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Credit: Louisville Metro Police
It’s a Christmas tradition that brings smiles to the children of Portland and 1st Division service area every year. On Saturday, December 9th the 1st Division Police Auxiliary will host children and their families at their 42nd Annual Christmas Party.
“This is a special time of year for children in our area and every year the 1st Division Police Auxiliary works to make sure the children of this area have a special Christmas,” says Councilwoman Cheri Bryant Hamilton (D-5). “I am proud to be a sponsor of this event and I thank the Auxiliary for its dedication to the children of our area.”
The event is set for the Molly Leonard Community Center at 640 North 27th Street from 11:00am to 3:00pm.
Hamilton is joined by Council members Barbara Sexton Smith (D-4) and David James (D-6) as sponsors of the event.
“This is a wonderful community event where volunteers, auxiliary members, and LMPD Officers work to help families in our area,” says Sexton Smith.
“Every child should have a wonderful Christmas and every year the children of West Louisville are treated to a great spirit of giving in our community,” says James.
The 42nd Annual Christmas Party is for children aged ten and under. Last year the 1st Division Police Auxiliary was able to help over 300 children have a special holiday season. Every Child will have a chance to visit Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus and will receive a toy, fruit, candy, toboggan and gloves.
For more information about the event, call 502-574-7167.
The holidays is underway and once again, Councilman David James will host a special seasonal event for residents of District 6 when the California Unity Holiday Celebration gets underway beginning at 6:00pm on Friday, December 8th.
“It is always a joy to take the time to come together as a community and praise the true spirit of the season,” says James. “A new year is on the horizon and I am confident that good things lie ahead for one of Metro Louisville’s greatest neighborhoods.”
The fun begins in the festive atmosphere of California Leisure Park at 6:00pm. Santa Claus will be on hand to take the wishes and requests of children back to the North Pole.
The evening’s festivities will include live musical entertainment, free snacks, and refreshments will be available to all those who attend. There will be a bicycle giveaway and gifts from Santa.
“I want to invite everyone to come out and join this community celebration as a way to embrace the holiday season in a neighborhood that enjoys the togetherness this time of year brings,” says James.
California Leisure Park is located at 963 Dixie Highway.
For more information about the 2017 California Unity Holiday Celebration, please contact Councilman James’ office at 574-1106.
The largest free-admission Christmas show in the country returns to the Kentucky Exposition Center Dec. 8-10 in South Wing C. Each year more than 50,000 shoppers attend and explore the 750 booths of holiday gifts and décor.
The Christmas Gift and Décor Show has been a Louisville tradition for over 25 years. With holiday decorations and a festive atmosphere, the show promises to be a fun experience for the entire family. Children who attend will have the opportunity to take a free photo with Santa.
Attendees can also meet former Cincinnati Bengals fullback and inventor of the “Ickey Shuffle,” Ickey Woods. Free meet and greets with Ickey will be held all three days.
Admission is free and hours are:
- Friday, Dec. 8 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Dec. 9 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
- Sunday, Dec. 10 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Parking is $8 per vehicle and $20 per bus.
Click here for a map and information about parking, shuttles, wheelchair and scooter rentals, and more.
W.E.B. DuBois Academy Principal Robert Gunn is holding a series of upcoming parents’ nights for students and their families interested in applying to be a part of the new program in Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) next school year.
The DuBois Academy, which is open to all males entering the sixth grade, is currently enrolling up to 150 students for its inaugural class. Over the next two weeks, Principal Gunn will hold the following five parents’ nights across Louisville for families to learn more about the program:
- December 4—Wilder Elementary (1913 Herr Lane), 6:30 p.m.
- December 5—Louisville Urban League (1535 W. Broadway), 6 p.m.
- December 7—Mill Creek Elementary (3816 Dixie Highway), 6 p.m.
- December 11—Brandeis Elementary (2817 W. Kentucky Street), 6 p.m.
- December 12—Greenwood Elementary (5801 Greenwood Road), 5:30 p.m.
“At the DuBois Academy, our young men will learn leadership and teamwork skills in a culture committed to the values of compassion, respect and responsibility and reflective of our One Pride. One Brotherhood. motto,” Principal Gunn said. “As principal, I’ll work tirelessly to ensure students receive a quality educational experience from a school community that believes every young man has the ability to succeed—and I look forward to sharing more with parents about how the DuBois Academy can be a right choice for their son.”
The DuBois Academy will offer an Afrocentric, multicultural curriculum and an innovative learning environment, with each student receiving a Chromebook or an iPad. The core tenets of the program will emphasize academic skills such as leadership, literacy, numeracy, social sciences, technology usage and speaking a foreign language.
W.E.B. DuBois Academy is currently accepting applications for the 2018-19 school year. Families should apply here.
Tickets are now on sale for the 50th annual Championship Tractor Pull sponsored by Syngenta. The scream of monster engines, the smell of burning rubber and the ground-pounding vibrations of the country’s largest, loudest and most powerful pulling machines returns to Freedom Hall. More than 70,000 fans will watch as the nation’s top drivers compete for the title of Grand Champion and a share of over $200,000 in prize money.
The four day event starts February 14 and continues until the February 17. Tickets range in price from $20 to $45. All events start at 7:00 PM, except for Saturday where there are two events (the first is at 12:00 PM and the second is at 7:00 PM). Parking will be $8 per vehicle.
Tickets are available at the Kentucky Exposition Center Ticket Office, by phone at 1-800-745-3000 or online at Ticketmaster.
