April 2017 // Priceless

TOPS Who’s Who // What’s New // What To Do

LO U I SV I L L E

APRIL 2017 Vol. 1 • No. 4

DONNA BARTON BROTHERS D E R BY L IFE +STYLE // SP RIN G H OM E+GA RDEN

FEATURE

Easy Rider | 69

DREAMERS OF DREAMS | 92

Spring Home + Garden | 48

ONE DAY FOR ALL KENTUCKIANS TO COME TOGETHER AND

MAKE A DIFFERENCE 365 days a year, Kentucky charities work hard to strengthen Kentucky. Kentucky Gives Day is our turn to come together and show these charities some love. We’re asking you to please log on to www.kygives.org on April 18 th and donate to the causes you care about - the charities serving all of us Kentuckians.

Donate on April 18 th at www.kygives.org

April 18, 2017

FUNDAMENTALS at home tour of homes: Home (Not So Far) Away From Home

30

Color Catalog: Greenery

46

faces+places New+Noteworthy: From Panem to Louisville

62

Tops Cares: KDF Makes Fun Serious Business

64

Meet the media: Vicki Dortch

74

cuisine

30

Dining: Marriott Renovating Restaurants

81

Southern Lady Cooks: Mandarin Orange Cake

84

Womanista: Pan-Seared Salmon Citrus Salad

86

TOP 5 Dining: Brunch

88

life+style Outfit of the Month: Derby Darling

106

Fashion: Red Carpet Action for Men

108

Fashion: Express Yourself with Derby Hats

110

Boutique Spotlight: Monkee’s

112

WOW Wedding: Ellie + Jared

114

Wedding Trends: Glass Slippers

118

family

110

Super Mom: Cathy Derringer

122

Parties: Hosting the Perfect Potluck

125

In The Buf: The Three Amigos

126

arts+entertainment Arts: It’s All Music, All the Time

130

film: Louisville Ready For Its Closeup!

132

community

114

6 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

TOP EVENT: Gallop Gala

138

Dear Tony: Advice from the Edge

139

2017 Awards in the Arts Local Winners

140

Sports: Right on Track

142

Sports: Understanding Cal

146

Sports: Dreaming of a Local Winner

147

Calendar: What to do in Lou

156

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PHOTOS Out & About

12

Festival Unveiled

14

Wrapped in Red Gala

16

NAWBO Epic Awards

20

IACP Awards Ceremony

22

A Passage to India Promise Gala

24

Pearls & Pumps Rock the Runway

25

Kentucky To The World

26

Fund for the Arts Chairman’s Reception

148

Fashion Fundraiser

150

Fillies Fashion Show

151

Fund for the Arts Artspeak

152

Gift of Life Gala

154

Louisville Bespoke Fashion Show

155

16

Event photo captions are typically provided to TOPS by the event organizers. We do our best to check names and spelling, but we are all human and make mistakes. Please contact pam@topslouisville.com with any corrections and we will make note of it in the next issue.

24

CONTRIBUTORS Photographers

Danny Alexander Jolea Brown Tim Furlong, Jr. Ryan Noltemeyer Steve Squall

8 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

Writers

Cameron Aubernon Jesse L. Brooks Drew Deener Elizabeth Gerber Sara Giza Susan Gosselin Allison Jones Steve Kaufman Wesley Kerrick

Buffy Lawson Ryan Lemond Mark Rabinowitz Kate Sedgwick Nicholas Siegel Deanna Talwalkar Tony Vanetti Judy Yeager

Cover image by Antonio Pantoja Have a great idea for a story?

Tell us all about it at info@topslouisville.com

LOUISVILLE EAST

S TAY AND P L AY I N S T YL E.

A l o f t L o u i s v i l l e E a s t . c o m | 107 0 0 W e s t p o r t R o a d , L o u i s v i l l e , K Y

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Sherry Smith

amet, consectetur Lorem ipsum dolor sit lum posuere nisl eu adipiscing elit. Vestibu iet. Curabitur porttitor nulla tristique imperd . Sed dapibus tinpretium at tellus scelerisque mollis sodales eros et cidunt blandit. Mauris uat enim ac sagit400 Gadwall Drive • $579,0 rutrum. Nam semper conseq 00 esque ornare Pellent at. volutp 4BR | 5BA | 5,210 SF tis. Aliquam erat e iaculis sagittis rismolestie tincidunt. Quisqu tortor, ultricies ligula us ac aliquam. Aliquam . Ut magna blandit vel erat ut, condimentum maximus, risus ex volacinia, dolor in luctus lis tellus nibh sed nibh. lutpat tortor, in conval velit in viverra. Nullam scelerisque blandit a, volutpat diam eu, Quisque eget purus fringill tur eu maximus nisl, a malesuada elit. Curabi eget euismod et arcu 400 Gadwall Drive • $579,0 placerat orci. Phasellus 00 s commodo. 4BR | 5BA | 5,210 SF lacinia. Sed dictum facilisi odio quam, aucAenean lectus. odio a Etiam orci. Maecenas mollis dictum nec, urna tor vel tis posuere. Maenon mauris ac metus venena s vel nulla at, pretium cenas lectus elit, rhoncu a vestibulum eros, a convallis purus. Proin ac nibh contortor id Mauris porttitor metus. lectus. Ut at placerat vallis facilisis sit amet vel

Realtor, Louisville Real Esta te sherry@louisvillerealestate.com,

quam.

400 Gadwall Drive • $579,000 4BR | 5BA | 5,210 SF

400 Gadwall Drive • $579,0 augue sed dictum 00 Suspendisse ullamcorper 4BR | 5BA e | 5,210 SF sed ipsum tristiqu ultricies. Cras ultrices arcu r viverra lorem ut blandit. Maecenas sempe s vulputate lorem gravida. Curabitur loborti or fringilla sapien sed aliquet. Nullam porttit , orci a viverra rutnon gravida. Cras pretium rum, dui leo.

NMLS: 00000

Jerry Smith

NMLS: 00000

400 Gadwall Drive • $579,0 4BR | 5BA | 5,210 SF

400 Gadwall Drive • $579,000

00

Realtor, Louisville Real Esta te sherry@louisvillerealestate.com,

Special Advertising Section

4BR | 5BA | 5,210 SF

00

400 Gadwall Drive • $579,0 4BR | 5BA | 5,210 SF

00

NMLS: 00000

TOP Marketing Group 100 Executive park, Suite 101 Louisville, Ky 40207 (502) 780-7825 topslouisville.com

Keith Yarber Publisher kyarber@topsmarketing.com

Pam Leet General Manager pam@topslouisville.com

Mary George Meiners General Sales Manager mary@topslouisville.com

Terri Waller

Advertising Account Executive terri@topslouisville.com

Laurie Pfeiffer Lennon

Advertising Account Executive laurie@topslouisville.com

Julie Mitchell

Advertising Account Executive julie@topslouisville.com

Vol 1 • No. 4 Joanna Hite Shelton Production Manager + Lead Graphic Designer joanna@topslouisville.com

Rocko Jerome Brand Ambassador rocko@topslouisville.com

McKenna Mitchell Editorial Intern

The views and comments expressed by the authors are not always that of our editors or publishers. While every effort has been made to ensure th accuracy of the information in this publication, TOP Marketing Group accepts no responsibility or liability for any errors, omissions or resultant consequences, including any loss or damage arising from the reliance on information in this publication. All images contained in TOPS Louisville magazine are subject to the copyright of the artist or photographer as named, but not limited thereto. Reproduction of any part of this magazine without prior written permission is prohibited.

10 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

502-555-1234

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetu elit. Aliquam ligula r adipiscing dolor, aliquam nec semper quis, molestie ac nisl. Ut mollis accumsan congue. Vestibulum sit amet odio sit amet nisi impe rdiet auctor eu sit amet leo. Sed ac consectetur orci, tus nisl. Fusce torto id lucr felis, mollis quis dolor sit amet, finibus variu s lorem. Phasellus volutpat augue varius impe rdiet iaculis. Maur is vel dapibus justo, ut posuere tellus. Nulla a euismod ex. Donec blandit egestas neque, ac elementum quam porttitor convallis. Praesent inter dum sit amet urna tristique. Curabitur at et euismod mass a. Donec maximus viver ra est, ac semper ante fermentum vel. Nulla m.

400 Gadwall Drive • $579,0 4BR | 5BA | 5,210 SF

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photos

OUT + ABout Happenings in the City

Main St. Association at Angels Envy

Debra Beatty at the Fashion Fundraiser

Lynnelle Morgan, Ann Blaylock Bacon and Perry Bacon, Jr., Leanne Lundy at KY To The World

Aaron Wilson, Julie DeFriend and Patrick Roney at Somm Slam

Main St. Association at Angels Envy

Susie Hoyt for Four Roses Bourbon at IACP Awards

12 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

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photos

Festival Unveiled Tim Faulkner Gallery | March 2 | kdf.org | Photos by Jolea Brown

Mike Ziemianski, Mike Noland, David Nett

Kate Welsh, Rachel Bell

Kathy Newton, Suzann Thompson

more photos online! Topslouisville.com

Alicia Joos, Robin Greenwell, Nicole Yates

Kathy Bingham, Deb Raymon, Jeff English John Reisert, Stacey Robinson, Wes Rutledge

Jesse Rasmussen, Lisa Stevenson, MJ and Lisa Thompson

14 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

David Clarkson, Chip Atkins, Richard Lewis

The stories you tell happen here.

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photos

Wrapped in Red Gala Louisville Marriott Downtown | March 18 | redcross.org | Photos by Brian Bohannon and Ken Parks

Jamie and Frank Heinz

Beth Fitch, Chuck Fitch, Becky Lamb, Arnold Rivera, Angela McCormick-Bisig

Greg and Laura Branstetter

Sarah Duran, Nick Delsignore, Ben and Deserae Williamson

Sarah and Dan Cupkovic

Trish and David Greene

Stacey and Dan Hallahan

16 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

Natalie Bratcher, Jordan Clemons

Jeanne Curtis Mayanne Elliot, Angela Leet

more photos online! Topslouisville.com

Gayle Milam, Ella Eaves, Jan Wagner, Lucretia Vinson

Kacy and Kyle Lapington

Jim and Sandy Perry

Mary George Meiners, Katie George, Terry Meiners

Fred and Pat Hagan

Bill and Virginia Cheatham, Leann and Dan Pellissier, Lindsey and Jim Herr

Amber Youngblood, David Seymour, Lori Medley

Dick and Ann Swope

Gary Johnson, Rick Greenberg, Bill Bettinazzi, Jim Perry, Mickey McGuire

Cindy and Bill Usher

Jason and Davey Rakin

TOPS LOUISVILLE | april 2017 17

photos

Wrapped in Red Gala

more photos online! Topslouisville.com

(continued)

Matthew Porter, Randy Blevins

Tammy and Chris Cook

Kristin Indwell-Goode, Christopher Goode, Greg Bubalo, Pam Klinner, Kate and Matt Dunnington

Pat Weber and Theresa Reno-Weber

Anita and Gary Johnson

18 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

Jane and Michael Merman

Samara Morris, Julie Dorsey

Jeremy and Kristen Jarvi, Andy and Laura Hennessey, Bret and Megan Mauley

Beth Mullins, Mickey McGuire

Whitney and Justin Keeton

Rebecca Richmond, Amanda Elder

Andrew and Elizabeth Couch

photos

NAWBO Epic Awards Mellwood Arts Center | March 2 | nawbokentucky.org | Photos by Brian Bohannon

Chad Spacie, Stacie Barnes

Andreas Wokutch, Patricia Ballard, Vernon Foster, Rachel McMahon

Kathryn Baker, William Myers, Lisa and Justin DeLorenzo

more photos online! Topslouisville.com

Mary and Lee Schulz, Tammy and Paul Willet

Kathy Pleasant, Jami Hernandez, Mike Gleeson, Monique McFarland

Christine Vaughan, Ashley Wimsett, Raven Heinstein

Peggy Arthur, Carol Coldiron, Shari House

20 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

Seema Sheth, Andreas Wokutch, Carla McKinney, Jamie Smith

You know that feeling you get when your hair looks amazing and you feel like you can conquer the world? Oh YEAH! Well that is what Primp Style Lounge can do for you every day! We specialize in gorgeous blowouts, professional makeup applications and personal wardrobe styling. Let us Primp your style! Check out all of our services www.primpstylelounge.com! 3917 CHENOWETH SQUARE | 502-384-7043 WWW.PRIMPSTYLELOUNGE.COM

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photos

IACP Awards Ceremony

more photos online! Topslouisville.com

Louisville Palace | March 5 | iacp.com | Photos by Brian Bohannon

Julie Chernoff, Theodora Stephan, Lynn Blanchard

Maggie Freemen, Heather McKeever Haffey, Carla Hall, Claudia DeLatorre

Suzanne Fass, Wendy Brannen

Kristen Hess, Amy Stern

Edoardo Bacci, Breck Lyvers, George Menzells

Adam Price, Kaylee Carnahan

Alison Liu, Anya Hoffman

22 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

Lea Bowen, Nancy Waldeck

Anoosh Shariat, Paula Barmore, Ronni Lundy

Maureen Berry, Martha D’Costa Koch

“I know I always have AFB in my corner, helping me grow to the next level!” MERIDIAN CONSTRUCTION, DAVID WEIS

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photos

A Passage to India Promise Gala Louisville Marriott Downtown | March 25 | Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, jdrf.org | Photos by Brian Bohannon

Prem Durham, Kiran Gill

Kay and Tim Tabor, Lynn and Don Slusarski, Sandy and Ray Milne, Angie and Chris Pereira, John and Lynda Favorite

Monica Randelia, Heather Hall

Cardinal Bhangra dance team

24 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

Jenny and Mark Raque

Will and Tina Jenkins

Twilia Duff, Hollie Charles, Glenna Thomas

photos

more photos online! Topslouisville.com

Pearls & PUmps Rock the Runway The Olmsted | March 18 | Baptist Health Foundation | Photos by Chris Denny

TOPS LOUISVILLE | april 2017 25

photos

Kentucky to the World The Kentucky Center for the Arts | March 13 | kentuckytotheworld.org | Photos by Dick Arnspiger

more photos online! Topslouisville.com

Susan Blieden, Shelly & Kenny Zegart, Porter Watkins, Amy Lipinski

Congressman John Yarmuth, Perry Bacon, Jr.

Richard Wilson, Jon Russell, Rashad King

Maxine Mellman, Sandy Bowen, Amy Lowen, Donna Sue Bowman

Wayne Perkey and daughter Dr. Rebecca Booth

Madeline and Jerry Abramson

26 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

Jerry Abramson, Featured Speaker Perry Bacon, Jr., Steve Trager, William Summers

A real estate company is like a home. The great ones have a strong foundation. Our agents come with a network of experience and are backed by the most admired name in the business. Call our office at 502-238-1924 to have one of our expert agents market your home.

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AT HOME

Tour of Homes: Home (not so far) away from Home Color catalog: Greenery Spring Home & Garden

31 46 48

at home

Tour of homes

Home (Not So Far)

Away From Home

Restaurateur Creates Rustic Retreat in his own backyard 30 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

By Steve Kaufman | Photos by Tim Furlong, Jr.

I

f Dos Equis were looking to recast its “most interesting man in the world,” it might consider a trip to Anchorage.

In fact, Kevin Grangier – who lives on a sprawling tract of land, in a house built around 1850 – might well have run the Dos Equis account at some point in his varied career. Certainly an account like it. As a New York/California marketer, he represented several big-name brands in the food and beverage industry. It was a career, and a life, highlighted by risks he took, stepping blindly off a ledge with the sublime confidence that another ledge was safely waiting for him below. Probably a better ledge. He went from studying health administration and public relations at Western Kentucky to banking, to health care, to being the brand marketing and communications manager for Miller Brewing Co.’s three major brands, to representing a large cable provider, to working with Lindt Chocolates, to opening his own successful marketing agency with offices – and homes – in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and DC. He was once a millionaire contestant on Bravo’s “The Millionaire Matchmaker.” Along the way, he changed jobs, careers and residences because he was bored or burned out, occasionally leaving one job without another one in hand, going into industries he knew nothing about, relying on a serendipitous phone call from someone he knew, or a good interview, or pure intuition. It was that boredom, that need for a change, that brought him back to Louisville 13 years ago. He was looking to put that exciting, bi-coastal life behind him when he flew back home to relocate and quiet down. What was he going to do? He wasn’t sure. Where did he want to live? Not sure about that, either. It was his intuition, that Eastern Jefferson County needed a decent place to get a meal and a drink on a weeknight, that led to Village Anchor. (And, since then, to Le Moo and Picnic, a fast-casual salad bar concept, and to a couple of other projects on the drawing board.)

TOPS LOUISVILLE | april 2017 31

at home

Tour of homes

H

e had no experience in the restaurant industry, but his marketing background told him the business – like most businesses – was more than just a good product. It was service and branding that were keys to success. “My theory is, food is critically important, but if the experience is amazing – if the treatment and service and ambience are amazing – you’ll go back. If the food was amazing, but the service was bad, the people nasty, the place ugly and messy, the music too loud, you’ll never go back.” So on a home tour with his real estate agent, he started out looking for a condominium, not unlike what he’d had in Manhattan and West Hollywood. But after a day of looking, he returned

32 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

to LA, called her and said, “If I’m going to have a house in Kentucky, it ought to be a house. I’ve had condos everywhere.” So back on the plane. This time, she had some smallish horse farms to show him in Prospect and Oldham County. But first, “she said she wanted to show me some house that had been on the market for two years. She’d never shown it, and it was out of my price range anyway, and it would be way too much work, but she knew I’d think it was beautiful. And then we could go on to the rest of the appointments.” He said, “We pulled into the driveway and I said, ‘I want this house!’ I saw the structure, the columns, the long driveway – it was that whole romantic Kentucky thing.”

at home

Tour of homes

T

he house, a Southern Colonial with some Federalist touches, was designed by Frederic Lindley Morgan, the architect who also designed The Pendennis Club. Grangier said he walked around the first floor, “I didn’t even go upstairs,” and said he’d take it. The 9,000-square-foot home, set off the road on rolling, tree-filled acres, is astonishing in its scope – one large, high-ceiling room after another. A room-by-room tour reveals some amazing touches – gorgeous wall murals, elegant chandeliers, large fireplaces, exposed brick walls and an assortment of furnishings accumulated in his travels. Grangier haunted estate sales and antique dealers to furnish his house. He

34 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

even boasts of a couple of outstanding pieces – such as the country’s tallest American-made grandfather clock in Kentucky, and a massive wall mirror over a fireplace – that were part of Louisville antique mogul Joe Ley’s personal collection. “He said these were pieces he’d never get rid of,” Grangier says. “I was able to convince him they were better in my house than in his.” The various rooms have served Grangier as conference rooms, entertaining rooms and party rooms, as well as his own living quarters. But, increasingly, he has found personal solace in a small cottage that sits maybe 100 feet from the main house.

Featured builder in Tops Louisville, 'Come Taste the Wine' (March 2017) Whole house renovation on the The Tour of Remodeled Homes 2016

Imagine yours at www.greathouseinc.com

MARK CORVIN | OWNER

MON-FRI | 9AM-6PM SAT | 9AM-5PM SUN | CLOSED

at home

Tour of homes

36 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

T

he cottage, which Grangier thinks was the kitchen for the main house way back when, was intended as a refuge for his friends. However, with all the renovation still going on inside the main house, he’s been spending more and more time in that cottage. There’s something almost impossibly tranquil about sitting in the little house’s shady patio on an unseasonably warm Saturday afternoon in March. But that’s the entire intent. First, Grangier had to make this cottage livable. “It was one square room, one floor and an attic,” he recalls. “It was being used as a shed. There was a tractor parked in it.” He designed and oversaw the renovation and expansion, which included lifting the roof off and adding a second floor. All the timber – the walnut built-ins, the floors and the beamed ceilings – came from dead trees around the property, the wood milled on-site. Grangier said his demands were exacting. After installing the large fireplace out of blue limestone that was sourced locally – and built, to his vision, by Rock Works – he said he designed the entire room around that color blue. That included designing all the custom-built furniture in the room and insisting that the wood floor have a bluestained border.

The house is über European and formal. I wanted this to be a respite, a place very different from the big house.” TOPS LOUISVILLE | april 2017 37

at home

Tour of homes

T

he main room has a rustic cabin feel to it, but the rest of the main floor has more of a Nantucket seaside look and feel, with beadboard ceilings and walls, and white paint and tiles. All very light, fresh and informal. The kitchen is charming, with white cabinetry and shelving and dark wood countertops. You can almost smell the saltwater and hear the gulls. “Exactly what I had in mind,” he says. “The house is über European and formal. I wanted this to be a respite, a place very different from the big house.” The space has the feet-up-on-thecouch, football-on-the-TV kind of ambience he wanted.

