Each year we are always concerned as to what the weather will be like for our annual Improvement Day in Central Park.
This year the weather was a perfect and beautiful Spring day with full sun, a nice breeze, and temperatures in the 70’s and later in the 80’s.
Workers started gathering prior to 8:00 a.m. As usual, coffee and donuts from Heitzman Bakery were available for the early birds.
Lois Tash and Bill Peake signed-in workers as they arrived, provided name tags, and the work improvement got started.
· About twelve (12) truck loads of leaf mulch was transported by Metro Works bobcats and Metro Parks gators and placed as mulch around many trees by the workers.
· Ten (10) new replacement trees were donated and planted in Central Park.
Greg Popham, Peterson-Popham, provided two (2) Oaks, two (2) Cypress, two (2) Persimmon, one (1) Redbud, and one (1) Kentucky Coffee tree.
The 4th Street Neighborhood Association provided one (1) 3” Sugar Maple.
The 1300 South 3rd Street Neighborhood Association also provided one (1) 3” Sugar Maple.
The Peterson-Popham trees are scattered about the park. The Sugar Maples are located along the entrance road to the park off of Magnolia Avenue.

· Zane Lockhart spread fertilizer over ¼ of the park.
· Bob Bajandas and others edged the park walkways
· Dick Callaway gathered piles and piles of downed tree limbs and sticks from the recent storms.
· Ginny Keen, Judy Stallard and others planted pansies and mulched the entrance areas to the park.
· Rhonda Williams, Sandra Needy, Martin Needy, and Nicole Bass weeded and mulched the St. James Court entrance area to the park.
· The Central Park West Neighborhood Association thoroughly cleaned, took-up leaves, weeds and debris along the total length of 6th Street from Park Avenue to Magnolia Avenue and did a great job.
· The annual beds adjacent to the breezeway were cleaned and mulched.
· Additional bobcats were provided by BAJA Works and Terry Hammond Construction.
Metro Works also provide two (2) bobcats, operators and supervisory assistance.
· LMPD 4th Division provided security for the session.
· David Norton, owner of the Magnolia Bar & Grill provided four (4) large containers of ice for drinks.
· Gary Kleier took over 300 photos of the improvement activities.
During the week prior to Central Park Improvement Day, Metro Parks staff accomplished the following:
· Aerated and seeded large areas where turf had failed.
· Removed a large Overcup Oak and stump which had failed.
· Removed weeds from the Theatre sitting area and applied week kill.
· Trimmed the Wysteria.
· Removed stumps.
· Mowed the turf.

Several of the Metro Parks staff were called away around 11:00 a.m. in that a fire occurred in the Savannah Grass area on top of Iroquois Park, which eventually burned 5 acres before being brought under control.
Prior to lunch time, Mayor Jerry Abramson and Mike Heitz, Metro Parks Director visited in Central Park and greeted all the workers saying, “a job well done.”
At 12:00 noon all of the workers gathered under the trees for a sumptuous barbeque lunch with all the trimmings which was catered by Masteron’s Restaurant and sponsored by Councilman George Unseld.
The noon lunch was served by Beth and Tom Duffy, Polly Wood and Irene Spicer.
During lunch, Bill Herron, Assistant Director, Metro Parks, retired as of April 13, 2006, was honored for his years of services as City of Louisville Director of Public Works and more recently, Assistant Director of Metro Parks.
Bill was presented a poster size photograph taken of him during the ribbon cutting ceremony of the opening of the 9th Street Roadway. The photograph was endorsed by all the workers and others.
Officer Terra Long presented Bill with a bouquet of flowers and words of appreciation.

