
Photo: Kentucky State Parks
Waveland State Historic Site in Lexington will host its annual Derby Day breakfast on May 6 with a special menu for guests.
To get started, guests will enjoy pimento cheese wafers with country ham pate and a cheese and chive scone with country ham. To keep the Derby experience pure Kentucky, guests will be served a hot brown tart, cheese grits with a jumbo shrimp garnish and fresh fruit with honey yogurt dip. Next are a Waveland exclusive, vanilla bean scones with homemade lemon curd and jam. To complete the breakfast, guests will enjoy a derby pie tart, bourbon mint brownie, chocolate dipped strawberry and to give you luck on your derby picks, a horseshoe sugar cookie.
Drinks include coffee, juice and as a special treat, a local winery will be on hand to provide each guest with a special mimosa to get your Derby Day celebration started.
This limited elegant breakfast will be in the mansion, served on fine china by period-dressed interpreters. Also included is a tour of the mansion highlighting how Waveland influenced horseracing in Lexington. The price for this breakfast is $75 per person. It starts at 10 a.m. and seating is limited.
A credit card is needed to secure a reservation. Any changes will need to be made by the Friday before the event. Gluten free options are available and must be requested at time of registration.
Waveland offers a unique one-of-a-kind experience! Reservations are required. Call today to schedule your spot for the Derby Day Breakfast at Waveland! 859-272-3611 or 859-619-8189.

Photo: Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness
The Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness and its community partners are offering free stop smoking classes using the American Lung Association’s Freedom From Smoking® (FFS) program. The 8-session program includes weekly support group meetings combined with the use of nicotine replacement products such as patches and gum. Participants receive free supplies of nicotine replacement products.
Advance registration for Freedom From Smoking® classes is required. There are several ways to register: by phone 574 – STOP (574-7867), email StopSmoking@louisvilleky.gov or online.
Below is a list of upcoming classes that begin in May and June.
May 4 – June 15
May 9 – June 20
May 9 – June 20
May 16 – June 27
May 16 -June 27
June 5 – July 17
June 5 – July 17
June 7 – July 26
As part of an annual extravaganza of compassion and service, thousands of Louisvillians will be volunteering in ways large and small during the Mayor’s annual Week of Service, which runs Saturday through April 23.
One of the week’s largest projects will be the Brightside & Passport Health Plan Spring Community Wide Cleanup on Saturday. Already, more than 16,000 people are committed to making Louisville a greener and cleaner community, by picking up litter and debris from neighborhoods, greenspaces and roadways.
And there is still time to register: Go to www.brightsideinc.org. With the help of sponsors Passport Health Plan and the Kentucky Pride Fund, Brightside provides bags and gloves to all participating groups, and T-shirts to the first 5,000 registrants.
Volunteer for Give A Day Projects
Mayor Greg Fischer will kick off this sixth annual Give A Day week with a 9 a.m. stop Saturday at the Build A Bed event at Meyzeek Middle School, where hundreds of volunteers will work in teams to build beds that will go to Jefferson County Public School children who are sleeping on couches, air mattresses or even the floor.
Other Saturday events include a 3 p.m. bicycle giveaway to refugees at Kentucky Refugee Ministries, thanks to volunteers from Pedal Power; and huge community cleanups and picnics in the California, Parkland and Shelby Park neighborhoods. (Similar events are planned in the Smoketown and Shawnee neighborhoods on April 22.)
The Mayor’s goal for the week, which helps launch the 2017 Kentucky Derby Festival, is to break Louisville’s existing “world record” for caring and helping – set in 2016 with more than 175,000 volunteers and acts of compassion.
“When we decided six years ago to start to focus on celebrating and cultivating compassion as one of our city’s core values, the people of Louisville responded, demonstrating over and over again that this is a city where people believe in the value of doing what our great native son Muhammad Ali called ‘the work of the heart,’” the Mayor said. “That work happens every day in this city. Give A Day simply shines a spotlight on it.”
The Mayor pointed out that participating in the Week of Service can be as simple as dropping food into the Dare to Care bins at all area Kroger stores.
And for the second year in a row, the international WE Day will, in partnership with the Mayor’s office and WLKY, hold a short Walk of Compassion through downtown as a Give A Day event on April 18. The public is invited to join more than 3,000 students participating in the lunch-time walk, carrying signs of compassion.