38 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

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Tour of homes

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his started out as nothing more than entertainment, a place for my friends to hang out,” he says. “I’m very busy, don’t always take the time to enjoy the property the way I should. But I have a core group of about 10 friends who’ve come here every Sunday in the summer since I’ve built the house. I get joy out of seeing people enjoy the property.” Much of the entertainment centers around a brick-lined outdoor kitchen, with gleaming high-end equipment and a huge stone fireplace, and the comfortable patio that leads over to a

40 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

nearby swimming pool. “My business life in Louisville has become hospitality,” he says. “I love entertaining, sharing with my friends. What’s the point of having anything if you can’t share with people?” He’s used the property for proms for his nieces and nephews, their sorority and fraternity mixers, and even three weddings. “I have a large family,” he says, “so I suspect a few more nieces and nephews will get married here in the next few years.”

I love entertaining, sharing with my friends. What’s the point of having anything if you can’t share with people?”

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Tour of homes

I can see this as the place where I do much of my living. I love the simplicity of this house.

42 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

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flection, “hopefully, it will be me.”

He replaced the old ceiling with a steeper-pitched one with dark wood and beams that replicate the wood floor, which he purposely didn’t stain or sand so it’s every bit the original. Modern 21st century spot lighting is plugged into the 19th century-feeling ceiling.

In fact, he says, “I can see this as the place where I do much of my living. I love the simplicity of this house. I designed it, so it’s everything I’d want in a cabin somewhere, a mountain cabin. I don’t have time to have a mountain cabin, so I kind of built the mountain cabin on my own.

he room in the cottage that seems the most personal is the bedroom he built upstairs when he replaced the attic. He retained the original stairs, so old that you can practically see every indentation from every footstep over 160 years.

“I had the dream of lying here, watching TV, which will probably never happen,” he says. “But somebody will.” And then, on re-

He says he shuts the big house down right after Christmas and retreats to the cabin for the winter. It’s easier and cheaper to heat, and less work.

“I have six fireplaces in the main house, but they’re not big stone ones like in here.”

TOPS LOUISVILLE | april 2017 43

at home

Tour of homes

44 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

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at home

COLOR CATALOG

Greenery Pantone’s 2017 Color of the Year

P

antone® may not be the first name in color to come to your mind when thinking of decorating your home. However, Pantone® is the authority on color and annually forecasts which hues will be popular in fashion, beauty, home, product and graphic design applications. Pantone® has declared 2017 the year of Greenery. This vibrant green may not be a color you want to paint your walls, but it is a great shade to inject the spirit of spring into your home via accessories and textiles.

Behr Paint in Green Shoot

Pair with:

Greenery looks fresh and modern with black and white, but can also be very earthy when paired with other shades of green, like Pantone® Treetop, and warmer neutrals like Hazelnut and Orion Blue. KitchenAid® Artisan Stand Mixer, Green Apple Williams Sonoma

Treetop

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46 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

Orion Blue Actual colors may vary from this printed representation.

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Spring Home & Garden

Turning a Yard into a Watery Wonderland Water feature specialists combine the science of engineering with the aesthetics of art By Steve Kaufman

A

s spring arrives, with its warmer weather and promise of growth and rebirth, one of the benefits is the opportunity to spend more time outdoors. It’s a time when many people dress up that outdoors time with new plantings, or new landscaping, or even a whole new landscape architecture. One of the options more and more people are pursuing is some kind of water feature: a gentle fountain, a burbling brook, a soothing fish pond or even a rushing rapids. Which is best? It can depend on the amount of room you have, the slopes of your land, where the sun hits your property and when.

“the first thing I want to do is sit where they’ll be sitting, seeing what they’ll be seeing.” And then, Parker says, they begin to discuss the reasons for introducing a water feature in the first place. Does someone want a calming respite at the end of a long day? Enough soothing sound to mask the traffic, the train tracks, the neighbors’ kids, the dogs next door? Privacy and seclusion? A stimulating jolt of light, color, music and gushing water? “Sometimes,” notes Parker, “peace and seclusion aren’t at all what people are looking for. They’re looking for something dramatic, important, perhaps a design based on some esoteric piece of art.”

But perhaps the most important deciding factor is what you yourself want out of your water feature.

Almost anything you want is possible, insists Parker, who says the job combines the disciplines of botanist, engineer, architect, plumber and artist.

“When I’m first called in on a job,” says Todd Parker, owner of Parker Creations,

One of the most important things, he says, is to know your space.

48 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

That means, of course, understanding where the sun hits your property, how the land slopes, what the soil and rock situation might be. “Lack of sunlight affects the ecosystem that you create in your pond,” Parker says. “Too much sunlight? Kentucky is terrible for the algae that form when the sun and humidity crank up.” He says the ideal is something that looks and flows as naturally as possible. “But nature isn’t always cooperative. Sometimes, you have to manufacture nature.” “Also, where are the trees?” he notes. “Falling leaves will almost certainly clog up the pumps, which requires some ongoing maintenance.” It also means being realistic about how much space you have. “If you have a typically urban backyard space, one of those 14-by-14 Highlands lots, you don’t want to try cramming in an elaborate system of waterfalls, brooks

Spring Home & Garden and rock formations,” Parker advises. “Instead, it’s the perfect space for a bubbling boulder, which has become very popular lately.” That’s a single boulder with a hole drilled through it and a reservoir hidden below it. A pump from beneath sends water to the top of the boulder, where it then trickles down the sides and appears to disappear into the ground. Parker recommends adding lights and color changes to enhance the effect. “It can look like a diamond in the night,” he says. The ex-musician – Parker has been a concert timpanist and jazz vibraphonist who taught music in the Jefferson County school system for years – also believes the introduction of music only adds to the pleasant (or dramatic) effect. On the other hand, a larger, suburban backyard – say 40-by-50 – can handle those meandering streams, ponds and the rest. It’s also a good opportunity to introduce related improvements – like decks, brick patios, walkways, fences, rock gardens and, of course, landscaping – that integrate with and enhance your water feature. But first pay attention to how you use that space. “Do your kids run and play in the yard?” he says he asks clients. “Maybe you use the space to hit golf balls. Do you have pets? You don’t want to risk a small dog wandering into a three-foot pond.” Then there’s the issue of fish ponds – very popular but, says Parker, a lot of responsibility. “The fish become part of your family,” he warns. “They require care and maintenance. If the objective is reducing stress, you don’t want to add stress instead. I find I’m building more pondless features these days.” And be honest about your lifestyle preferences. “I told one client that if I built what he was asking, he’d have not a single blade of grass left,” Parker recalls. “He looked me in the eye and said, ‘If I never have to mow again, I’ll be a happy man.’”

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Spring Home & Garden

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Spring Home & Garden

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Spring Home & Garden

Wings of Fancy

By Wesley Kerrick

P Butterfly Farm gets visitors in touch with nature

erhaps the bugs and spiders make you antsy as they mosey into the springtime sun around your home. Maybe you see them as all allied against the flowers or vegetables you’re planting. Surely every gardener has witnessed such a malevolent insect lay waste to a favorite plant.

The center’s founding entomologist and owner, Blair Leano-Helvey, opened Idlewild in June 2015 as a spin-off of a pest control service she’d been operating since 2009. With that business, she helped people rid their plants of damaging insects by introducing beneficial insects instead of pesticides.

But just as much as some bugs are the problem, certain others are the answer. Thus goes the main message at Idlewild Butterfly Farm and Insectarium, an insect rearing lab, educational center and retail store at 1100 Logan St. in Germantown.

At Idlewild, Leano-Helvy and Barger still advise people on how they can use good bugs to fight bad ones.

There behind the front desk, entomologist Rachel Barger shows off an exotic relative of the locally familiar praying mantis. With marked pride and affection, she lets it walk as it wishes along her hand. The goal at Idlewild, she says, is to keep people in touch with the natural world. “We find that people are kind of growing distant from it. They’re losing touch.” And that’s not just a city thing, she explains. It’s a general mindset. “But things are turning around. People are becoming more conscious. Green stuff is on the up and up.”

If you have a bit of extra space in your lawn, Barger says another tactic is to leave a small plot of land un-mowed. The weeds and wildflowers that grow there will give hungry predators an alternative to your flowers or vegetables. If you’re hoping to attract butterflies, Idlewild can advise you on the best plants to get. They’ll also help you help support the bee population. “What’s good for the butterfly is good for the bee,” says Barger. “They’re all sharing that food source, which is nectar. And they don’t compete with each other. Everybody gets along.” While flowers are essential in a butterfly habitat, Barger says it’s important to also provide for the caterpillar stage, which

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Spring Home & Garden

means incorporating delicious foliage into your butterfly garden. In the case of monarchs, that’s milkweed. Sometime in late April or early May, Idlewild will start operating on its summer hours: Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can stop in anytime during those hours for a tour of the insectarium. You’ll meet exotic and astounding creatures like Malaysian stick bugs, elephant beetles from Taiwan, gorgeous orchid mantids, and arguably less gorgeous tarantulas. Showing people these insects and arachnids is one of Barger’s greatest joys on the job. “Watching that moment of incredulous joy at being so close to this crazy little creature, whether it’s the giant walking stick or one of our orchid mantids, and just seeing how charmed they are by it, I like that a lot.” Non-native species like these can’t be sold to the public or released into the wild, but they serve the purpose of igniting in people respect for the world’s tiniest in-

56 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

habitants. “Where there’s interest,” says Barger, “that’s the spark that keeps conservation efforts going.” When Idlewild switches to summer hours, they’ll make several species of Kentucky-native butterflies available for purchase by the dozen, as well as viable praying mantis egg cases, ladybugs and other helpful insects. They’ll also start selling an assortment of the plants butterflies love. Idlewild sources its plants from growers who don’t use chemical insecticides. That’s a big deal if you’re hoping to host butterflies, because chemical residue can kill them. Mother’s Day bouquet baskets, which include either floral bouquets or potted plants and contain live butterflies, are available for pre-order online. For special events like weddings or funerals, Idlewild will prepare butterflies for a ceremonial release. In partnership with the Louisville Zoo, Idlewild will put on a mid-summer celebration of butterflies complete with a big

butterfly release. In October, an evening “spider house” will provide what Barger calls a “macabre” experience. Throughout the year, Idlewild hosts classes and workshops focusing specific topics, such as tips for butterfly breeding hobbyists. With its host of intriguing creatures and kid-friendly presentation, Idlewild is a destination for field trips. Featuring a tour of the insectarium and butterfly house, these visits usually last one or two hours and work best for groups of fewer than 30 people. The Idlewild staff also make visits to schools, clubs and senior homes, bringing with them an assortment of insects and giving an interactive presentation. Admission to the insectarium is $10 for adults, $7 for children 3 and older, and $8 for seniors and anyone with a military ID. For more information, call 502.384.8953 or visit idlewildbutterflyfarm.com. For updates on products and events, like Idlewild Butterfly Farm on Facebook or follow @idlewildfarm on Twitter.

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Spring Home & Garden

Your Derby-Ready Home

T

he entire city is getting ready for Derby; so are we! And we are mixing it up and doing things a little differently this month. Instead of picking one neighborhood and telling you all our favorite spots to try, we want to invade your spot and help you get your home Derby ready! April is an awesome month in Louisville, so Derby is the perfect excuse to refresh your home. While the race only lasts two minutes, there are weeks worth of events. Not only will you want somewhere comfortable and beautiful to rest your head in between parties, but your house will suddenly become very popular to your out of town friends. For starters, stand out from your neighbors with a unique Derby themed sculpture from DrunkWood hanging on your door instead of the usual springtime wreath. Owner and craftsman John King designs and makes each piece in his collection from reclaimed wood taken from bourbon and wine barrels. In addition to sculptures and wall décor, DrunkWood also makes custom furniture. Check them out on Facebook or email them directly for information (drunkwoodinky@gmail. com)! With all the blooms outside, make the inside of your home smell distinctly Kentucky with candles and linen sprays from Moss Hill Bath and Body. Bourbon, Kentucky Woman, Bluegrass… take your pick from their delicious and well named scents. Located inside Butchertown

58 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

Photo by Ron Bath

Drunkwood

Market (1201 Story Avenue) Moss Hill products are locally inspired, handmade and bear the Kentucky Proud seal. The Mint Julep scent is especially popular and will leave you hangover free! Another great way to avoid the Mint Julep hangover is with plenty of food. Kentucky restaurants shine this time of year and pull out all the stops to impress locals and tourists alike, but with the help of Bourbon Barrel Foods (2710 Frankfort Avenue) you can rival the city’s best chefs. It might have all started with soy sauce, but Bourbon Barrel Foods has grown well beyond its original product. Distinctly Derby flavors are abundant with products like Henry Bain’s Famous Sauce, the perfect compliment to a rare beef tenderloin, and Bourbon Smoked Salt, which honestly goes well on everything. They even make a Mint Julep Sugar.

Don’t get too caught up in the Mint Julep frenzy though. While your guests will expect the signature Derby drink, there is another drink that captures the heart of Louisville one day earlier, The Oaks Lily. This delicious fruity concoction is not nearly as strong as the Julep, making it even more dangerous. Help spread the word about this tasty treat to out-of-owners by featuring actual lilies around your home. We like to buy ours at Nanz and Kraft Florists (141 Breckenridge Lane, and several other locations around town). If you take our advice, we hope your senses are happy. However, we know not everyone embraces this time of year in the same way. If you are more of the Derby escapist type, please feel free to reach out to us for travel recommendations. You can always rent out your home to pay for it! 

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New & Noteworthy: Hunger Games Exhibit Tops cares: KDF Foundation Donna Barton Brothers Meet the Media: Vicki Dortch

62 64 69 74

faces+places

New + Noteworthy

From Panem to Louisville Exclusive Hunger Games Exhibit Hits Frazier

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By Nicholas Siegel

W

hen you think about pertinent exhibitions for a history museum, one based on “The Hunger Games” movie franchise may not immediately jump to mind. But for Kentucky, part of the 13-state-spanning Appalachian region, the themes in Suzanne Collins’ book series are as relevant as ever. Running from April 1st to September 10th at The Frazier History Museum, “The Hunger Games The Exhibition” will offer visitors the unique opportunity

to explore the world of Panem and its 13 Districts in a way they never have before. The sizable exhibition will showcase over 1,000 costumes, props, artifacts and high-tech interactive pieces from the movies, including protagonist Katniss Everdeen’s “Girl on Fire” and wedding dresses. The exhibition will also house a hologram experience and environments for visitors to walk through and explore, like the tribute train and the stage set for Katniss Everdeen’s home.

“The Frazier is involved in a reinstallation of our permanent collection by theme, that focuses on the themes that are so important to Kentucky history,” says Frazier History Museum President and CEO Penelope Peavler. “As we work to reinterpret the artifacts in our collection, we wanted to bring in ‘The Hunger Games,’ particularly during this time.”

Capitol. So, when you look at the things that people in our country are thinking about today: insurance, poverty, food justice—there are many aspects of our American society that are dystopian.”

The Frazier is partnering with The Kentucky Department of Tourism and Travel and working with local hotels to try and attract tourists to Louisville during a time when the Convention Center is closed. Drawing on the huge popularity of “The Hunger Games” franchise, as well as the local connection, the museum hopes to have a great turnout. And, along with regional ties, two of the films stars, Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, are both from Kentucky.

The exhibition originally opened in New York City and then traveled to San Francisco and Sydney, Australia. Normally, because of its size, Louisville wouldn’t attract an exhibition like this, but because of the setting, it’s found a home here.

“The Hunger Games exhibition really focuses on the self-reliance of the people in Appalachia to overcome some of the bleakest moments of history. That whole kind of struggle is part of the fabric of The Hunger Games,” Peavler says. “Like Katniss Everdeen, the tenacious heroin, portrayed by Kentuckian Jennifer Lawrence, the heroes and heroines that are working in Appalachia today have a deep connection to their heritage and a zeal to reserve the culture and that way of life at all costs, and that’s really the kind of resistance that the character of Katniss Everdeen exhibits in her fight against the

“When we think Lawrence (Director) at the Hunger Games Exhibit about exhibits that we want to bring, we focus more closely on the culture, the heritage is, you have to do whatever you believe in and the people of Kentucky,” Peavler says. with absolute conviction, and that is an “What I try to do is look for themes in his- American value.” tory that are relevant for people today, And I believe that many in the Appaso these themes of struggle and strife, of lachian region see themselves in Katniss education, of povery, of loss of manufacEverdeen. She’s an archetypal character turing, loss of coal jobs—these are themes for Appalachian women. that mean something to people today.” Spanning the entire roughly 20,000 And for Peavler, the setting isn’t all. “Katniss Everdeen is a champion for do- square foot second floor of the museum ing the right thing,” she says. “And re- and part of the first, the exhibition will be gardless of what you think the right thing massive.

Josh Hutcherson, Jennifer Lawrence and Francis

Josh Hutcherson and Jennifer Lawrence

TOPS LOUISVILLE | april 2017 63

presented by

faces + places Tops cares faces+places

KDF Makes Fun Serious Business By Wesley Kerrick | Photos Courtesy of KDFF

U

nder the umbrella of the Kentucky Derby Festival – the organization that annually masterminds such iconic events as Thunder Over Louisville and BalloonFest – is a steadily growing generous giant. Beneath the shadow of the spectacular events that mark Derby season in Louisville, the Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation orchestrates numerous events of its own. Since its founding in 1998, the festival’s community service arm has been putting educational and artistic programs on the festival schedule. It also raises heaps of money and distributes that money to a long list of worthy charities around the city. “The more we raise, the more we give away,” says Jeff English, president of the foundation. “We don’t keep much here.” Every April, the foundation’s charity module helps charities raise money through pledges secured by participants in the Kentucky Derby Festival marathon and mini-marathon. Since 2007, these pledges have brought in more than $2.5

64 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

million. “What we’ve found is that, through the charity module, by investing a small amount of resources, we can get a huge return,” says English, who also serves as the Kentucky Derby Festival’s senior vice president and general counsel.

Derby Festival Spelling Bee

The foundation’s own total charitable giving has reached $500,000, and the numbers keep inching up. With the help of various local businesses and groups, the foundation’s 25-member board has many ways of bringing in money. One of those is a five-course dinner in June, hosted and served up by Vincenzo’s. In November, Horseshoe Southern Indiana opens its poker room to a holiday-themed card tournament that also brings cash into to the foundation’s storehouses. The foundation’s biggest benefactor is the Fillies Inc., which throws an annual Derby party that raises $30,000 to $40,000 each year.

What we’ve found is that, through the charity module, by investing a small amount of resources, we can get a huge return.”

presented by

The foundation also raises money by recruiting people to join its VIP membership program, called the Thorobreds. Additionally, from August to April, it raffles off a “golden ticket,” the winner of which receives two tickets to the Derby, VIP tickets to Thunder and access to numerous other festival events. The 500 raffle tickets available for sale are $50 each, and the golden ticket is valued at $2,460. You can see the heartwarming payoffs of the foundation’s bridge-building and fund-raising year-round. In March, a quick-recall Academic Challenge presented by Sullivan University pits elementary school students against each other on a wide variety of subjects. A spelling bee, presented by the Ford Motor Co., brings in the best spellers from schools around Kentucky and Southern Indiana. The foundation awards a total of $20,000 in savings bonds to the top five finishers. RoboRumble, also held in March, is a regional robotics tournament produced by Indiana University Southeast and coordinated by the Jefferson County Public Schools. It gives kids hands-on experience with programming. On April 17, teams comprised of four amateurs and one professional will gather for the Pro-Am Golf Tournament, with proceeds going specifically to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. A ceremony is held in April celebrating the winners of the annual Student Art Contest, presented by The Fillies Inc. and featuring the work of students throughout the area. The artwork is evaluated by independent judges, and the winning pieces are displayed around Louisville.