Words of appreciation were expressed by many others. We all wished Bill a great bike ride into his future endeavors.
A special “thank you” to those who provide funds, services, and materials which underwrote the event.: Central Park West Neighborhood Association, Belgravia Court Neighborhood Association, Lori and Ed Turley, 3rd Street Neighborhood Association, West St. Catherine Neighborhood Association, David Norton, Magnolia Bar & Grill, St. James Court Neighborhood Association, Garvin Gate Neighborhood Association, Greg Popham, Peterson-Popham, Inc., 4th Street Neighborhood Association and 1300 South 3rd Street Neighborhood Association.
The following workers participated in the event: Central Park West Neighborhood Association, Penny Johnson, Bob Bajandas, Candace Milligan, Mike Milligan, Judy Stallard, Gary Kleier, Missy Murphy, Mike Murphy, Justin Elliott, Alison Townsend, Avery Townsend, David Townsend, Robert Nickels, Presley Whitaker, Collin Milligan, 4th Street Neighborhood Association, Myra Silva, Jason Smithson, Alice Wright Belknap, Drew Layman, Susan Coleman, Larry Gettleman, 1300 South 3rd Street Neighborhood Association, Dick Callaway, Chuck Anderson, Sheela Anderson, Polly Wood, Ron Harris, Metro Parks, Mayor Jerry Abramson, Michael Heitz, David Fothergill, Brian Haag, Ronald Hardin, Todd Board, Kitta Westmoreland, John Huguley, Monty Steele, Anna Irvin, Jerry & Portia Brown, Bill Herron, 2nd Street Neighborhood Association, Zane Lockhart, Ginny Keen, Barb Xander, JoAnn Lockhart, Ken Herndon, Savannah Keen, Caroline Thornewill, Jeremy Thornewill, Raike Thornewill, Lily Thornewill, Elspeth Thornewill, Jim Dillon, David Norton, 3rd Street Neighborhood Association, Lois Tash, Bill Peake, Tom Duffy, Beth Duffy, Jo Ann Celentano, Maggie Myatt, Lukas Myatt, Kim Mowder, Amy Turner, Mike Breidenbach, Jason DiResta, Marjorie & Herb Fink, Belgravia Court Neighborhood Association, Dick Irby, LMPD – 4th Division, Officer Andrea Brown, Officer William LeFlore, Major David Ray, Limerick Neighborhood Association, Walter Hutchins, Nancy Leavell, John Scott, Toonerville Neighborhood Association, Irene Spicer, Abby Lindle, West St. Catherine Street Neighborhood Association, Nicole Bass, Sandra Needy, Martin Needy, Rhonda Williams, Metro Louisville Dept. of Public Works, Charles Huddleston, Charles Morris, David Ross, Steve Estes, Terry Hammond Construction Co., Terry Hammond, Terry D. Hammond, Lee Mosier, 3rd Avenue Baptist Church, Staci Calamaio, Tabitha Stuard, Greg Prather, Chris Phillips, Roger Sabat, Michael Kolde, Will Kynes, Sammy Cabrera, Garvin Gate Neighborhood Association, Led Schwendan, Maleva Chamberlain, Quenn Chapley, LM Brightside and Kyle Sawyer-Dailey.
A special “thank you” to all who participated in the Central Park Improvement Day 2006!
Central Park looks great, smells great, and is such a great attribute to our Old Louisville neighborhood. THANK YOU ALL!
Note: If we have inadvertently left out a worker’s name or left out other information, please let us know at the Information Center and we will provide an update in the June Journal.

Volunteers clean up Central Park

       
click on pictures to enlarge

1. Herb Fink and Kitta Westmoreland of Parks were much in demand
delivering water to the thirsty volunteers.

2. Officer Terra Long, Mayor Jerry Abramson and Bill Herron.

3. The 3rd Avenue Baptist Church youth group help mulch around the trees.

4. Gary Kleier and Mike Milligan worked on 6th Street.
 

Old Louisville Information Center Board

TourLouisville to Expand Tour Offerings
There’s a lot of new things going on in Old Louisville...

