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Saturday January 24, 2026
Local Connection
Fall is in the air and to bring in the new season there will be a celebration of pride and unity when the 87th Annual Fairdale Community Fair gets underway on Thursday, September 7th through Saturday, September 9th.
It’s a weekend of fun featuring a traditional parade, carnival rides, music and food.
“The people of Fairdale have a very special pride in their community and the fair is one way to welcome everyone to the place we call home,” says Councilwoman Vicki Aubrey Welch (D-13). “Each year, many volunteers make the Fairdale Community Fair a reality. They bring the feel of the old country fair where neighbors come to have fun and see what’s going on in the community.”
In years past, the Fairdale Community Fair has been a great way to welcome the fall season as summer comes to an end. Thousands people are expected to come out and visit the fair through the weekend.
A community tradition for 87 years, the fair offers games, booths, food, live entertainment, music, crafts and rides. The event also features a wide array of activities that one would usually find at a good old fashion country fair.
The Fairdale Community Club will again host the Homemakers Contest, and fairgoers will find all kinds of exhibits in the Fairdale Playtorium for viewing. The Fairdale Lions Club will provide fish and pulled pork meals, along with food trucks available for other choices.
Councilwoman Welch and the District 13 staff will be on hand with a Local Government informational booth to provide information about services in Metro Government. She encourages everyone to come by and say “hi” or let her know about an issue or concern.
This year’s parade theme is “Home Sweet Home” and will feature floats, musical groups, local celebrities and other participants as they leave Fairdale High School and travel down Fairdale Road to waving crowds along the street and then on to the Fairdale Playtorium Grounds.
People lining the parade route will enjoy a nice Saturday afternoon and children have been known to be waiting for candy tossed from some of the parade’s participants.
The Operating schedule for the 87th Annual Fairdale Community Fair:
Thursday Sept. 7th – Ride Night (rides only) from 5:00 – 7:00pm
Friday Sept. 8th – Fair begins with booths, rides & music from 5:00 – 11:00pm
Sat. Sept. 9th – Parade begins at 12:00 Noon – Fair continues from 1:00 – 11:00pm
“I would like to express my appreciation to LMPD Division 3 and the Jefferson Co Sheriff’s Office for their security services throughout the fair. Also, the Jefferson Co Attorney’s Office DUI Diversion Program is very helpful for cleanup efforts after the fair. Of course, it goes without saying how much work is done by the members of the Fairdale Fair Board, Inc. to keep this festival going all these years. A hearty THANK YOU to all involved!” says Welch.
If you would like more information about the 87th Annual Fairdale Community Fair, contact Kevin Elzy at 387-9641.
Seven businesses have been approved for nine loans totaling about $1.5 million by the Department of Economic Development’s Metropolitan Business Development Corporation (METCO), including the city’s first ever Business Accelerator loan approved to a new business locating in the Russell neighborhood. The loans will leverage a total investment of $8.71 million and will assist the companies to open, to expand services or to revitalize properties.
METCO loans have been awarded to the following businesses:
- $883,000 EPA Brownfields loan was approved for 601 East, LLC for its property at 601 East Jefferson Street in the NuLu neighborhood. The loan will go toward remediating environmental issues at the property formerly known as the Louisville Chemical building, which was a manufacturer of pesticides. This 16,000 square-foot historic building, built in 1890, is located in a designated local “eco-district.” The overall project seeks to revitalize the building into a mixed-use, historic adaptive re-use site.
- $121,800 façade loan has been approved for Utcherbay Owntay, LLC for its property at 1301 Story Avenue. The loan will allow owner—Andy Blieden—to rehabilitate the exterior of the building and provide handicap accessibility to the building, which currently is home to the newly-opened Butchertown Pizza Hall.
- Two loans were approved for Butcherblock Properties, LLC for its property located at 1025 East Main Street in the Butchertown neighborhood. The loans will allow owner—Andy Blieden—to rehab the building’s façade and to make accessibility improvements. Loans include a $65,200 facade loan and a $14,500 accessibility loan.
- Two loans were approved for Six Pack Volleyball for its property at 4026 S. 3rd Street in south Louisville. The building is home to the old Bernie’s, a popular venue for outdoor volleyball for 20 years that closed last year. Kari Guy and Rachel Dryer purchased the building in July 2017 and the loans will assist Guy and Dryer with their plan to rehab the facility with outdoor and indoor courts for year-round play. The existing building will have two tenants, one with a bar/restaurant and another with an office space and child care center, both to serve volleyball players. Loans include a $100,000 facade loan and $50,000 gap loan.
- $200,000 gap financing loan was approved for Sneak Properties, a property holding company for Isopure Corp., designer and manufacturer of water purification systems that are used in kidney dialysis centers and hospitals worldwide. This loan will assist Isopure Corp. complete the buildout of their facility at 11851 Plantside Drive.