RoboRumble

Since English took the helm in 2007, the foundation has grown each year, both in the total dollar amount of its giving and the number of people impacted. “When I started working on the foundation,” he says, “it was an organization that really – it was scattered in a lot of directions. And I knew that we had to kind of focus our mission.” Over the ensuing nine years, he’s steered the ship by a philosophy of making small gains at a time. “I’m a big fan of three yards and a cloud of dust,” he says. “I don’t believe in very

Foundation President Jeff English

TOPS LOUISVILLE | april 2017 65

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faces + places Tops cares faces+places quick growth. I want to incrementally grow the amount of money we raise every year.” The strategy seems to be working. For English, who previously worked as an attorney and then as a political campaign manager, his current post is no less than a dream job. “I think working here, being the president of the foundation, doing the work that I do for the festival, pretty much checks every box I’ve wanted professionally.”

further that mission of bringing people together, but you can also really make an impact on people’s lives through money, and also allowing kids to compete and to work toward something.” And then there’s the reward of seeing the foundation’s grants to charities being put to good use. “When you give a grant to St. Anthony’s Outreach, and you know that the money that you give them is going to keep the place open and the lights on and food on the table, I guess that’s what motivates

you,” English says. “Part of the reason is, it’s my job. But it has to be more than a job.” To know their efforts have been well spent, English and the 25 members of the board need only sit back and watch one of the foundation’s events. “You see a group of elementary students win an Academic Challenge competition, and they are literally standing on their seats screaming because they won – there’s something to that,” English says. “There’s something inspiring about that.”

For one thing, he’s part of a great effort to create community. In a city where people from the South End or West End can seem to be isolated from people from the East End, the Derby Festival brings them together. “We bring them all downtown, and they can see each other and know that everybody can get along in a safe and peaceful way,” English says. “And I think as the president of the foundation, you can help

Some organizations the foundation has given financial support:

Metro United Way’s Success by 6 WHAS Crusade for Children Derek Anderson Foundation Cystic fibrosis research Multiple Sclerosis Society Music Theatre Louisville

Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation Academic Challenge

Police Youth Activities League St. Anthony’s Community Center Nativity Academy at St. Boniface Alzheimer’s Association Youth Alive Every1Reads American Red Cross (tornado relief) Presbyterian Community Center Plymouth Community Renewal Center West Louisville Boys Choir Various Kentucky schools

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Foundation President with his daughter at the Children’s Tea

Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation Student Art Contest

smile by Derby

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La’Nita Rocknettes School of Dance Arts Education Award

Arts Innovation Award

Kentucky Shakespeare

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE LOCAL RECIPIENTS OF LOUISVILLE’S 2017 AWARDS IN THE ARTS

Arts Impact Award

Churchill Downs / Saturday April 29th

Paul Owen

Rachel Mauser

Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award

Emerging Leader in the Arts Award

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Louisville Story Program

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Donna Barton had a successful career racing horses. Now, Donna Brothers has a successful second career talking to jockeys. By Steve Kaufman Photos by Antonio Pantoja Makeup by Pamela Butler

Photo Assistants: Taylor Christine, Lisa Dean, Hector Rodriguez, Jeremy Brummett, Lee Shockney

F

or many of us watching the Kentucky Derby on TV, one of the highlights of the race is that 30 or 40 seconds that follow the greatest two minutes in sports.

EASY RIDER

It’s when, the pulsating drama having now been settled and the winning jockey in the full height of emotions, Donna Brothers trots up on horseback, microphone in hand, and conducts an interview. It’s cool because of the drama of the moment. (It’s almost as if a reporter had been running alongside LeBron and had the chance to ask him, in real time, about the shot block that had just sealed the NBA championship for the Cavaliers.) Brothers is right there, on horseback, and all the optics fit together and make sense. It’s good TV. TOPS LOUISVILLE | april 2017 69

And it’s also cool because you know Brothers is comfortable in the moment. She’s easy in the saddle. She knows all the jocks. And she’s been there. Donna Barton rode thousands of races in her own 12-year career. She won 1,130 of those races (still the second-most wins for a female jockey). She has the respect of every jockey she interviews. And you know she knows exactly what to ask. Surprisingly, she wasn’t always so sure of that. When she began conducting her interviews on horseback, in 1998, she had just retired from riding and was relocating to New Orleans for the winter with her husband, trainer Frankie Brothers. “Bryan Krantz, who owned the New Orleans Fair Grounds, asked if I’d be interested in interviewing the winning jockeys after the stakes races for their in-house programming,” she recalls. “I thought, sure, what a great way to slide into TV.” She had been interviewed. Now she’d be holding the microphone. It seemed straightfor-

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ward enough. “I quickly learned, it’s a lot harder to be the interviewer,” she says today. “What do I ask? ‘Did you know when you had the race won?’ That’s obvious, I knew when he had the race won. ‘Did you finish with a lot of horse?’ Of course, I could tell that he had. How do I avoid the dumb questions?” What she discovered is that which separates the good ex-athletes on TV from those spouting incomprehensible jargon – that she may know the answers before she asks the questions, but most viewers don’t. Those aren’t, in fact, such “dumb questions.” “That was a bit of a learning curve,” she says now. A tough learning curve was nothing new to Brothers. She came along at a time when female jockeys weren’t quite the novelty they’d been a decade earlier, in the shadow of the Civil Rights Act – for pioneers like Robyn Smith, Diane Krump, Mary Bacon and Brothers’ own mother, Patti Barton.

“My mother was the pioneer for women riders,” Brothers states, proudly. “The first year women were licensed to be jockeys was 1969, and my mother was one of the first. She won 72 races that year, number one for female jockeys in the country, and her cumulative win total remained highest until four years after she had retired.” That was in 1984, after Barton suffered a serious injury on the track. “In 1988, Pattie Cooksey went past my mother,” says Brothers. “Five days later, Julie Krone passed Cooksey, and she’s been the winningest female jockey ever since.” It might have been all those previous successes that helped pave the way, but Brothers insists she never encountered discrimination on the track. “By the time I started riding, in 1987, when I’d hear people talk about ‘male chauvinism,’ I didn’t understand what they meant. Certainly not from my peers. The jockeys and trainers understood that I could be as good as the guys, because they know how well riders get along with their horses. And horses are not gender-conscious.” Brothers says the two most important attributes for jockeys are strength, and how well they understand their horses. “My mother always used to say, of the 600 muscles in her body, the one that she used the most to ride a race was her brain,” Brothers says. “What you need is good communications with the horse, not the biggest biceps.” Not that strength isn’t important. But neither is it a defining gender issue. “I’ve worked out with jockeys and could lift what they could lift, pound for pound, so there was no way they thought I wasn’t as strong as them,” she says. And besides, she says, women riders have a

natural weight advantage. “When I rode my first race, I weighed 98 pounds, a natural lightweight. I never had to hit the hot box [a way for jockeys to sweat off water weight], never had to miss a meal. So how are you going to tell me that some guy who hasn’t had a good meal in three days, and hits the hot box every day, is going to be stronger than me out there, or have more endurance, when we weigh the same and can lift the same weight?” The horse owners, though, were sometimes a different story. “It was hard for some owners to wrap their heads around women being as strong as men,” she says. “They were also limited in their thinking that it took only strength to ride a horse.” She recalls trainer D. Wayne Lukas wanting to put her aboard Honour and Glory for the 1996 Kentucky Derby. “But the owner was Michael Tabor, from England, and females jockeys hadn’t really made it there yet. He really believed females were inferior to males, even though Wayne told him I’d be the best fit for the horse.” She says the media had a field day with that. “They wanted me to comment, but all I said was, ‘Look, this is a guy who spends millions of dollars a year on horses. I’m not going to tell him who he should or shouldn’t ride.’ ” Strangely, it turned out for the best. Aaron Gryder rode the horse to one of the fastest quarter-miles in Derby history, and he still led at a half-mile. But, says Brothers, “the horse was really a miler, he wasn’t meant to go a mile and a half, and he faded.” Honour and Glory finished 18th in the field of 19. “He might have done the same thing with me,” she says, “but then the media would have said, ‘That girl couldn’t control him,’ as if I’d have had anything to do with that.”

"My mother always used to say, of the 600 muscles in her body, the one that she used the most to ride a race was her brain. What you need is good communications with the horse, not the biggest biceps."

“I don’t want to know what they think right now, I want to know what’s inside their hearts, while the emotion is still raw. By the time they get to the winners circle, highfive the assistant trainer, shake hands with the groom and talk to the trainer, they’ve already swallowed that emotion. It’s gone.”

The funny thing about the media’s relationship to the racing industry is that Brothers is on the other side, now. When the horses parade to the post, she’s alongside them, watching how they behave and passing her thoughts along to about 18 million viewers. Sometimes, she has to hold her thoughts. When Lani, the Japanese gray, acted up so much before last year’s Derby that he had to be given his own post parade, she really wanted to say, “he’s a big spoiled brat.” But she held her tongue and let the cameras catch the colt’s exuberance in what really was good TV. When the gate opens, she doubles back, along the outside fence, in the opposite direction – to be able to meet the winner just past the finish line – along with the outriders. “Once the horses get about a quarter-mile away from us, we stop our horses and just stand there, letting the field run by, so we’re not a distraction. It gives me a good opportunity to get a snapshot of the race at the three-eighths pole, where the riders are starting to make their moves.” Alert viewers can spot her at the three-eighths pole, though – vanity aside – Brothers prefers they never do. “This race is not about me,” she acknowledges. And then she gallops the rest of the way up the backside for what so many viewers look forward to: the interview with the winning jockey. “Early on, I realized I was in a cool position to ask the questions people would like to know,” she says, “which I believe is the jockey’s emotional reaction to winning this biggest of all races. I don’t

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want to know what they think right now, I want to know what’s inside their hearts, while the emotion is still raw. By the time they get to the winners circle, high-five the assistant trainer, shake hands with the groom and talk to the trainer, they’ve already swallowed that emotion. It’s gone.” Her favorites? “I like interviewing Mike Smith because he’s always so emotional. He never takes a win for granted, or one of his horses for granted, or his trainer. “And Calvin Borel is great, because he doesn’t know anything but raw emotion. He doesn’t have a filter – nor does he need a filter. He just is what he is, so genuine, which is why everybody who knows Calvin loves him.” Perhaps her most memorable interview was with Victor Espinoza after he rode American Pharoah to what would become the first leg of the Triple Crown. “Reaching for the personal story, I asked him, ‘When you were 17 in Mexico, driving a bus so you could pay your way through driving school, what were the chances you’d make it here to your third Derby win?’ “And he said, ‘I’m the luckiest Mexican in the world.’ ” Of course, by the time he had gone through all the rounds of interviews related to Pharoah’s breathtaking sweep, the “luckiest Mexican” quote had memorably been recycled on every interview. “But,” says Brothers, “he said it to me first.” Another groundbreaking win.

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faces+places

Meet the Media

Vicki Dortch WLKY

By Cameron Aubernon | Photos courtesy of WLKY

T

wenty-nine years ago, Vicki Dortch came up from WPSD-TV in Paducah, Kentucky for what was planned to be a two-year stint in Louisville as a weekend anchor at the then-ABC affiliate WLKY-TV, thinking she would then be picked up by a station in a larger market like Cincinnati, Seattle, or Chicago. However, WLKY switched affiliations with fellow station WHAS-TV — then the local CBS affiliate — in 1990, allowing the then-owner of Pulitzer Publishing to invest more money into its property, increasing the number of newscasts — and, in Dortch’s case, opportunities — as one side effect. Dortch would then go on to helm the evening newscasts, a post she has held ever since. On a chilly March afternoon, TOPS Louisville paid a visit to Dortch at her home away from home on Mellwood Avenue to talk about her decades-long career, the hardest and most exciting stories to come her way, and her family — both of them.

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Yin & Yang

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wo stories stand out from her career: the disappearance of Marlena Childress in 1987, and meeting with President Barack Obama in 2010. The former remains one of the hardest stories she’s ever had to cover. “I went down to Martin, Tennessee with a photographer. The whole community had come together to help look for this child. I got an interview with her mother, Pamela Bailey... We went in her house, and I asked Pamela every question… I just didn’t say, ‘Did you kill your daughter?’ I didn’t say that. I regret not saying that in some form or fashion; I probably wouldn’t have gotten the answer that I wanted… That was a heartbreaking story to go on.” Meeting President Obama, on the other hand, remains one of her biggest moments in the industry; a picture of the meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House hangs to the right of the front lobby doors leading into the newsroom and studio. Dortch was one of eight people from across the United States selected to meet the President for a one-on-one interview.

From Print to Television

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er day at WLKY begins in the mid-afternoon when she goes over the notes for the day’s stories from the production staff. From there, she works on promos and news breaks before diving into the 5 p.m. newscast, then does it all again for the 11 p.m. edition. How did she end up behind the anchor desk? “I was in high school,” Dortch began, “involved in the journalism department, wrote for the school newspaper. When I went to Murray State in Murray, Kentucky, I thought that’s what I wanted to do. However, all of the entry-level print journalism classes were full.

She then made her professional television debut with WPSD following a brief time in radio, although it wouldn’t be long before Louisville came calling. “Then Louisville heard about me. There were a couple of people at WLKY that would claim that they’re the reason I came here. One girl was on vacation, and she said she saw me and told the news director… it was a great fit.”

“Just getting to go to the White House… it was a very humbling experience to get to meet the President of the United States and have a few minutes with him… He had a mic on. I was walking across, and he said, ‘Hi Vicki! Nice shoes!’ We did get that on camera, so we had a little bit of fun with the President… I did get a few questions off the beaten path; middle-class tax cuts was what we were supposed to ask him about. It was a privilege to go there.”

“My advisor said, ‘Have you thought about TV? You can take an entry-level television course.’ I looked at the course and I was like, ‘Oh my god!’ I fell in love! The studio, the camera, the lights, it was exciting. I never looked back.” Dortch would go on to major in speech communication with minors in marketing and journalism. Following in the footsteps of her mother, she also obtained her teaching certificate, in case her career path needed more security.

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faces+places

Meet the Media

Family Matters

A

ccording to Dortch, the biggest privilege in her life is being a mom to her son, Jonathan, a senior at the University of Kentucky who works in the sports department of Lexington, Kentucky NBC affiliate WLEX-TV. Thus, when major happenings occur — like the annual madness surrounding the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament — both mom and son are likely to cover the story together. “We do get to work a few things like the NCAA tournament,” Dortch said. “Like when we went to Vegas in December 2016 with UK. If the game’s on CBS, we go. If it’s not on CBS, on our station, we don’t go. But it was; it was a CBS Sports Classic. John went with his station, I went with mine, and we were all in Vegas together… it’s kind of like a family affair. It’s fun to get to go and work with him; I don’t think there are too many moms and sons who work together in broadcasting. It’s a neat thing.”

Vicki with her son Jonathan

WLKY is full of passion and the four of us — Rick, Fred, Jay and I — have been an anchor team for 20 years. We’re close friends. We work hard. We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished.”

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Vicki and Rick Van Hoose

Then, there is her on-air family, including co-anchor Rick Van Hoose, sportscaster Fred Cowgill, and meteorologist Jay Cardosi. The quartet have been bringing the evening news together for two decades, a rarity in an industry where movement is a constant. “WLKY is full of passion… and the four of us — Rick, Fred, Jay and I — have been an anchor team for 20 years. I think that’s one of the longest in the country; I don’t know if there’s any longer. And we are so passionate about what we do, and making these newscasts number one… we’re a family. We’re close friends. We work hard. We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished… It’s a family here at WLKY.” Dortch remains as excited about her job today as she did all those years ago, and there are no signs of her excitement waning in the years to come.

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CUISINE

Dining: Blu Italian Grille Southern Lady Cooks: Mandarin Orange Cake Womanista: Pan Seared Salmon Citrus Salad TOP 5 DINING: Brunch

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Discover

! h s e Fr

Marriott Reinventing Restaurants New concept Replacing Blu & Champions by Allison Jones | Photos by Jolea Brown

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he bustling downtown Louisville Marriott has much to boast about especially its highly successful restaurants and the man behind the buzz. Champions and BLU Italian Grille’s Executive Chef Graham Weber, has created delicious fare all over the country before settling in Louisville. His journey began waiting tables and he soon found himself drawn to the creative process behind the scenes. Going to a vocational high school, he spent part of the day in traditional classes and the rest was spent exploring culinary arts. He graduated with honors from The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY and earned his certification through the American Culinary Federation. Now as the executive chef for these established downtown venues, he is dedicated to delivering local products from vendors, farmers, and cheese-makers throughout Kentucky. It isn’t something he simply preaches, he lives it. Residing on a farm with his family, he raises cattle, chickens, turkeys, and grows a variety of berries and vegetables which allows him to expose his children to the farm to table concept. Embracing the lifestyle is the catalyst for bringing this platform to both kitchens.

Executive Chef Graham Weber

Constructing all of the food from scratch is a staple for both establishments. When asked to name his favorite go-to local product, he hesitated as there

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cuisine

Dining

were too many to list, but he narrowed it down to Boone Creek Bourbon cheddar, bison from Woodland Farm, and Father’s Country ham. “The country hams around this area have so much more depth, complexity, and flavor that I don’t even turn to prosciutto anymore.” Besides overseeing the fast-paced kitchens at both restaurants, he also participates in the menu planning for the large volume of galas that the Marriott hosts each year including The 2017 Filles Derby Ball and The Gallop Gala that benefits Down Syndrome of Louisville – both happening in April. He was currently wrapping up preparation for an upcoming gala that involved developing a menu of Indian cuisine. Nothing is too complicated. In fact, the creative process of his job along with knowing that each day will offer something new and exciting is what inspires him most. The planning of these large events is a team effort headed up by an event manager who assists in the coordination and execution of the occasion. Each menu is tailored for the individual needs of the client. “We conduct a phone conference to get an idea of the theme. Then we schedule a tasting where we pair wines and make specialty drinks to correlate with that particular theme along with samples of salads, entrees and desserts, allowing them to be involved in the process of creating an individualized event.” Clients are encouraged to tweak their menu in any fashion they see fit. Once the menu is finalized, they use photographs of each dish to match as they plate up, insuring that the client is receiving exactly what they ordered. On the night of the event, teams of people are positioned accordingly and Weber describes the process as a “conveyor belt”. The systematic approach allows them to plate up to 200 plates every fifteen minutes. With all the responsibilities that come with this job, Weber exudes a sense of calm. He attributes that to his hardworking support staff and the realization of expecting the unexpected. “You can start the day with a game plan, and as the day progresses, it winds up being the exact opposite. You have to be flexible. Fortunately, I am surrounded by an incredible army of culinarians who have my back every day.” While the routine of running two

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restaurants and helping implement the success of a variety of events is ongoing, he is looking forward to the exciting upcoming changes occurring in the next few months. Both restaurants – BLU and Champions – will no longer exist. Instead, the lobby and bar will become one entity while a wall of bourbon – that will extend past the elevators - will be a focal point. The stairways in the lobby will be taken out and replaced with additional seating contributing to the open concept. There will be an enclosed glass private dining area and a speak-easy, high-end, bourbon room. Live music from local artists will be featured seven days a week. The new restaurant – that doesn’t have a name at

this moment - will serve items like bison, steak, and country ham – focusing on a more regional style of food and stepping away from its present Italian fare. In fact, patrons will get a sneak peek when this new concept is rolled out for Derby. But don’t worry, through the reinvention of the space, one of the restaurants will always be open, so patrons won’t go hungry when visiting. Construction begins June 17 on a portion of the area and that will be complete in August. Then the next phase will begin, which they hope will be finished within a few months. The end result will be a stylish and sophisticated setting that

will welcome travelers and locals alike, converging on our ever-growing downtown. Until that time, BLU bar will continue to entertain patrons on Wednesday nights where one can enjoy half-priced bottles of select wines. If wine isn’t your thing, Thursday nights offers an opportunity where you can sip on select bourbons on special while enjoying bluegrass music. Live Jazz fills the air on Sundays at BLU, where a delicious brunch treats guests to house-made pastas, eggs benedict, made-to-order omelets and a carving station along with

their signature home-grown table that features hand-selected meats, cheeses, antipastos, and salads. If following the “Urban Bourbon Trail” is on your agenda, BLU bar is the first stop. In fact, the hotel offers packages to correlate with the tour which explores Kentucky’s rich bourbon heritage.