In response to the ever-increasing numbers of tourists flocking to Old Louisville in search of colorful local history and stunning architecture, the Visitors Center in Historic Old Louisville and TourLouisville have announced plans to boost the number and type of tours that will be offered to visitors in America’s Largest Victorian Neighborhood. Nore Ghibaudy, director of the Visitors Center since it opened in May 2005, says that response to the weekly scheduled tours has been so great that “we needed to expand our services to accommodate the constant influx of out-of-town tourists that drop in at the center.”
In addition to narrated, driven tours of the neighborhood’s haunted hotspots and grand Victorian mansions, TourLouisville has planned monthly guided walking tours, and recorded audio tours that will be available for rental. According to Ghibaudy, the added tours will be up and running by May, just in time for the arrival of warmer spring weather.
The new tours to be added to the TourLouisville schedule include a monthly walk-about tour of “Old Louisville’s Gems and Jewels” on the second Saturday of every month that will depart at 12:00 p.m. from the Visitors Center in Historic Old Louisville. The roughly two-hour tour will cost $20.00 per person and will include visits inside several area mansions. For those would like to take a more leisurely pace as they stroll the neighborhood, rented audio tours ($5.00) will be available from the center during the regularly scheduled hours of operation Monday through Saturday. “The Grand Tour” has been recorded by professional actors and has been designed to include a wealth of information about the neighborhood’s colorful Victorian past and stunning residential architecture. In addition, another weekly ghost tour will be added to the schedule of driven tours. “People really love their ghost stories,” says Ghibaudy, “so we came up with a Saturday-night tour that shows off the haunted Old Louisville of the Roaring Twenties. Dubbed “the Moonshine and Madness Tour,” this hour-and-a-half tour will introduce thrill seekers to a taste of the ghostly tales and lost legends associated with Prohibition-era bootleggers and gamblers who called Louisville home. The tour will cost $25.00 per person, and - like the Friday-night “Ghost Tour of Old Louisville” - will run from 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. The “Mansions and Milestones Tour” will still be offered from 2:30- 4:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. In addition to that, a “Full Moon Ghost Tour” will be offered each month on the night of the full moon at 9:00 p.m.
For more information contact: The Visitors Center in Historic Old Louisville, 218 West Oak Street, Louisville, KY 40203 -- (502) 637-2922

Festive Spirits to gather in
Old Louisville this Halloween
Victorian Masquerade Ball Will Cap off Neighborhood Celebration

The Old Louisville Chamber of Commerce has announced plans to host the first-ever “Gathering of the Spirits” festival this fall in Old Louisville, one of the nation’s premier Victorian neighborhoods. “It will be a great way to enjoy the fall colors and the unique architecture that make this area so special,” says Nore Ghibaudy, director of the Visitors Center in Historic Old Louisville, “and it is sure to become the highlight of the local Halloween season.” Although the festival will include various events such as a pumpkin walk and the third annual Victorian Ghost Tour, the revelry will culminate at the first annual Spirit Ball on October 28th, the Saturday before Halloween. “The Spirit Ball,” explains Gary Kleier, head of the Gathering of the Spirits planning committee, “will be a gala costume affair where guests can dance the night away in 19th-century elegance in one of the city’s most opulent mansions.” In addition to music, dancing, prizes and a silent auction to benefit local causes, party goers will sample gourmet cuisine and expertly mixed cocktails as they take in the Victorian splendor of the lovely Conrad-Caldwell House on St. James Court. “This will be the perfect way to keep old customs alive,” says Deb Riall, director of the stately 1895 residence, “and there’s no better place to enjoy a night of spirited dancing and colorful masquerades than the Conrad-Caldwell House.” Local interior designers will showcase their talent in the mansion’s specially decorated rooms, and spirits are sure to soar at this unique neighborhood event.
Tickets for first annual Spirit Ball cost $99.00 per person and include food and drinks provided by Brown-Forman. VIP passes including special access to the Spirit Lounge will start at $149.00 per person, and package deals with local B&Bs will also be available. Space is limited, so make reservations now! Call 502.637.2922!


 

POTLUCKS and FUN for Old Louisville Kids

Lots of families call Old Louisville home. Let’s all get together and have a little fun!
In an effort to build a family network, there will be a family potluck picnic the 2nd Saturday of every month from 5:00-7:00 p.m. in Central Park (weather permitting) beginning May 13 and running through Ocotber 14th. Please come!
If you have any questions, please email Carolyn Fuller at CFuller@humana.com  or Caroline Thornewill at Callythornewill@aol.com. 

Free Mammograms

Planned Parenthood of Louisville, in conjunction with the Brown CancerCenter, will offer free mammogram screenings to uninsured women over 40 years of age on Wednesday, May 10 from 8:30-3:30. They will also hold an educational discussion on menopause with a medical doctor at 3:00 after the screenings.
 

Junk Pick-Up
The next PickUp date for large trash is May 29. Remember to have your junk set out at your collecting point by 6 a.m. on the Monday of your collection week and no earlier than the Friday before your junk collection week.

Click here for this month's Meeting's Calendar

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Submit Journal contributions to the Editor:
Old Louisville Information Center
1340 S. Fourth St., Louisville, KY 40208.
Phone: (502) 635-5244
E-mail: olnc@bellsouth.net
Advertising rates available upon request.
Please submit “Letters to the Editor” to the above address.
The 15th of each month is deadline for submission of all ads and articles.

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