'Midway to Love' movie airs at 9 tonight on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel (that's a correction)

Boyfriend and girlfriend reunited take a walk through Walter Bradley Park in "Midway to Love."

Railroad Drug and Old Time Soda Fountain closes
at 6 p.m., but not in the movie, featuring Daniel Stine
as Mitchell Sims and Rachel Hendrix as Rachel August.

Many small towns provide settings for motion pictures, but it's rare that one becomes the first word in the title, and "Midway to Love" makes its american debut tonight at 9 on The Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Channel.

Hallmark originally passed on the independently produced film, directed by Taylor Mill, Ky., native Jeff Day, in early 2019, but about a year later decided to buy it, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. It is playing in Canada, Spain, Italy and France.

The film tells the story of a therapy talk show host who lives in New York City, Rachel August (played by Rachel Hendrix), whose life is turned around when she visits her hometown of Midway to make a big career decision and reconnects with her old boyfriend, Mitchell Sims (Daniel Stine), and is caught between her career and love -- midway, as it were.

Day told the newspaper that Mayor Grayson Vandegrift and the town opened their arms to the movie, and “Midway just was the perfect setting for it.”

Midway Messenger Aaron Gershon, a native of the New York metropolitan area, has been assigned to write a review of the movie.

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.

Mayor proposes budget that would reduce big surplus by spending to fix sewer lines and build more sidewalks

By Anna McAndrew and Lauren McCally
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media
               “Our surplus right now is enormous,” Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said Monday evening as he offered the City Council a 2020-21 budget that would reduce the surplus by fixing sewer lines and building new sidewalks.

               Vandegrift said the surplus is “three times bigger than the average” of a U.S. city in terms of months of revenue – a year’s worth rather than four months’ worth. Spending on the infrastructure projects, mainly sewers, will “bring the surplus down to two times bigger than the average, which means eight months’ worth of money instead of one year,” he said. 

             The current surplus is about $1.1 million. The projected surplus is about $900,000 mainly because about $150,000 would be spent fixing sewer lines on the east side of town and $75,000 is budgeted for sidewalks -- $25,000 of which would go to cost-sharing that the city is already doing with property owners.

             The rest would build a sidewalk on the Midway University side of Stephens Street to the entrance to the Homeplace at Midway. Some of the $75,000 is contingent upon a grant. There are so many grants available for sidewalks, Vandegrift said, “I don’t think we should construct any new sidewalks without one.”

              The city has amassed a surplus largely on occupational-tax income from the Lakeshore Learning Materials distribution center in Midway Station and other business expansions.

              In the current fiscal year, the tax was budgeted to generate $650,000, but the mayor said the city is on track to collect $832,000. His proposed budget for next year estimates $825,000. “Most of our revenue numbers are done conservatively,” he said.

               This is the main source of money for the city, about 45 percent of the predicted income total. The proposed budget predicts increases in most other forms of revenue, such as property tax, business licenses, alcohol licenses and franchise fees.

               The surge in occupational tax led the city to cut property taxes more than 30 percent in the last two years. Asked after the meeting if another property-tax cut is in the offing, Vandegrift said, “Maybe that’s coming down the pike, too. It’s possible; there’s been some discussion.” But he added, “People seem happy so you don’t want to do it too much.”

               The mayor plans to hold budget workshops with the council, probably in the next two weeks, to agree on the budget before putting it into an ordinance. “This is something we are going to work on as we always do,” he said. 

               The city has about $290,000 in certificates of deposit that mature this year, starting next week. Noting that the highest interest rate on the three CDs is 0.93 percent, he named three council members -- Sarah Hicks, Logan Nance and John Holloway, as a committee to look at investment alternatives, with Nance as chair.

               Vandegrift announced that the $10,000 grant for a stage in the park, which the city recently gave up, is being held for it by the Bluegrass Community Fund. “They believe that it is such a worthy project that they are going to hold the funds indefinitely while we figure out how to pay for that project,” he said.

               The city gave up the grant after the Parks Board said it didn’t have the additional resources to do the project. Holloway, who is also the unpaid park manager, said last month that some merchants didn’t like the idea because it would create an alternative entertainment venue to Main Street.

               The council approved permits for two events: Race Rise, a 5K run on May 9 to raise money for a nonprofit veterans group that uses equine therapy for mental health, in conjunction with Mental Heath Awareness Month; and a Family Fun Festival to be held in Walter Bradley Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 30.

                The festival will be an event for families and will include face painting, rock painting, and pine cone feeders, organizers said, adding that they plan on generating only one cubic feet of waste that cannot be recycled.

Business Association lays plans for a year of events, starting with Chocolate Stroll from 11 to 5 on Saturday

By Lauren McCally

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

               The Midway Business Association had plenty to talk about at its monthly meeting Wednesday, with Saturday’s Chocolate Stroll kicking off a long list of events planned this year.

               Members also discussed the possibility of using the MBA’s growing bank account to help others, such as Midway Renaissance and Northside Elementary, with advertising for events. They also discussed the fall festival, the possibility of an RJ Corman Railroad dinner train stopping in Midway, and potential solutions for downtown parking.

               Besides the Chocolate Stroll, which will held Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the MBA also discussed a St. Patrick’s Day event, movies in the courtyard and many other events scheduled throughout the year.

               The St. Patrick’s Day event is set for Saturday, March 14, from 2 to 6 p.m. with vendors and a band, but no parade as in recent years, President Cortney Neikirk said. It will feature a blessing of the keg and a leprechaun.

                At their last meeting MBA members discussed a possible dinner train stop. One member said Corman executive Noel Rush, who handles a lot of the railroad’s community bookings, told her that he would think about what the MBA was trying to do.