BLU ITALIAN GRILLE

Louisville Downtown Marriott 280 W. Jefferson Street Louisville, KY 40202 (502) 671-4285

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cuisine

The Southern Lady Cooks

Mandarin Orange Cake This Classic Mandarin Orange Cake is delicious and makes a wonderful dessert for any holiday meal. This cake is also called “Pig Pickin’ Cake” or “Pig Lickin’ Cake” in the South. It’s an easy summertime dessert to serve family and guests. Ingredients: − 1 (16.5 ounce) Duncan Hines Classic Butter Golden Cake Mix − 3/4 cup cooking oil (I use Canola oil) − 4 eggs − 1 (15 ounce) can mandarin oranges, undrained (Save several of the orange sections to decorate the top of your cake) F I: − 1 (3.4 ounce) box instant vanilla pudding − 2 (8 ounce) cans crushed pineapple, undrained − 1 (8 ounce) container Cool Whip, thawed Preparation: In a large mixing bowl, mix all the cake ingredients until well blended. Spray three 9 inch round cake pans with cooking spray. Fill each cake pan with about 2 cups of cake mix. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes, checking for doneness (as ovens vary.) Your layers will be thin. Remove from oven and let cool. Combine all the frosting ingredients and mix together with a spoon. (I don’t

use a mixer for the frosting.) Stack layers, adding frosting between the layers. Frost top and decorate with reserved orange sections.

by Judy Yeager • The Southern Lady Cooks

Judy Yeager of The Southern Lady Cooks had no idea when she started her food blog in 2008, that she would have such an amazing following... 800k and growing on Facebook! She loves to feature many traditional Southern recipes, along with family recipes and dishes created in her Kentucky Kitchen. She has two published cookbooks and a third on the way! For more great Southern Lady recipes, visit TheSouthernLadyCooks.com

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Note from the Southern Lady: The original recipe for this cake called for an 11 ounce can of mandarin oranges for the cake. I used a 15 ounce can so I would have extra oranges to decorate the cake with and it worked great. I used all the juice from the 15 ounce can, too. It did not seem to make a difference. You could also bake this cake in 2 layers. You will just have thicker layers. My layers as prepared here were only about an inch thick.

NEVER SAW ANYTHING LIKE THIS.

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Womanista

Pan-Seared Salmon Citrus Salad Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 6-8 minutes

Ingredients − 4 (4-ounce) salmon fillets (with or without skin) − ½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil − salt, to taste − black pepper, to taste − 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (about half of a lemon) − 8 cups mixed salad greens − 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced − 1 small cucumber, seeded and diced − 3 tablespoons rinsed and chopped capers − 1 cup PopChips®, crushed − ¼ cup reduced-fat Feta cheese crumbles − Citrus Vinaigrette: − ¼ cup red wine vinegar − ¼ cup orange juice (You could also use a combination of orange juice, grapefruit juice, and lime juice) − 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard − ½ tablespoon stevia (or your favorite no-calorie sweetener) − ½ teaspoon salt − black pepper, to taste − ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil Preparation Leave the salmon at room temperature for 10 minutes before cooking, and pat dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture. Squeeze the lemon juice over both sides the salmon fillets, then season both sides with salt and pepper, to taste. Preheat a large skillet over mediumhigh heat. Add the olive oil and salmon (skin side down if using skin-on fillets). Immediately reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for about 4 minutes before flipping and cooking an additional 1 minute on the opposite side. The cooking time will vary depending on how thick the salmon is cut. Cook until the internal temperature reads 145° F, then remove from heat.

T : Layer 2 cups of mixed greens, and evenly distribute the diced tomatoes, cucumber, capers, chips and Feta cheese. Place 1 salmon fillet on top and leave whole, or break up into large pieces. If the skin was on, easily scrape it off the cooked fillets with the back of a spoon or thin spatula.

4 servings | Nutrition Facts based on one-fourth of the salad and 3 tablespoons of Citrus Vinaigrette Calories 380 | Fat 23g | Fiber 2g | Cholesterol 56mg | Sodium 785mg Carbohydrates 16g | Sugar 5g | Protein 27g | Smart Points: 9

Drizzle each plated salad with 3 tablespoons of the Citrus Vinaigrette.

T   : In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the vinegar, citrus juice, Dijon mustard, stevia, salt, and black pepper. Slowly whisk in the oil until the vinaigrette comes together (emulsifies).

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Enjoy a taste of the South, featuring �avors of southern kitchens and American favorites, with the freshest ingredients from local farms, dairies and butchers. Network with colleagues, reunite with old friends, or spend time with family.

For reservations, find us on OpenTable.com, visit hyattregencylouisville.com or call 502-581-1234

311 S 4TH STREET LOUISVILLE, KY 40202 502-581-1234

cuisine

Top 5 dining

Brunch

by Sara Giza

Village Anchor

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illage Anchor provides southern inspired cuisine and a cozy atmosphere complete with fireplace, for your gathering needs. Featured dishes change weekly, ensuring there is always something new to try. For a unique take on the classic biscuit brunch staple, try their Grilled Filet Mignon on Bleu Cheese Biscuits. Grilled beef tenderloin and caramelized onions top two generously sized bleu cheese biscuits with house made bleu cheese dressing. For something more decadent, treat yourself to the Village Anchor Red-Velvet Pancakes, topped with sweet cream cheese. $1 Mimosa specials mean you can treat yourself, without breaking the bank. Brunch: Sat & Sun 10:30am-3:00pm 11507 Park Road 502.708.1850 villageanchor.com

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North End Café

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ince 2003, North End Café has been serving up fresh American cuisine in their “fine diner.” The menu offers plentiful options, including vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and organic dishes that are sure to please regardless of dietary needs. If you’re feeling a little adventurous, try the Heuvos Rancheros: two eggs served with black beans, Spanish rice, corn tortillas, chipotle tomato sauce and queso fresco. For vegetarians, the Breakfast Stir Fry is a solid choice. Seared tofu, sautéed with vegetables and served with both home fries and toast, is both flavorful and healthy. Breakfast Served All Day 1722 Frankfort Avenue 502.896.8770 northendcafe.com

LouVino

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ouVino offers brunch diners a touch of the south, in a sleek and modern atmosphere. Weekly mimosa and bloody mary specials will help you unwind as you dine. Their Maple Eggs Benedict is a nod to the classic. Soft poached eggs, grit cakes and country ham are served with a spiced maple hollandaise that livens up the traditional. For a treat, try the Stuffed French Toast. Vanilla mascarpone, cinnamon, berry jam, bourbon maple and whipped cream culminate is something sweet for the end of your long week. Brunch: Sunday 10:00am-3:00pm 1606 Bardstown Road 502.365.1921 louvino.com

Hungry for more? Check out our dining guide at topslouisville.com!

Rustic Wood Fired European Cuisine

211 Clover Lane

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ucked in The Colony Center of St. Matthews, 211 Clover Lane is gem off the beaten path, reminiscent of the French countryside. The antiques and soft lighting combine to create a charming ambiance. As the weather warms, make use of their quaint patio. For brunch, they offer a prix fixe menu full of unique choices. For seafood lovers, there’s the Grilled Tiger Shrimp with stoneground Weisenberger grits, tomato gravy and fried leaks. The Wild Mushroom Bruschette with poached eggs, hollandaise sauce and truffle oil feels both classic and opulent. Brunch: Sunday 10:30am-2:30pm 211 Clover Lane 502.896.9770 211clover.com

Cheddar Box Too

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ith their crisp white booths accentuated by bold colors, flowers and art, Cheddar Box Too is a modern café that feels light and airy, complete with patio dining. With breakfast all day and lunch choices as well, parties are serve to find what they’re craving. The freshly made Belgian Waffle with your choice of berry, pecans or chocolate chips is served with pure Vermont maple syrup. For a nod to our home, try their Kentucky Hot Brown Benedict. Poached eggs, bacon and sliced turkey are loaded on an English muffin and dressed in their signature cheddar-mornay sauce. Breakfast Served All Day 109 Chenoweth Lane 502.896.1133 cheddarboxtoo.com

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WESTPORT VILLAGE | 708.2822

Monday-Saturday 10-7 Sunday 11-4

from our geometric collection

for the many angles of YOU

From the Vault 3720 Frankfort Ave. 502.893.0900 www.finerjewelry.com

M-F 10-5:30 • SAT 10-3 • CLOSED SUNDAY

LIFE+STYLE

Fashion: Dreamers of Dreams Outfit of the Month Fashion: Red Carpet Action For Men Fashion: Express Yourself with Derby Hats Boutique Spotlight: Monkees of Louisville WOW WEdding: Ellie + Jared Wedding Trends: Black Magic

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Photography: STEVE SQUALL Styling: FITZ FITZGERALD Creative Direction: FITZ FITZGERALD & STEVE SQUALL Models: STEPHANIE LYNN JOHNSON, ALI GAREY, OLIVIA ANDERSON, NICOLE UPCHURCH Makeup: ANASTASIA GERDES Hair: NICK CARTER Stylists Assistants: DEKE LOWERY & DAWN HAYGOOD

Dreamers of Dreams Whether you’re celebrating the Derby in the Infield, Millionaire's Row or at a friend's backyard BBQ – TOPS fashionistas have created looks to inspire.

Marchesa Notte 3-D Petal Gown, $1095 • Cimber Turquoise Cocktail Ring, $135 (RODEO DRIVE) | 22KY, 14KY Gold Ethiopian Opal Necklace, $1400 • 22KY, 14KY Gold & Sterling Silver Ethiopian Opal Necklace, $570 (FROM THE VAULT) | Gold Choker with Turquoise Accent, $98 (LIV BOUTIQUE) | Vintage Glove, Umbrella (FORMÉ MILLINERY) | Vintage Locket; 14kt rose gold, seed pearls, turquoise, $1,125 • Vintage Earrings; 18kt yellow gold, .90ct cabochon emeralds,.07ct diamonds, $1,419 (MERKLEY KENDRICK JEWELERS) | Diane Von Fürstenberg Cinch Waist Shirt Dress, $598 (RODEO DRIVE) | Serupi Charlotte Bag, $444 (MERCI BOUTIQUE) | Round Sunglasses, $26 (LEMON TREE) | Floral Cocktail Hat with Feather Accent, $325 (FORMÉ MILLINERY) | Aquamarine Drop Earrings; 18kt white gold, .98ct diamonds, 3.11 aquamarines, $6,530 • Pink Sapphire and Diamond Bracelet; 18kt white gold, 8.81ct pink sapphires, 2.26ckt diamonds, $11,235 • Diamond Straight Line Bracelet; 18kt white gold, 8.67ct diamonds, $38,365 (MERKLEY KENDRICK JEWELERS)

THIS PAGE: Fancy Brownish Orange Yellow Diamond Ring; 18kt white gold, 1.78ct cushion cut fancy brownish orange yellow diamond, .46ct diamonds, $17,985 • Vintage Engagement Ring; Platinum, handmade, 3.08ct old European cut diamond, $33,730 • South Sea Pearl and Diamond Ring; 18kt yellow gold 14mm white South Sea pearl, .52ct diamonds, $4,365 • Kentucky Cluster Diamond Ring; 14kt yellow gold, 2.16 old European cut diamonds, hand pierced $4,969(MERKLEY KENDRICK JEWELERS) | Auden Chandelier Earring, $328 • Cimber Druzy Cocktail Ring, $135 (RODEO DRIVE) | Vintage Gloves (FORMÉ MILLINERY) | OPPOSITE: Alice & Olivia Pintuck Pant, $295 • Alice & Olivia Draped Crop, $350 (RODEO DRIVE) | Crystal Earring Jackets with Diamond Studs, 14kt white gold, .51ct diamonds $2,190, Crystal Earring Jackets • Edwardian Pearl and Diamond Brooch on Leather Strap; Platinum, 1.08ct Old European Cut diamonds, $1998 (MERKLEY KENDRICK JEWELERS) | Vintage Gloves (FORMÉ MILLINERY) | Serupi Blair Wicker/Leather Bag, $288 (MERCI BOUTIQUE) | Elaque Label Easy Jacket, $152 | Miss Ellie - NYC Horse Head Ring, $52 (LIV BOUTIQUE) | Bailey 44 Skipper Pant, $178 • Zac Posen Jordy Blouse, $375 (MERCI BOUTIQUE) |

THIS PAGE: Vintage Owl Brooch; 18kt yellow gold, 2.50ct rubies, .18ct diamonds, $4,313 • Ladies Art Deco Vintage Hugo Watch; 18kt yellow gold, $2,495 • Kentucky Cluster Diamond Ring; 14kt yellow gold, 2.16 old European cut diamonds, hand pierced $4,969 (MERKLEY KENDRICK JEWELERS) | Matador with Veiling, $525 (FORMÉ MILLINERY) | Zac Posen Pippa Pant, $390 (MERCI BOUTIQUE) | Nicole Miller Tie Tuxedo Jacket, $395 (RODEO DRIVE) | Rose Garden Beaded Clutch, $149 (LIV BOUTIQUE) | OPPOSITE: Alberto Makali Cape Dress, $345 • Onyx Dragon Lariat Necklace, $725 (RODEO DRIVE) | Diamond and Ruby Band Ring; 18kt yellow gold, 1.16ct rubies, .37ct diamonds, $5,805 • Diamond Band; 18kt yellow gold, .20ct diamonds, $2,445 • Diamond Band; 14kt white gold, .62ct baguette and round diamonds, $2,868 • Diamond Straight Line Bracelet; 18kt white gold, 8.67ct diamonds, $38,365 • Vintage Engagement Ring; Platinum, handmade, 3.08ct old European cut diamond, $33,730 (MERKLEY KENDRICK JEWELERS)

Braided Disk with Quill, $575 (FORMÉ MILLINERY) Zac Posen Zarya Dress, $590 (RODEO DRIVE) Serupi Charlotte Bag, $444 (MERCI BOUTIQUE) Vintage Engagement Ring; Platinum, handmade, 3.08ct old European cut diamond, $33,730 • Diamond Baguette Band, 18kt white gold, $13,850 • Black and White Starburst Diamond Earrings; 18kt white gold, .72ct white diamonds, .42ct black diamonds, $3,985 (MERKLEY KENDRICK JEWELERS)

The Blue Shirt Shop Bleached Denim Duster, $198 • Bella Eahl Blanket Stitched Halter Dress, $152 (MERCI BOUTIQUE) | Cimber Agate Cuff, $198 (RODEO DRIVE) | Bendall Onyx Cuff, $325 (LIV BOUTIQUE) | Walter Randolph Rainbow Pyrite Necklace, $98 (LEMON TREE) | Disk Fascinator with Veiling, $425 (FORMÉ MILLINERY) | Black and Gold Hoop Earrings; 18kt yellow gold, gold leaf, black enamel, $1,968 (MERKLEY KENDRICK JEWELERS)

THIS PAGE: Jil Stuart Metallic Pleated Gown, $408 (LIV BOUTIQUE) | MCL Amulet Necklace, $1,895 (RODEO DRIVE) | Fancy Brownish Orange Yellow Diamond Ring; 18kt white gold, 1.78ct cushion cut fancy brownish orange yellow diamond, .46ct diamonds, $17,985 • Diamond Straight Line Bracelet; 18kt white gold, 8.67ct diamonds, $38,365 • Amethyst Ring; 18kt white gold, .86ct diamonds, 12.84ct amethyst, $12,240 (MERKLEY KENDRICK JEWELERS) | OPPOSITE: Vilagallo Maggy Jacquard Jacket, $286 • Paper Crown Crepe Elephant Leg Pant, $192 (MERCI BOUTIQUE) | 3 Strand Freshwater Pearl Bracelet with Chanel Button Convert Clasp in Sterling Silver, $600 (FROM THE VAULT) | Sculpted Jinsin (FORMÉ MILLINERY) | Vintage Sapphire and Diamond Starburst Earrings; 14kt yellow gold, 1.95ct sapphires, .28ct diamonds, $4,485 • South Sea Pearl and Diamond Ring; 18kt yellow gold 14mm white South Sea pearl, .52ct diamonds, $4,365 • Diamond Necklace, 18kt white and rose gold, 1.04ct diamonds, $3,995 (MERKLEY KENDRICK JEWELERS)

LEFT: Marchesa Notte Tea Length Floral, $795 (RODEO DRIVE) | Long, Curved Feather Cocktail Hat, $525 • Vintage Gloves (FORMÉ MILLINERY) | Sylvia Benson Glass Beaded Necklace, $134 (MERCI BOUTIQUE) OPPOSITE: Tonya Taylor Lula Dress, $895 (RODEO DRIVE) | Rolex Datejust Watch; stainless steel and 18kt yellow gold, Diamond bezel, mother-of-pearl dial, jubilee bracelet, 28mm, $18,150 • Gallop Bracelet; 18kt yellow gold, 7.6” long, $6,000 • Gallop Ring; 18kt yellow gold, .31ct diamonds, $3,000 (MERKLEY KENDRICK JEWELERS) | Line & Dot Ella Midi Dress, $82 • Vintage Quilted Chanel, $3,300 (MONKEES) | Double Strand Pearl Bracelet; 8.5x9mm cultured white Japanese acoya pearls, $5,495 • Vintage Pearl Bracelet; 14kt yellow gold, rose cut diamonds, seed pearls, $3,000 • Pearl Stud Earrings; 11.5mm very fine freshwater pearls, $1,050 • Pink Quartz and Diamond Ring; 18kt rose gold, 12ct rose quartz, .25ct diamonds, $2,985(MERKLEY KENDRICK JEWELERS) | Rose Fascinator with Feather Accent, $460 (FORMÉ MILLINERY)

Everly Denim Applique Crop, $45 • Mauve Riding Pant, $45 • Tansy Brown Gladiator Sandals, $22 (APRICOT LANE) | Large Floral Disk Hat, $425 (FORMÉ MILLINERY) | Bali Pom Pom Purse, $225 (MERCI BOUTIQUE) | 24K Gold Leaf, Hand Painted Evacateur Butterfly Bracelet, $320 • 24K Gold Leaf, Hand Painted Evacateur Flower Bracelet, $320 (FROM THE VAULT)

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BRACELET

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With your $125 PA N D O R A p u r c h a s e .

Be BOLD this Spring. DO PANDORA! Finally, the season for open-toed shoes, sundresses, pretty hats and convertibles is here! Spring is a celebration and with the new Radiant Hearts of PANDORA Collection, you can pick out, stack up, show off and add an exclamation point to every look. Shake off the winter wool and DO things different! “The Radiant Hearts Collection is special because the pieces were created with beautifully crafted sterling silver and enamels applied by hand,” says Danielle Koerber. “They marry art and affordability – and with so many options it’s fun and easy to express your own style!” What are some of the DOs Danielle is calling this season? • DO stack colors, textures and tones.

Danielle and Josh Koerber, owners of PANDORA of Louisville, in the Mall St. Matthews

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• Do get the expertly crafted, sterling silver bangles that are built to last with vibrant enamels applied by hand. • Do wear the pieces that make an impression, reflect your unique voice, and don’t hide your own style. This year it’s all about the DOs because DO is a celebration of every moment in woman’s life, whether big or small. From the birth of her first child, to Mother’s Day, to turning 30 and to finally landing that dream job! DO isn’t just in the center of the PANDORA name. It is a belief they share with their customers.

up to $65 value). Limit 3 per person. Purchase of $125 or more must be before taxes to qualify. Upgrades available on d for 14K gold and two-tone bracelets. Void where prohibited. Valid only at participating retailers. Not valid with prior selections may vary by store. Excludes gift card purchases. Charms shown sold separately. See store for details.

POETIC BLOOMS CHARM

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Snake Chain Bracelet System (U.S. Pat. No. 7,007,507) • © 2017 Pandora Jewelry, LLC • All rights reserved

life+style

T

Derby Darling

he race to Churchill Downs is on and we are getting down and Derby! We’re still a month away from the big event, but it’s never too early to start planning your outfit. The Kentucky Derby is hands down one of the biggest and most legendary events in the Bluegrass. And while it is of course all about the horses, to us gals it’s also all about the fashion. This month’s look will give our readers a little Derby inspo for what to wear to the races.

SUNDAY APRIL 23RD THE POINTE 1205 E WASHINGTON LOUISVILLE, KY

Staying in the spirit of spring, we wanted a look that was soft and feminine, so naturally that called for florals and pastels. This strapless crêpe dress by Dolce & Gabbana is like a fine work of art. Designed with a romantic floral pattern which mimics deep brush strokes and a watercolor technique, it makes this piece both artistic and sophisticated. To allow our dress to do all the talking, a simple yet chic pair of sandals were in order. Alexandre Birman’s coveted ‘Clarita’ sandals have been spotted on several stylish celebrities, including one of our favorite sassy Southerners, Reese Witherspoon. Handcrafted from plush velvet in a soft petal hue, they are lined in smooth leather and detailed with the label’s signature bow embellishments at the front strap and ankle. Our bag needed to be just as stylishly subdued as our footwear, and this Christian Louboutin clutch is a perfect addition to our polished look. Shaped from a rich metallic-finish leather and a gleaming curved clasp, this bag is the very definition of sleek. For a little frosting, Larkspur & Hawk’s ‘Olivia Button’ earrings are handmade from rose gold-dipped sterling silver, set with 20.00 carats of faceted topazes that catch the light from every angle. Of course no Derby look would be complete without the perfect hat. Milliner Christine A. Moore is best known for her explosive racing styles for the Kentucky Derby and two of them are in the Kentucky Derby Museum. She’s even designed a hat for Barbie herself! So who else would we turn to for a fabulous topper? The ‘Cynthia’ hat is adorned with silk organza flowers and a french net, which beautifully complements the neutral shades in our dress.

