Louisville, KY

Picture by Cjcj-395723-www.sxc.hu

Louisville is known for having a beautiful and diverse collection of public parks throughout the city. Iroquois Park is a scenic public park located at Taylor Boulevard and Southern Parkway. It is currently ranked as one of the ten best parks in the Louisville area according to the travel website, www.10best.com. (Map)

The 739 acres that incorporates Iroquois Park was purchased by the city in 1888 and it was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to be a “scenic reservation”. The park is known for its incredible views of the city, its forested hills, and its challenging running, walking, and biking paths. The park is also the home for the Iroquois Amphitheatre, which features various local events.

Along with the Amphitheatre there is an 18 hole, 71-par golf course and the following amenities.

Archery range
Basketball (2)
Bikeway and walking paths
Disc (Frisbee) golf course
Fishing lake
Grills
Hiking trails
Horseback riding trails
Horseshoe pits
Picnic shelters
Picnic tables
Playground/splash play area
Restrooms
Scenic overlooks
Tennis (8)
Volleyball
Walking Path (1.6 miles)

The Iroquois Amphitheatre is a beautiful, semi-covered outdoor community theater that was originally built in 1938. It was renovated in 2003 to seat 2407 people and is the official amphitheatre for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The Iroquois Amphitheatre is also the home for Music Theater Louisville, which is a community-based theater company that produces five full shows a year.

Currently the Louisville government is investing $1.8 million dollars into improvement and restoration projects at Iroquois Park. Visit Iroquois Park to take advantage of its many recreational facilities and its legendary views. It is a wonderful place to relax and enjoy the natural environment, play a round of golf, see a well-produced play, or take part in some exercise.

Louisville’s Seneca Park

Iroquois Park, Louisville Metro Parks, Frederick Law Olmsted, Iroquois Amphitheatre, Music Theater Louisville

Picture by Branox- 875772- www.sxc.hu

f you are interested in networking and finding information about small businesses then you might want to attend the Launch Louisville- Small Business Showcase on October 11, 2007. It will be held at the Mellwood Arts Center from 2:00pm to 5:00pm. Entrepreneurs, financial institutions, restaurants, and local and state government licensing agencies will be in attendance at this free event.

One of the main sponsors is fb3 Development, a business incubator that helps to develop and manufacture new food and beverage products. They have various manufacturing capabilities including a small-batch distillery and on-site manufacturing and technical support.

The Launch Louisville is one of the events orchestrated by the Greater Louisville Inc. Greater Louisville Inc. is the metro chamber of commerce and economic development agency for the Louisville and Southern Indiana region. Their mission is to turn Louisville into one of the best cities in the nation to live and work.

These are some Louisville’s business rankings from Greater Louisville Inc.’s website.

• Top 25 in the nation as a desirable location for business expansion or relocation (Expansion Management Magazine).

• #9 on the list of the Top 20 Hot Headquarters Cities for the 21st century (Business Facilities).

• Best City for Small Business growth (Entrepreneur Magazine).

• 31st on Inc. Magazine’s Top Places to Do Business in the U.S.

• 15th in the U.S. on Entrepreneur Magazine’s Best Cities for Entrepreneurs list.

• One of the Top 20 Best Places to Raise A Family (Homebuilder.com).

So if you are interested in visiting exhibitors, gathering information, and doing some networking then show up to this exciting event.

Louisville Launch, Greater Louisville Inc., Small Business, Entrepreneurs, Louisville

Most of my Monday nights are spent pickup up the house, doing laundry, writing, reading, watching a movie, or playing a video game. Last night (or technically very early this morning) I was actually standing in line waiting to receive my prepaid copy of Halo 3 from the folks at GameStop in the Mall St. Matthews. I then rushed home with a friend and we eagerly began to play Bungie’s latest edition of their super selling Halo game series.

I have been a huge fan of both Halo and Halo 2 and have derived countless hours of fun running around a virtual world shooting things with a variety of weapons, vehicles, and grenades. In this installment the Master Chief is back home to defend the Earth from a Covenant leader who is trying to find an artifact that will set off all the Halo rings and destroy the Universe. Yet another reason I don’t like religious fanatics.

I only played until 3:30am so I did not finish Halo 3 yet, but according to some posts I have read you can complete the entire game on single player mode in about ten hours. This is somewhat disappointing since this is to be the last installment of the Halo series, but my true love of Halo in is the multiplayer options- both competitive and cooperative. In this version up to four players can join in cooperative missions, and sixteen players can link up to reek havoc on each other.

