Council's Public Works Committee will meet at 10 a.m. Friday to discuss water late fees and cut-off policies

The Public Works and Services Committee of the Midway City Council will meeting at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 4 at City Hall to discuss late fees and cut-off polices for water customers. All council and committee meetings are open to the public.

At the Sept. 2 council meeting, Council Member Logan Nance said shutting off water for unpaid bills “does not need to be a policy of ours.” He called such action “draconian” and said “Clean water is a basic human right; this policy only effects those who are impoverished.”

Council Member Bruce Southworth, who heads the Public Works and Services Committee, was noncommittal about the idea in an interview after the meeting, and Council Member Kaye Nita Gallagher sounded skeptical. She asked, “How far are you going to let them get behind?”

Council Member Stacy Thurman, who like Nance is not on the committee, had another view. “It does seem harsh to shut someone’s water off if they simply cannot afford it,” she said. “I believe we must balance effectively running the city with some grace for people who are having a hard time, as there are some people who truly need help.”

The other committee member, Council Member John Holloway, did not attend the Sept. 2 meeting.

The city sends customers who haven't paid their monthly bill get a delinquency notice five business days after the due date, telling them the last day to pay and the cutoff day if payment is not received by then. "Generally, the cutoff day is the 26th of each month and last day to pay is one day before," Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said. "There is a reconnect fee of $25 for turning water back on."

UPDATE: On the Midway Messenger's Facebook page, Nance and others discuss alternatives.

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.

Interstate 64 rest areas to reopen Saturday, almost five months late, after being closed since late January

The Interstate 64 rest areas near Midway, which have been closed for months for repairs, will reopen Saturday morning, the state Transportation Cabinet announced today. The approximate reopening time is 7 a.m.

The state closed the rest areas Jan. 31 for repair of the sewage lift stations and other renovations. They were scheduled to reopen on May 3, in time for the Kentucky Derby, but the reopening was rescheduled for June 11, and then rescheduled again.

The rest areas remained open only to semi-tractor trailer drivers.

Bluegrass Tomorrow sets 30th anniversary dinner: Ouita Michel food, honor to Robert Clay of Three Chimneys

Newly flush Tourism Commission welcomes Midway's Cortney Neikirk, discusses how to hire its own staff

Left to right: Cortney Neikirk, Elisha Holt, Maria Bohanan, Neil Vasilakes, Ken Kerkhoff, Aaron Smither and Lee Thomas.

By Dalton Stokes

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

The Woodford County Tourism Commission is looking for its first director, in the wake of a major increase in bed-tax income from the new hotel in Versailles. The seven-member board is vetting 11 candidates, including one who has been meeting with the commission as a virtual member for months.

The commission meeting last Thursday was the last at the Chamber of Commerce office in Versailles and the first for the newly appointed representative of Midway on the commission, Cortney Neikirk. The discussion included the possibility of a mural in Midway like those in Versailles.

Director hiring: With the opening of the first modern hotel in Woodford County, the Holiday Inn Express and Suites, the commission has money to hire its own director rather than contracting with the Chamber. Woodford County imposes a 3 percent tax on overnight stays within the county; until the hotel opened last September, the only tax revenue was from bed-and-breakfast places.

This money generated by this tax increased by $67,005, and the commission has about $101,000 available to spend, according to financial statements at the meeting.

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As the commission discussed the process for filling the position, Commissioner Neil Vasilakes said, “There are some rumors going around that we’re not following a process and we have a shoo-in person.”

Commission Chair Maria Bohanan said the commission needs a clear process for this so that no questions can be raised about their choice. “Whatever we do,” she said, “we want it above board.”

One of the candidates for the position is Elisha Holt, who coordinates events for the City of Versailles and the Midway Business Association. She is an “ex officio” member of the commission, and will not participate in the selection, Bohanan said during the meeting.

Asked after the meeting about that "ex officio" term, Bohanan said Holt began serving last year, thinking that County Judge-Executive John Coyle had appointed her, but it turned out he had not completed the paperwork before he died, and new Judge-Executive James Kay said Holt could keep serving but has not actually appointed her.

Kay said Monday that he hasn’t appointed Holt because she does not live in Woodford County and is not affiliated with a local hotel or restaurant, which would otherwise qualify her for an appointment.

The commission mostly discussed the criteria matrix that may narrow down the candidates before interviewing. Commissioner Aaron Smither opposed using the matrix, saying they should interview all the candidates and use their better judgement to pick the right person. 

Bohanan’s proposed matrix has five criteria for the job. She proposed that if the candidate meets three of the five criteria, they get an interview. She also said she wants to do the interviews “pageant-style,” using an scoring system in which each member independently rates the candidates.

Bohanan said that would provide a paper trail for both the decision on whom to interview and on who gets picked for the job, in the interest of transparency.

Versailles City Council Member Ken Kerkhoff, another commissioner, voiced the need to expedite the process. He said the person hired ample time to give two weeks’ notice to current employers. Bohanan said that they need someone in place by Nov. 1.

Some commissioners wanted the matrix to be more detailed. After not much agreement on that, the commission agreed to read all 11 applicants’ resumes over the weekend and decide the matrix more later. They set the first interviews for Friday, Sept. 27.

Murals: The commission has commissioned two murals in Versailles, and discussed the potential for a mural in Midway after they. Neikirk said that she could find someone who would be interested in providing a wall and funding, and that she already had someone in mind.

Bohanan said, “Cortney is going to be a valuable resource.”  Neikirk is president of the Midway Business Association and co-owner of 2 Ladies and a Kettle and Midway Sweet Tooth. She replaces Cynthia Bohn of Equus Run Vineyards, who said she lacked the time to serve.