               Elisha Holt, coordinator of the fall festival and other events, said local merchants who want to participate in the festival Sept. 19-20 “do not fill out the application online because in order to get the discount they need to do a paper one, since there are no discounted applications on the digital one.” Those need to be filled out by June 30.

               Although applications typically go out around Feb. 10, Holt said they were sent out before the first of January, and 29 vendors had already accepted, all of which are return vendors. Fall festival meetings will start being held in March. Holt mentioned that Country Boy Brewing would sponsor the festival stage again.

               Neikirk said the fall festival account has grown to $42,000, following profits of $38,500 last year, and the association has almost $13,000 in other accounts.

               She said the MBA will use some of that money to help Renaissance advertise its three Midsummer Nights in Midway, which have been scheduled cooperatively. “Their events help us, so we’re going to advertise for them,” she said.

               Renaissance members staff City Hall during weekend events to make public restrooms available, and the group does an annual Midway Heritage Day in the fall that the MBA makes part of its events schedule.

               Neikirk said the MBA could cooperate with other groups that hold events, such as Northside Elementary School. “It gets us all connected with each other,” she said.

               Holt said events have also been scheduled in cooperation with Versailles businesses. “We are trying to play very nicely with Versailles,” she said, noting that every summer weekend will have some sort of event in Woodford County.

               The final topic at the meeting was shortage of parking, especially for employees of restaurants and shops. Neikirk said she has talked to the restaurants and is trying to help them find a place for their employees to park somewhere other than the Main Street area.

                “You see people drive through, and there’s nowhere to park, and you watch them drive right out of town,” Neikirk said. “And that’s the thing, nobody’s going to park at Wallace Station to walk downtown.”

               Neikirk proposed that restaurant owners come together to see if a local church would be willing to rent its parking lot every day but Sunday for use of the employees, but said she is unsure if that will happen.

Council approves mayor's appointments to new board that will enforce revised rules for property maintenance

At the City Council meeting Monday evening, former mayor Tom Bozarth and Mayor Grayson Vandegrift honored city attorney Phil Moloney, who will leave the position Jan. 31 after 13 years, (Midway Messenger photo by Hayley Burris)

By Madison Dyment, Anna McAndrew and Hayley Burris
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

After passing ordinances Jan. 6 to crack down on lack of property maintenance in the city, the Midway City Council approved members of its new Code Enforcement Board Tuesday night.

The council also heard about the loss of a project to build a stage in the city park, and honored outgoing city attorney Phil Moloney, in a celebration that included a surprise visit by former mayor Tom Bozarth.

Code enforcement: Mayor Grayson Vandegrift nominated Jo Blease, Dan Roller and Jim Starks as the three members of the new Code Enforcement Board and Janet Hall as the alternate, saying all are willing to serve and are knowledgeable in the field. He gave brief biographies of each:

Blease and her husband, Ray, moved to Midway just under 10 years ago, fixing up a home at the corner of Winter and Stephens streets, giving Blease first-hand experience in property maintenance. The mayor noted that Blease is a retired school administrator accustomed to following "the letter of the law," recently served as president of Midway Renaissance, and is eager to serve on the board.

Dan Roller

Roller is a familiar face, having served as a council member in 2011-16. He was integral to the council's update of property maintenance codes and served on the old Vacant Property Review Board, which was "basically made obsolete" by a 2016 state law that paved the way for a new approach, Vandegrift said, adding, “Dan has one of the best eyes for detail of anyone I have ever known.”

Starks, a lifelong resident of Midway, brings personal experience as a landlord to the board. “He’s a great example of a landlord who owns multiple properties in Midway, who does it the right way and makes sure his tenants are living in proper conditions," the mayor said. "He invests in his properties, and he understands how expensive that gets.”

Hall, as an alternate, would fill in for a board member in the case of an absence. "She's a retired attorney who used to work for the City of Louisville on this exact same stuff: blighted and deteriorated properties," Vandegrift said.

The ordinance says initial appointments are to be staggered so one seat becomes vacant each year. Vandegrift didn't specify terms; asked about it afterward, he said Roller will take the one-year term but wasn't sure about the others because Blease has been away "and we haven’t had a great chance to discuss it. All are eligible to be reappointed to full three-year terms." There is a two-term limit.

Vandegrift said the matter would be resolved at the next council meeting, at which he also hopes to have the appointment of a code enforcement officer ready for council approval.

The Code Enforcement Board will hear cases of property owners who don’t correct violations in the time allowed by the code enforcement officer, at least 10 days. It can levy fines of $25 to $1,000 and its rulings can be appealed to circuit court.

Vandergrift, who has been trying to create the board for several years, said he would meet with the four after giving them two weeks to study the ordinances: “We took a long time on this, so to digest it, they can start writing up the questions that they may have and then I’ll get together with them, possibly with representatives of the Kentucky League of Cities if necessary, and kind of go through a little workshop or little training session with them.”

The mayor said he would like to see the board start taking complaints early next month, “but you know, it’s been two years or more; what’s the rush? We’re not going to rush this thing through them if they feel like they’re not quite ready to be taking possible appeals.”

Park stage canceled: In a more sobering moment, Vandergrift reported the failure of efforts to build a stage in the park. The initiative was funded by a $10,000 grant from the Bluegrass Community Fund, but the mayor said the Parks Board told him in a November letter that it “no longer felt that they had the resources to complete the project, given the new constraints placed upon it,” such as architectural and utility costs.

After the meeting, Council Member and Park Manager John Holloway said running electricity to the stage would cost $8,000 and some local merchants didn’t like the project because it would create an alternative entertainment venue to Main Street, which the city recently designated an "entertainment destination center" where alcoholic beverages with vendor labels can be carried openly.