Unlike Halo and Halo 2, Halo 3 can only be played on the Xbox 360 and the graphics are simply incredible. The environments are more detailed and sharper and even the characters look much better. Another nice addition is that the enemies seem to be much smarter than in the past, so the play is more strategic. The marines also have gained some common sense and do not step out right in front of where you are shooting quite as much. In previous Halo games I probably killed as many marines as the enemy because they were insistent in getting in my way.

Some of the weapons and vehicles are beefed up, and there are new options. There is now a grenade that will put a protective bubble shield around you, and a Mongoose ATV that is new. There is also a Spartan laser that takes a few seconds to charge, but can blow about anything up. I am also happy that the assault rifle back for when you just need to kill a lot of things, up close and quickly. There are also a new category of weapons such as flares and tripmines that you can use or have used against you. I discovered some of these the hard way.

I do have one compliant so far, which may make more sense when I finished the game. Cortana, who is a computer-AI character that helped the Master Chief through his other adventures, has been left behind in Halo 2. In Halo 3 the action will suddenly stop and her blurred face with appear with some cryptic comments that you can barley understand, and then she will disappear again. It reminds me of the ghost in the machine from the movie Johnny Mnemonic.

Halo 3 is very similar to the first two installments when it comes to the single player game, but that is probably not a bad thing since it predecessors were so popular. Where it really soars is in the multiplayer options. The Forge is an incredible map editor that lets you rearrange weapons, items, and equipment in existing maps and basically allows the player to create their own games. Of course you can play on Xbox live and have you Master Chiefs’ behind handed to you by a ten year old that lives a thousand miles away too.

Overall this is one of the best games that I have ever played and I look forward to countless more hours playing with friends and strangers online. I would recommend Halo 3 to anyone who likes first person shooters games, and I think fans of the Halo series will not be disappointed.

I have a feeling that there will be many people in Louisville and the rest of the world playing Halo 3 for a long while.

Halo 3, Halo, Bungie, Video Games, Xbox, Xbox 360, Game Reviews

Picture by jazza- www.sxc.hu/ 747954

Yesterday was officially the first day of autumn, but it felt like a typical summer day. According to the Weather Channel the official temperature was 94 degrees, which broke the current record of 93 degrees that was set in 1891. The average temperature for this time of year is 77 degrees and the record low is 39 degrees that was set in 1995.

I was outside at soccer and kickball games for a good portion of the weekend, and most people were remarking that this was the hottest first day of fall that they could remember. Although I find that people tend to exaggerate when it comes to weather and money, this time they were correct- at least about the weather.

I researched temperature data from the Kentucky Hourly Weather Observations website for Louisville. This past Sunday was indeed the hottest September 23rd in the last ten years. It also did not help that it was humid and very sunny.

9/23/1997 67deg
9/23/1998 74deg
9/23/1999 81deg
9/23/2000 79deg
9/23/2001 84deg
9/23/2002 74deg
9/23/2003 84deg
9/23/2004 89deg
9/23/2005 89deg
9/23/2006 71deg
9/23/2007 94deg

Luckily it looks like we will only have to endure one more day of high temperatures. Tomorrow the high is forecasted at 92 degrees, but then Wednesday temperatures should decrease to 82 degrees with a 50% chance of thunderstorms. Rain would be a great relief since it has been such a dry summer. The rest of the week shows temperatures being in the high-seventies to low-eighties. Hopefully October will bring more fall-like weather so we are all not wearing shorts on Halloween.

Maybe the hot weather is just a fluke and maybe it is the effects of global warming, but I really hope that we have a fall season this year. Part of what I love about Louisville is that we normally have four distinct seasons, so until fall truly come try to keep cool.

Picture by bodgie- www.sxc.hu/ 700513

Louisville weather, First Day of Autumn, Temperature Record

*Adelante Latin Jazz Festival will be held The Jazz Factory for the next week. The festival will benefit the Adelante Hispanic Achievers, who are a non-profit group that mentors Hispanic and Latin youths.
You can buy ticket for each performance or a $100 festival pass.

