stop on all the plans we had made,” Del says.

They will soon perform at Todd’s Autumnal Jazz Fest, which is taking place at Ascension Lutheran Church on September 11th.

Right before the pandemic, Kiana & the Sun Kings had just started to branch out beyond While performing at a bar or restaurant, Del says jazz “is the secondary layer to whatever Louisville to perform regionally. They had it is you’re doing, whereas with a festival some gigs in St. Louis and were hoping to

you go to see the music specifically and everything else is a secondary layer.”

Organizer Todd Hildreth teaches at Bellarmine, so the band was very familiar with this event and is delighted to participate.

“Kiana & the Sun Kings are a relatively new group in Louisville, but they’ve done a lot in a very short period of time,” Hildreth says.

“They are a focused, driven group with their own sound.”

For more info on Kiana & the Sun Kings, visit sunkingsjazz.com.

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TURTLES NESTING

Writer / Olivia Wagner

It was a rainy, spring morning when the education staff discovered a turtle in the pollinator garden by the PNC Achievement Center in Beckley Creek Park. She was already hard at work, her hind legs digging a hole in the wet mud. We were thrilled to see she had chosen this spot to lay a clutch of eggs. What really took us by surprise is that a couple weeks later another turtle had chosen a spot a couple feet from hers to lay her eggs as well. We had witnessed not one but two turtles laying their eggs in the pollinator garden!

This time of year, many female semi-aquatic turtles are making the journey out of the

water to nesting sites to lay their eggs. It is important to look out for turtles on the road, as female turtles often have to cross streets in order to reach nesting sites. If you see a turtle trying to cross a road, please consider helping it out if it is safe to do so.

Always put the turtle on the side of the road it was headed towards, even if that is away from the water. Never try to take a turtle away from its habitat. Turtles know where they are going and if you take them away, they will most likely risk their life to go back to where they were headed in the first place.

Turtles are reptiles, and like most reptiles, they lay soft, leathery eggs. The eggs will hatch in about 75 days. Interestingly, what determines if the baby turtles will be male or SEPTEMBER 2021 / 29

female is the temperature outside. Warmer temperatures will produce females and cooler temperatures will produce males. After the turtle is done laying the eggs, they will not protect them like some species. However, sometimes mother turtles will lay fake nests to throw off predators. Some female turtles can lay 2-3 egg clutches in a year.

If you happen to come upon a female turtle laying her eggs, please do not disturb her or get too close as this may stress her out. At the PNC Achievement Center, we marked off the area where the nests were laid to prevent anyone from accidently damaging them. If you happen to see the area, please do not bother it. Hopefully, we will have some hatchlings very soon!

Back to School S AND KIDS TIPS AND IDEAS FOR PARENT GET SUPPLIES

Writer / Abigail Hake Photography Provided

Last year was rough, but we made it and I know we are all ready to get back to something resembling our old routines. While some aspects of our lives slowed down with classes and sports being cancelled, other areas ramped up with working from home, having our kids around full time (and never leaving our sides), and playing teacher.

Perhaps the most exciting thing about the upcoming school year is that it will likely be fairly close to normal, which means it’s time to prepare and get ready. Here are a few ideas for enjoying back-toschool preparation like it’s meant to be enjoyed.

You deserve a little shopping spree, even if it is for pencils and other school supplies. Don’t give in to the purchasing of supplies that will be boxed and ready for your kids this year. Gather the lists of what they’ll need and make a day out of it. Your kids need to get out and learn how to behave in stores again too, so this would be a fun way to remind them of those manners they used to have, and you can reminisce about all the home-schooling moments from last year at the same time.

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As a parent you’ll need these again too, for ice cream socials and parent-teacher conferences, but I’m talking about school clothes for your kids. As much as I hate to admit it, my kids fell into wearing

30 / SEPTEMBER 2021

pajamas and/or sweatpants all day too. Head to the mall (yes, they are still there) and let your kids pick out some items that will make them feel good. Make the experience even more fun by having a try-on session or fashion show when you get home.

Create a TikTok or Reels video and you’ll be the cool parent too. It might seem silly and I know most everyone does backto-school shopping in one form or another, but this year try to make it a little more special.

PREPARE A BACK-TO-SCHOOL BREAKFAST

Plan to treat the kids to special breakfast foods before they head out to school on the first day. If you want to enjoy one last long breakfast with them, plan it for the day or weekend before they start. If your kids love doughnuts, you can spice it up by making a doughnut decorating bar with some of their favorite toppings. It’s not that complicated and they’ll love it.

You can also take this in another direction, and plan a back-toschool breakfast for you and the other parents on the block, with bagels and mimosas to start as soon as the kids get on the bus. Maybe even bust out the party on the lawn. Let’s be real - we’re excited they are going back, so why not celebrate?

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SET A SCHEDULE NOW

While I know it’s summer and schedules should be a little more laid back, save yourself the morning drama by implementing the bedtime and wake-up times now. Just do it, before it’s too late and you are screaming at your child to wake up and then running to flag down the bus.

They might not like it, but it’s going to help everyone out in the end and make for calm and lovely mornings. No promises that your children will take to said schedule - mine still don’t get it and we are heading into the fourth grade - but it’s worth a shot.