The board recommended that the city return the grant. Vandegrift said he did that, but not before trying "a Hail Mary" to save the project, getting an architect to agree to design the stage for free, a savings of $5,000 to $10,000. But in the end, he said, there were still questions about electricity, parking, "who would run it, what kinds of cost would be associated with in, and what-not."

He added, "It's a disappointment. I'll be honest; there are those who, through their fingertips, made the thing more difficult, and I regret that's a thing we have to deal with, but those people are not solely at fault. Sometimes things just don't come together. I do hope that in the future, it may be able to come together."

Also, "There's simply too many things we need to fund this year," he said. "I can't sit here with a straight face and say we don't have the money. We have the money to do the things we need to do; we just don't have all the money we'd like to have to do everything we want to do. Building that stage might have meant we can't build a sidewalk to The Homeplace from Mill Road, and I just think that would just be unacceptable. It might mean we can't finish the cemetery pavilion, or finish our big sewer renovation, and that's just not something we can accept, or I can accept, right now."

Bozarth emerges from his old office.

Saying goodbye and welcome back: Lightening the mood, the council used the latter part of the 25-minute meeting to honor Phil Moloney of Lexington, who has been city attorney for 13 years, for two mayors, seven councils and 19 council members. Jan. 31 will be his final day in the position; the council passed a resolution making next week Phil Moloney Week.

“He is one of the finest attorneys one may find anywhere and his steady hand, rock-solid legal advice and great attention to detail has meant that he has left the city better than he found it,” Vandergrift said, telling Moloney later, "You often pulled me back from my worst impulses."

In a surprise, former mayor Tom Bozarth, who hired Moloney, emerged from a back office to congratulate him and assist in giving him a key-to-the-city clock.

He told Moloney, “You were the rudder of the ship that kept us all in line down the straight and narrow and kept us out of harm’s way, and I can’t thank you enough for that.”

Moloney, who told Vandegrift in a Jan. 15 letter that he is "edging closer to retirement age" and has other things to pursue, voiced gratitude and admiration for his employers.

“One of the amazing things is that every council member and mayor I have worked with all have interests of their citizens first in mind and led with their heart,” he said. “I wish Washington, D.C., could send down some representatives and see how governments are supposed to work.”

Other business: The council gave final reading and passage to a long-pending budget amendment and granted a street-encroachment permit to Tobacco Rose, a company that installs silt fences for construction projects and has bought a lot in Midway Station. Vandegrift said about seven people would work there.

UK Community Journalism students Lauren McCally and Jo'Tessa Townes contributed to this story.

Fall Festival whet your appetite? Here are more festivals

By Bill McCann
Special to the Midway Messenger

The Midway Fall Festival was held last weekend. What will you do now? How about getting in the junker, the truck, or even the new car and taking off to see the fall colors and enjoy some of Kentucky's fabulous fall festivals?

This weekend

ALL Fall Festival of the Agrarian Literary League of Henry County: Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Berry Center and The Locker on South Main Street in New Castle. Henry County arts, crafts, music and food; the Berry Center bookstore offers a 20% discount on all children's books and gifts.

Casey County Apple Festival: Downtown Liberty, ends Saturday; features the world's largest apple pie, professional wrestling, a parade, local and regional bands and musicians, and food vendors. Contests for people of all ages include a Big Wheel race, spelling bee, and greased pig and hula hoop contests. Fireworks conclude the festival on Saturday night. More information at www.Caseycountyapplefestival.org.

World Chicken Festival: Downtown London, through Sunday; features the world's largest stainless steel skillet and fried chicken. Local, regional, and Nashville recording artists can keep you tapping your toes or singing along all weekend; Sunday features four gospel groups ending with the Talleys. Highlights include a Colonel Sanders Look-Alike Contest (sorry, that was Thursday) parade (10 a.m. Saturday), a Struttin,’ Cluckin’ and Crowin’ Contest (11:30 a.m. Saturday), midway attractions, and vendors of arts, crafts and food vendors. More information at www.Chickenfestival.com.

Morgan County Sorghum Festival: Downtown West Liberty; features sorghum-making demonstrations (all weekend), arts, crafts, and food vendors galore, a parade (Saturday at 1 p.m.) and lots of local musical talent. Visit www.morgancountysorghumfestival.com for more information.

Marion County Country Ham Days: Downtown Lebanon, through Sunday; features a country ham breakfast (Saturday and Sunday until 11 a.m.), Pigasus Parade (Saturday), hot air balloon events (Saturday evening and Sunday morning), gospel sing (Sunday), a cornhole tournament, bale tossing and hog calling contests for adults; Junior Farmer and Little Miss Ham Days pageant are among events for children. Also, Pokey Pig 5k run, vendors of arts, crafts, and food. Info at www.Hamdays.com.

Cave Run Storytelling Festival: Twin Knobs Campground, Morehead, through Saturday night. Perhaps Kentucky's most distinctive festival. Devoted to the art of telling a good story well. Professional storytellers entertain all weekend; ghost stories Saturday night. Arts and crafts and food vendors; camping available. Admission ranges from $5 to $90. See www.caverunstoryfest.org

Anderson County Burgoo Festival: A family-friendly event, through 4 p.m. Sunday, with activities ranging from miniature golf (Friday and Saturday) to bingo (Saturday) to a pedal tractor pull (Sunday). Pancake breakfast and a 5K run (both Saturday morning) and Fastest Kid in Anderson County (1 p.m. Saturday). Features include a Ghost Walk (sorry, that was Friday night), Burgoo Cook Off (Saturday 11 a.m to 2 p.m.) and a haunted house (Saturday night). And, of course, there are arts, crafts, and food booths. Details www.kentuckyburgoo.com/docs/burgoo-Program2019.pdf.

