Tomorrow's annual Chocolate Stroll will start a series of Midway Business Association events for this year

By Akhira Umar
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

With events like tomorrow’s Chocolate Stroll and next month’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, plus other events later in the year, the Midway Business Association had plenty to discuss and plan Wednesday morning.

The Chocolate Stroll is Midway’s way of paying homage to Valentine’s Day. This year the event will be held Saturday, Feb. 9 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Every shop and restaurant on Main and Gratz streets will be participating, MBA Secretary Steve Morgan said. So will Equus Run Vineyards, from noon to 4 p.m.

The event will have a drawing for a prize: donated items from all the Midway’s shops and restaurants, and Equus Run. Anyone interested in entering the raffle can grab a free Chocolate Stroll ticket from any participating business. Partakers will visit 10 businesses and receive stamps for their tickets at each stop. Every business will have a chocolatey treat for visitors. Once tickets are completed, they should be dropped off at the Midway Sweet Tooth candy store for the drawing. More information can be found on the online site where the business association advertises the event.

Though Saturday’s high is forecast to be 36 degrees, the association is still expecting a crowd for the Chocolate Stroll. The sky is forecast to be clear, and last year 500 people came even though it was raining, said Cortney Neikirk, president of the association and co-owner of Midway Sweet Tooth.

The association spent around $200 less than last year advertising for this year's Chocolate Stroll, in order to spend more on St. Patrick’s Day. At Wednesday's meeting, members voted to spend $750, hoping to make it a day of events for all of Woodford County. The festivities are set to begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 16, and continue until 6 p.m.

Midway Business Association members looked over the first
issue of The Woodford Charm, a new local magazine, as
Editor-in-Chief Cory Cooley talked about it Wednesday.

The theme of this year’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations is “Go Green.” Non-profit groups such as Midway Renaissance, the Midway Community Garden and Friends of Walter Bradley Park will be incorporating the theme with booths including electric cars, recycling, solar energy and more. The parade, set for 4 p.m., will include “Go Green” floats, Irish bagpipers and drummers, the Woodford County High School Marching Band, Midway University horses and riders, an Irish Court of Honor and several other participants. For more information, go here.

Another event anticipated this year is Dock Dogs, an internationally known aquatic dog competition. After getting approval from the City Council and the Parks Board, the business association approved a motion to pursue the event. Though it has not finalized a date or financing for the event, it will continue working on logistics. If the event does come to fruition, Goose and Gander Manager Justin Werner of said it will likely take place during the summer, sometime from June to August. 

“There’s a lot of people that are interested in it and think it’s a good idea whether they’re here in Midway or not,” said Werner.

Then will come the annual Midway Fall Festival. It will have numerous art and food vendors, along with plenty of entertainment including live music and kids’ activities. The festival will take place Sept. 21-22. More information about the festival can be found here. The annual Iron Horse Half Marathon will also be that Sunday. Information about the race can be found on the event’s website.

The business association also approved a motion for Facebook advertising to encourage more customer traffic in Midway. Members agreed to spend $20 a weekend targeting people interested in Kentucky Horse Park events happening at that time. Elisha Holt, the association’s contracted coordinator, said she has been using this method for FatKats Pizzeria for a year and a half, and it has been successful.

Morgan, general manager at Kentucky Honey Farms, explained the shift in ad strategy: “I think it’s a huge thing that when somebody comes into your store or when I bump into people on the sidewalk I just say, ‘What brought you to Midway?’ and when we’re doing the events, it’s always completely amazing to me, but it’s always Facebook. It’s never anything else.”

With all these events, the availability of public restrooms is a major concern for the association. Besides downtown restaurants and some shops, City Hall is the only place with public restrooms, and it is only open five days a week from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. This has been a long-standing issue between the business association and the City Council.

“I think if you all press the case, the city would take some action. You know, I just don’t think the case has been pressed hard enough,” Al Cross, publisher and editor of the Midway Messenger, told other members at the meeting. “If there’s ever a time to get this done, it’s now. You got three new council members, you got a mayor who’s got a four-year term ahead of him. You know, get it done.”

Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said in an interview after the meeting that there hasn’t been enough need for a fully operational public restroom to justify spending taxpayer money. He said he gave the business association the task of collecting $20,000 to $30,000 in private funding to build public restrooms, but no one has met the task.

“Until we can justify the expense of public restrooms downtown, it can’t happen,” Vandegrift said. “So right now, we either need to see more tax revenue come from downtown or we need to see more private investments. One or the other. And I’ve yet to see either of those things happen.”