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CycLOUvia, the popular event showcasing alternative transportation, is returning to Bardstown Road for the seventh time on Sunday, October 21. The CycLOUvia on Bardstown Road is named in honor of former District 8 Councilman Tom Owen, a lifelong advocate for bicycles and pedestrians in our community.
Bardstown Road from Douglass Boulevard to Broadway will be closed to vehicular traffic from 2-6 p.m. Police will facilitate motor crossings at Grinstead Drive and Eastern Parkway. Many businesses along the corridor will be open and engaging pedestrians with special events.
“CycLOUvia has become a favorite event for all ages to enjoy a car-free, dense, urban corridor,” Mayor Greg Fischer said. “Bring your bikes, skateboards and walking shoes while enjoying everything our small businesses have to offer.”
The return to the Highlands marks the fifteenth CycLOUvia event and seventh on Bardstown Road. Previous events have been held on Frankfort Avenue, West Broadway and in Three Points (Germantown, Schnitzelburg and Shelby Park).
Commercial establishments with frontage along the Bardstown Road corridor are encouraged to open their businesses during event hours and to engage participants, creating an atmosphere that is uniquely Louisville.
During CycLOUvia, streets become paved parks where people of all ages, abilities, and socio-economic backgrounds can come to improve their mental, physical, and emotional health.
Since 2012, CycLOUvia events have attracted tens of thousands of people to neighborhoods across the city. CycLOUvia promotes healthy lifestyles, alternative transportation, safety and economic development.
For more information, please visit https://louisvilleky.gov/government/advanced-planning/cyclouvia
Coca-Cola Consolidated and Louisville Parks and Recreation will host a public celebration of the newly refreshed Portland Park. The event will be this Saturday, October 21, starting at 11:00 AM. The Portland Park is located at 640 N 27th St.
Brief remarks will be made by Mayor Greg Fischer. The event is free and open to the public, and will offer food trucks, live music, face painting, crafts and more. Information about open jobs and joining the Coke Consolidated team will also be available.
“Louisville Parks and Recreation is pleased to see our partnership continue to grow with Coca Cola Consolidated, the Joey Logano Foundation and the KY Speedway,” said Ben Johnson, Assistant Director for Louisville Parks and Recreation. “This Family Fun Festival is a new event for us and we are excited for it to take place in the same park where we partnered to put in a brand new playground this summer.”
“Coca-Cola Consolidated is honored to partner with Louisville Parks and Recreation and the Joe Logano Foundation through our Big Hearts, mini cans program,” said Audie Wilson, Director of Retail Sales for Coca-Cola Consolidated. “Our mini cans might be small, but our heart for the Louisville community is enormous.”
Photo: Louisville Metro Council
Councilman David Yates (D-25) and Councilman Rick Blackwell (D-12) are once again hosting their annual Southwest YMCA Fall Family Festival on Friday, October 19th.
It’s a free event for the whole family and the entire community.
“The Fall Family Festival gives parents and children a safe place to celebrate Halloween a little early and just enjoy the season,” says Yates. “We have a very strong partnership with the YMCA. The festival provides an opportunity for everyone in the community to learn more about the great programs offered at the Y.”
“Events like Family Fall Festival bring our neighborhoods together in Southwest Louisville,” says Blackwell. “This is a perfect opportunity for neighbors and families to gather together and enjoy fun activities for all ages.”
Photo: Louisville Metro Council
The Southwest YMCA Fall Family Festival will be held from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at the Y located at 2800 Fordhaven Road. It will include the following activities: Pick your own Pumpkin, Inflatable Fun, Group Fitness Demonstrations, Face Painting, Games and other activities.
Both Councilmen will be provide free hot dogs and bottled water.
The event will get underway rain or shine. In the event of bad weather, all festivities will move indoors.
For more information you can contact President Yates’ office at 574-1125 or Councilman Blackwell’s office at 574-1112. Or contact to the Southwest YMCA at 502-933-9622.
The Louisville Metro Office of Sustainability and the Louisville Sustainability Council (LSC) will co-host the fifth annual Sustainability Summit on Friday, Oct. 19, at the University of Louisville’s newly renovated Student Activities Center.
The Summit will feature local and national speakers and give attendees a chance to discover successes, identify opportunities, and creatively learn from each other about how to create a culture of sustainability in Louisville.
“For the health of our residents and our city, we must work together to embed sustainability in all aspects of our lives,” Mayor Greg Fischer said. “Please join the 2018 Sustainability Summit to engage with local leaders and stakeholders on how we can integrate sustainability into our community.”
The keynote speaker of the event will be David Orr, PhD, the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies & Politics, Emeritus at Oberlin College. Orr is the author of eight books, including Dangerous Years: Climate Change and the Long Emergency (Yale, 2016) and Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse (Oxford, 2009). The title of the keynote address is “The (Missing) Politics in Environmental and Sustainability Education.”
“This year’s summit will help call attention to creating a culture of sustainability, which is inextricably linked to a healthy economy and reduced carbon emissions” said Maria Koetter, Director of the Office of Sustainability. “From national experts to local practitioners, the event aims to engage citizens and generate conversations that will help cultivate a culture of sustainability.”
Emily Chandler, Executive Director of the Louisville Sustainability Council, said, “The summit is our annual opportunity to gather together under one roof as concerned individuals, nonprofit organizations, school groups, faith-based groups and sustainability professionals from the public and private sectors. It is a day for celebration, collaboration and exploration that cannot be missed if you are concerned about creating a culture of sustainability in Louisville, Kentucky.”
The event also features local speakers, including University of Louisville president Dr. Neeli Bendapudi, along with a facilitated community discussion titled “Creating the Future in Your Space Through a Culture of Sustainability.”