BRUNCH FOR A GOOD CAUSE.

Get your tickets today at: allformenthreads.com/pages/events

We polished off our Derby Day ensemble with Stila’s Stay All Day liquid lipstick which delivers long lasting matte color for 6+ hours. When you’re spending the majority of your day outside sipping mint juleps, you definitely want a lip product that doesn’t budge. No matter where your seat is, and even if it’s a viewing party rather than the main event, in this look you will be the ‘Derby Darling’ of the day.

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by Jesse L. Brooks

1 2 3 4 5 6

Dolce & Gabbana Knee-length dress Alexandre Birman Clarita Velvet sandals Christian Louboutin Dodat Metallic Calfskin Clutch Larkspur & Hawk Olivia Button Rose Gold-Dipped topaz earrings Christina a. moore Millinery ‘Cynthia’ Hat Stila Stay all day liquid lipstick in ‘rogue’

2212c Holiday Manor center 502.425.8999 i Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat 10-5 TOPS LOUISVILLE | april 2017 107

life+style

Red Carpet Action for Men By Kate Sedgwick

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ll For Men Threads is a curated menswear line, the brainchild of local contemporary vocalist and rapper Kobe Cam. The artist and fashion designer is due to debut his own additions to the Steven Land line April 23 at a fundraising fashion show and brunch here in Louisville at The Pointe at 1205 E. Washington in Louisville. His looks are suave and clean. They go from uptown to downtown. Bright colors pop. A bold pattern peeks out from under a lapel. So much of the fun of fashion, especially this time of year in Louisville, is focused on womenswear, but these men’s looks could get some red carpet action. For once, we might hear, “Who’s he wearing?” If you listen to Kobe Cam’s music, you can tell he’s got grit. He flows and floats, moving from gentle lyricism to bold, intricate rhymes. The words are deep, describing a life that hasn’t been easy, but clearly isn’t going unreflected upon. Just 21 years old, he’s walked a full and interesting path. If you’re a fan, you might be surprised at the artist’s close relationship to his mother. Four years ago, Tawana Bain’s son asked her why he was having so many more problems than his brother. He struggled with depression and self worth. He ended up in juvenile detention. He was self-destructive. It was heartbreaking to see her sensitive and talented son struggling so hard. The only answer Bain had for him is that he, like herself, grew up without a father. His brother’s father was in his life, and it had made a big impact. The disparity was starkly apparent. The lack of a father in Kobe’s life had an equal but inverse effect on him. The lack of guidance from a male figure was part of the problem, and Bain saw in him the pain she struggled with growing up fatherless. “It changed my life,” she says. She had to do something. She recognized her son’s

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The man himself, Kobe Cam, musician and owner of All For Men Threads, plays with color and pattern for a sharp, modern look.

artistic talent, and knew that purpose in her own life had made the difference, so she pushed that idea further and she started non-profit, faith-based CLIFH, Charity of Love: Increasing Faith & Hope. Their mission is to connect fatherless children with mentors within the community, to foster their blossoming talents in the academic, artistic, and athletic realms. The program started with the youth she wanted and needed to help the most: her son. Since then, Kobe has connected with a male mentor in the fashion industry and started learning the ropes. With encouragement and support in his artistic

pursuits, he has blossomed. The designer is already dressing local luminaries, like Kentucky Senator Morgan McGarvey, entrepreneur Alfred Gerriets, owner of GMeals, John Shaw Woo, and plastic surgeon, Dr. Alex Digenis. “When I think about the creative process, it allows me to recognize who I am as a person. It allows me to get focused on being stable, being confident, and just overall, able to express myself. I feel that if I can express myself, just through the struggles that I’ve had in my life, it’ll help me in meeting people, being able to open up socially, give back my positive energy to

The Premier Destination for Your Spring & Derby Fashion

Alex Digenis, plastic surgeon and owner of Digenis Cosmetic Surgery, sports a classic look with an outsized yellow tie.

John Shaw Woo, owner of GMeals, sports a contemporary mix and match approach with a pinstriped denim sport coat and distressed jeans.

the world,” he says. Kobe Cam’s inspirations are diverse, people like Steven Landman, Kanye West, and A$AP Rocky. He conceptualizes his work in the fashion realm as, “European James Bond, classy and elegant.” He hopes entertainers in town for the Derby will seek his styling expertise. This month’s fundraiser will feature a fashion show, a brunch, and a musical performance from Kobe Cam. Money raised will be used to help four other talented, fatherless children start finding guidance and a path to self realization and self expression.

“The event will be a red carpet affair,” says Bain. “From about 1:30 to 2:00, it’ll be a mixer, mimosas, some edible bites, and at 2:00 p.m., we’ll do a welcome and tell them a little about the charity CLIFH.” Then comes the fashion show. “We’re doing a Derby, bow-tie affair,” says Bain about the looks that will walk the runway. Afterwards, Kobe Cam will rock the house with a musical performance wearing one his line’s urban looks. To attend, go to allformenthreads.com/ and check out the events page for more information. 

IN THE HEART OF ST. MATTHEWS 3704 Lexington Rd. Louisville, KY 40207 502.654.7337 • livboutiqueonline.com LIVBOUTIQUEKY@GMAIL.COM

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life+style

Express Yourself with Derby Hats By Kate Sedgwick

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n the subject of hats, boutique owner Michelle Tasman says, “Around Derby, anything goes. From the demure to the outrageous, it’s about what makes you happy.”

A hat by Attitudes by Angie makes a splash, here paired with a Nicole Miller dress.

A hat by local Formé millinery rounds out an electric blue dress by Diane Von Furstenberg for a classic Derby look with a twist.

Rodeo Drive is the spot for Louisville women looking for unique hats this season. They only order one-of-a-kind fascinators and hats from local and international milliners. There’s a focus on helping clients match dresses to hats and vice versa. Local milliners like Attitudes by Angie, Formé, and The Hat Girls can customize per clients’ whim and prices run the gamut from $125 to $1,000. The boutique works all year long with designers to make their Derby selection, showing their suppliers the season’s hottest looks so they can design accordingly. Here are just a few of the looks on deck for Louisville’s busiest hat season.

An red asymmetrical explosion of a hat by Carol Kennelly is the center of attention.

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A yellow Alberto Makali dress is elevated by a feathered Formé hat.

A hat by Irish designer, Carol Kennelly combines a bold avant-garde shape with subtle spring colors.

LOWE

How do you want to go?

502-245-7334

Lowe Chiropractic & Wellness LLC LOSEWEIGHTLOUISVILLE.COM

Dr. Lowe

April 12 & 26 • May 3 & 24 • June 7 & 21 Call Today to Register • Classes Start at 6:30pm

life+style

Boutique SPotlight

Monkee’s of Louisville and Lexington Destination Shopping for what’s Fun, Feminine and On-Trend By Susan Gosselin | Photos by Jolea Brown

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irly girls of the world, unite. Monkee’s of Louisville and Lexington offer destination shopping for dedicated fashionistas. While some boutiques may focus on a few key lines, or only clothing, Monkee’s offers it all: from lingerie, to unique designer apparel, to Derby hats, shoes, high-end sunglasses, jewelry and accessories. It’s the sort of store that makes you realize you need “just one more thing.” “Our gift and accessory lines set us apart from everyone else,” said Sarah Woodworth of Monkee’s. “Customers know that they can always find a gift here—whether it be a luscious cashmere White & Warren sweater or a Goverre wine sippy cup. We also strive to make this a ‘one stop shop.’ Customers know they will not only find the perfect dress and heels, but will find whatever they need to complete their look. The best compliment I’ve ever received was when Styleblueprint referred to us as a ‘mini-Nordstrom.’” Woodworth attributes that reputation to the high-quality, hard-to-find designer lines Monkee’s carries. She offers dozens, including Laroque, Jude Connally, Julie Brown, Amanda Uprichard, Alice & Trixie, Tyler Boe, Camilyn Beth and Jack Rogers, for starters. Customers come to Monkee’s for all that is colorful, chic and on trend. And this spring, expect the racks to be stocked with everything you need for stepping out in style at Derby. Woodworth said this year, she expects to see customers buying off-the-shoulder tops and dresses, anything in pastel, and bonbon earrings. In short, she is stocking everything that is fun, fashionable and feminine, from casual to formalwear.

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Customers who come to Monkee’s come for the personal attention, and the beautifully curated collection. The store is bright and airy, with walls stocked with an enticing array of bags, accessories and scarves. Statement shoes beckon. And in the center of the store a colorful, comfortable sitting area make the perfect spot for promenading in your latest selection. All in all—it’s the perfect place to take the girlfriends for some retail therapy. And you don’t have to be a “certain age” to shop at

Monkee’s, either. Woodworth prides herself on offering something for women no matter where they are in life. “I love to see a grandmother in here with her daughter and granddaughter,” Woodworth said. “We make sure all three leave with a Monkee’s Bag in hand and a smile on their face. Customer service is of the utmost importance to us, and the ladies that work for us strive to provide the best in Louisville. Each customer is greeted with a smile and leaves with a sincere ‘thank you,” she added.

MONKEE’S OF LOUISVILLE

3624 Brownsboro Road monkeesoflouisville.com

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life+style

wow wedding

ELLIE + JARED By Elizabeth Gerber

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he St. Joseph Orphanage picnic is a Louisville summer tradition. In 2007, Ellie Daunhauer and Jared Hickerson not only won at the booths, but they won each other’s hearts when a mutual friend introduced the two. Flash forward nine years, through high school and college, and the two are happily married. Ellie and Jared both lead active lifestyles, doing as much as they can outdoors. So naturally, when Jared decided to propose, he did so on a warm Friday in November when the couple went hiking at Bernheim Forest. Jared scouted the park the week before when Ellie was out of town to find the perfect spot–the amphitheater, which overlooks the lake–to pop the question. Ellie’s sister followed behind the couple as they hiked to capture the moment. The morning of the wedding, Ellie and Jared exchanged letters to open while they were getting ready.

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“It was so special to have those tangent reminders of the way we felt on the day we vowed to spend the rest of our lives together,” Ellie said. When scoping out where to hold their ceremony, the couple chose St. Boniface Catholic Church for two reasons– Ellie’s grandmother had gotten married there, and the traditional architecture of the church made it a no brainer. When researching photographers to shoot the wedding, Ellie came across a beautiful home on the river, which she knew instantly had to be the place they held the reception. After speaking to friends, it turns out the couple actually knew the owner of the property, which helped all the details fall perfectly into place.

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life+style

wow wedding

“We wanted a classic, but rustic look for the décor since the reception was outside on the river,” Ellie said. The couple had to decorate the reception site themselves since it was someone’s property, which allowed them to get creative. Ellie’s mother gathered up just about every fern in Louisville to decorate the venue. There was a rustic wooden arc set up overlooking the river, bourbon barrels were used as cocktail tables and wooden slabs were utilized as centerpieces for each table. “You can’t prepare for everything,” Ellie advises. “Something will go wrong.” The couple had ordered a limo service to transport the bridal party from the church to the reception. Instead of a limo, a school bus showed up and began smoking on the way to the venue. The bus ultimately broke down on River Road, right in front of the site, so some of the bridal party walked, while others were escorted on golf carts and entered through the vendor entrance. The party made the best of the situation, turning it into their grand entrance. “If something was supposed to go wrong that day, we’re glad that was it,” Ellie said. After sunset, Ellie’s father and friends set off fireworks on the banks of the Ohio River, which garnered a salute from the Belle of Louisville as it was passing by the reception site. To cap the night, the guests flanked the driveway as the couple drove off in Ellie’s father’s ’65 Ford Mustang convertible.

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details Photographer Ceremony Venue Reception Venue Catering Flowers Wedding Planner Bridal Gown Bridal Party Attire Groom/Groomsmen Attire Cakes Beverages and Bar Service Rental Depot

The Malicotes St. Boniface Catholic Church Private Estate on Ohio River Masterson’s Nanz and Kraft Anne Burkley Wtoo by Watters, purchased at Rebecca’s Wedding Boutique The Dessy Group Tommy Hilfiger The Sweet Stuff Morris Liquors & Deli Fifty Chairs (chairs); Bullet Septic Service (luxury restroom trailer rentals)

life+style

Black Magic A stunning Difference

W

e all know the white wedding dress is the traditional ideal. It is the white or light gown that draws the eye to the bride wherever she is in the room or the ballroom. But today wedding gown designers have opened the door to subtle color and tone, and they have done it so well that virtually anything goes. And with this comes black.

Black Beauty You would naturally balk against the idea of black or black accents for a wedding dress, as it is the polar opposite of the purity and luminescence of white. But there are gown choices that make you stop in your tracks and think twice about black not being a thing of beauty. And believe me, no eye will be off any bride wearing these designs. The key to what makes these black gowns amazing are the combination with lighter hues of white, grey, peach, ecru and grey underneath the black, giving the gowns their glow and a smashing regal effect. Wear this and write your own ‘game of thrones’.

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Moody Black will Accent a Non-Traditional Bride This look is ideal for the first time bride that marches to her own drummer. Not necessarily avant-garde, but she has a mind of her own, is very creative, an old soul, and wants to be different. If this is you, while being different, you still are the BRIDE and want to look like one. Wearing a voluminous white or light gown is hard for a bride like this – it just seems like too much. But adding the black as an overlay or element to beautiful, rich, luxurious layers of tulle works for this bride, while allowing her to feel completely bridal. The look is bold but still ethereal, and just magnificent.

Perfection for the Second (or more) Time Around As a repeat bride, you may be embarking on the real wedding of your life with the real love of your life. But many brides that have already walked down the aisle feel like this wedding shouldn’t get the big gown again. A huge poufy white gown might feel out of

place, but adding the black element turns this idea around, and makes it uniquely perfect and right, for this Mr. Right. Bring the volume on!

You’ll Never Turn Back One thing about trends is that you don’t want to look back at your wedding photos and say, “What was I thinking!” The 80’s were bad enough, but some current trends may feel hokey when we look at them down the road. How many people do you see with wedding portraits still in their homes with the big poufy sleeves, gigantic bows and high hair? But a gown like this, while on trend, is still timeless because it is truly, truly beautiful – and by Marsha Koller you will be too. Wedding Consultant

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FAMILY

Super MOm: Cathy Derringer Parties: Hosting The Perfect Potluck In the buf

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family

SuperMom

Cathy Derringer Husband: tom • CHILDREN: Dallas, 19

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By Elizabeth Gerber | Photos by Ryan Noltemeyer

B

eing a mother to a child with Autism comes with its own set of challenges, misunderstandings, rewards, and joys. Cathy Derringer has devoted her life to serving and supporting those with special needs after her son Dallas, 19, was diagnosed with Autism when he was two years old. Cathy spends her days as a support system to adults with special needs through her job with Support for Community Living. Working with adults has allowed her to see firsthand what her son’s future looks like. “Dallas was diagnosed with Autism right around his second birthday. When you get that diagnosis, you’ve got to put on your boxing gloves and fight for every single thing,” Cathy said. “Working with adults is interesting because this is my son’s future; and I’m realizing it isn’t as scary as I thought.” Worrying is an inherent part of motherhood. But when you are a mother to a child with special needs, there’s an added pressure and sense of urgency at every stage of life because there is this thought that after a certain age the brain slows down and the window of learning opportunity closes. “There’s always this stress that you’re going to run out of time,” Cathy said. “You’re trying to teach them everything they need to learn when they’re a toddler and then they start school and there’s a new sense of urgency trying to keep them caught up with their peers.”

W in, place or

show off

Every parent has the same goal – to raise their children to be productive adults. However, every child is different, so how they achieve that goal is going to look different for each family. Cathy believes that if you, as a parent, are doing everything in your power to get your child there, then

There’s always this stress that you’re going to run out of time. You’re trying to teach them everything they need to learn when they’re a toddler and then they start school and there’s a new sense of urgency trying to keep them caught up with their peers.”

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family

Supermom

Super Mom

everything will fall into place. But you can’t stop and wait for something to happen. You have to make things happen, which can take a toll both mentally and physically. “I am married to the best man in the world,” Cathy said. “I couldn’t tell you the last time I washed a dish or did a load of laundry. He works all day, goes home and does all of that and anything else he can do to support what we’re doing because he knows how important it is for our son.” Cathy survives all the stress thanks to her husband, Tom, and the friends she’s made through the Special Olympics. Tom and Cathy make it a point to have a date night every week, no matter how crazy or chaotic their schedules are. If her schedule ever becomes overwhelming, she can rely on her friends at Special Olympics.

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The moment she realized that, she understood that participating in Special Olympics was just as much for her as it was for Dallas. “I come from a large family–I’m the middle child of nine,” Cathy said. “I always thought I’d have a large family, but I had fertility issues; and it turns out I actually had my last miscarriage the same week Dallas was diagnosed with Autism. So at that point, I’m like ‘Ok, I’m done. He needs me now.’ So it’s kind of like my Special Olympics kids are my kids and I got the big family I always wanted. If my son didn’t have the issues that he has, we wouldn’t have the family that we have now.” Early on in Dallas’s life, Cathy had some health issues. When the doctor told her that she needed to get moving or she would end up losing her leg, it really hit

home with her. “The best piece of advice I’ve been given is to take care of myself because I can’t take care of him if I’m not here,” Cathy said. “Not that everything is focused on him, but I needed to be taking care of me. I think a lot of moms forget you have to take care of you.” Dallas is an inspiration to Cathy every single day. Everything we take for granted growing up -the things that come so easy to most- he has to work so hard for. But he’s not afraid to do the work, nor does he want to do what comes easy in life. He wants to work through what is hard to reap the reward. Watching Dallas work through his struggles has shown Cathy not to take the easy road, but instead to put her head down and simply work through life’s obstacles.

Parties

family

Hosting the Perfect Potluck If you grew up in the South, then you are probably no stranger to potluck dinners. Whether it was a church gathering, family get-together, or a holiday picnic, potlucks were always filled with lots of great food, fun, and laughter. Planning a perfect potluck is a great way to celebrate Easter or any other Spring celebration.

organizing a potluck Social media and other online sites have made planning a potluck much easier than in the past. First, start an online group message for the party. Invite guests via the online message. Within the message, make sure to give the details of the party, including the time and place. If the event is not an annual event, make sure to clearly state it will be a potluck style dinner. Also within the group message, you can say what dishes you will be making for the event. Since you are hosting, you will likely want to provide the entrée and drinks for the meal. Let guests know what you are planning to serve for the entrée and any other items you will be making. Ask guests to bring the other items, such as appetizers, side dishes and desserts. You can also ask guests to respond to the group message with their planned dish. This will avoid five different deviled egg platters for the same meal!

set a beautiful table If you are hosting a potluck meal, you will not have to cook all the dishes, which means you can focus your time on setting a beautiful table. Start by choosing a Spring color palette, like pale pink, blue and yellow. The color palette will guide you in choosing tableware and flowers for your dinner. Spring parties should include beautiful flowers since everything is in bloom. Order a flower arrangement, incorporating the color palette you choose, from your favorite florist. Or skip the

florist, and purchase a few bunches of flowers from the grocery store. Arrange the flowers in one large centerpiece for the center of the table. Set aside a few small blooms to scatter down the center of the table. Decorated eggs are another simple item that will make a big impact on your Srping table. Use a few DIY Speckled Eggs in mini baskets or as place cards at each place setting. Follow the directions below to make a batch of them before your Easter Dinner.

diy speckled eggs You can make these dyed eggs with supplies that you probably already have at your house. If you choose to make your speckled eggs with faux eggs for dyeing, you’ll be able to use them year after year. How to

Fill paper cup about 1/4 full of dried rice, beans or popcorn. Drop 4-5 drops of food coloring in cup, swirl. Mixture should be slightly damp. Add a couple drops of vinegar to make mixture damp, if desired. Place egg into cup, cover with paper towel. Shake or swirl egg in mixture. Remove and place on an egg drying container. Let fully dry. What You’ll Need

by Deanna Talwalkar

Dried rice, beans, or popcorn | Hard boiled or faux eggs for dyeing | Liquid food coloring | White vinegar | Paper Cups | Paper towel Party Planner Extraordinaire

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In the Buf

The Three Amigos

I

offered to help my best girlfriend move as she was going through a painful (much needed) breakup from her wealthy, snooty, jerky boyfriend. She needed a helping hand, some good advice and a little cheering up. Little did I know, spending the day with Ralph, Joe and Norman would do just that. The three amigos were the hired workers in charge of painting, flooring and heavy lifting. Ralph, (“Ralphy”) as they called him was the spring chicken of the batch in his mid thirty’s. Long and lanky with a slightly awkward but adorable demeanor… he jumped at every opportunity to help one of us girls. Joe, was wild as a buck and a clearly a LADIES MAN! But Joe was a hard worker. He was covered from neck to shin in tattoos and skillfully flexed those pecks to maximum potential every opportunity he had. I couldn’t help but notice that at least three of the tats were names: Terry, Rhonda and Sandy. I thought to myself, hmmm. Now there’s a painful end to a relationship. Having them removed or not!

