Midway Fall Festival continues through Sunday

The 36th annual Midway Fall Festival began at 10 this morning and continues through tomorrow, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The festival has been named one of the top 20 festivals in Kentucky. It features crafts, food, demonstrators, entertainment and children's activities. For more information, go to the festival's website. The Old Smokey steam locomotive of RJ Corman Railroad Co., below, is on display today.

Council committee to meet in Frankfort Friday

The Finance and City Property Committee of the Midway City Council will meet Friday, Sept. 3, at 8 a.m. at 305 Ann Street, Suite 201, in Frankfort. That is the office of the Kentucky Malt Beverage Council, which "represents the family-owned Anheuser-Busch wholesale beer distributors in Kentucky," its website says.

The city's official announcement says "The purpose of the meeting is to discuss revenue streams and the collection policies and procedures of such revenues."

Regardless of the location, meetings of City Council committees are open to the public unless the committee votes in open session to close the meeting under one of the exceptions in KRS 61.810, part of the Kentucky Open Meetings Act. None of those exceptions appear to apply to the announced topic of the meeting. Any further action must be taken in open session.

Midway Arts Series bringing author House and songwriter Gover to Thoroughbred Theater Aug. 21

The latest installment in the Midway Arts Series will be held Saturday, Aug. 21, at the Thoroughbred Theater with a noted author and a singer-songwriter, both from Appalachia. The series is a collaborative project of the theater and Midway Renaissance.

Carla Gover, right, an award-winning songwriter, will conduct a songwriting workshop from 1 to 4 p.m. at a cost of $25 per person. Reservations are required; to make one, call 846-9827. "Her original songs range from misty, traditional sounding ballads accompanied by banjo to up-tempo, pop-influenced songs with a groove," says the performing arts directory of the Kentucky Arts Council. She is a native of Whitesburg in Letcher County. For more on her, from the arts council, click here.

Silas House, left, will hold a free reading from his work at 7 p.m. The theater doors will open at 6:30 for coffee and dessert. House was recently named National Endowment for Humanities chair in Appalachian studies at Berea College. He has been Appalachian writer of the year and is a native of Lily in Laurel County. For more on him, here is his website.

Agreement: Grant for market study will go directly to Renaissance, with all the responsibilities

Midway Renaissance and the city have agreed that the $15,000 state grant the non-profit group obtained for a market study to help local businesses will not be run through city coffers but will go to Renaissance, along with all the responsibilities.

"It's a win-win," Mayor Tom Bozarth said after the Renaissance Committee of the City Council and representatives of Renaissance and the Midway Business Association agreed on the approach at a City Hall meeting this evening.

The arrangement will require a three-way agreement between the state, city and Renaissance instead of separate agreements by the city with the other entities, and a new council resolution to replace the December resolution that approved the grant application by Renaissance.

"It looks like things have been resolved very nicely so everybody can live with it," said Tad Long of the Kentucky League of Cities, who acted as the facilitator for the meeting. Long is at far right in the photo. From far left are Renaissance members Becky Moore and Joy Arnold; business owner Mary Thoreson; Renaissance member Bob Rathbone; council and committee member Doris Leith; business owner John McDaniel of the Thoroughbred Theater; council and committee member Charlann Wombles; Main Street Director Marcie Christensen, of Renaissance; Bozarth; council and committee member Sharon Turner; and business owner Eric Thoreson of Damselfly Gallery.The Thoresons are obscured in the photo. Eric Thoreson suggested that the study should go beyond the city limits, saying that a survey had found as many as 80 entrepreneurs living or working in Woodford County north of Old Frankfort Pike, often regarded as the southern boundary of Greater Midway. He spoke in agreement with Wombles, who said the entire community needs to be aware of the study. Renaissance has created a Web page to "report on the progress and make accessible all documents generated," it says. "As the project moves forward, input and participation from the broader community is important as it provides fresh ideas and community ownership of this valuable study." (Read more; click on photo for larger image)

Council's Renaissance panel to meet with groups Tuesday; Renaissance creates web page for study

The Midway Renaissance Committee of the Midway City Council will hold a meeting Tuesday, July 27 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss alternative funding, understanding the Memorandum of Agreement, timelines, and request for proposal concerning the grant for a market study to help develop business in Midway.

The meeting will be facilitated by Tad Long of the Kentucky League of Cities. The council's Renaissance Committee members are Sharon Turner, Doris Leigh and Charlann Wombles. The representatives of Midway Renaissance will be President Randy Thomas, Becky Moore and Bob Rathbone, along with Main Street Director Marcie Christensen. A committee of the Midway Business Association, John McDaniel and two other representatives, will also take part, according to Renaissance.

The Midway Renaissance website now has a page about the proposed market study, http://www.midwayrenaissance.org/market-study.htm. Renaissance's Main Street director, Marcie Christensen, says in an e-mail, "I hope to make the entire project as transparent and accessible as possible in order to improve our success in attracting broader participation when the time comes for public meetings and input from the community. I’ll be updating the page regularly and encouraging folks to read the latest news and stay informed."

Mosquito spraying rescheduled for Monday night

The state Department of Agriculture will be in Midway on Monday, July 26 at 9 p.m., weather permitting, to spray for mosquitoes. The spraying was scheduled for last Monday evening but was called off because of rain.

Streets Committee to discuss the 'horse olympics' Monday; Water Committee to hear pleas Thursday

The Streets and Lights Committee of the Midway City Council will meet Monday, July 26 at 10 a.m. to discuss sidewalks and parking for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, the horse world's equivalent of the Olympics, to be held Sept. 25 through Oct. 10 at the Kentucky Horse Park. The meeting will be held upstairs in the Community Room of City Hall at 101 E Main St.

The council's Water, Sewer and Garbage Committee will hold a meeting Thursday, July 22 at 10 a.m. in the Community Room "to discuss two citizen requests for pool adjustments," according to the notice from City Hall. All city council and committee meetings are open to the public.