Friday- Cosa Seria- 7:30 and 9:30pm- $10 for both

Saturday- Chuchito Valdés and his Afro-Cuban Ensemble- 7:30 and 9:30pm- $20 each

Sunday- Rooftop Latin Dance at The Glassworks with Salsa Rhythms- 7-11pm- $10

Tuesday- The University of Louisville Latin Jazz Ensemble- 7:30 and 9:30pm-$5 for both

Wednesday- Al Sur: Noche de Flamenco- 7:30 and 9:30pm- $10 for both

Thursday- Big Maracas- 7:30 and 9:30pm- $10 for both

Next Friday- Omar Sosa- 7:30 and 9:30pm- $20 for both

Next Saturday- Jovino Santos Neto- 7:30 and 9:30pm- $20

*Check out the Louisville Palace tonight at 8:00pm if you are a fan of The Beatles. The Classical Mystery Tour: A Symphonic Tribute to The Beatles features four musicians from Broadway’s “Beatlemania”.

*The Clifton Center will host The Tannahill Weavers tonight at 7:30pm. The Tannahill Weavers play Highlander’s Celtic music and The Believers will open.

*The Pink Tie Ball that raises money for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization will be Saturday night from 7:00pm to 1:00am. This event helps to raise money to cure breast cancer and will be held at the Marriott Louisville Downtown. There will be pink champagne, dinner, and dancing with the music of Mo’Sol. There are also silent and live auctions, hosted by WHAS radio DJs, Ron and Mel Fisher. Tickets are $175 or $100 for breast cancer survivors.

The Jazz Factory, Adelante Latin Jazz Festival, The Beatles, Tannahill Weavers, Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Every year the LEO (The Louisville Eccentric Observer) polls it reader’s in various categories to see what the reader’s like the best. I perused the results and found that I agreed with many of my fellow readers’ opinions. To see the full results click here- LEO Readers Choice Winners.

Some of the categories and my choices…

CD/Music Store- ear X-tacy- There is not a more interesting place to browse and buy music in the city.

Video Store- Wild & Woolly Video- This is Louisville’s most unique video store with movies that you will not find anyplace else. If you like Samurai Theatre this is the place to go.

Health Food Store- Rainbow Blossom Natural Foods- This locally owned store only ranked number three on the list but for customer service alone it should be in first place.

Bookstore- Carmichael’s Bookstore- This is a great locally owned bookstore, though Barnes and Noble comes in a close second since it has such a big selection.

Best Restaurant & Best New Restaurant- Seviche- I have heard many good reviews for this restaurant, but I have gotten over to Bardstown Road to eat their yet. My personal favorite is Gasthaus over off Brownsboro Road.

Best Restaurant on the River- Captain’s Quarters- This restaurant recently revamped its menu and the food is wonderful. If you have a boat you can even pull up for dock-side service.

Best Japanese & Sushi- Sapporo Japanese Grill & Sushi- Louisville has many great sushi places, but Sapporo is always wonderful and consistent.

Best Bakery- Blue Dog Bakery- This only hit number two on the list but they have some of the best bread and pastries around.

Best Breakfast Place- Lynn’s Paradise Café- You visit to this eclectic restaurant not only for the good food, but for the atmosphere and décor.

Best Coffee Place- Heine Brothers- This is my first choice for coffee and the Cookie Lady’s cookies.

Best Dessert Place- Homemade Ice Cream & Pie Kitchen- You gain three pounds just by walking through the door and smelling the goodies, but it is worth it. The French Silk Pie is to die for.

There are a lot of other categories to check out, but these are always my favorite. It is also fun to compare LEO’s Readers Choice with Louisville Magazine’s Best of Louisville awards.

LEO, LEO’s Readers Choice Winners, Best in Louisville

photo by T.Alves

Louisville Uncorked presents a white wine tasting at the Louisville Zoo that will benefit the Friends of the Zoo. This event will take place at the Oasis Tent and there is free parking at the Zoo parking lot. Docents will have MetaZoo animals and raptors to exhibit at the event.

The event will start at 7:30pm with light hors d’oeuvres, and there is a $15 suggested minimum donation that will benefit the Friends of the Zoo. This tasting event will feature California white wines and each team (1-3 people) will bring three bottles of this type of wine to the event. There will be blind tasting of the wines with the top 5 wines’ owners taking home a portion of the unopened wine. The rest of the unopened wine will be auctioned for the charity.