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Norman, the godfather of the group, was a soft and kind-hearted teddy bear that had been married to his sweetheart for fifty years. It was evident to us through idle conversation that they prided themselves on being simple men who “didn’t know much about nothin’ but as we learned that day, they were wrong. My girlfriend shed many tears as she and I cleaned out cabinets and dresser drawers. She took off the heart shaped diamond necklace that she had worn around her neck for years and placed it on the kitchen table. “Steve” the giver of the necklace was “perfect.” Tall, dark and handsome. Wealthy, successful and…tall dark and handsome. I searched for words of comfort and wisdom but was out of material, as I had disliked the giver of the necklace from day one. We ordered a pizza for the guys and all took a break to eat some lunch. Shy Ralph; surprisingly spoke “…Ma’am,” he said as he looked at my friend. “Don’t

worry about that big jerk. You seem like a really nice lady… Take it from me. I don’t have a girlfriend cause I ain’t found one good enough yet.“ “You got that right…” chimed in Norman, with fifty years of marriage experience on his breath. “The only way you can get through the hard times is with some one who you can grow with every single day.” Wild buck Joe who had been jovial and talkative all day stood shockingly quiet as he took in the “pep talk” of his buddies. He finally chimed in. “Damn! I sure do wish I had thought about that! Do ya’ll have any idea how hard it’s gonna be to finally get rid of Terry, Rhonda and Sandy?

by Buffy Lawson Relationship Veteran

THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT

It’s All Music, All the time Louisville is ready for its closeup!

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arts+entertainment

It’s All Music, All the Time Teddy Abrams has brought the Orchestra to the streets, and the funk to the concert hall

By Steve Kaufman • Photos by Chris Witzke, Courtesy of the Louisville Orchestra

T

he fact that noted conductor Michael Tilson Thomas will appear with the Louisville Orchestra in April says volumes about the current condition of the organization.

Today, the orchestra is a vibrant, energetic, influential and much-admired operation – the pride of Louisville. It’s also out of the red, no small thing for a non-profit organization. It wasn’t too long ago that the orchestra was back on its heels. In 2011, its financial problems were spotlighted by National Public Radio and The New York Times. Possible bankruptcy loomed. But that was before the Teddy Abrams Era. Wait! “Teddy Abrams?” An orchestral director everyone calls “Teddy?” What happened to great orchestral surnames like Lukas, Wilhelm, Lorin, Alexander, Leonard? Arturo? Leopold? Michael Tilson Thomas isn’t “Mikey.” Where has the formality gone? What about tradition? Well, tradition already had its day, it’s come and gone. In 2014, when the orchestra’s board hired Abrams as musical director, he was 27 – the youngest director of a large metropolitan orchestra in the country. Oh, he did come with the requisite moniker: Edward Paul Maxwell Abrams. But that was just for his passport. He was to be known henceforth, throughout the city, as “Teddy.” Youth was clearly going to be served.

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The orchestra board was no doubt hoping for some fresh air. But “some fresh air” is when you crack the window slightly and let a pleasant breeze flow into the room. What it got from Abrams was the window being thrown entirely open and a hearty wind blowing in, knocking over plants, rearranging the furniture and blasting old pictures off the walls. He had studied the organization’s honorable past. Now his focus was steadfastly on the future. “My approach was first to understand the context of the past successes,” he says, “but then not to replicate them. Instead, to do something similar but in a contemporary context. You simply can’t do whatever was done in the ’50s and ’60s and think that will be successful. “Because it won’t be.” What Abrams found here was a deep love of music. Bluegrass. Rap and hiphop. Jazz. Blues. Hard rock, alt rock and folk rock. He also found a classical tradition that had once been creative and innovative. “The history of this organization was a little different than you’d expect from most orchestras in a town the size of Louisville,” he says. “This was an orchestra that, in the ’50s through the ’80s, commissioned vast amounts of original music, in partnership with the city; presented the world premiers of those pieces; and recorded them on its own record label – the first orchestra, in fact, to create its own record label. That was completely unheard of for any orchestra of any size.” So he approached his new job looking for the same kind of “unheard of.” That meant tapping into all those musical genres people like around here. And reaching out to the community – making the orchestra a grass-roots organization, not something that simply performs on weekends downtown at the Kentucky Center. That meant going out to the neighborhoods and schools to perform and to teach, and linking up with some of the most influential local musicians, of any sort of music. One of Abrams’ signature efforts is his Festival of American Music, now in its second year.

On April 15, at the Kentucky Center, Abrams will bring in his mentor, Tilson Thomas, musical director of the San Francisco Symphony, for a strictly American program of Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, George Gershwin and Mason Bates. Bates, a 40-year-old Virginian, had performed here last year, in the Festival of American Music inaugural, joining with a number of soloists from the local community, including bluegrass banjoist Steve Cooley and busker saxophonist Jacob Duncan. “How cool was that,” Abrams enthuses, “having these two local musicians performing with perhaps the most important young composer in the world, along with the Louisville Orchestra – bringing them all together?” The night before the Tilson Thomas appearance, on April 14, alt rocker Ben Folds will appear with the orchestra, including a full performance of his piano concerto. On April 20 (at The Temple) and 21 (at The Ogle Center on the IUS Campus in New Albany), Abrams will devote his Music Without Borders series to a group of lesser-known, living American women composers.

nelope;” and jazz great Herbie Hancock’s “Cantaloupe Island.” When all the bases get touched, they call that a home run. Abrams has a personal enthusiasm for Tilson Thomas. “He can conduct any orchestra in the world that he wants, so to have him come to the Louisville Orchestra is a huge deal, not just for the orchestra but also for city. “He’s the musician I most admire in the world, the one many consider the heir to Leonard Bernstein.” Abrams wasn’t only talking about musicianship or fame or glamour, but also the fact that Tilson Thomas took over Bernstein’s iconic Young People’s Concerts with the New York Philharmonic. If you appreciate what Abrams is trying to do here, that’s important. “That program transformed the musical landscape,” Abrams says. “I don’t think we’d have the orchestras around the country that we do if not for Bernstein’s reaching hundreds of thousands of young people, who are now our major audience and our subscribers, the people that love this music.”

On April 28, the festival will include a preview of the Muhammad Ali rap opera that Abrams is writing with Jecory “1200” Arthur, the local hip-hop composer and performer.

As Tilson Thomas picked up Bernstein’s baton, so did he tutor and inspire Abrams. Today, Abrams is the one spreading the gospel, with his community outreach, school education programs and inclusiveness of all musicians of all genres of music.

The next night will be another excerpt from the Ali opera, plus selections from Samuel Barber’s “School for Scandal;” Sarah Kirkland Snider’s song cycle “Pe-

So perhaps it’s not so much of a stretch to consider Abrams as the heir apparent to that impressive lineage. And Louisville is the happy beneficiary.

You simply can’t do whatever was done in the ’50s and ’60s and think that will be successful. Because it won’t be.”

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arts+entertainment

Louisville Is Ready For Its Close-up! I f you’ve noticed an uptick in the number of film crews around town, you’re not hallucinating. According to Louisville Film Commission head Benjamin Moore, the past 18 months have seen upwards of 20 films and TV specials shot totally or in part in Louisville and Jefferson County. From lower budget fare like Harris Doran’s “Beauty Mark” or Rachel Lambert’s “In the Radiant City” to films with a bit more Hollywood muscle behind them like Brian Taylor’s “Mom and Dad” (Nicholas Cage, Selma Blair) and Brett Simon’s “Monumental” (Maria Bello, Jeremy Irons), Louisville, as well as Kentucky as a whole, has become a choice destination for film and television production. The driving force behind the marked increase is the passage of the state’s new tax incentives for film and TV production, which instantly vaulted Kentucky into the

top tier of financially desirable film locations in the United States. In a financial version of “if you build it, they will come,” 2015-16 saw a massive leap in statewide production, and the trend is likely to continue this year. TOPS recently spoke to four filmmakers with projects of varying budgets who recently shot in Louisville about their reasons for coming to the city and their experiences shooting here. The bottom-line job of a producer is to make sure the film comes in at or under budget and as such, tax incentives are a big draw when it comes to deciding on location. “The location worked because we were looking for a ‘Middle America’ kind of a thing,” says “Mom and Dad” producer Tim Zajoras, making no bones about what drew the production to town, “it was a new incentive and a good incentive and we thought we’d give it a shot!”

Rebecca Green, producer of Vincent Grashaw’s “And Then I Go,” (Melanie Lynskey, Justin Long) which also shot here in 2016 took it a step further saying “We were going to shoot in Michigan (Green’s previous film “It Follows” shot in that state in 2014) but they lost their incentive. Then we looked at Cleveland and Cincinnati but they had reached their cap for the year so some friends that work in Cincinnati suggested that we look at Louisville. So I went down for a scout and thought that visually it really fit our film. For a producer you want to make sure the area has the look that the filmmaker wants and that there’s a tax incentive so for me, it hit both those marks.” While the incentives are a major draw for many films (the minimum Kentucky spend for a narrative feature film is only $250,000) it’s not the only thing these producers look for, especially if they’re working on films with a lower budget level. “Sure it’s cheaper to shoot in Louisville [than New York or Los Angeles],” said Harris Doran, the director of “Beauty Mark,” which also shot here in 2015, “but not necessarily if you’re bringing in a lot of crew and actors and have to house them. Thanks to Gill [Holland, who served as executive producer] and others, we found housing and locations (including this reporter’s house) that were accommodating to our budget.”

In The Radiant City, ©Candlewood Entertainment

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Photo by Wylie Caudill

“Beauty Mark” Director Harris Doran and cast members Auden Thornton, Ben Curtis, Laura Bell Bundy

Having locals to assist out-of-state productions in connecting with the community is a massive boon, says Doran. “Connecting with Gill and having Kiley Lane Parker as a producer really helped. “Having local producers gives you insight into the community. The more that we connected to the community and weren’t just outsiders coming in, the better the experience was. That was the key to our success, period.”

business and it provided a really good environment,” said Zajoras, while Green mentioned that “the one thing you benefit from when there isn’t a lot of production in a city is that people are always excited about having something new in their city. You’re less of a burden and more of something that’s exciting.”

Finding a connection with the local community was a sentiment echoed by Sonny Mallhi, producer of “In the Radiant City,” shot here in 2015. In fact, he loved his experience on that film so much that he returned to direct a film last year. “There’s a great community of people who want to help, like Elizabeth Crum (“Men Go to Battle”). This woman who designs wedding dresses became our costume designer and she was just fantastic! She knew everyone in town and really helped us connect with the local talent,” adding, “Gill introduced us to everyone and gave us free music for the film and art for set decoration.”

Of course, it’s not all sunshine, rainbows and lollipops, to steal a phrase from Lesley Gore. As with any nascent industry, there are bound to be hiccups – one of these is housing. While “Beauty Mark” and “In the Radiant City” were often able to put crew up in local homes, larger productions don’t necessarily have that amount of flexibility. “One of the issues we had was finding housing for everyone,” said Zajoras, whose film shot for 25 days. “You have some extended stay places [in Louisville] but most of them are like three month minimum, so they’re not used to the film world where you might only need it for a month or a month and a half, so sometimes it was difficult finding housing for everyone,” adding, “obviously it all worked out.”

It’s true that there’s an “early days” sense of excitement in the city and it doesn’t (yet) have the jaded attitude of “Oh another film production,” that places with massive, well-established film industries often develop. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm in Louisville for the film

Another issue is the crew base. Louisville has a talented and dedicated group of film professionals that is growing steadily, but it’s not as large or as deep as cities with long-established production histories. As a result, larger films like “Mom and Dad” will, occasionally have to

Lexington convention center

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arts+entertainment

Director Vincent Grashaw sports his Fern Creek High School sweatshirt. Behind him on the left is Nate Spicer, local Louisville gaffer and standing behind him on the right is Pamela Mattei, local Louisville key costumer.

[available locally] and that we had to bring in but overall we were very happy with the crew we got.” This will change, of course. As Zaoras points out, “The longer the incentives are around, the more those negatives will start to disappear. In addition to the crews getting more experience, people will just start moving there.” Green adds, “There was a script supervisor that we brought in from Atlanta that pretty much stuck around in Louisville after shooting wrapped. People will do that...they’ll re-locate or get a second place so they can go where the work is.” This is especially true with area production meccas like Atlanta and New Orleans being booked to capacity.

Physically, Mallhi found Louisville to be perfect for his needs, both on “In the Radiant City” and his as-yet-untitled directorial effort. For the former, one of the most appealing aspects to shooting in and around Louisville was the city’s close proximity to rural areas. “We shot a lot in farms and the more rural areas, but didn’t have to travel long distances like you might in other cities and at the end of the day the cast can go back to a nice hotel in 10-15 minutes. That’s an advantage you don’t get in places like New York or Los Angeles.”

Photo by Rebecca Green, producer of “AND THEN I GO”

bring folks in from other areas. “We had to bring in quite a few crew members,” said Zajoras. “Many of the heads of departments, for example. Some came from Cincinnati so it’s still pretty close, but we definitely had to bring in quite a few.” Green, whose shoot overlapped with both “Mom and Dad” and Tyler MacIntyre’s “Tragedy Girls” points out that “the problem with newer [production industries] is that there’s not a deep crew base so we kind of struggled with the fact that there were three movies shooting at the same time and we were the smallest of the three and might not being able to offer the same rates as the bigger films. However,” Green added, “because we had a film with a strong social message, we were able to get a really amazing crew. There were definitely some positions that weren’t

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Another issue with Louisville is that peo-

ple in LA and New York often think that everyone in Kentucky is Cletus the slackjawed yokel and that there can’t possibly be a city worth shooting in. For his return to Louisville, Mallhi used the city itself in a more significant way than had been done for “In the Radiant City,” as they shot large sections of the film in Old Louisville and Tyler Park. “Louisville is like partly midwest, partly southern with bits of both and the architecture and look of the city is fantastic.” Another challenge to Los Angeles shooting is getting a new look. “In LA, [location scouts] are showing you houses that were in 10 commercials and three movies, so from a creative standpoint you want something a little bit fresher.” “A big thing about going on location is going to a place where people will have a good time for two months,” said Green. “In was easy to find the cool restaurants and bars in town and it was also affordable, so we felt like we could go have a good time on a little indie budget. We could take our actors out to dinner and not break the bank and that’s important,” adding that “the actors really loved it. I felt like it was a city we were all discovering at the same time. Most people that came in for the film hadn’t been there before but there we were able to offer up all these things they didn’t expect. There’s a lot of people that think there’s only cool stuff in NY and LA and that’s just not true so it was fun to be able to experience the city with everybody.”

Where They Are Now “In the Radiant City” had its world premiere at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, one of the most prestigious in the world, and is in the process of signing a distribution deal with the film likely being released in the summer. “Beauty Mark, Mom and Dad,” and “And Then I Go” are all in post-production and hope to have festival premieres and/or distribution announcements soon.

By Mark Rabinowitz

Mark Rabinowitz is a Louisville-based writer, publicist, film producer and festival programmer. He is the co-founder of Indiewire.com and serves on the Louisville Film Commission. You can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/RabbiReport.

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COMMUNITY

TOP EVENT: Gallop Gala Dear Tony: Advice from the edge Awards in the Arts Winners Right on Track Understanding Cal Dreaming of a local winner

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community

Gallop Gala Celebrates Milestones By Cameron Aubernon

Syndrome Affiliates in Action in 2016.

A

Hobbs said the gala began as another way for DSL to raise funds for its programming — which covers all with Down Syndrome from birth to college, the workplace, and through the rest of their lives — attracting those looking to do good for their community while dancing and dining the night away with their friends and friends-to-be.

fter a winter which felt more like spring at times, the real spring has finally galloped into our lives to help shake off Louisville’s blues. What better way to welcome spring — and all of the galloping to come — than with the sixth annual Down Syndrome of Louisville Gallop Gala in late April. TOPS Louisville took a few moments to ask DSL Development Manager Whitney Hobbs about the Gallop Gala, the history of DSL and the gala, and what to expect with this year’s edition. “Down Syndrome of Louisville was started in 1977 by a woman named Mary Carter, a special education teacher,” said Hobbs. “She started it as a grassroots organization with parents of individuals with Down Syndrome. In 1991, they incorporated and became Down Syndrome of Louisville.” In more recent memory, DSL’s milestones include the establishment of its lifelong learning center in 2011, and attaining gold accreditation from Down

138 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

Like previous Gallop Galas, the 2017 edition’s theme is centered around the Kentucky Derby; thus, expect lots of horse-racing related iconography. Due to occurring the day before the biggest fireworks display in North America, Thunder Over Louisville, Hobbs says the gala will have fireworks as part of the theme. What else should guests expect upon arrival? “We do have a red carpet entrance. We invite our members [over 21 years of age] — who are individuals with Down Syndrome — to come and walk the red carpet. Then, we do a cocktail party and dinner, a live auction, and of course, the gala.”

The agenda for the 2017 Gallop Gala includes Derby legend Pat Day, who will receive DSL’s Friendship Award for his work with the organization, and music from one of Louisville’s favorite party bands, The Louisville Crashers. All proceeds from the night will go back into DSL’s programming. “We would love for everyone to come, spend some time with us, and raise some money for our wonderful cause.” Needing to put a little gallop in your step? Then mark off Friday, April 21, 2017 on your social calendar, and head over to the Downtown Louisville Marriott on 280 West Jefferson Street in Louisville for the 2017 Gallop Gala. A single ticket to the gala goes for $250, an eight-person VIP table sponsorship for $2,500. Winner’s Circle After-Party tickets are $25 a piece; each ticket comes with two drink tickets good for your choice of beverages. The main event runs from 6:30 to 9 p.m. with the after-party capping off the night beginning at 9 p.m. Tickets are available at downsyndromeoflouisville.org, or by calling Whitney Hobbs at 502-495-5088.

Dear tony

community

Dear Tony: Advice from the Edge Should She Pull the Curtain on the Party? Dear Tony, I just accepted an invitation to the party of one of my co-workers, Margie. I am single (unless you happen to know any eligible bachelors, hint hint!) and don’t get a lot of social invitations, so I happily said yes. I knew Margie had a side sales business to supplement her income, and that the party would be one where I would be expected to buy something, not just eat stuffed mushrooms and drink boxed wine. I am perfectly fine with that. I enjoy a good Tupperware or Avon party. Well, a day or so after I accepted, it came up in conversation with another co-worker that what Margie sells are sex toys! I was flabbergasted! Margie doesn’t seem like the type to know anything about handcuffs or vibrators or whatever other sordid things she might be (falsely!) assuming I would like to buy. I am no prude, but I think it is highly inappropriate that she would invite people from her place of employment (ironically, the Purchasing Department!) to her kinky little world. I imagine that the Human Resources department would not think too kindly of her peddling whips and chains in the workplace! Margie is a nice woman, but she is no Mary Kay lady. I am not sure how to politely tell her that she can put me down for Fifty Shades of No Thank You! Helen S. Dear Helen, I know that these “fantasy parties,” were a big deal 20 years ago. They are back in a big way because of one thing -- 50 Shades of Grey. For some reason, the book and movie have touched (no pun intended) an entire generation of women. I talked to an interior designer who claims the whole grey paint popularity lately is all 50 Shades of Grey! It’s totally fine that you feel uncomfortable buying something so personal in front of co-workers, People talk at work and that can lead to

Have a question for Tony Vanetti? Send it to asktony@ topslouisville.com

problems. Besides, if you’re looking for that kind of thing, no need to advertise it to all your friends because apparently, it’s the most popular item on Amazon. Talk about a prime member!