Stephen Sawyer has almost completed the horse-farm mural. (Photo by Dalton Stokes)

A mural being painted on the drug store at the west end of Lexington Street in Versailles by local artist Stephen Sawyer features the names of contributing horse farms on jockey shirts of different designs. Kerkhoff said that the mural was going well and that there were some racing syndicates interested in getting their names on the mural.

He opposed that, noting that the county’s tourism slogan is “Bourbon, wine and bloodlines.” He added, ”You can’t tour a racing syndicate” like you can a horse farm. 

Other Business: The commission made a tentative decision to not buy an ad in the 2020 edition of the Kentucky Travel Guide, partly because the guide will list local accommodations anyway. The commission passed around copies of their ad last from last year and agreed it was lackluster. The ad would cost around $3,600 and it would be a quarter-page ad.

Smither asked why the commission’s money isn’t accruing interest. According to the minutes of a previous meeting, it is “spending conservatively until they have a cohesive plan of action put together.” He agreed to look into money-market options and get back to the commission at its next regular meeting, which will be held at the Versailles Municipal Building at 9 a.m. Oct. 17.

The commission plans to establish a still hasn’t decided where to put the visitor center but is weighing two options: at the Gathered Mercantile at Amsden on Nov. 1, Bohanan saidand the Historical Society. The Gathered Mercantile offered to create space for brochures, an office, shared wi-fi and labor for $400 per month. The Historical Society offered space rent-free, but it would not be available for another year.

(The paragraph above has been corrected after publication.)

Crowd on Winter Street (Photos by Grant Wheeler)

By Kennedy Sabharwal
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Heat, laughter, funnel cakes, smiles, trinkets, and the sound of trains rolling through the town. So went the scenes and feelings at the 45th annual Midway Fall Festival this weekend. Midway was packed, and traffic was barely moving, due to the apparent record crowd, which officials estimated at 18,000.

“Around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, the interstate exists were backed up, and we decided since there was not any parking left in town, to suggest to people coming in to visit later in the day or on Sunday,” Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said in an email to the Midway Messenger.

“You can only get in two ways,” said West Sixth Brewery’s events-team manager, Nate Harling. “They had to turn people away because they couldn’t fit in the town and the ATM was out of money. I was like, wow; the festival is doing really well.”

Traffic backed up to the exits on Interstate 64, forcing officials to turn people away. (Photo by Grant Wheeler)

Venturing around the festival may have been hot and draining, but the sense of community and joy that you could feel in the air was amazing.

Nate Harling taps a draft. (Photo by Kennedy Sabharwal)

“I love it because the people are kind,” said Harling. “Midway is nice because this is literally their downtown. It’s nice to have all of these temporary set-ups among your various main-stay, small businesses and everyone is thriving and having a good day together.”

Harling, who lives in Lexington, said West Sixth has been making appearances at events like this for years, but he hadn’t been to the festival since he was 6 years old.

While some walked around buying gifts like soaps, purses, scarves, honey, or even jewelry, some younger attendees had a different idea of how they wanted to spend their day at the festival. Children were able to ride ponies and play fun games to blow off some energy in the hot weather.

Photo by Kennedy Sabharwal

Ruby Battagalia, right, enjoyed a funnel cake before she ventured off to the bouncy house to “have some fun.”

Though many of the festival’s vendors have been setting up their stations in Midway for years, farmer Cindy Smith of Paris said this was her first year not just for vending, but attending. She is primarily a farmer, but loves making beautiful wreaths, so she decided to sign up to be a vendor.

“I started into dry wreaths last year,” she said. “You don’t see them that often anymore. I’ve shipped them all over the country, but I thought it would be nice to sell them locally, too. … Two weeks before the festival, the people in charge emailed me and told me I had a spot.”

Smith, below, only had a couple of days to work on her wreaths. She made 20 large wreaths, and was almost sold out early Sunday afternoon. She said she was “thrilled” with the outcome.

Photo by Kennedy Sabharwal, University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Since it was so hot, some of the products were affected by the heat. Sweet Memories Fudge owner Cindy Gipson said she loves the festival and has been selling her fudge for the past four years. It’s hard for her to “display it since it is so hot,” but she now has regular customers who, “come up and say, ‘Hey! Were you here last year?’,” which Gipson says helps to keep business up, even with the weather.

The country group Bourbon Branch was among the entertainment for the festival. The band's debut album “Notches on the Bedpost” was released in the spring of 2018.

Ralph Tyree is a photographer based in Winchester. He started taking pictures as a hobby, which evolved into a 16-year career. He said he generally tries to do 12 shows a year to showcase his photography. His wide array of work encompasses many states. (Photo by Grant Wheeler)

Justin Stanley is a local entrepreneur who has recently started his company The Green Penguin which specializes in creating an array of different hot sauces. This year marks Stanley’s third year at the festival. The newest addition to his arsenal of sauces is The Penguin’s Fury, a smoky new flavor which mixes garlic and ghost pepper. (Photo by Grant Wheeler)

Jim Nancy, an East Tennessee native, has been making baskets for 18 years. Starting as a hobby, Nancy said “The kids left home and my wife decided we had to do something.” This was Nancy’s third year at the festival. “I love the people here in Midway so I’m going to keep coming back for as long as I can,” he said. (Photo by Grant Wheeler)

Mayor bans open burning in city due to dry conditions

Midway Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said this morning that he has issued an executive order temporarily banning open burning in the city limits. "The especially wet 2018 followed by this very dry season make conditions worse than usual for potential danger," he aid in an email to the city council and the news media. "Cooking on grills is still permitted, but recreational fire pits and any other burning normally permitted is being temporarily suspended until further notice. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions."