No Title 2068
Co-ops offering college scholarships
Guest Opinion: Memories in the Wind
Energy Efficiency Tip of the Month
Electricity use predicted to slow
Copper theft causes outages, deaths
Co-ops offering college scholarships
Women in Rural Electrification (Kentucky W.I.R.E.) is taking applications for $1,000 scholarships. The scholarships are open to any eligible student whose family is served by a Kentucky electric cooperative and has at least 60 hours of credits at a Kentucky college or university by the start of the fall term. W.I.R.E. will award three scholarships. The deadline for application is June 19, 2009. For an application form, go to www.kaec.org and click on the link at the bottom of the New Info box, or call your local electric cooperative or the Kentucky Living office.
Judy McGee, an artist from Elizabethtown, works on a street drawing of the Ice Queen from The Chronicles of Narnia as her contribution to last year�s Via Colori benefit in Bardstown. The 2nd Annual Bardstown Via Colori takes place on Xavier Drive on the Spalding Hall Lawn on June 27 and 28 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. More than 50 artists from the region will participate in the event that is free and open to the public. A lineup of musicians and other entertainers will perform throughout the festival. The event raises money through business sponsorship of the artists. Funds will benefit the Advocacy & Support Center, a Rape Crisis Center and Children�s Advocacy Center covering the eight counties of the Lincoln Trail Area Development District. If it rains Via Colori will be rescheduled to July 10 and 11. More information, including driving directions and parking advice, is available at www.viacolori.com by clicking on the �Bardstown� link. Photo: Kristy McGrew
Guest Opinion: Memories in the Wind
by Julia Hewitt Hand
I have always lived in southern states and currently reside in Florida, but am a Kentucky girl at heart.
A close friend of mine in Kentucky recently lost her mother. Extending expressions of sympathy when a loved one is lost has always been difficult for me. I have been known to take the avoidance route if at all possible. Once, a very close friend lost her father and I did not shorten my family vacation by one day to attend his memorial service. I still regret that choice.
Due to my advancing age and the accumulation of friends in many states, I am learning bereavement customs from different regions of our country. Differences range from the attire that is worn by funeral attendees to the formality of the funeral procession. Attendance at funerals often resembles a social event�an opportunity to congregate with folks seldom seen, but never forgotten.
In the past, I have ordered a live plant and asked that it be reserved for a family member to take home after the service. In response to my Kentucky friend�s recent loss, I contacted a florist in Corbin to order an appropriate remembrance. I asked the florist to give me an idea of their stock items for funerals and was taken aback when she mentioned �keepsake bereavement gifts,� including floral arrangements, living plants, tapestry blankets and throws, picture frames, sun-catchers, and wind chimes.
Wind chimes?
This concept, while foreign to me, was very touching.
I learned it is a popular custom in Kentucky to send memorial tributes that can be taken home and enjoyed long after a funeral is over. Sometimes a wind chime is left on a shepherd�s hook at the cemetery to greet future visitors. I immediately recognized that such tokens would not only give comfort to those attending the funeral, but also would provide a lasting tribute to the loved one who passed away.
I ordered a wind chime and designated that it should go to my friend after the funeral. I hope that each time she feels a breeze and hears the soft tones of that special chime, like a whisper from heaven, she will not only remember the times shared with her mother, but also our friendship.
Shortly after this loss, I had the occasion to attend a funeral in Florida. I called many florists and gift shops to find a bereavement wind chime. I had no luck. On my next trip to Kentucky, I plan to purchase a few sets of memorial chimes to keep at hand, and when called upon I will be able to share a meaningful Kentucky custom.
Julia Hewitt Hand is a native of Florida with family roots in Kentucky. She hopes to retire with her husband to their second home in Nancy near Lake Cumberland.
A one-of-a-kind collection of hand-crafted arts and crafts will come to Somerset when artisans from southern and eastern Kentucky converge on The Center for Rural Development on June 27-28 for the third annual Kentucky Appalachian Craft Fair.
The event will showcase original pieces of arts and crafts unique to the region and produced by juried artists and crafters from 10 regional craft organizations comprising the Kentucky Appalachian Craft Council.
Last year�s event drew more than 1,000 visitors from 11 states to view works created by nearly 50 exhibitors.
The Center is located at 2292 South U.S. 27 in Somerset. Daily admission to the Kentucky Appalachian Craft Fair is $3 a person.
For more information contact Pat Bradley at (606) 677-6000, e-mail at pbradley@centertech.com.