Bit Part in Wedding Rubs Former Roomie the Wrong Way Dear Tony, My friend Amber just got engaged. When I got married four years ago, Amber was one of my bridesmaids. She texted me today and asked if I would be in charge of . . . wait for it . . . the guest book. THE GUEST BOOK?! I am beyond offended! The person who tries to get people to sign their names in the guest book is the lowest job in the wedding party. In fact, I’m not even sure it’s considered to be part of the wedding party. I know me and Amber aren’t as close as we used to be, but still! We go way back and were even roommates in college. I haven’t texted back because I am actually considering telling her that I politely decline. To be honest, I am not sure I even want to go to the wedding at all. I just really am upset that she didn’t ask me to be a bridesmaid given that she was one of mine. And lord knows that, with her really unfortunate sense of style, the bridesmaids’ dresses will undoubtedly be hideous, and it’s not like I need to spend 300 bucks on a tacky dress I will never wear again. I know I should be happy for her on her big day, but this is really hurtful. Do you think I this is the time I should “speak now or forever hold my peace”? Brittney T. Dear Brittney, This is a great question! If you were in your friend’s wedding is it a given to return the gesture? First, if you bail on the guest list job, can you still go to the wedding? Skipping her wedding altogether might do your friendship in for good. Find out details of the wedding -- is it small with only family involved? If so, do the job and move on. If not, and your other friends are bridesmaids and you are the only one left out I think you have a legitimate gripe. If you still care enough about her ask why you got the shaft. But the bottom line is, it’s her

day, not yours. If it irks the hell out you the best thing to do is . . .stay away.  

Has the Family Gone to Pot? Dear Tony, My son Lance is 41, and he just moved back in with me and my wife after losing his job delivering submarine sandwiches. He is living in his childhood bedroom, and asked to take over a small room in our basement, explaining he needed to store his futon, his large collection of Xbox games (the ones he is not currently playing), and the like. The other day, I took a box with his old tae kwon do trophies down there, and discovered that he was growing some type of plants. I know what you are thinking because I thought the same thing: marijuana! But I asked Lance about it, and he said he is growing micro-greens to sell to some high-end, “farm-to-table” restaurants. He used some other words like “organic” and “locavore.” I thought it was encouraging that he is finally developing some entrepreneurial interests, and told him so. But today, I smelled what I vaguely identify from years as a college resident advisor in the dorms. I am worried that Lance is running some kind of shady, illegal operation out of our home! I haven’t told my wife, who has an anxiety disorder and would really fret about this. How should I handle this situation without making all of our lives go up in smoke? Richard Dear Richard, My god,what the hell are you thinking?  YES, YOUR SON IS GROWING WEED IN THE BASEMENT! Go to the basement, destroy all the plants and kick his ass out of YOUR house. Don’t have a discussion with him or your wife. Gather all his belongings and put them on the front porch. When he wakes up at noon, tell him the free ride is over! Absolutely no negotiations. It’s the best thing for him. For the love of Pete, hand him a submarine sandwich and some bus fare and cut the cord.

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community

A

2017 Awards in the Arts Local Winners Announced let, pointe, tap, jazz and modern dance to any young student, free of charge and regardless of age, color, size, skill level or body type. The mission of La’Nita Rocknettes School of Dance is to help students with their self-esteem and confidence through arts education and on-stage performances.

s thousands outside cheer on their favorite ponies during Opening Night at Churchill Downs April 29, a few hundred will be cheering on their favorite artists and arts organizations inside the track’s Stakes Room during the second annual Awards in the Arts, presented by Delta Dental and entrepreneur Joy Mangano. Co-hosted by Churchill Downs, award founder Fund for the Arts, and the Jennifer Lawrence Foundation (whose namesake portrayed Mangano in the 2015 film “Joy”), Awards in the Arts is a celebration of Louisville artists and local groups whose efforts have made the city and its community stronger and more vibrant. According to Fund for the Arts CEO and president Christen Boone, this year’s winners “were selected by a committee of artists and engaged community representatives, including last year’s Awards in the Arts winners.” Each winner will receive a cash grant, along with a statue crafted by local artist Brook White. The local winners of the 2017 Awards in the Arts are:

Kentucky Shakespeare The Bobby Petrino Family Foundation Arts Impact Award This award honors an organization that has demonstrated and leveraged a significant impact in the Louisville community through the arts – Kentucky Shakespeare. Founded in 1949, Kentucky Shakespeare is a nonprofit, charitable organization and professional theatre. It is the oldest free Shakespeare festival in the United States. Grounded in the works of Shakespeare, this organization enriches Kentucky by presenting accessible, professional theatre experiences that educate, inspire and entertain people of all ages in schools, parks, libraries and more. In its most recent 56th season, the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival in Central Park served more than 25,000 audience members in only 11 weeks, with attendees of all ages, genders, races and backgrounds.

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Paul Owen The Ronda Gordon Foundation Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award

Louisville Story Program The David Fenley, Founder of UpStartU, Arts Innovation Award This award is presented to an organization that is fueling innovative work in the arts – the Louisville Story Program. The Louisville Story Program strengthens the community by amplifying unheard voices and untold stories. The organization partners closely with overlooked Louisville residents by providing extensive writing and oral history workshops and editorial support, culminating in professionally-designed documentary books, exhibits and radio programs, in which the authors tell the stories of their lives and communities in their own words. This organization helps to make Louisville a more inclusive city, in which every community member is heard, and where stories are lived together.

La’Nita Rocknettes School of Dance The Yum! Brands Arts Education Award This award recognizes an organization that has helped to educate and inspire Louisville’s children for nearly six decades through the arts – the La’Nita Rocknettes School of Dance. Led by Owen Neil, son of founder Anita Lucille Neil, the La’Nita Rocknettes School of Dance provides the opportunity to learn bal-

This award honors an individual who has demonstrated lifetime achievement in the arts in Greater Louisville – Paul Owen. Owen was the resident designer at Actors Theatre of Louisville from 1971 to 2009, designing approximately 1,500 productions during his 38 seasons. Owen’s work was never defined by a specific style, rather Greater Louisville audiences marveled at the variety of his designs. While now in semi-retirement, Owen’s passion for the arts has not waned as he frequently designs for Kentucky Shakespeare.

Rachel Mauser The Lift A Life Foundation Emerging Leader in the Arts Award This award celebrates an artist who has excelled in her discipline early in her career – Rachel Mauser. Mauser is celebrated for her work in bookbinding, letterpress printing, printmaking and painting. Along with her outstanding commitment to her own practice, she also uses her art as a tool to help young people close education gaps, develop identity and self-worth, and become leaders in their communities. She is the co-founder and co-director of the STEAM Exchange, a community arts center in Louisville’s Smoketown neighborhood, where she helps to create passion-driven learning experiences for underserved communities, free of charge. For more information about Louisville’s Awards in the Arts, or to purchase event tickets, please visit awardsinthearts.fundforthearts.org.

community

Right on Track Longtime Turf Writer Hits Her Stride

Photos and story By John C. Engelhardt

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ver the past three decades there may not be a better-known or loved personality on the backstretch of Churchill Downs than Jennie Rees. Yes, around Derby time the likes of Bob Baffert, D. Wayne Lukas, Doug O’Neil and whatever owner or jockey may have the hot horse going into the gate in the first Saturday in May will be highlighted by the national media, but a day after the race those personalities vaporize to the next big one. The constant thread, pre-and post-Derby week is Rees. Over the years, her hardworking style of boots-on-theground reporting had garnered the utmost respect of trainers and owners of claiming horses to potential champions. She always gets her facts right, respects “off the record” conversations and never backs down from challenges. Rees grew up in Lexington, Kentucky and graduated from Indiana University in 1979. She began writing for the Louisville Courier-Journal in 1981. While in search of stories on the backstretch at Churchill Downs she caught the eye of an engaging up-and-coming trainer named Pat Dupuy in 1985. He was born into the business, as his father John was a jockey

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As much as our industry changes, she just doesn’t change with it, she finds a better way.”

turned trainer in New Orleans and the surrounding Louisiana circuits. Dupuy, like Rees, is dedicated to his craft and they share a love of racing, and the friendship of many in the sport who have a lust for life and an appreciation for real Cajun cooking. Dupuy and Rees were married in 1990 and were granted the rare right to have the ceremony in the Winner’s Circle reserved for Kentucky Derby winners in the Churchill Downs infield. Rees won five Eclipse Awards for her writing expertise (one a group award for a multi-media project for which she was the lead reporter). In the world of racing, an Eclipse Award is as prominent as an Academy Award or Oscar in the field of entertainment. In 2014 she was inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor. Then, last year, Rees left the Courier-Journal after being offered a buyout. “The C-J had no choice in offering me a buyout. It was a Gannett corporate buyout, and legally it had to be offered to everybody who qualified. For the first time I qualified,” states Rees. “To be honest, I had been strongly thinking that, after years of straddling the fence between being outside racing looking in and being in, that if the right opportunity came around to fully join the industry that I would, in part to be an advocate for horsemen. When the buyout came, it was a sign that this was what I was meant to do.” With her effervescent personality, Rees never looked in the rear view mirror, with

only an eye toward her next adventure. Unsure of exactly what that would be, when word of her availability got out, the offers poured in. Unexpectedly, so did the personal news that she had a suspicious mammogram. “I was told it was so early it would be behind me in mere months and not to let it influence my decision.” Six surgeries later and one more to come, Rees says she has no regrets. “I was so excited about my new work that I believe it really helped me through the surgeries because I was highly motivated. I did not have to have radiation or chemo.” Jessie Oswald is the Secretary of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters of America. With a passion to write about horse racing, she started out in 2011 and continues to write for various magazines, websites and organizations. “From day one she kind of took me under her wing and we developed a fast friendship,” says Oswald. “Jennie’s most quality traits, aside from her obvious writing skills are that she is a people person and is very good at letting other people in, she likes to outreach to others like she did with me. She can go with the flow, she may have a lot on her plate, but she doesn’t easily get stressed.” Oswald says that Rees always strives to make the people and situations around her better. “As much as our industry changes, she just doesn’t change with it, she finds a better way,” says Oswald. And while Rees has a stellar reputation as a newspaper writer, Oswald says she surprised people with her social media skills. “People think of that as something that

the younger generation is more involved in and that they may be able to handle that better,” says Oswald. “Not only was she able to keep up with how everybody else was doing it, but she also had better ideas as to how to use to incorporate social media. The younger people may be well versed in social media – they are not near as well versed or have the experience she does to see the broader picture.” Rees’ personality lends herself to letting those in the business let her into their lives. “For her, racing isn’t just a career – this is her life,” emphasizes Oswald. “With her husband, Pat she is on the backside on a regular basis. She takes care of the horses and it is not uncommon to see her getting feed buckets together or helping out in the stalls, whatever they might need and I think other horsemen see that and they know that she understands them better than someone who comes in for an hour interview. She can communicate that in a way so that the general population understands it.” While Rees and husband Dupuy own a home in Louisville’s South End not very far from Churchill Downs, the demand for her varied journalistic talents has been spinning her car’s odometer and racking up air miles. Any anxiety she had about leaving the Courier-Journal was put to rest before she ever stepped out the door for the last time after a quarter of a century of writing. She says there was never a need to “reinvent herself.” An amazing life

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community well-lived, with the courage to look cancer in the eye and defeat it, has only energized the five-foot tall dynamo of rare intuition and talent. IRS records can attest to the demand for Jennie’s services. “I had 13 1099s last year.” Her work included jobs with Kentucky Downs, Ellis Park, Indiana Grand, WAVE-3 TV, Maryland Jockey Club, Horse Racing Radio Network, Thoroughbred Daily News, Blood-Horse and KEEP (Kentucky Equine Education Project) where she was a registered lobbyist for them this legislative session. And still finds time to help benefit retired racehorses. If you would like to meet Rees and get the inside track on this year’s Kentucky Derby you can join her and some of the country’s top handicappers at an event benefitting Second Stride on Monday, May 1 at Molly Malone’s on Bardstown Road. Skychai Racing, a Louisville-based racing partnership is sponsoring the handicapping panel. 

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LOOK WHAT’S COMING!

MAY TO ADVERTISE : GetMore@topsinlouisville.com or call 502-780-7825

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Understanding Cal pete for a championship, or most of our fan base isn’t going to be happy. Let’s give the man some credit. My dad was a high school basketball coach for over 20 years in Indiana. Every coach will tell you that most of their job of “coaching” is done in practice. Have you ever seen Coach Cal in practice? All he does is coach. The entire 2 hours is basically just Cal coaching and coaching and coaching......teaching....instructing....every single day. Most of our fan base never sees this, but just ask anybody who has every gone to a UK practice. Cal if involved in every single aspect of the game with his team. That’s where the real coaching takes place. I think another aspect that a lot of fans don’t see, or in some cases refuse to see, is how Coach Cal adapts to the team he has. If he’s got a perimeter oriented team like he did this past season, that’s where the emphasis is. If he has a stronger interior team, like the Julius Randle and Karl Anthony Towns teams, then that’s where the emphasis is. Photo by Dr. Mike Huang

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love the UK fanbase. Big Blue Nation is the best! We are loud, and we are proud! There is truly no better fan base in the solar system quite like Big Blue Nation. If the Cats are playing in Alaska, we are there. If the Cats are playing in the Bahamas, we are there. If the Cats are playing in Monkey’s Eyebrow, we’re gonna pack the place! That’s just who we are. But sometimes I get so frustrated at our own fan base. It’s not all of the fans, but there are a few out there that sometimes cause my head to explode! For example, how many times have any of you heard one of our own fans say something like, “Calipari is a great recruiter, but he just can’t coach.”? We’ve heard it. Some of you may have even said it your self. I say, “Shame on you!” I don’t think the majority of the fans

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who say this about Cal, or even think it about Cal, honestly know how difficult it is each season to basically start from scratch. Each year, the Cats lose anywhere from 5-8 players to the NBA or due to graduation. And keep in mind, all of these players that leave are the “main” players on the team. There are rarely any “holdovers” from last season of players who actually play “quality” minutes. So Calipari doesn’t have the luxury of all the other coaches in the country of relying on returning players to build around. Calipari has to completely rebuild....every year. You think that’s easy to do? Here’s the answer, it’s extremely hard to do. Coach Cal has to take a bunch of super talented 18 and 19 year olds right outta high school, and within a few months, mold them into a team that has to com-

Every year is a new challenge because it’s a new team. And we’re good, every single year. Calipari often says, “I like my team.” I love it when he says that because I understand the coaching that has already happened to get to that point when he can say to all of us, “I like my team.” 99% of our fan base is the best. Big Blue Nation is the best. I just wish the negative 1% would just be able to sit back, relax, and enjoy this great run UK basketball has been on since Cal got here. He’s not going to be here forever. We better enjoy it while we can.

by Ryan Lemond Kentucky Sports Radio/ talkradio 1080

community

Dreaming of a Local Winner

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f the Kentucky Derby is an event that we are proud to take ownership of in Louisville, then why has it been over 100 years since someone from Louisville had ownership of the winning horse? In 1914 Old Rosebud was owned by Louisvillian H.C. Applegate, and there hasn’t been a hometown winning owner since then. Surprising? “When was the last time? 1914? Wow, that is a long time,” said Jack Wolf, who along with his wife Laurie, founded Starlight Racing, a group of primarily Louisville based owners. One of Wolf’s partners is Lansdon Robbins, who also co-owned 2003 Derby Contender Offlee Wild with fellow Louisville native Bruce Lunsford, “It’s surprising it has been that long, but people don’t realize how difficult it is to qualify to get INTO the Kentucky Derby” Clinton Glassock and his father, Ed, are also Louisvillians and a part of Starlight Racing. They’ve owned other race horses over the years on their own dreaming about winning the Run for the Roses. “It’s obviously been our family dream since I was born and my Dad took me out to the track.”, said the younger Glassock who through Starlight had chances in 2014 and ‘15. “The dream really was to make that walkover from the backside to the front side of the track to the paddock for the Kentucky Derby. Once you’ve done that ,it wets your appetite. Now I want to win the damn thing.” Wolf had one of the best chances at winning the Derby in 2002 with Harlan’s Holiday, who finished 7th. Wolf wants to win the Derby, and his group buys around a dozen race horses every year. However, since every horse only has once chance ever to win, the First Saturday in May cant be the sole basis of a racing business model. “By no means, do I not enjoy the Derby. I do, thoroughly.”, says Wolf “We haven’t had a derby starter in the last two years, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been successful. I still have the Derby Fever, but that can’t be our sole focus. Look at Arro-

Photo by Mike Cyrus

gate (the reigning Breeders Cup Champ who couldn’t run in the Kentucky Derby last year because of an injury). It’s been a blessing that he was injured and now he’s winning all the dough.” In an effort to give the masses the feel of being a horse owner, Churchill Downs started the Churchill Downs Racing Club last year. 200 people put up $500 each to purchase a horse. The $100,000 bankroll covers the purchase price of the horse and training by D. Wayne Lukas. The members all get parking passes, admission to the track for the year, and the ability to visit the track when the horse trains in the morning, In fact, they sold out the owner slots so quickly that they did a second club horse for the same amount of money and sold it out too. So 400 people can now call themselves horse owners who could not one year ago.

club is now a much bigger investor in the sport. We feel like the racing club opened that door. Now have 400 ambassadors in the market place talking about being an owner in the sport.” It also takes good health and good luck on your side. Starlight owned the 2 year old Champion from 2012 in Shanghai Bobby who got injured on the way to the 2013 Derby. Robbins owned First Samurai in 2006, who was the Vegas favorite in the Winter until his injury. In 2003 Robbins’ Offlee Wild only lost once to Derby winner Funny Cide “We ran against him in 5 races before and after the Derby. We won every race against him except one….the Derby. Not only do you have to be lucky, but your horse has to be perfect on that one day”

Mike Ziegler, executive director of racing for Churchill Downs Incorporated, launched the project. “In the old days, lots of business people, doctors, etc all owned a fraction of a horse. And now it’s hard to come up with a long list of owners in Louisville. I know for a fact that one of the owners in the racing

by drew Deener Vice President/Talk Show Host ESPN 680 /93.9 The Ville

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photos

Fund for the arts Chairman’s Society Reception

more photos online! Topslouisville.com

March 2 | fundforthearts.org | Photos by Dick Arnspiger

Frank and Paula Harshaw, Paul Thompson

Simon Went, Ted Rosky, Julia Carstanjen, Todd Lowe, Frances Ratterman

Rich and Heather Whipple, Anita Streeter

Chuck Mitchell, Terry Meiners

Eric Gurevich, Sibel Solagan

Elizabeth Wester, Jessica Ziegler, Lauren DePaso, Kim Tobin

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Christen Boone, Abby Shue, J.P. Davis, Claire Simms, Sibel Solagan

Todd Lowe, Mike and Susan Van Howen

It’s a privilege to be able to make a positive “difference in the lives of our patients and families.” Dr. Bethany Snider, Medical Director

At Hosparus Health, we help people with serious illnesses get the most out of each day. But we couldn’t do it without people like Dr. Bethany Snider. Dr. Snider has been with Hosparus Health for three years, and serves as medical director for patients in hospice care.

Call us today and learn how we can care for you and your loved ones.