Wayne County Heritage Festival: Saturday at the Mill Springs Park overlooking Lake Cumberland, near Monticello. Historic gristmill and heritage skills demonstrations; artists and music. Free parking and admission. www.Waynecountykentuckyhistoricalsociety.org.

HarvestFest: Saturday and Sunday at Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill, near Harrodsburg. Free with paid admission to Shaker Village. Heritage skill demonstrations include: apple cider pressing and milling sorghum. Hayrides, lives music, and food trucks also available. https://shakervillageky.org/event-calendar/

October festivals

Tired of traditional fall festivals? Here are some more unusual fall events.

Hemp Harvest Festival: Oct. 5, downtown Winchester; the inaugural festival to celebrate the hemp harvest in Clark County with farm tours and demonstrations, food, vendors and live music. See www.tourwinchester.com/event/hemp-harvest-festival/.

Hoptober Fest: Oct 5, 3-6 p.m. at Appalachian Wireless Arena, Pikeville. Craft beers festival. General admission is $10 to $50. www.Hoptoberfestky.com.

Battle of Perryville Commemoration: Oct. 5-6, Perryville Battlefield. Reenactment of Civil War battle. General admission: $7-10. www.Perryvillebattlefield.org.

Secretariat Festival: Oct. 12-13 at Keeneland to celebrate the unveiling of a larger-than-life bronze statue of Triple Crown winner Secretariat at the roundabout of Old Frankfort Pike and Alexandria Drive. Tours of the track's backside as well as Claiborne Farm and Lane's End Farm. Guest speakers, food and merchandise available. Jockeys and trainers attending to sign autographs and meet fans are expected to include Ron Turcotte, Chris McCarron, Mike Manganello and Jean Cruguet. See www.secretariat.com/fan-club/secretariat-festival/.

Foothills Festival: Oct. 18-19 in Albany, down US 127 almost all the way to Tennessee. This year's edition will be the 40th. The Kentucky Headhunters will perform at 7 p.m. CT Friday; Exile entertained last year.

Photos from Midsummer Nights in Midway

Here are some photos by Messenger contributor Mary Massie from last night's Midsummer Nights in Midway event, sponsored by Midway Renaissance:

Young dancers on East Main Street, the north side of which was closed for the event

The Conch on the Half Shell band invited
participation from the audience.

Wagon Bones Barbecue came from Versailles.

Citizens vote to give Walter Bradley Park $10,000 from Woodford Co. Community Fund for boxcar stage in park

The application for funding of a boxcar stage in Walter Bradley Park was the top winner as Woodford County citizens met at Midway University last night to hear and vote on applications to the Woodford County Community Fund.

Friends of Walter Bradley Park asked for and got $10,000. All other applications were fully funded, except the project to place chairs made of bourbon barrels around the county as a "Sense of Identification Public Art Project," and a donor "stepped forward to make up the difference" for that project, Midway Renaissance President Debra Shockley said on the Midway Musings Facebook page.

The other applications were from the Life Adventure Center, $5,000 for "Opt Out: Opportunity to Stay off Opioids;" Big Spring Park in Versailles, $5,000 for a deck with seating and cable railings in a city-owned area above the park; Spark Community Cafe in Versailles, $2,500 for funding of 280 meals for people facing food insecurity; $2,300 for a project to preserve the history of Huntertown as an African American community; and $2,250 to create a Council of Neighborhood Associations in the county.

44th annual Fall Festival is Saturday and Sunday

One view of last year's festival (Photo by Katia Davis, University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media)

The 44th annual Midway Fall Festival will be held Saturday from 10 to 610 and Sunday from 10 to 5.

Led by the Midway Business Association, the festival is one of the largest in Kentucky, drawing 10,000 people in one day last year, and a record number of vendors are coming this year. The event features crafts, food, demonstrations, entertainment and children's activities. At 2 p.m. Saturday there will be agility gymnastics in front of the Milam House on Main Street.

The entertainment schedule, sponsored by Country Boy Brewing, starts at 10 a.m. Saturday with Shanghai Express, followed by Blake Jones and Family at 11:15. Liberty Road takes the stage at 12:30, followed by Prototype at 1:45, Ned Hill at 3 and Kyle Sable Snyder at 4:15. Featured bands RC & the Nightshades and Trippin' Roots are scheduled at 5 and 7 p.m., respectively. The Sunday entertainment schedule has Mancave Ruckus at 10, Trish Torline at 11, Southland Drive at 1:15, Liam Fancy at 2:30 and Argo Lynn at 3:45.

Other sponsors of the festival are the Kennydid Gallery, More Than A Bakery, The Homeplace at Midway, Midway University, RJ Corman Railroad Co., United Bank, Coolmore America, Amberway Equine and Sporthorse Properties, Sleep Number, Bath Fitter, Champion Windows, and the Joe and Debbie Graviss Foundation. The City of Midway also assists with the festival. For more information, see www.midwayfallfestival.com/.

Larry Cory, singing and leading his band

Story and photos by Sarah Ladd

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media
For a larger version of any photograph, just click on it.

Hundreds of people came out for the third annual Midsummer Nights in Midway event Friday evening.

Debra Shockley of Midway Renaissance, which was experimenting with a new parking and traffic flow with vendors and the band set up in the westbound side of East Main Street, said the new arrangement was working.

Lily McDaniel (left) and Ainsley Lynch danced.

Shockley said with signs informing people of additional parking, “it worked out well. We got all the vendors in and none of the merchants are complaining, so I guess it’s a good thing.”