BE PREPARED

As much as I hate to say this, buy a couple masks and mentally prepare for anything.

We don’t know how this fall will go down, and you don’t want to be the one searching everywhere for masks when they are all gone. Grab a disposable pack now while they are everywhere. Stock up on other things too, like disinfectant wipes for you and the class, hand sanitizer, and Kleenex, so you can be prepared should the available inventory take a dive.

THANK YOUR TEACHERS

We are all going to have new teachers in our lives come August, about whom we know very little, but thank them anyway, every time you see them. Thank them for emailing you that your child didn’t behave very well on a certain day. Thank them for sending your sick child to the nurse. Thank them for just being them, and sticking through all this like champs. They really deserve more than thanks, but just keep thanking them and letting them know how appreciated they are.

We wish you a wonderful almost-fully-backto-normal school year!

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Gaslight Festival

RETURNS IN SEPTEMBER

Writer / Deana Karem, President and CEO, Jeffersontown Chamber of Commerce Photography Provided

The Gaslight Festival is back this year and promises to be better than ever. This annual tradition has been a part of the canvas of events in greater Louisville for as long as I can remember. This is our “COVID comeback” community celebration. It is an opportunity to bring people together.

It offers us a sense of tradition, and an opportunity to see friends again.

As I reflect on the Gaslight Festival, I appreciate the history it offers, and I look forward to offering new features and seeing people gather in our Gaslight Square.

For 52 years the Gaslight Festival has kicked off the fall season in Jeffersontown. Business and community leaders like Jack Durrett

and former Mayor Dan Ruckriegel initiated the event as a small street festival in 1969 through the leadership of the Jeffersontown Chamber of Commerce. It was an opportunity to showcase businesses and celebrate the city, while bringing families and friends together.

At first the Gaslight Festival was held in a limited space, in an area we know today as the Gaslight Square. It offered booths, children’s activities, food and music.

Throughout the years it quickly grew to become one of the top-five festivals in the region, and one of the top-20 festivals in the southeast. It has been recognized as a premier festival event by our peer communities throughout the nation and is an important part of the Jeffersontown community brand.

Today, the Gaslight Festival is a seven-day celebration with nearly 20 individual events and features, celebrating business, family,

arts and crafts, entertainment, children and much more. It is estimated that more than 270,000 people come into our community during the festival week, and as we publicize the festival we reach more than 3,000,000 people in the effort.

In 2019 the Gaslight Festival celebrated 50 years, and like so many public events, the Gaslight Festival leaders had to rethink how to bring this annual tradition to the community last year. We wanted to keep as much of it alive as possible but we had to think differently.

With the help of our Chamber members and city leaders, we were able to host the 2020 Gaslight Festival with some of its usual traditions, and we added new features that were widely accepted and will be included in this year’s event as well.

Last year we were able to host the Golf Scramble as an in-person event, but with

34 / MIDDLETOWN MAGAZINE / SEPTEMBER 2021 / TownePost.com

masks and CDC rules and regulations enforced. The 5K run/walk was an independent event allowing participants to turn in their time throughout the week.

The Balloon Glow was scheduled as a drivethrough event, but unfortunately was canceled due to high winds just before start time.

records for the number of units collected during a Jeffersontown blood drive. We promoted local restaurants, offering a “gaslight special” including a unique menu item or a discount on traditional fare. It was important to keep the Gaslight Festival alive even if we could not gather in the town square.

We started some new traditions like the Gaslight Festival Blood Drive, breaking

This year we are back, and I’m confident we will have one of the best Gaslight

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Festivals on record - first because I know people are ready to gather and celebrate our community, and second because we have some new features to offer, and we are committed to making this year’s event a festive, safe, family-friendly celebration.

The 2021 Gaslight Festival brings back all of the traditions like the parade, the 5K run/walk, the car show, rides and food, and much more. We are keeping some of the best lessons we learned last year. We’ll be promoting our Jeffersontown restaurants, and inviting folks to come into town and enjoy all things J-town. We will host our second blood drive, and expect to break last year’s record of more than 30 units. We will have entertainment all day on both

stages including dance groups, a princess/ superhero party, and a magic show, along with bands like the Checkmates, the Rumors and Judge Angus.

Earlier this year, we announced an inaugural title sponsor for the 2021 Gaslight Festival. This is the first time the festival has partnered with a local business and we are proud to work with Securitas Mortgage. Jeff Houk, its CEO, grew up in Jeffersontown and played baseball at the former Jeffersontown Community Center.

At a news conference held in early June, he bragged about how the community shaped his life and inspired him to become a community leader. He is passionate about our city, and he and his son Noah have

already been hard at work helping us to add new features and sharpen our Gaslight Festival brand.

The Jeffersontown economy is strong and the Gaslight Festival tradition certainly offers us a sense of normal. This year’s celebration is about family and friends, and it’s about honoring our community. We have so much to brag about and to celebrate.

If you haven’t attended in a while, this is the year to see what’s new in Jeffersontown - and if you never miss a Gaslight Festival, welcome back!

For more info, visit jtownchamber.com/ gaslight-festival.

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