Students from both private and public schools are a huge component of Give A Day. JCPS’ students will be planting trees, collecting items for local food pantries, organizing campus and neighborhood cleanups, writing thank you cards to police and veterans, and collecting teddy bears for police to have in their cruisers when they make runs on cases involving children.
“We are proud to once again have 100 percent participation from our schools in the Mayor’s Give A Day initiative,” said JCPS Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens. “Last year, our students logged more than 1,145 days of service – that’s more than three years of kindness, service and citizenship in just one week. This experience gives our students a chance to give back to our community and participate as citizens in our diverse, shared world.”
Most local Catholic schools are also engaged in projects. St. Stephen Martyr, for example, is making care packages for cancer patients, filling decorated bags with things like hard candy, pocket tissues, hand sanitizer, lip balm and small packages of snacks. And fifth-graders at Holy Trinity will be visiting and playing games with residents of the Masonic Home.
Local businesses are also a huge part of the Week of Service, as companies large and small contribute their time, talent and treasure on projects throughout the community.
Volunteers are still needed for more than 100 projects of all kinds. To register, go to the website: www.mygiveaday.com and click on “volunteer for an existing project.”
Groups and individuals are urged to use the same website to report projects and good deeds they are doing on their own.
Thousands of volunteers will join together on Saturday, April 15 for the bi-annual Brightside & Passport Health Plan Spring Community-Wide Cleanup to pick up litter and beautify sites across Louisville.
More than 200 groups — Boy & Girl Scouts, neighborhood associations, business associations, elementary school classrooms, families and more — will be participating in Saturday’s event, which serves as the kick off to Mayor Fischer’s Give A Day Week of Service, April 15-23.
“A clean street is something that residents in all corners of our city can agree is important to the quality of life in our neighborhoods,” Mayor Greg Fischer said. “I encourage neighbors to work together and work with Brightside to keep our streets litter-free.”
To participate, volunteers choose their own cleanup site and coordinate with Brightside to receive gloves, bags, and for the first 5,000 volunteers, T-shirts. Trash pick-up will be coordinated with Louisville Metro Solid Waste Management Services. The cleanup is sponsored by Passport Health Plan.
“We are thrilled to be the title sponsor of the 2017 Brightside & Passport Health Plan Spring Community-Wide Cleanup,” said Mark B. Carter, CEO of Passport Health Plan. “We come together with Mayor Fischer, Brightside and all Louisville residents in the knowledge that a cleaner city helps all residents improve their health and overall quality of life.”
Cleanups are an integral part of Brightside’s mission, and without the help of volunteer groups and many other volunteers throughout the year, Brightside could not meet its goal of a cleaner, greener Louisville. Neighborhoods can hold their own cleanups at any point throughout the year, and Brightside encourages neighborhood associations, block watches, businesses and faith groups to play an active role in keeping their neighborhoods litter-free.
Registration for the April 15 community-wide cleanup is still open. Visit the Brightside website at www.brightsideinc.org to complete the registration form or call (502) 574-2613 to register your team.
The line-up is set for the 2017 Republic Bank Pegasus Parade. Floats and inflatable units participating in this year’s parade drew for positions at a special event tonight at the Ice House. “Louisville on the Move” will be the theme for the Derby Festival’s oldest event, which will feature approximately 100 units marching down Broadway on Thursday, May 4th.
“This year’s theme is twofold with both a health focus, as well as a nod to how the city continues to grow and progress,” said Mike Berry, KDF President & CEO. “There are many different ways to depict ‘Louisville on the Move’ and we look forward to seeing all the creative and original designs.”
The parade theme will be used by sponsoring companies to help direct the building of floats and costuming of the inflatable handlers and crew. The floats and inflatables compete for various awards based on originality, eye appeal, theme representation, animation, attention to detail and enthusiasm. Marching bands use the theme to help with musical selection and it is the basis of costume and concept design for the other marching units. The annual spectacle marches west on Broadway from Campbell to Ninth Street.