Louisville Uncorked in an organization that hosts four seasonal wine tastings a year in conjunction with a charity event. This gives young professionals a chance to try and taste new wines while benefiting various charities. Some of the charities that Louisville Uncorked has benefited so far include…
The Council on Mental Retardation
Make a Wish
Historic Home Foundation
The Louisville Orchestra
The Louisville Ballet
YMCA Safe Place Services

RSVP for the event at www.LouisvilleUncorked.com

Louisville Zoo
1100 Trevilian Way, Louisville, KY 40213
Thursday, September 20th, 2007
7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Louisville Uncorked, Wine Tasting, Louisville Zoo, Friends of the Zoo, The Council on Mental Retardation, Make a Wish, Historic Home Foundation, The Louisville Orchestra, The Louisville Ballet, YMCA Safe Place Services

Unfortunately homelessness and hunger is a prevalent and enduring problem in Louisville as in any other city in this country. Luckily there are many agencies that try to combat this problem from homeless shelters to organizations such as Dare to Care. On non-profit agency that was built from one man’s idea to move wasted food to people that need that food is Kentucky Harvest.

In 1987 Stan Curtis founded Kentucky Harvest where volunteers pick-up surplus and unused food from local restaurants and food suppliers, and then deliver it to missions and other organizations that feed the hunger and homeless. There motto is “Moving food from people who have too much, to those who have much too little.”

Kentucky Harvest was so successful that Stan decided to start USA Harvest in 1989 to encourage other cities to follow the same model that brings food to those in need. There are now over 130 chapters in various cities throughout the United States. When Kentucky or USA Harvest donates food to one of the over 5400 agencies they serve, it helps those agencies allocate more of their money to other services such clothing, shelter, job training, and rehab.

Kentucky Harvest and USA Harvest have two long-term goals. They want to feed as many hungry people as possible, and they eventually want to become obsolete since that will mean that hunger in the United States is no longer an issue.

If you are interested in helping combat hunger Kentucky Harvest and USA Harvest can use your help since they do not accept any government funding. You can become a Chapter Leader and help to coordinate food-raising events or you can help organize a food drive in conjunction with a local event or organization. Of course there are other opportunities such as driving and other administrative duties.

To contact Kentucky Harvest call or email at…

894-9999 or 589-FOOD
kyharvest@win.net

Kentucky Harvest, USA Harvest, Hunger, Homeless, Stan Curtis

If you live or have visited Louisville you may have noticed the black bumper stickers, signs, and billboards that just say “Keep Louisville Weird”. I personally dug the idea even before I really know what the all the propaganda meant. Most native Louisvillians like the fact that Louisville is a bit different, has unique shops and restaurants, and has an interesting counter-culture. If you are not sure what I am talking about then go hang out on Bardstown Road in the Highlands for a few hours.

The “Keep Louisville Weird” slogan was adopted by the Louisville Independent Business Alliance (LIBA). This is grassroots group that wants to help stop the homogenization of Louisville’s businesses and restaurants. Louisville is obviously a big enough city to attract a wide range of chain stores and restaurants, but it is up to the Louisville residents to make sure that independent and local businesses and eaters do not disappear.

LIBA argues that not only does shopping at local, independent businesses keep Louisville unique, but also that more of the money is kept in the local community. Although it might seem easier and cheaper to buy everything you need at the Wal-Mart or Meijer Superstore, there are always convenient and affordable local and independent alternatives.

Although I do shop at Wild Oats and Kroger, I also try to do as much shopping as possible at local grocery stores such as Rainbow Blossom or Paul’s Fruit Market. I have also found that shopping at local farmers markets on the weekends can provide really tasty, fresh produce, with very good prices.

If I am going out to get a cup of coffee, you will almost always find my at Heine Brothers, and there is always a local restaurant that I have not gotten the chance to try when there question of where to eat comes up. The Bristol Bar & Grill is one of my favorites for brunch or dinner, while Havana Rumba has a delicious Cuban menu that is perfect for lunch. North End Café is a great place for a leisurely breakfast while Saffron’s serves a delicious Persian cuisine if you are downtown.

Specials gifts of all types can be found in various, unique local shops throughout the city. You can easily make strolling and shopping down Bardstown Road and Frankfort Avenue an all day event, and Downtown Louisville now boast a variety of art and jewelry galleries. If you want to do something really unusually visit the Gallery Hops or take a tour on the Belle or Star of Louisville cruise.

