This month's community dinner will include annual chili cook-off; Midway Renaissance will meet afterward

The annual chili cook-off will provide food for the monthly community dinner at Midway Christian Church from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday.

The cook-off gives everyone a chance to taste chili and get a free dinner. There is still time to enter your pot of chili and there will be prizes for the winners but if you don't feel like entering a pot you can come out and enjoy the company. For more information call the church at 846-4102.

Midway Renaissance to hold annual membership meeting: Following the community dinner, Midway Renaissance will hold its annual membership meeting. It is open to anyone and residents are encouraged to attend.  --Tiffany Broughton

Kentucky American Water offers grants for protection of source waters or the area's watershed

Kentucky American Water Co., which supplies water to Midway's city system, is accepting applications for American Water environmental grants.

The program offers funds for innovative, community-based environmental projects that improve, restore or protect watersheds, surface water and/or groundwater supplies through partnerships, Kentucky American said in a press release. Last year, the company awarded $9,200 for two projects, bringing to $174,000 the total of awards it has made under the program.

Applications must be postmarked by April 1. To qualify, proposed projects must:
• Address a need for protecting source waters or the watershed
• Be completed between May 1 and Nov. 30, 2016
• Be a new or innovative program for the community, or serve as a significant expansion to an existing program
• Be carried out by a formal or informal partnership between two or more organizations
• Provide evidence of sustainability (continued existence after the grant monies are spent)
• Be located within Kentucky American Water’s service area.

Information and application requirements are at http://www.amwater.com/corporate-responsibility/addressing-climatevariability/environmental-grant-program.html. Recipients will be notified by April 18, 2016.

Midway Presbyterian Church schedules monthly environmental forums through May, starting tonight

By Leah Sharp

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

The Midway Presbyterian Church is starting an Environmental Action Forum and has scheduled five monthly meetings starting tonight, Thursday, Jan. 21, at 6:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall.

The lead speaker for Thursday’s event will be Zeb Weese of Midway, who will speak about preserving natural areas, which is his job in state government.

The church’s announcement says the forums are for people who care about the world to talk about Mother Nature and what we can do to help keep our world beautiful. 

These meetings are free of charge and include light refreshments and child care.

The other dates and speakers, all at 6:30 p.m., are:

• Feb. 18: “Invasive Species and our Waterways,” Dr. Joshua Adkins, Transylvania University 
• March 17: “Homeowner Basics for Healthy Streams: A River of Words,” Dr. Amanda Gumbert, University of Kentucky
• April 21: “Bat Ecology and Conservation.”  Dr. Luke Dodd, Eastern Kentucky University
• May 19: “Kentucky’s Rare and Native Plants,” Tara Littlefield, Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission

Council OKs 7th Iron Horse Half Marathon for Oct. 16; sees plat showing outline of new factory

By Katherine Stach and Stepper Toth
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

The Midway City Council approved an event permit for the seventh Iron Horse Half Marathon, to be held Oct. 16, at its meeting Tuesday night.

This year’s race will be the largest ever, with 2,000 signups allowed, race coordinator Chuck Griffis told the council. “We have about a 25 percent no show on race day, so even by adding 200, we probably only increase the number of finishers by 75.” In the first race in 2010, there were 710 finishers. Last year, there were 1,373.

The race has gained popularity in recent years, being named 21st out of Runner’s World Magazine’s top 28 half marathons in the United States. “We do a lot of races and this is by far the most successful,” said John Sensing, owner of John’s Run/Walk Shop in Lexington, the race’s sponsor.

In previous years, the race has prevented some of the city’s residents from making it to church on time, which remains a concern of city officials. However, the race made adjustments a few years ago to avoid traffic blockages, and Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said he got only one complaint this year, a month after the event.

“I know there’s always going to be people inconvenienced by this,” Vandegrift said, but he told Griffis, “You all do a great job.”

Griffis said his staff will continue with efforts to educate the community on any problems they may encounter concerning the race. “We will continue to make every effort we can to open every channel of communications to let more and more people know exactly what to expect that day,” he said. “We're always looking for more input.”

Griffis said his staff will continue distributing pamphlets twice before the race. “We do this in an effort to let everyone know what exactly is going on that day, including the time frame and the interruptions they can expect,” he said. 

As a token of appreciation for their work with the race, John’s donated $1,250 each to the city, to the Midway Ministerial Association, and to the Versailles police and the Woodford County Sheriff's Department for their “Cops for Kids” program.

The Woodford Humane Society, which provides 75 to 100 volunteers for the race, received $10,000, Griffis said.

“The people of these organizations are some of the best I’ve worked with in 25 years and we truly could not do this without them,” he said at the meeting.

