The Midway City Council approved several permits setting the schedule
for the city’s community events calendar that is organized and hosted by
the Midway Merchants Association and other groups.
The Thoroughbred Trot Race, a fundraiser for Northside Elementary, will
be held April 21. The Race Rise 5 and 10K, which is a fundraiser for the
purchase of dolls for girls as Christmas gifts, will be May 4.
The Midway Merchants’ events will be: Block Parties on May 25, July 27
and Aug. 24; the Bourbon and Blues Festival will only be one day this
year, June 8; the 50th annual Midway Fall Festival will be Sept. 21 and
22; the Thriller Parade has been moved back to a Saturday and will be
held Oct. 19; Holiday Kickoff will be Nov. 2; and the 75th annual
arrival of Santa by train will be Nov. 30. The council approved all
necessary permits.
Versailles City Councilmember Laura Dake, co-chair of the Livable
Woodford committee, gave an update on the project to the council.
Livable Woodford is a county-wide initiative to create age- friendly
communities.
“By making a community friendly to seniors it has the direct effect of
significantly improving the quality of life for everyone,” said Dake
The Livable Community designation is part of a global effort
administered in the U.S. by AARP, which was developed by the World
Health Organization. Woodford County is the 587th community nationally
to earn the designation.
Dake made it clear that Midway City Council and its residents are
stakeholders in the project and the committee membership includes
councilmembers Sara Hicks and Sarah Rowe of Homeplace. “We want this
council to continue to be supportive, to be cheerleaders,” she said.
She said the committee is in the midst of a three-year action plan and
will continue to update the council on new programs with data-driven
measurements. Dake pointed to the successes of the program already in
place, including new “conversation” benches, the Woodford Wheels program
and a detailed survey that has generated valuable data to help guide the
committee as it continues its work.
The council approved the “goals and objectives” for the county’s
Comprehensive Plan that had been proposed by the
Midway-Versailles-Woodford County Planning Commission.
“This is just the beginning,” said Mayor Stacy Thurman. “The committee
will move very slowly as it gets into the details of the plan.”
Councilmember Dee Mason announced the Midway Museum will be holding an
event in late February to open an exhibition as part of Black History
Month. The date has not yet been determined.