What is your favorite independently owned local store or restaurant?

Keep Louisville Weird, LIBA, Local stores, Local Restaurants

Heather Hedgepeth
$10 Bouquet of Small Roses from Kroger

Flowers or houseplants are a wonderful way to mark a special occasion or let someone know you are thinking about them. A lovely bouquet of fresh flowers can brighten up anybody’s day and a potted plant can serve as a reminder of your affection for years to come. However, choosing the right flowers or plant can be confusing and expensive.

If you are in a rush you can always try an online service such as Hallmark.com or 1800flowers.com where you can browse through the bouquet selections, choose an arrangement, and the online company sends the order through a local florist in their network. Although this method takes the least amount of effort, the bouquet selection may not be as personal and the local florist may substitute flowers. You can also call you local florist and trust their expertise and taste in sending a bouquet or plant.

If you want to use a more personal approach then you will need to visit a local florist or nursery on your own. Buyers on a tight budget can then choose a large bouquet of cheaper, colorful flowers or go with one of two more expensive flowers in a simple, striking arrangement. Most local groceries stores such as Kroger, Wild Oats, and Whole Foods have their own floral departments in which you can pick out your own flowers. One of the best places to buy inexpensive but beautiful flowers is your local farmer’s market.

Nanz & Krafts Florists has been named Best in Louisville for twelve years in a row according to the readers of Louisville Magazine. There are also over a hundred different florists in the Louisville area to choose from. Even places such as Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club offer a limited number of fresh floral choices.

Just remember the most important thing is not the amount of money you spend but how the gesture makes your recipient feel.

Was there every a time when you received flowers or a plant that was very special to you?

Flowers, Plants, Florists, Nanz & Krafts Florists, Krogers, Wild Oats, Whole Foods, Wal-Mat, Sam’s Club, Louisville Magazine, Best of Louisville

This upcoming weekend is the Ursuline Campus Art Fair that will be held on both Saturday and Sunday from 10:00am to 5:00pm. This is the twenty-first year that this art fair is being held and the event has been recognized as MetroFest event.

The fair with feature over 150 juried artists, food, live entertainment, and other activities. Some of the media in which you can find various artwork and crafts include…
Baskets
Candles
Metal
Drawing
Fabric
Mixed
Natural Plant
Painting
Fine Crafts
Glass
Herbal Crafts
Paper
Jewelry
Photography
Pottery
Sculpture
Wood

The Ursuline campus is a beautiful 48-acre area in St. Matthews that was purchased by the Ursuline Sisters in 1876. The campus houses the Ursuline Sisters, the Marion Home, and five different schools. The schools include Sacred Heart Academy, Sacred Heart Model School, Ursuline Montessori School, Ursuline Child Development Center, and the Ursuline School for the Performing Arts.

The art fair takes place at 3105 Lexington Road and free parking and shuttle service will be offered from Baptist Theological Seminary, 2825 Lexington Rd.

Come out for a weekend of arts, crafts, and good food at a wonderful location.

Ursuline Campus Art Fair, Arts & Crafts, Ursuline Sisters, Art Fairs

Over the last decade organic and natural products have become much more popular to the typical Louisville consumer. There are now sections in most grocery stores that contain organic produce and food, and two of the larger health food grocery chains have found their way to Louisville. However, for the past thirty years Rainbow Blossom has been one of Louisville’s locally owned health food stores and a wonderful place to shop.

Rainbow Blossom now has four locations with a mix of healthy food, vitamins and supplements, cosmetics, and other health related products such as books. They have organic and locally grown products, and they guarantee that their foods are free of synthetic preservatives, artificial colors or flavors. Every Sunday at the St. Matthews store there is a Farmer’s Market from 12:00-4:00pm.

The stores are always well stocked, clean, and the best aspect of Rainbow Blossom is that there is always someone available to help answer a question or to find a product. Their associates are well informed and it is one of the few stores that really seems to understand what customer service should be.

Rainbow Blossom also has a very good website where you can order products online, find out about events taking place at the various stores, and even print off coupons to use. The site also has an online version of their Delicious Living magazine, a reference library, health calculators and assessments, recipes, and an ingredient glossary.

If you are interested in finding healthy food and products and like to support locally owned businesses then check out one of the Rainbow Blossom Natural Food Markets.