Midway Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said the new setup was “working out really well. We’re very excited about that.”

While the street closure made room for more vendors, Shockley said the crowd for this year’s first event was about the same as in other years. Midsummer Nights will also be held on the last Fridays of July and August.

Adults had fun browsing around 20 vendors and listening to Larry Cory and The Passport Band, but it was the children who stole the show.

Early on, Emma Davis (right) danced with a flower she received from Locally Grown’s booth, where the youth ministry was set up selling T-shirts and giving away flowers. Her godmother, Angela Blackburn, watched her dance with a smile. She said she loves Midsummer Nights in Midway. “It’s great,” she said. “Every town should do this.”

Later, with the band in full gear, Midway’s Ainsley Lynch and Lily McDaniel (above) danced their hearts out to the band’s music, earning laughter and smiles from the crowd. Bandleader Larry Cory joked about the girls being his “backup dancers.”

Brenda Jackson (right) and Breauna Pennie at Jackson's craft table

Brenda Jackson, a member of Midway’s Second Christian Church, set up a table at the event to raise money for Operation Christmas Child, a Samaritan’s Purse ministry that allows people to send a shoebox full of goodies to less fortunate children around the world at the holidays. Jackson said she has been filling the shoeboxes for about five years and comes to Midsummer Nights to raise money for the contents and the shipping. “It keeps getting more expensive each year,” she said, but added that she is able to sell considerable produce at the event.

Her booth was full of interesting trinkets such as wooden trains featuring soda caps, candle holders, and jewelry, all of which she made herself for the ministry. She was sporting one of the bracelets she was selling. She said she made them after taking a class on jewelry making. She said the boxes are her own labor of love and “it’s just part of my passion for the church.” She said Breauna and Benisha Pennie, also members of Second Christian Church, help her with the boxes each year.

The westbound side of East Main Street, closed for the event, was filled with vendors and event-goers.

Sam Shepard's last book, written at his Midway home, is an intimate, precise portrait of Lou Gehrig's Disease

Shepard chose his book's cover image, of an old
man staring at circling birds, by Graciela Iturbide.

Playwright, author and actor Sam Shepard, who had a home near Midway and spent his last days there, is the author of a just-released book about his fatal struggle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Spy of the First Person "is an unvarnished, intimate portrait of a man facing the end of his life, as he reflects on his past and observes how his own body has betrayed him," Alexandra Alter writes for The New York Times.

"He had always been incredibly private, and he didn’t want to publicize his deteriorating health," Alter reports. "Few people apart from his family, closest friends and collaborators knew about his diagnosis." It was known among those in Midway who knew him, but as usual, they respected his privacy.

"Shepard explored his condition through his writing in vivid, precise prose that transformed his worsening symptoms into something akin to poetry," Alter writes. "He wrote in notebooks at first, as he always had, but when his condition grew more grave and he could no longer control his hands, he dictated into a recorder" while sitting in the garden of his home near South Elkhorn Creek in Scott County. He got help from his longtime editor, LuAnn Walther, and his old friend, singer Patti Smith.

Sam Shepard's home near Midway, where he died July 27

“He was always a very private writer, and the fact that he was now having to involve his family in his process was not easy for him,” Walker Shepard, one of Shepard’s two sons, told Alter in an email. “I think it was a relief for him to work with Patti because she is not family.”

Shepard's sisters, Sandy and Roxanne, "transcribed the tapes and gave the pages back to him to read over," Alter reports. Sandy Rogers told her, “His mind was like a steel trap. He would dictate for an hour and a half or two hours from the top to the bottom, and he would never change anything.”

Alter writes, "One of the most moving moments in the book occurs before the story even begins. In a heart-rending inversion of a typical dedication page, where the author often thanks his or her family, 'Spy of the First Person' is dedicated to the author himself: “Sam’s children, Hannah, Walker and Jesse, would like to recognize their father’s life and work and the tremendous effort he made to complete his final book.”

The 96-page book is available at the Historic Midway Museum Store. For Midway City Council Member John McDaniel's remembrance of his friend, written shortly after his death, click here.

Sam Shepard in Midway: He liked the town that honored his privacy, and he chose to spend his last days nearby

Shepard at the Sundance Film Festival
in 2014 for the opening of Cold in July.

By John McDaniel
Special to the Midway Messenger
    This week began on a sad note when it was announced Monday that Sam Shepard, noted Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, author, screenwriter, director and Oscar-nominated actor,  had passed away at his farm near Midway, just across South Elkhorn Creek in Scott County. The family waited five days before letting the public know that he died from complications related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

    Samuel Shepard Rogers III was born in the town of Fort Sheridan, Illinois, just north of Chicago, on Nov. 5, 1943. He died Thursday, July 27, at the age of 73.

    A close friend of mine, after hearing of Shepard’s passing, sent me a text wanting to know if I had heard the news. My friend, a Shepard admirer, author of several books, and a filmmaker himself, knew that I often talked to Shepard, and on one occasion my friend sat down with us and discussed the ins and outs of their trade for an hour or two. I sent a text back saying I hadn’t heard that Sam had passed away. However, the news did not surprise me, because I had seen him out just a couple of months ago on Main Street, and saw how much different he looked from just a little over a year ago before he found out that he had ALS. Seeing him in his wheelchair, it was easy to surmise that his days left on this earth were few.

    After seven years or so, it’s going to be a little bit different not seeing Shepard in town anymore, hanging out on the downtown patios or squirreled away in back of one of the Midway restaurants, writing notes in his notebook or reading a book as he ate.