Energy Efficiency Tip of the Month
When washing clothes, use less water by running full loads. In addition, approximately 80 percent of the energy used by washing machines heats water, so by using cold water and cold-water detergents you can cut a load�s energy use in half.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy
Hot rod and vintage drag race fans are rolling back to Bowling Green for the 7th annual Holley National Hot Rod Reunion at Beech Bend Raceway June 19-21. Last year marked the start of the Museum and Beech Bend�s five-year partnership to bring long-term stability to the event. Darrell Gwynn, one of the NHRA�s all-time Top 50 drivers, has been selected as the event�s Grand Marshal. Honorees for the event include Jerry Baltes, Amy Faulk, Chuck Nelson, Bob Creitz, and Vance Hunt. The Justice Brothers Reunion Spotlight falls on the team of Stone, Woods & Cook and their �41 Willys gasser, voted Favorite Race Car Ever. Tickets are available online at http://store.nhra.com, click on the link �NHRR Holley Spectator Admission,� or call for tickets at (800) 884-6472.
This month you can dive into the Great American Brass Band Festival and the Festival of the Bluegrass, both celebrating years of incredible music and old-fashioned fun.
The 20th Annual Great American Brass Band Festival takes place in Danville on June 11-14. In addition to the world�s best brass band musicians playing a wide variety of music, including popular standards and patriotic tunes on three stages, event highlights include a Chautauqua Tea and Presentation, Bourbon and Brass Tasting Event, the Great American Balloon Race, the 5K Run for the Brass Race, and the Main Street Parade.
The Great American Picnic, the musical highlight of the Brass Band festival, takes place Saturday evening from 5-11 p.m. on the main stage at Centre College. Picnic table patrons decorate their tables in elaborate and colorful themes while fans bring lawn chairs for an evening of brass music under the stars. You can bring your own picnic basket or visit the food vendors. For more on the Brass Band festival visit the Internet site www.gabbf.org.
The 36th Annual Festival of the Bluegrass, June 11-14, held on the grounds of the Kentucky Horse Park Campground outside Lexington, offers some of the country�s best bluegrass musicians. In addition to the featured bands on the main stage, there are also two stages featuring homegrown talent along with some outstanding young musicians, a music camp, and a campground cook-off.
The 2009 Main Stage will feature The Grascals, Lonesome River Band, J.D. Crowe & the New South, IIIrd Tyme Out, Blue Highway, the Lewis Family, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Seldom Scene, Monroe Crossing, Mountain Heart, and Dry Branch Fire Squad.
More information available at www.festivalofthebluegrass.com.
Electricity use predicted to slow
Higher prices and increased efficiency should cause the growth in electricity demand to slow during the next two decades, but not enough to halt a rise in prices, according to the U.S. Department of Energy�s Energy Information Administration.
The agency�s Annual Energy Outlook 2009 forecasts that growth in electricity use nationally will slow to about 1 percent annually from 2007 to 2030. That�s down from last year�s projection of 1.1 percent. Average annual growth in electricity use was 1.6 percent from 2000 to 2006 and 2.6 percent from 1995 to 2000.
Reasons cited for the slower growth include structural changes in the economy, higher prices, improved efficiency, and state and federal standards.
The outlook predicted that the nation�s average electricity cost will hit 15 cents a kilowatt-hour by 2030, up from a national average of just more than 9 cents in 2007.
For the first time in more than 20 years, the outlook projects virtually no growth in U.S. oil consumption, reflecting the effects of recently enacted mileage standards, requirements for increased use of renewable fuels, and an assumed rebound in oil prices as the world economy recovers.
Copper theft causes outages, deaths
In the past year, the theft of copper from electric utilities across the nation has:
� Taken place 18,400 times, including more than 7,900 thefts involving energized lines or equipment
� Resulted in 52 injuries, including 35 deaths
� Cost more than $20 million in the value of copper
� Cost more than $60 million in total impact, including repairs and replacing material
� Cost $26 million in theft-prevention measures such as fencing, security cameras, alarms, and guards
� Resulted in more than 7,600 hours in power outages.
Those figures resulted from a utility-sponsored study by the Electrical Safety Foundation International, an educational organization. The survey found thefts mainly occurred at substations, construction sites, pole yards, storage facilities, and from utility poles.
Find the best of Kentucky Living�s Kentucky Cooks columns in the new book by Linda Allison-Lewis, Kentucky Cooks: Favorite Recipes from Kentucky Living. Ten years after publication of her highly praised Kentucky�s Best: Fifty Years of Great Recipes (newly out in paperback), includes tales of mealtime mishaps and moving memories. Published by The University Press of Kentucky, the 220-page book sells for $24.95.