Do you buy natural and local products? Where do you shop?

St. Matthews Market
3738 Lexington Road
Louisville, Kentucky 40207
502-896-0189

Middletown Market
12401 Shelbyville Road
Louisville, Kentucky 40243
502-244-2022

Springhurst Market
3608 Springhurst Blvd.
Louisville, Kentucky 40241
502-339-5090

New Albany Market
3003 Charlestown Crossing Way
New Albany, Indiana 47150
812-941-0080

Rainbow Blossom, Natural Foods, Organic, Local Foods, Farmer’s Market

Another weekend is here and if you are looking for things to do there are a variety of activities throughout the Louisville area.

Fund Raising Events - If you want to get some exercise and help out some worthwhile charities then there are several events you can attend this weekend.

The Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk will raise fund to help cure Alzheimer’s disease, please see http://www.alz.org for more information. The on mile walk is on September 8, 2007 at the Waterfront Park Great Lawn and goes from 8:30am to 11:30am

The Qdoba Raise for the Kids - 5K Run/Walk will also be held on September 8, 2007 from 9:00am to 10:00am. The event will be held at Cherokee Park’s Hogan’s Fountain and will help to raise funds for The Boys and Girls Clubs. Find more information at http://www.raiseforthekids.org.

The Gaslight Thunder Run Bike Rally will be part of the Jeffersontown Gaslight Festival going on between September 8-16 2007. The event will be on September 8th and registration is between 10:00am to 12:00pm. The run will take place from 1:00pm to 5:00pm will be involved participants following a designated route, stopping to draw playing cards, and then trying to have the best poker hand at the end destination. The event begins at the American Legion Post 244 and ends at the Sports Page and Grill, and the cost is $25. More information about the rally and festival is available at http://www.jtownchamber.com/Gaslight-Festival.23.0.html.

The Cornhole Cup Tournament benefits the STAR program which helps familes and kids with autism related disorders. It will also be held on September 8, 2007 from 8:00am to 5:00pm at the Festival Plaza at Waterfront Park (next to Joe’s Crabshack). Cornhole or Corn Toss is a game is which players throw a small bag of corn at a raised platform with a hole for points. For more information on the event and game see http://www.cornholecup.com.

Picnics, Arts & Crafts Events-

St. Leonard Catholic Church Picnic is having their annual picnic on September 7-8, 2007 from 6:00pm to 12:00am. They are located at 440 Zorn Avenue and more details can be found at http://www.stleonardlouisville.com/.

The Rainbow Spiritual Education Center is having their annual Rummage & Bake Sale on September 8, 2007 from 8:00am to 4:00pm on 2701 Lindsay Aveue See http://www.rainbowspiritualeducationcenter.org for more details.

The 21st Annual Highview Arts & Craft Festival will be held on September 8, 2207 at Highview Baptist Church on 7711 Fegenbush Lane. It will run from 9:00am to 4:00pm and feature over one hundred juried artist and crafters. http://www.whitefield.org

The Bellewood Art Fair will be held at Bellewood Presbyterian Homes for Children from 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM. The art fair will have over forty artists, food, and entertinament. It will be at 11103 Park Road in
Anchorage, KY, and see http://www.bellewood.org for more information.

Music & Movies- There are also several event for those people who would rather spend their leisure time listen to good music or seeing new films.

John Prine, an American country/folk singer-songwriter, will be feature at the Louisville Palace on September 8, 2007 at 8:00pm. For more information and tickets http://www.louisvillepalace.com.

The Autovaughn will be playing with local artists, The October at Wick’s Pizza on Dixie Highway tonight at 9:00pm. For more information about Autovaughn see http://www.myspace.com/villafiedpromotions.

The 3rd Annual Bluegrass Independent Film Festival will be held at the Great Escapes Oldham 8 Theatre in LaGrange, KY. Many independent films will be shown on September 7-9, 2007. Movie information, tickets, and show times can be found at http://www.bluegrassfilmfest.com.

Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk, Qdoba Raise for the Kids, Gaslight Thunder Run Bike Rally, Jeffersontown Gaslight Festival, Cornhole Cup Tournament, STAR program. St. Leonard Catholic Church Picnic, Rainbow Spiritual Education Center, Highview Arts & Craft Festival, Bellewood Art Fair, John Prine, Autovaughn, The October, 3rd Annual Bluegrass Independent Film Festival

The Middletown community in the Louisville area is an interesting mix of commercial growth and a historic Main Street neighborhood. If you drive out Shelbyville Road you will find many shops with everything from pet stores, alternative health stores, restaurants, fun parks, to grocery stores. However if you go a few block over you will find yourself surrounded by older homes, majestic trees, and historic building that house small boutique shops.