    I met Sam like I have met so many other people who have made their way through Midway. It was several years ago when I was sitting at the bar at The Black Tulip, now the Grey Goose, watching the women’s college fast-pitch playoffs on the TV above the bar, when this guy came in wearing boots, blue jeans, and a wild head of hair the wind had blown in every direction. He takes a seat beside me and orders a shot of Patron Tequila, says “hi,” looks up at the screen and questions why I liked watching women play fast-pitch softball. When I told him that was what was playing when I came in, he laughed. I said if he would rather watch something else, we could get the bartender to change the channel. He gulped down his shot of tequila and ordered another. I drank my Miller Lite, asked the bartender if she would change the TV to the horse-racing channel, so we watched races and talked about horses.  He said that he had some horses racing, but it was more like a hobby.

Shepard at Sundance, 2014

    He was friendly enough, but a bit reserved in his conversation, as I drank another Miller Lite and he did another shot of tequila. After finishing up I had to leave and said goodbye, and he replied that he would probably see me around again. Like I said, he wasn’t much on conversation, at least not that particular day. However, he was right; he did see me around again, and I later discovered that he was one of the most interesting conversationalists that I have ever had the pleasure of talking with. In fact, he turned out to be one of the most interesting people that I have ever known.

    I soon learned that this windswept, cowboy-looking fellow was actually a movie star who had been nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor for playing test pilot Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff. I was also informed that he had bought a farm and would be living just outside Midway. That was pretty neat, but I didn’t really know that much about the movies he had been in, or anything else about him, for that matter. To me, he was just somebody who had been in a movie; no big deal. After all, Star Trek’s William Shatner came around town a few times a year, so a movie person in Midway wasn’t unheard of. To me, people in movies and on TV were pretty much like everyone else, except most of them had more money than they knew what to do with. I was to find out later found out that Sam wasn’t like a lot of other movie people and wasn’t the stereotype movie celebrity.   

    After seeing him around town almost every day after our first meeting, I quickly discovered that he was without a doubt a curiosity, and it was comical to sit back and watch people’s reaction once they recognized who he was as he sat in corner booths of Midway’s restaurants. It was interesting how far out of the way women would walk to get a closer look, not looking where they were going, and bumping into chairs as they stared at him while making their way to the bathroom.

Shepard at the back door of his home on now-closed Sharp Lane in Scott County

    One night when he was eating at Heirloom with Phil Gerrow of Midway, a contractor who did most of the work on Shepard’s home off Fishers Mill Road, a group of ladies at the front of the restaurant recognized Sam across the way and began giggling like a bunch of high-school teenagers who just got patted on the behind by the captain of the football team.  They would giggle some more, put their heads together, and plan their next course of action. Each one of the six made their way past his booth on the way to the bathroom, one at a time, and came back to the table verifying that the guy sitting in the booth was definitely the Sam Shepard.

    Henry Wombles, co-owner of the Heirloom at that time, and I sat at the bar laughing and wondering what it would be like to garner that much attention. After a while others in the restaurant recognized Sam, and the normal table chatter that filled the room dropped to a steady murmur, fingers began to point as heads shook in agreement, and people at the tables would wave their waitresses over to have them confirm that the person sitting in the booth at the back of the restaurant was indeed Sam Shepard. That’s when people would begin to get up from their tables to head for the bathrooms, slowing down as they passed Sam’s booth.

    One night one lady, in a very nice-looking yellow dress, must have been on some serious diuretic pills or the Heirloom food was seriously disagreeing with her. Henry and I sat at the bar and counted nine round trips from her table to the bathroom and back again using the longest route possible so that she could walk close to Sam’s booth.  That’s the way people acted when they visited Midway and recognized Sam Shepard at one of the restaurants in town and it happened every time he came to town.

    Shepard told the New York Times in 1994, “I still haven’t gotten over this thing of walking down the street and somebody recognizes you because you’ve been in a movie, there is an illusion that movie stars only exist in a movie. And to see one live is like seeing a leopard let out of the zoo.”

    I think a lot of people were intimidated by Shepard. Though they were excited to see him in the flesh, it was very seldom that onlookers would actually stop to ask him for an autograph; most would just stare at him. Midway residents would smile and speak but, I only knew a few who ever bothered him for a picture or autograph. Townspeople made it a point to respect his privacy, and I believe that is why he liked Midway so much.

Shepard's home (Photos from www.sam-shepard.com)

    Every once in a while, someone would gather up enough nerve to ask for an autograph, or ask if he would have a picture taken with them. Sometimes he would accommodate them with a great big smile, other times he would be very reluctant, and other times he would refuse and totally embarrass the person who dared to make such a request. Such refusals were mild compared to the tongue-lashing he gave people who would walk up and set off flashes from their camera into his face. He would remind them that he wasn’t some animal in the zoo.  Knowing that he couldn’t very well take their cameras away, he would warn them that he had better not see or hear about the picture appearing on Facebook or anywhere else. The violators would apologize, duck their head, and disappear as fast as they could.

    This was just the beginning of me getting to know Sam Shepard. Little did I know that we would later have many interesting talks, discussing politics, religion, horses, dogs, and probably a few subjects that Wikipedia has yet to research. The more I learned about him I discovered that he was more than just a face on a screen. I gained a respect for him as I learned more about the 40 plays he wrote, including “Buried Child,” which won the Pulitzer.  I discovered that he was a genuine cowboy and loved his quarter-horse cutting horses. I learned that he could play guitar and sing, and one night when he wanted to see inside the Thoroughbred Theater that my brother Jim and I ran, he saw my set of drums on the stage and asked if he could play them. I told him where I kept my drumsticks and he went on stage, sat and played drums until 2 a.m.