The portrait of Honorable Mary C. Noble will be presented to the Supreme Court of Kentucky at a dedication ceremony at 2:00 P.M. on Thursday, December 7, 2017. Honorable Elizabeth Lee Thompson, chair of the resolution committee, will make the presentation to the Court. The portrait will hang in the corridors of the second floor of the Capitol Building.
After serving fifteen years as a Fayette Circuit Court Judge, Mary C. Noble was elected to the Supreme Court from the Fifth Supreme Court District, which comprises, Fayette, Franklin, Scott, Woodford, Bourbon, Clark, Madison, Jessamine, Boyle, Mercer and Anderson Counties in 2006. She was re-elected to the Supreme Court unopposed in 2008. In 2010, Chief Justice John Minton appointed her Deputy Chief Justice. In 2011, she became the first woman to preside at the Supreme Court of Kentucky in a case in which the Chief Justice was recused.
Deputy Chief Justice Noble obtained her undergraduate degree, majoring in English, and her Master’s degree, majoring in Psychology, from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN. A native of Breathitt County, Kentucky, she graduated from Breathitt County High School, and attended Lees Junior College before transferring to Austin Peay after her marriage to Larry Noble in 1968.
In 1971, she began her professional career by teaching English at Montgomery Central High School in Montgomery County, TN. After obtaining her Master’s degree, she served as a guidance counselor at Columbia Military Academy and later as a Psychology instructor at Columbia State Community College in Columbia, TN. She returned to Kentucky to attend the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1979, and graduated in December, 1981.
Deputy Chief Justice Noble began her legal practice at the law firm of Bryan and Fogle in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, in 1982, where she primarily practiced school law and insurance defense. In 1983, she began a general litigation practice in Lexington, Kentucky, continuing to represent school boards and doing civil plaintiff’s cases and criminal defense. She also served as Domestic Relations Commissioner for Fayette Circuit Court, Third Division, for two years until her election to the circuit bench in 1991. She served as Chief Judge of the Fayette Circuit Court and the region, the first woman to serve in such a capacity in the over 200 year history of Fayette Circuit Court.
In 1996, Deputy Chief Justice Noble, Chief Justice Minton and District Judge Henry Webber established the Court of Justice Drug program. She presided as a Drug Court judge for ten years. She has also served on the Board of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, is a member of the organization’s Hall of Fame, and has been invited to speak about Drug Court-related topics throughout the country.
Deputy Chief Justice Noble chaired the Civil Rules Committee, the family Court Rules Committee, and the Juvenile Court Rules Committee. She led efforts to draft the first statewide Family Court Rules of Practice and Procedure and the Juvenile Rules of Practice and Procedure.
Justice Noble retired the Supreme Court of Kentucky in December 2016 and is currently engaged in a mediation and arbitration practice in Lexington.
Retired Brig. Gen. Nolen Bivens will present the plenary session at the Kentucky Arts Council’s fourth annual Kentucky Creative Industry Summit, Dec. 5 in Morehead.
Bivens presentation, titled “Building an Arts and Military Community, Health & Wellness Ecosystem,” will focus on national efforts to promote opportunities for artists, arts organizations and communities interested in supporting the well-being of military service members, veterans and their families.
Bivens, a 32-year United States Army veteran and former chief of staff for the U.S. Southern Command, is the founder and president of Leader Six, a company that provides management and operational support for business, government and nonprofit organizations. In the past decade, Leader Six has been a key proponent in promoting arts in health and military healing for ill, injured and wounded military service members and their families. In addition to his role at Leader Six, Bivens is the Senior Policy Fellow for Arts and Military for Americans for the Arts.
“The arts promote communication between military service members, veterans, their families and caregivers, allowing each one of them to accept and share the unique story of their military service with each other and with the community at large through the visual and literary arts, performance, dance and music,” Bivens said. “The arts also build resiliency across the military continuum, teaching skills to process grief and loss, to work through moral conflict, and to reduce stress.”
An ardent advocate for strong arts and military community engagements from grassroots to the national level, Bivens has testified before Congress and led congressional briefings on arts and military health on behalf of the National Initiative for Arts & Health in the Military, a collaborative effort led by Americans for the Arts. Bivens regularly consults with the arts community, utilizing his unique understanding of operational perspectives of commanders, enlisted noncommissioned officers and family members, along with the cultural sensitivities of the veteran population, to promote connections and help develop new arts programming for military and veteran communities.
Among the successful examples of collaboration between arts communities and the military are the Oklahoma Arts Council’s Oklahoma Arts and Military Initiative, a partnership involving Oklahoma’s Department of Veterans Affairs and the Firehouse Art Center in Norman, Okla. This collaboration piloted a series of eight- to 12-week hands-on learning courses, including photography, creative writing and visual arts.
Another successful collaboration Bivens points to is the Tennessee Shakespeare Company’s initiative bringing together service veterans with theater professionals using William Shakespeare’s plays to address combat-related traumatic and reintegration issues.
Bivens is just one of several arts leaders on the Summit agenda. Morehead State University art instructor and gallery director Jennifer Reis will give presentations on branding and marketing and using social media. The Summit will also include panel discussions on the arts council’s “Homegrown Handmade” initiative that has integrated artists into farmers markets in two Kentucky counties, as well as a conversation with educators, artists and workforce development specialists on preparing youth to be a part of the creative industry workforce using arts and technology.
The Kentucky Creative Industry Summit is 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Dec. 5 at the Morehead Conference Center, 111 E. First St. in Morehead. For more information or to register, visit the arts council website.