This weekend Middletown will host its annual Middletown Milestone Festival that will be held from 6:00pm to 10:00pm on Friday and 10:00am to 10:00pm on Saturday. The festival is alcohol-free and family friendly with attendance expected to be more than 60,000 people.

So go out and enjoy one of the Louisville’s areas most popular community festivals.

The following is the event schedule from the festival’s web page.

Friday, September 7th
· 6:00 pm - Street Closes and International Market Booths open.
· 6:30 pm - Opening Ceremonies on the Milestone Stage
· 7:00 pm - The Tymes Band on the Milestone Stage
· 7:30 pm - Entertainment at the Gazebo
· 8:00 pm - Broadway on Main Street at First Baptist Church

Saturday, September 8th

· 9:00 am - Dog Show registration starts
· 10:00 am - The International Market Booths Open
· 10:00 am - The Family Dog Show
· 11:00 am - Children’s Activities at Miles Corner: Magic-balloons, Face-painting
· 12:00 pm - The Central Bank Parade
· 1:30 pm - Broadway on Main Street at First Baptist Church
· 2:00 pm - Mark Comley Magic Show at the Gazebo
· 2:00 pm - Miles Corner with Radio Disney am680
· 3:00 pm - Broadway on Main Street at First Baptist Church
· 4:00 pm - Mid-Life Crises on the Milestone Stage
· 6:30 pm - Mark Comley magic Show on the Milestone Stage
· 7:00 pm - The Monarch’s on the Milestone Stage
· 10:00 pm - The Fireworks Finale

Middletown, KY, Louisville, Community Festivals, Middletown Milestone Festival

Join over 1500 business and community leaders at Women 4 Women’s annual luncheon on September 10, 2007 from 11:30am to 1:30pm. The lunch will be held at the Cascade Ballroom in the Kentucky International Convention Center, with the keynote speaker being Angela F. Braly, President and CEO, of WellPoint. Tickets are $65 or $500 for a table of eight and proceeds go to support The Fund for Women and Girls.

Braly is the only female CEO of a Fortune 50 company and the twelfth female CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Wellpoint is nation’s largest health insurer, the parent company of Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kentucky, and is number thirty-five on the Fortune 500 list.

Women 4 Women is a non-profit organization in Louisville whose mission is “…dedicated to improving the health and economic well-being of women and girls by increasing awareness, expanding resources and creating solutions to strengthen our community.”

In 1993 Elaine “Cissy” Musselman brought twenty women together with the idea that they could do something to help the women in the community, and by doing so improve Louisville overall. “Our work is twofold: we raise funds and we raise awareness about issues that affect women and families. Our job is to give women and families the tools they need to help themselves,” said Musselman. Women 4 Women has developed 4 Bold Goals and 4 Bold Solutions to address the problems and issues that the female population in Louisville face everyday.

“More than 70 percent of the households in poverty in our community are headed by women,” said Women 4 Women President & CEO Ann L. Coffey. “Helping women helps entire families. Helping families helps neighborhoods. Helping neighborhoods helps schools. And helping schools helps our economy. It’s that simple.”

The event will be an excellent way to support Louisville’s women and girls, network with other leaders in the community, and hear from one of the nation’s top women business leaders. This year the event will be sponsored by Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare, Anthem, Brown-Forman, Chase, Papa John’s and Bettie and Charlie Johnson.

For more information about the luncheon, Women 4 Women, or to donate to The Fund for Women and Girls, visit their website at www.women-4-women.org or contact:

Ann L. Coffey, Executive Director
Women 4 Women Fund
The Community Foundation of Louisville
325 West Main Street, Suite 1110
Louisville, KY 40202
(502) 561-8060 ext.1017
Email: ann@w4w.org

Women 4 Women, The Fund for Women and Girls, The Community Foundation of Louisville, Wellpoint, Angela F. Braly, Anthem, Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare, Brown-Forman, Chase, Papa John’s and Bettie and Charlie Johnson, Ann L. Coffey, Elaine “Cissy” Musselman