    There is no doubt that Sam Shepard was a very talented, complex and intelligent person. He could be rude, he could be funny, he could be compassionate, and he had days that he just didn’t give a damn. I liked him for a lot of reasons, but he won me over because during one of our talks he once told me that he really did like Midway and that it had such a quality that even he had a hard time finding the words to describe the area around here. Maybe that’s why he chose to spend his last days here.

John McDaniel, left, is a member of the Midway City Council, the Midway correspondent for The Woodford Sun, and a former Midway and Woodford County police officer. He wrote this expanded version of his weekly Sun column at the request of the Midway Messenger.

Tonight on Broadway in New York, marquee lights will go dark for one minute in memory of Sam Shepard. He is survived by three children: Jesse, his son by his marriage to O-Lan Jones, and Hannah and Walker, his children with actress Jessica Lange; and by two sisters, Sandy and Roxanne Rogers. Funeral arrangements are private, and no plans have been made yet for a public memorial, according to the website www.sam-shepard.com.

UPDATE, Aug. 3: Singer-songwriter Patti Smith writes in The New Yorker magazine about times spent with him on his Midway farm.

Midsummer Nights in Midway returns for 2nd season Friday, June 30, and on last Fridays of July and August

Midsummer Nights in Midway will return for a second season at 6 p.m. Friday, June 30, and will be held monthly through August. The events are designed to provide wholesome, family fun and serve as a platform for local businesses, artists, and non-profits to reach new audiences, as well as "highlight the historic, small-town warmth of Midway," says Midway Renaissance, the event's originator and coordinator.

The Twiggenburys, a Lexington-based band that plays rock and pop from British artists from the '70s through today, will provide live music from 7 to 10 p.m.

Local restaurants will be selling food and beverages, local shops and street vendors will be open late, and local non-profits will be selling food, soft drinks and water.

There will be activities for children, including Tiny Tallman from 6 to 8 p.m., and a Bearded Brothers photo booth. Free parking will be available.

Midway Renaissance is offering a sponsorship level called Friends of Midsummer Nights. For $25 sponsors get a t-shirt and their names in a drawing to win a gift certificate to local restaurants and stores. People can sign up at the Midway Renaissance t-shirt booth at the event.

The presenting sponsors of Midsummer Nights in Midway are Grey Goose Restaurants and Graviss McDonald's Restaurants. Other sponsors are Midway Shell and Midway BP (now under the same ownership), Midway University, the Lexington law firm of Sturgill Turner, Amberway Equine, Sporthorse Properties, Mezzo Italian Cafe and Provisions, The Homeplace at Midway, Kennydid Gallery, Kentucky Farm Bureau Insurance Woodford County, Horse Country Cottage, Kentucky Honey Farms, Weisenberger Mills, May & Co., Southern Equine and Holly Hill Inn and the City of Midway.

Big weekend in Midway: First movie night at the park; Horsey Hundred cyclists passing through; block party

Movie Night in the Quarry tonight will kick off a busy weekend in Midway.

The new event, sponsored by the city and Friends of Walter Bradley Park, will be held in the old quarry behind the dog park, in the recently cleared and landscaped area of the park.

A campfire session, with announcements, will begin at 7 p.m. From 7:30 to 8 p.m., the Midway Branch of the library will have a storytelling time.

The movie, the Disney family film "Sing," will begin at 8:15. The temperature at that time is forecast to be 75 degrees. If you go, bring a flashlight, bug spray, a chair or blanket, and a litter bag; and don't bring any alcoholic beverages, because they will not be allowed.

On Saturday and Sunday, hundreds and perhaps thousands of bicyclists will roll through an near Midway on various routes of the annual Horsey Hundred, sponsored by the Bluegrass Cycling Club. That night, the first Block Party sponsored by the Midway Business Association. Larry Corey and the Passport Band will entertain at 7 p.m.

The Memorial Day service at Midway Cemetery will begin at 10 a.m. Monday, May 29. The featured speaker will be Sarah Wilson.

Here's a Google map from the Bluegrass Cycling Club of overlapping Horsey Hundred routes in Midway:

Council OKs permit for Midsummer Nights in Midway events June 30, July 28, Aug. 25; budget reading set

The Midway City Council approved a civic-event permit Monday evening for Midway Renaissance to hold three Midsummer Nights in Midway: June 30, July 28 and August 25, all Fridays.

"Those events were a huge success last year," Renaissance Vice President Debra Shockley told the council. She said bands playing "dancy music from the '50s-'60s up to the '80s-'90s" will be hired to entertain between 7 and 10 p.m. each evening, and all nonprofit organizations will have an opportunity to sell items on Main Street.

Unlike last year, the events will not have any outside food or beverage vendors, Shockley said: "We think our restaurants can probably handle all of that." The civic-event permit will allow open containers of alcoholic beverages bought from a vendor with a special license to sell off the regular licensed premises, Mayor Grayson Vandegrift explained.

In other business, the council held first reading of an ordinance to allow nonprofit organizations to choose once-a-week (residential) garbage service. Vandegrift said the second reading and passage will be scheduled for May 15, as will first reading of the city budget on which the council has been working at special meetings.

In response to a citizen complaint at the most recent meeting, Vandegrift said he would propose an ordinance to require distributors of literature to attach it to the front doors of residences rather than toss it into yards. He said he would check into a report by Council Member Kaye Nita Gallagher that Frankfort was able to get Cash Express, the object of the complaint, to stop its distributions there.

Vandegrift also reported that removable speed bumps recently authorized by the council will be installed on East Stephens Street next week, and that the radar device on South Winter Street had counted 1,500 cars per day from April 20 to April 26. He said the count might help persuade the state Transportation Cabinet to lower the speed limit on the residential area of Winter Street to 25 miles per hour, but he would like to get more analysis of the numbers.