Walkers and runners are welcome, as long as a 14-minute per mile pace is kept. Volunteering is also an option if you would like to participate but do not want to run or walk. If interested, visit info@ironhorsehalfmarathon.com.

Griffis noted that on Saturday, Oct. 15, the day before his event, the annual Bourbon Chase will come through Midway. It's a 200-mile relay race along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail with teams and causes fewer traffic issues than the half marathon.

In other business, the council appointed Mary Raglin to the county Human Rights Commission, succeeding Helen Rentch, who had served the limit of two terms; and approved an encroachment permit for the entrances on McKinney Avenue to the lot on Georgetown Road where American Howa Kentucky will build an auto-parts factory.

North is at the top of this plat. Georgetown Road is to the left, just outside the image. The factory is the large rectangle.

The plat for the 15-acre lot revealed the exact location and dimensions of the plant, which will be 102,000 square feet with another 51,764 square feet available for expansion. The entrance nearest Georgetown Road will be a “Y” to avoid covering the vaults where the new Kentucky American Water Co. supply line joins the city system. That will also create a direct intersection for traffic exiting Midway Station to cross McKinney Avenue onto the factory lot.

The council also heard County Clerk Sandy Jones explain that the city would have to pass an ordinance in order to avoid having a primary election if more than 12 people filed for the six council seats, which apparently has ever happened. It's too late to pass an ordinance for this year’s elections, since the filing deadline is Tuesday, Jan. 26, but Vandegrift said it should be done for the next two-year council term.

Council Member Bruce Southworth, chair of the council's special committee to consider sidewalk policies and improvements, said the panel would meet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall. All council and committee meetings are open to the public.

Justice was the theme of this year's community service on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday

Pastor Rick Smith gave a sermon

Story and photos by Anyssa Roberts
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Justice was the theme for the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. community service on Monday evening.

Pilgrim Memorial Baptist Church hosted the event organized by the Midway Ministerial Association. The audience was an ethnically diverse mix of about 30 people.

The speaker was Pastor Rick Smith of the Second Christian Church in Midway, who delivered a sermon entitled "With This Faith: Faith in Action." Smith said it was inspired not only by Dr. King, but by the silent cries of underrepresented people in his own community.

“What really drives the heart of the message is justice; people who have no voice, have no face, those living on the outside fringes of our society,” he said, “and to empower people with the power to change the system.”

Smith said in his sermon that Dr. King’s fight for action didn’t end with the dream expressed in his “I Have A Dream” speech. He called on the congregation to continue King’s work, and to take heed of how one man’s faith in action could enact justice in the world.

Smith said that he was inspired by the Black Lives Matters movement across the nation and by the work of the Building a United Interfaith Lexington through Direct-action organization. BUILD is a community organization of 20 religious congregations in Lexington.

According to Smith, the group has a mission to give voices to underrepresented people in the community and to work to solve those problems. Last year the group had been investigating and researching violent crimes in Lexington, Smith said, in order to address the issue in the community.

“That’s what Martin Luther King was about,” Smith said, “He was actually empowering people to change systems.” King was also a strong advocate for building community relationships among various ethnic groups.

A choir sang to conclude the service at Pilgrim Baptist Church

Elder William C. Wright of Pilgrim Baptist said he was pleased by the message of the evening as well as the diversity and togetherness of the many churches involved in the service that he saw that night.

“Even though we worship in different ways and even though we come from different denominations, it gives us a chance to get together and to rejoice in the Lord,” Wright said.

To conclude the service, the congregation stood and sang in unison the lyrics of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” The lyrics that spoke of perseverance, faith and hope rang within the church walls. The lyrics were representative of the words of Pastor Smith and a reminder of the work of the civil rights movement and the fight for justice.

“Every life matters,” Smith said, “but it’s the lives that don’t have a voice – the voiceless, nameless people – those are the issues that my speech came from.”

MLK Day celebration at Pilgrim Baptist Monday night

The Midway Ministerial Association invites the entire community to remember the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the annual memorial service at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 18, at Pilgrim Baptist Church.

For more than 10 years, this service has brought together members of the community from varied ethnic backgrounds to celebrate the impact of Dr. King and the civil rights movement.

The history of race relations in Midway is generally positive, said one community member at the MLK Day service in 2014, even though schools were segregated for nearly a century.

The services involve members of the community and seeks to educate them on the lives of African Americans during that time, said an attendant at the 2014 service.

In keeping with the annual tradition, the service will include performances honoring Dr. King and a word of meditation from participants in the church community.

For more information about the service, contact Pilgrim Baptist Church at 846-4112. --Anyssa Roberts

City Property Committee to meet Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

The Cemetery and City Property Committee of the Midway City Council will meet Tuesday, Jan. 12, at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. The meeting notice says the committee will discuss "City Property Goals for 2016" and "No action will be taken." All council and committee meetings are open to the public.