Summit attendees also have the opportunity to go on one of four sustainability-related tours through different areas of the U of L campus, including the Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research and the new LEED Gold Belknap Academic Building.
The 2018 Sustainability Summit is proud to receive support from its Patron Sponsors: Yum! Brands and Humana; as well as its Summit Friend Sponsors: Brown-Forman, CMTA, PNC Bank, and Aramark; and its Supporting Sponsors: the UofL Sustainability Council, Festival of Faiths, Copper & Kings, WestRock, Harshaw Trane, K. Norman Berry Associates, Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District, the Partnership for a Green City, TARC, UPS, Spalding Design, and Stantec.
At the day of the event, standard tickets will be $40 for Louisville Sustainability Council members and $75 for non-members. (There also is a lunchless ticket option that costs only $15.)
To register before the event, visit http://louisvillesustainabilitycouncil.org/2018-sustainability-summit/more-information-registration/
Photo: Louisville Metro Council
The holidays are just around the corner and before long everyone will be out shopping and getting the decorations ready for another festive season. But it’s also the time when crime is on the rise and the potential exists for fire hazards if you don’t know how to protect yourself.
The next South Central Regional Forum will focus on how you can make the holidays safe with help from the Louisville Metro Police’s Seventh Division and the Okolona Fire Department.
“This forum will be a reminder for everyone of what you need to be aware of when you are shopping for holiday gifts,” says Councilwoman Madonna Flood (D-24). “The hustle and bustle of the season can be a time when we forget about the safety.”
The forum is set for October 17th at the new South Central Regional Library at 7400 Jefferson Boulevard from 6:00pm to 8:00pm.
Russ Miller and Dale Gallagher, Resources Officers with the LMPD Seventh Division, will make presentations on staying safe for the holidays. The Okolona Fire Department will talk about how to keep the Christmas tree and other holiday decorations safe and prevent fire hazards. All questions will be answered.
As always, Code Enforcement Officers will be on hand to answer property maintenance questions.
The South Central Regional Forums are sponsored by Councilwoman Flood and Council Members James Peden (R-23), Vicki Aubrey Welch (D-13) and Barbara Shanklin (D-2).
For more information about this South Central Regional Forum, contact Councilwoman Flood’s office at 574-1124.
Photo: Louisville Metro Council
With the change of seasons and cooler temperatures it won’t be long before winter returns to Metro Louisville. Some children will need help staying warm this year and that is why Councilman David Yates (D-25) is once again asking the community to help “Coat a Kid” this coming Monday, October 15th.
“Last year, with the generous help of the people of our community, we were able to provide some 300 new coats to JCPS Students across our city,” says Yates. “The need is still great and this year we offer a fun way to help out.”
Working with the Shirley’s Way Queen of Hearts Drawing on Monday, October 15th, Councilman Yates is asking for new coats for JCPS students in need. The Queen of Hearts Drawing is set for Khalil’s, 10966 Dixie Highway.
The Queen of Hearts Drawing is a massively successful charitable event that supports Shirley’s Way, a great local Valley Station non-profit that benefits families struggling to pay bills or pay for groceries when a family member is suffering from cancer.
The Councilman has secured the donation of a new flat screen TV that will be raffled off to members of our community that donate the following to the “Coat a Kid” Drive:
- NEW Coats
- NEW Gloves & NEW Scarves
- Minimum $25 Donation for JCPS Clothing Program
The raffle will take place between 8:00pm and 8:30pm.
“I am proud of our community’s previous generosity and I look forward to another successful event to help children in our area. I hope everyone can attend and bring along a new coat,” says Yates.
For more information about this year’s “Coat a Kid” event, contact Councilman Yates office at 574-1125.
Step back in time as Big Bone Lick State Historic Site returns to days long past during the 36th annual Salt Festival the weekend of Oct. 19-21.
The festival features live demonstrations of pioneer lifeways and frontier skills. Enjoy folk and bluegrass music, listen to a storyteller, view prehistoric Ice Age artifacts, and observe a blacksmith working red-hot iron.
Guests can also see how salt was extracted from the waters of Big Bone, watch a flintknapper make a stone point, and discover how bison hair was spun into yarn. Browse the crafters corner to see the many local, handcrafted items for sale, and take advantage of the good eats at the food court.
This year’s festival entertainment will feature exclusive presentations by Kentucky Humanities performers including Daniel Boone: The First Kentuckian, and Dr. Ephraim McDowell: Frontier Surgeon. Also returning to the festival field is All Nations Drum; an Intertribal Native American group showcasing traditional song and dance.
While visiting the Boone County park, be sure to drop by the park’s museum and visitor’s center to see some of the “big bones.” A shuttle van will transport event-goers to and from the festival field, museum, and campground at regular intervals. Don’t miss seeing the bison herd, the park’s living link to Kentucky’s early history.
On Friday, Oct. 19, the park will host school groups. Schools interested in bringing classes to the festival should call the park at 859-384-3522 as advance registration is required to receive the discounted school admission rate. The deadline to register is Oct. 10. Regular festival admission is $5 per person; children 5 and under are free. Admission is cash only.
For information about the park, visit http://parks.ky.gov/parks/historicsites/big-bone-lick/. Big Bone Lick State Historic Site is recognized as the birthplace of American vertebrate paleontology for its significant role in the development of scientific thought regarding extinction and the relationship between geology and paleontology the world over. The park is located 22 miles southwest of Covington on KY 338, off US 42/127 and I-71 & I-75. From I-75 north or south, take exit 175 to KY 338. From I-71 north or south, take exit 62 to 127N/42E to KY 338.