Council Member Libby Warfield, chair of the cemetery committee, said that with Memorial Day coming up, people need to be reminded that the city will soon start enforcing cemetery regulations from which special exceptions were granted in the previous administration. Warfield said there are different ways to interpret the regulations, and she is working on language for the committee to review "to make sure we clarify everything as much as we possibly can."

Asbury filmmakers in Midway for 'small town America'

Anson Williams, director, gave a "thumbs up" to Midway.

A video production crew is in Midway this week, shooting scenes for a one-hour pilot of a situation comedy that the Film Division of Asbury University hopes to sell to a national network or cable channel.

The crew is mainly students from Asbury, led by director Anson Williams, who starred as Potsie on TV's "Happy Days."

Williams said he was happy with the town, the crew and the cast, which was assembled from several states. The star is Doug Jones, who played the Silver Surfer in "The Fantastic Four."

The working title of the show is "Nazareth N.C." and it is set in rural North Carolina, which has no town named Nazareth. The pilot tells the story of Nathan Taylor, a New York stockbroker who loses his job and moves his family back to his hometown, where be becomes provost (chief academic officer) of the local college.

The synposis on the online casting call says in part, "Nathan has two weeks to procure $5 million to keep the college from going under. Complicating matters, the childhood home he’s moving his dubious family into is now a money pit and falling apart. So Nathan must settle his family, rebuild the house, rebuild relationships, and woo the local millionaire who does not suffer fools lightly. Set in the Blue Ridge mountains of N.C.‐ think 'Northern Exposure'  meets 'Gilmore Girls'."

The screenplay was written by Dr. Jim Shores of Asbury and Dean Natali, who produced "That '70s Show," according to Don Mink, who is Asbury's operations manager and the line producer for the sitcom. Other shooting will be done in Wilmore, where Asbury is located.

The crew prepared for the scene in which the family arrives
in town, parks in front of Railroad Drug and goes inside.

Mink said Midway was chosen for some scenes because "This is small-town America," and the storefront are sharp, distuinctive and colorful. "The color just jumps out at you."

In one scene filmed early Thursday afternoon, the family arrives in town, parks in front of Railroad Drug and walks in.

Mink said the last production he knew to be filmed in Midway was the 1998 movie "Simpatico," which starred Jeff Bridges and Sharon Stone as Thoroughbred owners and Nick Nolte as a former co-conspirator of theirs in California.

Renaissance is bouncing back; annual membership meeting brings encouraging reports, new ideas

By Tiffany Broughton

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Midway Renaissance has come through conflict and a two-year lull but the civic group “is alive and well,” President Jim Wombles said at its annual membership meeting Monday night.

The organization has money in the bank, regular committee meetings, ideas for 2016 and a new contract with Midway University for their Francisco’s Farm Art Festival to stay on campus through May 2019.

In 2011, the festival was relocated to Equus Run Vineyeards, which displeased merchants because it would reduce business during that weekend. This was a result of Midway University’s previous administration declining to sign a long-term contract in 2008. That came on top of conflict with the previous city administration.

The festival returned to the campus in 2014 and will be held on May 21 and 22 this year.  Under the new contract, Renaissance will pay the university $5,000 annually and keep the rest of the proceeds from the event.

Renaissance Treasurer Leslie Penn reported that the festival account has $13,971.72, the general account $5,934.69 and the GreenSpace account $3,255.14.

The top of the web page for the annual arts festival

Volunteers will be needed to make the festival a success, Wombles said. The festival committee meets the first Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the university’s Anne Hart Raymond Center. The Renaissance board meets there at 7 p.m. on second Wednesdays.

Wombles announced that Renaissance is now eligible for federal contracts and grants, and board members have $1 million in liability insurance.

He said that when the group met last year on March 30, it had not filed taxes in two years and risked losing its federal tax exemption. The members elected a board and formed committees that have been meeting regularly. Wombles thanked Penn for her help on the tax exemption, which he said “was not easy.”

The Renaissance board is looking to form other committees and ways of fundraising to continue to make the festival and its GreenSpace efforts successes.

Wombles said he board would like to add four members so not all members’ three-year terms expire at the same time. After three members declined nomination, Katie Vandegrift accepted and was elected. She is the wife of Mayor Grayson Vandegrift.

Besides her, Penn and Wombles, the other board members are Kim Skeeter, Kenny Smith, John Holloway, John Maybriar, Jo Blease, Debra Shockley, Joy Arnold and Dee Dee Roach. The board is still looking for three more members.

Wombles said Renaissance needs to focus its efforts on the arts, even if it costs a little money. "Any success that we have had has to do with art," he said. "We have an opportunity to build on the arts."

Kenny Smith, owner of Kennydid Gallery, introduced an idea for public art. He displayed a poster-size photo of a mural in Wilmington, Ohio, that had been seen by Peggy Angel, owner of Steppin’ Out Boutique. Smith said it would be great to have something similar in Midway to help attract tourists. He said he has talked to building owners and has discussed a potential location of City Hall facing Winter Street.

Kenny Smith showed a photo of the Ohio mural as Jim Wombles and other Renaissance members watched.

Smith said the Board of Architectural Review for the Midway Historic District told him that a mural would be approved as long as it is not on the front of the building, has no advertising and has historic qualities.

"I spoke to the artist who did the mural in Wilmington and he charges $50 per square foot, so it will cost some money," said Smith. "We will have to plan for maintenance as well. We have to make sure 

we have enough money to maintain it after it is done."

The group also discussed old ideas, such as creating a trail across the creek leading to Northside Drive and finding money to pay a Main Street manager; and new ones, such as jam sessions that will be held on Sundays starting in May, as well as youth nights and a car show.