- $50,000 façade loan was approved for Parkside Bikes LLC for its property at 822 E Market Street in the NuLu neighborhood. This façade loan will allow owners Ben Botkins and Jeffrey Myers to rehab the façade of this building that they purchased in December 2016.
- The city’s first-ever Business Accelerator Loan has been approved for Legacy Construction USA LLC, a new company seeking to start its operations in the roof repair industry. The company is located at 2306 West Market Street in the Russell neighborhood. The $50,000 loan will fund initial start-up operations, which consist of purchasing roofing materials, operational and administrative costs, general working capital and hiring sales staff to create a local and national pipeline of customers.
The Business Accelerator Loan is a new loan program available for entrepreneurs or small business owners who want to open or grow a businesses located in one of the nine neighborhoods of west Louisville (Algonquin, California, Chickasaw, Park DuValle, Park Hill, Parkland, Portland, Russell, Shawnee).
The Business Accelerator Loan is a new loan program available for small business owners with businesses located in the nine neighborhoods of west Louisville (Algonquin, California, Chickasaw, Park DuValle, Park Hill, Parkland, Portland, Russell, Shawnee).
Click here to learn more about the Business Accelerator Loan program.
The Metropolitan Business Development Corporation (METCO) governs metro government’s small business loans, which include facade, accessibility and gap financing loans. Because metro government is not the primary lender, the loan program allows many public-private partnerships between government and private business ventures that further the vitality and quality of life in the Louisville community.
The METCO board meets the fourth Thursday of each month. Meetings are at 9:00 a.m., at the offices of Louisville Forward, located at 444 S. 5th Street, 6th floor. Remaining meetings for 2017 are scheduled for September 28, October 26 and December 14.
Click here to learn more about the METCO loan program.
The city has contracted with the local Falls Art Foundry to remove a vandal’s paint from the Castleman monument in Cherokee Park. The $8,200 contract includes the cost for paint removal and re-waxing of the monument.
Falls Art Foundry is a fine art, lost wax, casting and design facility located in the historic Portland neighborhood. It specializes in the production of expertly crafted bronze sculpture for public, private, gallery and museum presentation, and is a member of The National Sculpture Society and The American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.
A start date has not yet been determined, but once begun, the cleanup is expected to take about one week to complete.
The statue was vandalized on August 13. On August 14, paint removal methods were tested by Metro staff to determine the scope of work that would be required to remove the paint. Metro then consulted specialists with expertise in maintaining bronze sculpture on costs, timing, and methods.
After this vandalism occurred, Mayor Greg Fischer called for a review of the city’s public art inventory to develop a list of public artwork that could be interpreted to honor bigotry, racism and/or slavery. The Commission on Public Art will hold a public meeting on Sept. 6 from 4-7 p.m. in the Old Jail Auditorium (514 W. Liberty) to review and to discuss the artwork it believes merits further discussion and analysis.
Following the Commission’s meeting, the city will lead a public engagement effort to gather further input from the community. No decisions about the future of any public artwork will be made until after this public engagement process is complete.
Citizens may submit thoughts and comments on the city’s public art collection online at https://louisvilleky.gov/government/public-art/public-art-review and through Develop Louisville Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Written comments may also be mailed to Commission on Public Art, 444 S. 5th Street, Suite 600, Louisville, KY 40202.
Today marks the beginning of the end for the 2017 Kentucky State Fair as the last two days of the event kick off. With highs in the low 80s and clear skies all weekend, fair goers should be able to comfortably enjoy the multitude of events scheduled all weekend.
While many of the small livestock animals are gone, visitors will still be able to see beef cattle, sheep, and swine. Visitors today can take in the last day of the 2017 World Championship Horse Show in Freedom Hall (tickets required) and, on Sunday, spectators will be able to enjoy the horse and mule pull in Broadbent Arena. If exotic animals are more your thing, stop by the area near the 4-H exhibits to see Australian fauna up close.
Fans of live entertainment will be able to see a number of local dance teams, musical acts, and more performing on three stages throughout the exhibit hall area. Performances will feature everything from street dancing to clogging, jugglers, magicians, a capella, and a big friendly robot this weekend. Just outside the exhibit hall, fair goers will see that the midway – dubbed Thrillville – has been moved closer to the rest of the fair action. There are two main performance areas located in Thrill Ville that will feature the Marvelous Mutts (frisbee and water diving dogs) and the famous acrobatic family, Flying Wallendas. Near Thrillville, there are four live music tents that have a rotating schedule of performances as well as an all-day karaoke show. The full schedule of events can be found within the new Kentucky State Fair app.
Sunday night will feature a Main a Stage performance of the Southern Uprising Tour, that includes performances by Travis Tritt, Charlie Daniels Band, Marshall Tucker Band, and Lee Roy Parnell. Admission is separate from the cost to visit the fair, but tickets are still available. The Turf Concert Series will feature Theory of a Deadman tonight, and Matthew West, Colton Dixon, Hawk Nelson, and Sarah Reeves on Sunday. Admission to these two concerts is included in the general fair admission.