The 2017 Parade will feature 13 floats, plus 1 push float, many of them built by the employees of the companies sponsoring them. The following companies drew for their float position in the parade at tonight’s event, as well as the sponsors of the six participating inflatable character balloons.
| Floats: | Inflatable Balloon Characters: |
| Belle of LouisvilleCity of St. Matthews
Grand Lodge of Kentucky Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana Hwang’s Martial Arts Indiana University Southeast Kentuckiana Pride Festival Kosair Shriners/Kosair Charities Masonic Homes of Kentucky Metro Parks & Recreation Norton Healthcare Second Chance @ Life The Fillies, Inc. Push Float: Passport |
CareSource “Super Grover”Horseshoe Southern Indiana “Horseshoe”
LG&E “Louie the Lightning Bug” Republic Bank “Peggy Bank” StageOne “Flying Elephant” ZirMed, Inc. “Blue Angels Balloon”
|
Fans will have the opportunity to preview each float at the Republic Bank Kentucky Derby Festival Parade Preview Party on Tuesday, May 2, at the Kentucky Exposition Center, in South Wing C. This event will offer a taste of nearly the entire parade. Character balloons, equestrian units and assorted VIPs will join the floats on display for the indoor tour “inside” a parade. Admission is a 2017 Pegasus Pin.
Tickets for the Parade are on sale now online at KDF.org. Ticket prices are $10 for bleacher seats, $12 chair seating and $30 VIP seats.
Republic Bank is the Title Sponsor of the parade with new Contributing Sponsor, KentuckyOne Health.
Louisville Metro Police and Public Health and Wellness officials are encouraging residents served by the LMPD Third Division to safely dispose of medications on April 12 from 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm. People can drive up and drop off any unused and expired medications at 7219 Dixie Highway, LMPD Third Division headquarters. LMPD’s Third Division includes the neighborhoods of Fairdale, Iroquois, Iroquois Park, Kenwood Hill, PRP, Southland Park, Southside, Yorktown and Valley Station.
“Drug “take-back” events provide a safe, convenient and responsible way of disposing of prescription medications,” said LMPD Chief Conrad. “It gives the public an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs.”
“This is a simple way to address a vital public safety and public health issue,” said Dr. Joann Schulte, director of the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness. “We have an opioid abuse epidemic in Louisville and around the nation. Disposing of prescription medicines properly is one of the best ways to ensure they aren’t accidentally used or intentionally misused by someone else. Most people who get addicted start with the narcotics they find in other people’s medicine cabinets.”
“It’s also important that people properly and safely dispose of medications,” Schulte added. “Flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash is not the best way. Our local police collect these drugs and ensure they are properly destroyed.”
LMPD’s last drug take-back event was in October. 700 pounds of medications were collected. More events to help residents safely dispose of medication will be hosted throughout the city this year.
For more information and links to permanent safe disposal sites that can be accessed year round, go to https://louisvilleky.gov/government/health-wellness/safe-medication-disposal.
30 Kentuckiana students ranging in age from 5 to 18 and their winning artwork from the 2017 Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation Student Art Contest Presented by The Fillies, Inc. will be honored Tuesday night. The awards ceremony will be held at 6:30 p.m. at duPont Manual High School. For the past 40 years, the Festival has offered this contest as a way for local students to showcase their artistry and creative skill. Students from public, private and parochial schools in all Kentucky counties, as well as Clark and Floyd counties in Indiana are invited to participate
Hundreds of area students from grades K–12 produced original artwork showing their interpretation of Derby Festival events. The result is an exciting mix of drawings, paintings, collages, mixed media, compositions and prints. Students used watercolor, acrylics, inks, crayons, oil pastels, felt markers or any combination of these to create their one-of-a-kind pieces of work.
Entries in the Student Art Contest were judged by art professionals from the community. The winners in each division will receive a medallion, t-shirt, certificate, ribbon, and a Student Art Contest Winner’s Pin. First-place finishers will receive a 2017 Kentucky Derby Festival framed poster created by the 2017 Official Poster artist Ron Jasin and get to ride in the Republic Bank Pegasus Parade. Teachers of the winning students are also invited to the ceremony and will receive special recognition.
The artwork by area students will also be on display at the Republic Bank Pegasus Parade Preview Party beginning at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 2.
The Foundation’s Student Art Contest is sponsored by Fillies, Inc. The Fillies, Inc. was founded in 1959 kicking off a tradition of volunteer service to the local community. They join Contributing Sponsor Kentucky College of Art + Design at Spalding University and Media Sponsor ARTxFM.
The Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation, a 501 C 3 not-for-profit charity, receives and manages charitable contributions on behalf of the Kentucky Derby Festival, Inc., its supporters and the general public. The Foundation perpetuates the Festival’s impact on the community by developing projects that highlight the Festival’s influence on the area’s cultural heritage. It works to further the Festival’s educational and charitable mission through exhibitions and performances.