The earlier you call, the more we can help. Call 800-264-0521 today HosparusHealth.org Hospice Care

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Palliative Care

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Specialized Care | for the Seriously Ill

Grief Counseling & Spiritual Care

photos

Fashion Fundraiser

more photos online! Topslouisville.com

Kentucky Derby Museum | March 9 | Photos by Jolea Brown

Ray Carcione, Cheryl Friedman

Karen Casi , Rita Ellis, Laura Swigert

Susan Pass, Patrick Armstrong, Nicole Twigg, Jennifer Riddell

Tracy Cutting,Deborah Greenwald, Evelyn Grace Cutting

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Linda Davidson, Tonja Aaron Wells

Michelle Wheeler, Rhonda Jo Conner, Cindy Carcione

photos

more photos online! Topslouisville.com

Abby Dennison, Sarah Huelsman

Fillies Fashion Show Wildwood Country Club | March 25 | thefillies.org | Photos by Dick Arnspiger

Heather Hall, Joanne Peterson

Trish Osborn, Kathy Bingham

Suzann Thompson, Chris Fulkerson Barbara Bond, Nelda Mills, Judy Erk, Carol Powell

Joanne Hurst, Marbeth Gibson

Barbara Conway, Ellie Edinger, Beverly Keepers

Jessica Spalding, Susan Moore, Mary Lou Meyer

Paula Bishop

Cindy Philpott, Carmen Evans, Kathy Newton

John Bishop, Gary Stinson, Berry Brauch

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photos

Fund for the arts artspeak

more photos online! Topslouisville.com

Commonwealth Bank and Trust | March 21 | fundforthearts.org | Photos by Dick Arnspiger

Christen Boone, Chris Radtke, Ann Wells

Dior Cotton, Claire Simms, Andrea Strange, Abby Shue

Carl Thomas, Darrell Wells

Mark Kennedy, Jackie Rosky

JR and Amy Streeter

Leah Eggers, Rob Hawkins, Chris Nunnelley

Bob and Susan Hellenberg, Ann Wells

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Liam Felsen, David Phillips, Chris Nation, Joe Schmidt

photos

Gift of life gala

more photos online! Topslouisville.com

Speed Art Museum | March 18 | kidney.org | Photos by Dick Arnspiger

Chandler Hodge, Allie & Shawn Spalding, Devon Gallaghan, Kaitlyn George

Kristin and Jeremy Croxton, Karen Herrell

Suzette and Neal Kimbell, Berry and Courtney Baxter

Ines Prada, Maria Prada

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Tiffany Neal, April Enix Abell

Morgan Crown, Alana Miller

Steve and Rhonda Houghland, John and Miriam Burich

Leigh Ann and Michael Saylor, Courtney and Berry Baxter

Souha Nassar, Dr. Lebnan & Rania Saad

Vicky Voyles, Chris Whelan, Abby Freibert

photos

more photos online! Topslouisville.com

Louisville Bespoke Fashion Show Speed Art Museum | March 24 | Photos by Dick Arnspiger

Stephanie Miller Klap, Ashley-Brooke McGinty, Tracy Shipley

Sarah Mattingley, Sherri Compton

Miranda Popp, Gill Holland, Yamilca Rodriguez

Clare White, Maren Lane

Rebecca Brady, Natalie and Jessica Colliersmith

Anna Barnard, Virginia Speed, Joanna Hay

Alex Hepfinger, Clay Cook, Hunter Zieske

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TOPS calendar what to do in lou

April 2017 events APRIL 1-SEPTEMBER 10

APRIL 7 - MAY 15

The Hunger Games: The Exhibition

Frazier History Museum fraziermuseum.org The Hunger Games: The Exhibition invites visitors to step inside and explore the world of Panem as created in the films. More than one thousand authentic costumes and props, hightech and hands-on interactives, and detailed set recreations reveal the amazing artistry and technology that brought the incredible story to life. Visitors follow Katniss Everdeen's inspirational journey, from her humble beginnings in District 12 to her emergence as the Mockingjay. Highlights include iconic costumes from the films, such as the Girl on Fire dress, the Mockingjay dress and the Mockingjay armor; key artifacts including the Mockingjay pin, Cinna's sketchbook and Katniss's bow; and interactives, including an exploratory map of Panem, a gamemaker's control table, and a stunt choreography interactive. APRIL 6

Big Brims & Fancy Trims Hat Sample Sale

Kentucky Derby Museum derbymuseum.org Over 400 hat samples will be available along with the Kentucky Derby Museum 2017 hat collection, with no sample hat priced over $75 and many as low as $18! Along with the beautiful Derby hats available, enjoy a complimentary beverage from 14 Hands, Live music, Meet & greet with Jenny Pfanenstiel of Formé Millinery, Official Milliner of the Kentucky Derby Museum, Hors d'oeuvres, Raffles, contests & much more!

"The Gestural Line of Equine" New works by Jeaneen Barnhart

Craft(s) Gallery Jeaneen Barnhart is dedicated to the art of drawing on paper, creating works with such diverse line and texture taking on their own dimension. Equine studies, Male Torsos, Sensual Nudes and Loving Couples encompass her extensive repertoire. Although painting is secondary, successful canvases depict similar qualities of classic drawing style and spirited movement. Her exploration with oil painting continues, working with a variety of subject matter including her Full-Bodied Wine, Tulips, Sunflowers, Equine, and Figure series.

The Fillies Derby Ball

Louisville Marriott Downtown Kdf.org The 2017 Kentucky Derby Festival’s Fillies Derby Ball will crown the Derby Queen who, as always, will be selected by a spin of the wheel. As her first royal act, the newly-crowned Kentucky Derby Queen will induct the Knights and Dames to the Royal Court of Pegasus in recognition of their civic accomplishments. The Fillies Ball is one of the many fundraisers held for the KDF Foundation. APRIL 8–9

Humana Festival Ten-Minute Plays

APRIL 7–8

“The Sleeping Beauty” Presented by the Louisville Ballet

APRIL 10-12

Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts Louisvilleballet.org

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Riverdance

APRIL 11

KDF Foundation Student Art Contest Presented by The Fillies, Inc.

duPont Manual High School Kdf.org APRIL 13

King Southern Bank KDF Bourbonville

The Louisville Palace Kdf.org APRIL 14

Horseshoe Foundation KDF Night of the Future Stars

Indiana University Southeast Kdf.org

Finn’s Spring Fashion Event

APRIL 8

Actor's Theatre Actorstheatre.org

Community · Arts · Benefit · family · music

The Kentucky Center

Finn’s Southern Kitchen Enjoy a fun, social evening at Finn's Spring Fashion Event on April 13, 2017, 6-9pm. With your $25 ticket purchase, you'll be entertained by highlights of this year's hottest spring fashion trends, served a beautifully prepared 3-course dinner, enjoy a specialty cocktail, champagne, and more. This premiere fashion event will showcase looks from Clodhoppers, Liv Boutique, BLU Boutique, Shop Impromptu, Clater Jewelers Diamond Center, HEADcANDi by bLynn designs, and more APRIL 15

KMAC Couture V: Art Walks the Runway

KMAC Museum Kmacmuseum.org KMAC Couture V is the fifth wearable art runway show presented by KMAC Museum. This event offers a unique way to experience the Museum by featuring and supporting emerging and established regional artists, costumers, designers, and milliners and the extraordinary presentation of original couture pieces of wearable art and conceptual fashion designs.

Want to see your event in TOPS? Submit your event online at topslouisville.com

APRIL 15

APRIL 15

A Bluegrass Unbridled Experience

The Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass The Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass invite you to gallop through A Bluegrass Unbridled Experience on Saturday, April 15. Join them as they unveil five custom painted horse sculptures, a children’s race these carousel and family photo op. The festivities begin at 11 a.m. with the unveiling of the Center Court sculpture, along with a trend presentation from local social media influencers, What Nicole Wore & Bright on Budget. There is a family festival from noon to 3 p.m., featuring face painting, balloon twirling, stick pony races and more! Special entertainment provided by Gary Brewer and the Kentucky Ramblers.

Handcraft Festival

Maker’s Mark Distillery Maker's Mark invites you to join us on Saturday, April 15, 2017, at the fifth-annual Maker’s Mark® Handcraft Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in lovely Loretto! Enjoy a self-guided tour with food and cocktail samples as well as live music, all while checking out some of the finest handpicked artsand-craft vendors. Please feel free to bring your family and friends (all ages welcome).

YOU

APRIL 17

Frankfort Avenue Easter Parade

The 25th year for Louisville’s only Easter Parade will take place rain or shine on Frankfort Avenue. The parade will start around 11:30 am in front of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church at 2822 Frankfort Avenue and travels to Pope Street bringing free candy and Easter cheer to thousands of children lining the route. The staging area for the Easter Parade will be between Stilz and Birchwood Avenue and will begin assembly around 10:00 am. Parade participants include the Shriners, Louisville Bagpipe Band, Turner’s Circus, the Animal House Adoption, the Mounted Sheriff ’s Posse, antique cars and trucks, and homemade floats of all kinds.

KDF Basketball Classic Presented by Papa Johns Freedom Hall Kdf.org

APRIL 15–23

Give a Day: Mayor’s Week of Service

Give a Day is a week of volunteering to help others. Help make Louisville the most compassionate city in the world. Individuals, companies and groups can volunteer online at MyGiveADay.com.

KDF Foundation Pro-am Golf Tournament

Wildwood Country Club Kdf.org APRIL 18

Welcome to Night Vale

The Kentucky Center kentuckycenter.org APRIL 19

Pints for Parkinson's

Gordon Biersch pintsfoundation.org Pint's Foundation and Gordon Biersch will host, The 3rd Annual "Pint's for Parkinson's" on Wednesday April 19, 2017 from 6-9 pm at Gordon Biersch on the corner of 4th St. and Liberty (downtown at 4th Street Live) All proceeds benefit the Parkinson Support Center. The festivities will include an on-line auction, raffle, and Live Music on 4th Street. Proceeds from Pint’s purchased directly benefit individuals in our community that our navigating life with PD.

Putt For The Patch

Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center cabbagepatch.org

ONLY STRONGER, HEALTHIER, HAPPIER

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April 2017 events APRIL 20–30

Stock Yards Bank KDF $1 Million Dollar Hole-in-One Golf Contest

Seneca Golf Course Driving Range Kdf.org APRIL 20

Legends Series: Campbell Brown

Kentucky Derby Museum Derbymuseum.org The Legends Series is an ongoing celebration of the culture, people and history of bourbon. Don’t miss your chance to see this Legend in person and experience special tastings, appetizers and a Q&A discussion between Campbell Brown and Minnick. APRIL 20

Derby Divas

Rodes hatsforhoplouisville.org APRIL 21

APRIL 21

APRIL 23

KDF They’re Off! Luncheon

Galt House East Grand Ballroom Kdf.org The official corporate kick-off of the 2017 Kentucky Derby Festival – the 61st annual They’re Off! Luncheon will be held on Friday, April 21, 2017. More than 1,500 Derby Festival supporters and patrons are expected to be in attendance for this community tradition, which will be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Galt House East Hotel, site of the festive event since 1974. Notable speakers include Jay Bilas, Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews, Sam Champion, Robin Roberts and Terry Bradshaw as well as many others in a long list of luminaries who have entertained They’re Off! Luncheon audiences for the past 59 years. APRIL 21-23

Kentucky Crafted: The Market

Lexington Convention Center artscouncil.ky.gov APRIL 22

Gallop Gala

Louisville Marriott Downtown downsyndromeoflouisville.org The sixth annual Gallop Gala kicks off at 6:30 p.m. with a red carpet entrance. The ball benefits Down Syndrome of Louisville, and features dinner and a live auction. A cocktail party with hors d’oeuvres starts the festivities. VIP attendees will enjoy a dinner for eight and a gift package from the event’s sponsors. The energy gets amped up at the end of the evening when guests dance to the wildly versatile musical act The Louisville Crashers. APRIL 21

First Light Gallery Opening

1009 E. Main Street firstlightgalleryky.com

Community · Arts · Benefit · family · music

Thunder Over Louisville

Louisville Waterfront Thunderoverlouisville.org Welcome to Thunder Over Louisville, featuring one of the nation’s top air shows and one of the largest annual fireworks shows in the country. As the official Kentucky Derby Festival Opening Ceremonies, Thunder kicks-off the two-week 2017 Festival. After dark, prepare for the Thunder as the 28th annual pyrotechnic spectacular explodes to a sensational soundtrack in front of hundreds of thousands of our friends that come in from all across the country. APRIL 22–30

KDF Volleyball Classic

Baxter Jacks & Seneca Park Kdf.org

BEST FRIEND'S THUNDER BRUNCH FOR A CAUSE

The Pointe allformenthreads.com Brunch in style at this years Best Friend's Thunder Brunch. This red carpet affair will feature a male model fashion show brought to you by All for Men Threads, a performance by Kobe Cam and other entertainment. For ticket info visit allformenthreads.com and select events! APRIL 24–26

New Voices Young Playwrights Festival

Actor’s Theatre Actorstheatre.org Inspired by the New Voices Playwriting Residency, the New Voices Young Playwrights Festival, is fully produced by Actors Education and the Apprentice/Intern Company. By harnessing the wildly creative resources under its roof, Actors Theatre Education provides an opportunity where young people of all backgrounds are invited to see plays and make plays. APRIL 25

KDF “Taste of Derby Festival”

Louisville Slugger Field kdf.org

Wellspring Derby Preview Party

Millionaires Row wellspringky.org

APRIL 27–MAY 5

Chow Wagon

Waterfront Park kdf.org APRIL 28

U.S. Bank Great BalloonFest: Great Balloon Glow

Kentucky Exposition Center Kdf.org

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APRIL 28

APRIL 29

31st Kentucky Derby Museum Gala Kentucky Derby

Museum derbymuseum.org The Kentucky Derby Museum Gala is the single largest fundraiser for the Museum each year. Fundraising efforts for the Museum’s Gala will help support the Museum’s curatorial, educational programs and other program services. The Gala will begin at 6:30 p.m. with cocktails in The Mansion at Churchill Downs. Dinner and dancing to follow at the Kentucky Derby Museum

Tim McGraw & Faith Hill’s Soul2Soul The World Tour 2017 KFC Yum! Center Kfcyumcenter.com

APRIL 29

Jill’s Wish 2nd Annual Derby Cocktail Party

Bowman Airfield jillswish.org The 2nd Annual Jill's Wish Derby Party will be held on April 29 at Bowman Airfield! Performances by Linkin Bridge & Thumper!! Food by Captain's Quarters & Mr. Pepperwood, drinks, and entertainment included.

KDF Marathon & miniMarathon

Galt House Hotel Kdf.org

U.S. Bank Great Balloonfest: Great Balloon Race

Bowman Field Kdf.org

Awards in the Arts

Churchill Downs awardsinthearts. fundforthearts.org Louisville’s Awards in the Arts was established to celebrate the extraordinary arts community in the Greater Louisville region and the arts tremendous contribution to our unique cultural landscape and quality of place. But most of all, Louisville’s Awards in the Arts were established to celebrate the artists themselves, their talent and passion, to create, produce and present transformative and inspiring works of arts, in and for our community. Net proceeds of this event go toward the Jennifer Lawrence Arts Fund at the Fund for the Arts. APRIL 30

PNC Tour de Lou

Waterfront Park Kdf.org

2nd Annual Pre-Derby Scholarship Fashion Show and Brunch

The Olmsted eventbrite.com/e/ aifs-2nd-annual-derbyscholarship-fashion-showtickets-31271660378

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May 2017 events MAY 1

MAY 4

Thortons Great Bed Races

The Great Gatsby Thurby Soiree

Broadbent Arena Discover.kdf.org

MAY 2

Pegasus Parade Preview Party

Kentucky Exposition Center Discover.kdf.org MAY 2–3

Kentucky Proud WineFest

Belvedere Discover.kdf.org

MAY 5

Louisville Water Tower michaelsevents.com A Gatsby Themed, 1920's inspired Derby Soiree overlooking the river on the Historic Louisville Water Tower's Riverside Lawn. 1920's attire is encouraged! General admission includes access to the Main Tent with live music, Gatsby Decor, Cocktail Style Seating Accomodations, Light Hors d' Oeuvres, and a Full Open Bar from 7pm til midnight. Cigar waitresses will pass champagne and mint juleps throughout the night.

Taste of Derby

MAY 3

BeerFest Presented by American Founders Bank

Fest-a-Ville Discover.kdf.org

Biscuits & Bourbon

Kentucky Derby Museum Derbymuseum.org Kentucky Derby Museum invites you to the first-ever Biscuits & Bourbon to enjoy locally sourced Kentucky Proud products with a southern flare! At the bar, delight in Kentucky bourbon flights, mimosas, and Bloody Marys from Holloway Farm’s “Bloody Kentucky Cocktail Mix.” Then fill your plate at the Southern and English Style Biscuit Bar where you can select a variety of toppings! All while enjoying live music.

Great Steamboat Race

Riverfront Discover.kdf.org MAY 4

Celebrity Day at the Downs

Churchill Downs Discover.kdf.org

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Community · Arts · Benefit · family · music

KFC Yum! Center kentuckyderby.com Mingle with horse racing celebrities as you savor an evening of exquisite cuisine and exceptional wines. Sample regional specialties with wine pairings, created by nationally renowned chefs along the Road to the Kentucky Derby, as you enjoy live music entertainment and a live chef cooking showdown. Join us from 7 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. as we start the Kentucky Derby celebration with flavor!

Republic Bank Pegasus Parade Broadway

Discover.kdf.org

Silks in the Bluegrass

Crowne Plaza Louisville openarms.org Silks in the Bluegrass is the signature fundraiser for Operation Open Arms, held annually on Oaks night, a fundraiser for Operation Open Arms, Inc.

Winners Circle Bourbon Brunch

TheWinnersCircleBourbonBrunch.eventbrite. com

Fillies & Stallions

Mellwood Arts Center Filliesandstallions.com Anticipation has never been higher than in these weeks leading up to the 143rd running of the Kentucky Derby. Now entering it's 7th year, Derby weekend's premiere party is no longer a secret. It features a 40ft red carpet swarming with paparazzi & always has some crazy surprises in store. This private event is designed to entertain the greatest mix of celebrities, industry titans, well-heeled influencers, and tastemakers. There is no "dress code", per se, but cocktail attire or Derby chic is the common theme. This is the event you have been saving that outfit for. MAY 6

DERBY BREAKFAST

MAY 5

Unbridled Eve Derby Eve Gala

Galt House Hotel unbridledeve.com On Saturday the Mint Juleps will flow, the call to the post will sound, hooves will pound, dirt will fly, bets will be made and dreams will come true. But first, come experience a night of Southern grace, glamour, charm and hospitality at its finest during the sixth annual Unbridled Eve Gala. Held the night before the Kentucky Derby, the Unbridled Eve Derby Gala is one of the most anticipated black tie-optional events of the year for Louisville lovers, celebrities and racing enthusiasts!

FARMINGTON HISTORIC PLANTATION HistoricHomes.org Farmington Historic Plantation invites you to the annual Historic Homes Foundation Derby Breakfast. Enjoy a traditional sit-down brunch, Bluegrass style, with an open bar, live band, and Southern cuisine. We welcome you to enjoy coffee and dessert in our social silent auction area. Your buffet wristband also allows you access to the separate Bourbon & Biscuits tent.

Want to see your event in TOPS? Submit your event online at topslouisville.com

MAY 6

MAY 19

BOURBON & BISCUITS

FARMINGTON HISTORIC PLANTATION HistoricHomes.org Farmington Historic Plantation invites you to the annual Historic Homes Foundation Derby Breakfast. Enjoy a traditional sit-down brunch, Bluegrass style, with an open bar, live band, and Southern cuisine. We welcome you to enjoy coffee and dessert in our social silent auction area.

Winner's Party

Kentucky Derby Museum derbyexperiences.com Join the celebration and witness the crowning of a new champion at the Winner’s Party. Toast alongside the winning jockey, trainers, and owners for the perfect ending to your Kentucky Derby® experience. MAY 13

March for Babies

Big Four Lawn Marchforbabies.org

MAY 20

Go Red for Women Luncheon

Louisville Marriott Downtown Join the American Heart Association for the 2017 Louisville Go Red For Women Luncheon. Did you know that heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States? It kills nearly half a million women each year at the rate of about one per minute. They are our sisters, mothers, daughters, friends, neighbors and colleagues. The Louisville Go Red For Women Luncheon and Conference is a life-changing experience that focuses on three areas to support the fight against heart disease in women: heightening awareness of the issue, creating a passionate call-to-action and generating funds to support education and research. MAY 19–21

Old Louisville Springfest

Historic First Street in Old Louisville Oldlouisvillespringfest.org With nearly 10,000 visitors, tons of vendors, food trucks and artists our neighborhood is brimming with excitement! Rain or shine please join us on First street between Oak and Magnolia in Historic Old Louisville for the Annual Old Louisville Springfest.

• Dedicated Internet Access • Web Hosting • Data Center Services

Great Strides 5K

Slugger Field cff.org

Walk MS

Louisville Water Tower Park MAY 25–29

Abbey Road on the River

Big 4 Station Park Arotr.com MAY 26–28

Kentucky Reggae Festival

Louisville Water Tower Park Kentuckyreggaefestival.com The sound of steel drums and the savory smell of Caribbean-inspired foods make this the premiere Memorial Day event for those longing for summer. Flavorful dishes from the Jamaican Association of Louisville, Caribbean Market featuring arts, crafts, jewelry, beads and more. All surrounded by the contagious and soulsatisfying sounds of live, authentic reggae music. You’ll find it all at the Kentucky Reggae Festival.

321 East Breckinridge Street Louisville, Kentucky 40203 502-589-4638 bluegrass.net

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TOP SHOTS Who’s Who in Lou!

National Kidney Foundation Gift Of Life Gala

BeSpoke Fashion Show

Heather French Henry speaking at Wrapped In Red Gala

Fillies Spring Fashion Show

Pearls & Pumps Rock the Runway

162 TOPS LOUISVILLE | April 2017

Maya Williamson with Storywood Bow Ties at BeSpoke Fashion Show

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AND THEY’RE OFF!

Only Four Roses handcrafts 10 distinct and extraordinary Bourbon recipes then mingles them by hand to create our family of award-winning Bourbons. Share your Handcrafted Moments. Tag your social posts #HandcraftTheMoment