For the foodie, the Fair will not disappoint. Normal fair-food items can be found throughout the entire venue, such as gyros, philly cheese steak, brats, funnel cakes, etc. Inside the exhibit hall, you may be able to find a stand selling deep fried PB&J sandwiches. Outside near the live music tents, there is a mobile seafood grill that features fried oysters and conch, tuna burgers, ostrich burgers, alligator, and much more. In the Kentucky Cookout tent, fair goers will find everything from locally-sourced sweet corn, catfish, ice cream, to pork chop sandwiches.
Gates to the 2017 Kentucky State Fair open at 7 AM, but the exhibits do not open until 9 AM. Admission is $10 per person and parking is $10 per vehicle. If visitors ride TARC to the Exposition Center, admission is reduced to $7.
Work will get underway during the second week of September on a $630,000 package of safety improvements for a section of Lexington Road. The segment between Payne Street and Grinstead Drive will be converted from the current design of two travel lanes in each direction to one travel lane in each direction plus dedicated turn lanes.
The new configuration is intended to improve traffic flow and reduce accidents as previously demonstrated by similar projects across Louisville. The road will be repaved and buffered bike lanes will be added on both sides. Drainage will also be improved.
The project is part of the 2015 Lexington Road Corridor Transportation Plan and the broader Move Louisville multi-modal transportation plan that seeks to improve all facets of the city’s transportation network for all of its users. Learn more about the Lexington Road Safety Project.
On August 21, 2017, Louisville Metro Housing Authority was selected to join the new ConnectHome Nation cohort alongside 30 other communities. These communities were chosen after an open application process and review by EveryoneOn.
“ConnectHome and now ConnectHome Nation is a first of its kind, public-private partnership that is committed to ending the digital divide in public housing across the United States,” said Chike Aguh, chief executive officer of EveryoneOn. “We are so excited to welcome this new cohort of communities who are committed to changing the life trajectory of some of the most in need in our country. These communities’ commitment to ConnectHome Nation shows that when you collaborate across public and private sectors, you can solve any problem.”
In May 2017, EveryoneOn announced the expansion of the ConnectHome pilot initiative, which launched in 2015 in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and was created to bridge the digital divide in 28 pilot communities. Rebranded ConnectHome Nation, the goal of the initiative is to expand to 100 communities and connect 350,000 people living in HUD-assisted housing by 2020.
As part of this expansion, new communities will have access to the following:
- Access to stakeholder commitments;
- Continued assistance with stakeholder negotiation by EveryoneOn as communities seek to add new partners to the initiative;
- Monthly webinars with EveryoneOn for help with local efforts and best practices;
- Access to a mentorship community to help guide progress; and,
- Access to the Digital ConnectHome Platform, which will include resources and collateral created for ConnectHome and would serve as a space for communities to connect, ask questions, and collect data.
Since summer 2016, Louisville Metro Housing Authority (LMHA) has partnered with the Louisville Metro Government (LMG) Office of Performance Improvements and Innovation to develop strategies that address the growing digital divide in Louisville. This work culminated in the release of Louisville’s first Digital Inclusion Plan (digitalinclusion.louisvilleky.gov) in May 2017. Along with several other partners, this group has opened the PNC Gigabit Experience Center at Louisville Central Community Centers in Russell, expanded public Wi-Fi options in west Louisville, connected residents to low-cost home internet plans, and piloted additional projects to decrease the digital divide. The many resources that ConnectHome Nation offers will fuel this already robust work.
The California Neighborhood will come together once again in pride and unity as one of Louisville’s oldest and proudest communities celebrates a rebirth when Councilman David James (D-6) hosts the Annual California Day Celebration on Saturday, August 26th.
“This one day in August highlights the continuing spirit of community for the people of the California Neighborhood,” says James. “It is a spirit that is shared all year round. So we celebrate by taking the time as a community to enjoy some fun for children of all ages, music, entertainment and food in the natural beauty of California Park.”
The 2017 California Day Celebration will be held from 12:00pm until 9:00pm. There will be fun activities for the kids and families with a bouncy house, tug-of-war and kick ball and a basketball tournament.
There will also be Back to School giveaways for children in the area on a first come first serve basis. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Free hamburgers and hot dogs will be served from 12:00pm to 4:00pm. Local food trucks will be available, with separate business rates, for those who want something more.
As for music, DJ and the Unlimited Show Band will be providing music and fun throughout the day.
“As the summer winds down, the California Neighborhood is ready to come together, kick back and relax and enjoy an old fashioned neighborhood get together,” says James.
All events are free and open to the public.
California Park is located at 1104 South 16th Street.
If you would like more information about California Day, contact Councilman James’ office at 574-1106.
