Brittany Davenport
Madison County is overflowing with things to do this upcoming weekend. From gardening to trains to fishing and antiques, there’s a wide-variety of activities to get into.
For those green-thumbed enthusiasts, the Berea Arts Council garden tour is the city’s first of its kind. The tour features eight Berea gardeners showcasing different types of gardens including an oriental-themed backyard with a fish pond, grasses, perennials and edibles; gardens filled with flowers collected from friends and neighbors; a small cottage garden; bamboo in a garden and landscape design; a garden with plants for paper and basket making; old fashioned gardens; and gardens with unusual plants.
Featured gardeners include Xenia Culbertson, Katie Heckman, Doug and Nancy Hindman, Gin Petty, Barbara Prairie, David Saladino, Don Schultz and Mary Startzman. The tour will take place on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. All the gardens are within walking distance and participants are encouraged to walk or cycle the 1.8 mile-tour.
If trains are more your thing, check out L&N; Day. The annual event commemorates the old L&N; railroad station in Berea. The station, now the town’s Welcome Center, is the only brick L&N; station still standing between Cincinnati and Knoxville, said event coordinator Connie Mondine.
The event is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with model train displays, games and balloons. A former worker at the train station will be on hand to stamp train tickets with an authentic ticket validator from the L&N; station. Tickets will be stamped 1917, the year the station opened.
A slow order has also been requested for the trains passing by so visitors can get a closer look at the locomotives.
This year, a local anthropologist will take interviews of people who worked at the station, their family members and others to record a video history of the station.
“We always have a good turnout and a lot of fun,” Mondine said.
The county also will host the Kentucky Special Olympics State Summer Games this weekend. The Madison County Special Olympics team has 11 athletes participating in track and field events, said Richmond Park and Recreation program coordinator Lisa Cassity. The events start on Friday with the opening ceremonies at 7 p.m. in the Ravine at Eastern Kentucky University. The games continue on Saturday at 9 a.m. at EKU.
Shoppers can browse for must-have treasures at the White Hall Antique Fair, sponsored by the White Hall-Clermont Foundation on Saturday as well. The second annual fair will have loads of antiques, an appraiser on hand, free food and “no cicadas this year,” said White Hall Historic House park manager Kathleen White.
“We’re looking for it to be bigger and better this year,” she said.
The life experiences of early American women during “Women of the Frontier” will give visitors at Fort Boonesborough State Park the chance to see what the daily life skills and tasks of women during the frontier days was like. The event kicks off at 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and includes a presentation by author and editor of “Running Mad for Kentucky” Dr. Ellen Eslinger, professor of history at DePaul University. There also will be discussions of documented frontier events in which women were the main participants and characterizations of individuals who experienced some of these dramatic events.
The Kentucky Fishing Derby also is Saturday at the Lake Reba boat dock. The event is hosted by Richmond Park and Recreation, Madison County 4-H and Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife and is an opportunity for kids 16 and under to come out to the lake and fish for the day with the chance to win prizes. Registration starts at 8 a.m. and the fishing begins at 9 a.m. and lasts until 11 a.m.
Saturday’s Hogs for Hospice Marble Run to raise money and awareness for Hospice Care Plus starts at 10:30 a.m. with registration at Culver’s in the Richmond Centre. The scenic ride at noon will cover the six counties Hospice serves with chances to win door prizes.
The 38th annual PACA Charity Ball will kickoff its events with a brunch featuring a runway show of the latest fashions by the Junior Hostesses. The show starts at 11 a.m. at Arlington and features clothes from local stores.
Brittany Davenport can be reached at news@richmondregister.com or 624-6624.
