Midway Renaissance revives Greenspace Committee, plans for Francisco's Farm Art Fair June 13-14

The annual general membership meeting followed the monthly dinner at Midway Christian Church. (Photo by Hayley Burris)

By Lauren McCally
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Midway Renaissance announced the revival of its Greenspace Committee at the group’s annual general membership meeting Monday night. The meeting followed the monthly community dinner at Midway Christian Church, which featured leftovers from the church’s Epiphany dinner.

Greenspace was the first committee of Midway Renaissance, but went dormant in 2013, said Debra Shockley, the secretary of Midway Renaissance. “Something that’s exciting is that Greenspace is coming back,” she said, “but in a totally different integration.”

When the committee started, “Some of the things that they worked on were to remove invasive species, they planted trees, established rain guards, and a lot of other things that helped preserve and protect our environment,” Stacy Thurman, a Greenspace and City Council member, told Renaissance members.

The idea to bring this committee back came from Marcie Christensen, who wanted to help educate Midway residents and work with the city government and other organizations to teach more sustainable ways for Midway to do things.

Debra Shockley is secretary of Renaissance. (Photo by Hayley Burris)

Shockley said after the meeting that the committee’s current mission differs from the old one because that sort of work is done by the city’s Parks Board, Friends of Walter Bradley Park and other volunteers who “do the trails and the bridges” in the park.

The Greenspace Committee is “going to have educational classes, maybe seminars and stuff up at the library,” Shockley said. “They are not actually going to be working in the park. . . . This Greenspace incarnation will focus on sustainability.”

Greenspace is planning educational projects for the community and Northside Elementary, which will teach appropriate recycling techniques, community composting, and care of street trees.

“We are open to any ideas that people have or projects … here in Midway, ” Thurman said. “We welcome anybody that wants to get involved in the Greenspace Committee.”

Greenspace holds monthly meetings on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the Midway Library. If you would like to join the committee, attend a meeting, share an idea or learn more about certain projects, contact Marcie Christensen via Facebook or Thurman at the library, which she manages.

Another committee mentioned during the meeting was Living History. “Living History is one of the most active committees,” said Shockley. “They do so many projects.” Some include a big sign about bourbon history by The Brown Barrel and a lot of older pictures of buildings downtown, which have been put up with information such as who owned them and what year they were built.

Planning for the June 13-14 Francisco’s Farm Art Fair, which Shockley said is Renaissance’s “primary source of income,” is going very well, event coordinator Elisha Holt told the members. “We have about 67 artists who have applied” to exhibit, she said; the deadline is March 1 and the jury will notify exhibitors by March 31.

The fair will be held at Midway University but there will also be a small block party downtown with a musical event on the evening of Saturday, June 13.

To help advertise the art fair, Renaissance will provide yard signs to contributors. Those who give $25 will receive a sign saying “Friends of Francisco’s Farm Art Fair, Midway University, June 13-14,” to put in their front yard; $100 givers will be designated friends of the art fair, and get a sign; $500 givers will be sponsors, with their name or logo on signs at the event, in the fair map and on the website. Donations need to be sent by May 1, so the committee can print the signs and distribute them.

The Renaissance board will have a workshop and strategic planning review Sunday, March 1, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the library conference room, and anyone is welcome to attend. The board has room for four more members, who serve three-year terms.

The next general meeting of Renaissance is scheduled for Thursday, March 5 at 6 p.m. in the second floor community room of the Rau Building (City Hall). Anyone is welcome to attend and the officers for 2020 will be elected.  Membership in Renaissance is $10 per person or 10 food items.