Kentucky Derby Hat

The Governor's Derby Breakfast has been the highlight of Frankfort, KY for 34 years on Derby Day.  To some, it is as much of a tradition as the Kentucky Derby itself.  To others, it's breakfast and then off to the races at Churchill Downs in Louisiville to enjoy the excitement of the Kentucky Derby! ... [Read More]

KY Unbridled Spirit Newsletter
If you spent any time at Churchill Downs around Derby time, chances are you saw “Unbridled Spirit” merchandise. Governor Ernie Fletcher passed out hats to guests during his visits to the track. Out-of-town dignitaries received shirts, hats, key chains and other merchandise that carried the increasingly popular brand. More... ...

The numbers are staggering.  Millions upon millions. When calculating how many people saw Kentucky’s “Unbridled Spirit” brand during the Kentucky Derby, the figures add up quickly. The NBC Kentucky Derby telecast alone reached more than 16.1 million viewers , and that's just for starters. More ... ... [Read More]

Joseph Fitzpatrick 2
I like hats. They are protective; they are warm in winter, keep off rain in spring and sun in summer. And hats in a still life do something apples and oranges don't do; hats suggest an intimacy with a human owner, momentarily off-stage; and references to hats abound in our culture and language; i.e., "Keep that under your hat," "My hat's in the ring," "As black as a hat," etc. ...

But such pleasant uses and associations are insufficient motives for making a drawing or painting. Hats have interesting shapes that also create more interesting shapes in shadows and in background. These attractive visual possibilities are especially present in my favorite hat, the derby, which has its own resonance with our world-famous sporting event on the first Saturday every May. ... [Read More]

At Home in Kentucky
Daniel Boone was a North Carolina-born woodsman brilliant at his craft, possessing, in our terms, a photographic memory and posi-tioning-satcllite-like ability to know exactly where he was. Cagey, optimistic, a born inspirer, he blazed a path into what he termed a "second paradise." Then in 1775 he led followers over his trail, through rocky outcrops, fields of stumps, creeks, great forests. His wife and daughter were the first white women ever to see Kentucky, the outline of which (alike to a camel lying down, wrote Paducah's once-famous humorist Irvin S. Cobb) he described with astonishing accuracy. I got out of my car to stand where his voyagers first glimpsed Cumberland Gap. What they saw, Boone's people! The great towering stone-faced heights are as tall as skyscrapers and so forbidding that even Boone termed them "impossible to behold without terror." Of course my car, like yours, has air-conditioning and heat, and of course we don't go to bed and tremble at ... [Read More]

Kentucky Library News Digest - Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives
Community Calendar: Week of May 8 (Kenton County Public Library programs: 1) In ANTicipation of Summer - Why Not Read? Mary Ann Mongan Library. Children ages 2 through 12 are invited to participate in this mini reading club during the month of May.; 2) Quilting. Independence Branch. Instructors will teach basic quilting techniques while participants create a quilt block.; 3)Weird Wednesdays: Recycled Crafts. Independence Branch. Come join us to make CD holders, safety pin jewelry, duct tape crafts, homemade books and more. For fourth through eighth grades.; 4) Home's Cool: Weird Science. Mary Ann Mongan Library.Make slime, have a "gross" snack and explore other strange experiments. For homeschoolers in kindergarten through sixth grade.; 5) Amazing Origami. Mary Ann Mongan Library. Instructor Jonathan Heart can teach anyone to make impressive and cool origami creations. The multi-piece models you'll learn to make will amaze everyone. For ages 12 to 17.; 6) Follow the Yellow B ... [Read More]

Governor's Photo Gallery
Gov. Paul Patton, Willard Scott, the Derby Festival Board Chair and Derby Princesses ...

Governor Patton presents 129th Kentucky Derby Trophy to Jackson Knowlton, owner of 2003 Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide ...

The Governor and First Lady arrive at the Derby via the Derby Train ... [Read More]

AFDC - Alternative Fuel News
The conference officially started, appropriately, with the "Call to the Post" from the official Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs Bugler, dressed in the traditional black hat and long red coat. The keynotes, panel presentations, and table talk sessions that followed provided conference attendees with a look back at the successes of the first 5 years of the Clean Cities Program, and a preview of the opportunities ahead, as Clean Cities coalitions "race to new markets" in the new millennium. Just a couple of blocks away from the Seelbach Hilton was the Louisville Gardens Arena, which housed the Clean Cities conference exhibits. Attendees passed through the doors of the gardens into an alternative fuel information extravaganza-from automakers and equipment manufacturers to fuel suppliers and industry resources. ... [Read More]

Governor's Photo Gallery
GovernorPaul Patton talks to a reporter about his wooden Derby hat ...

TheGovernor and First Lady arrive at the Derby via the Derby Train ...

Gov. Paul Patton, Willard Scott, the Derby Festival Board Chair and Derby Princesses ... [Read More]

Kentucky First Lady: Glenna Fletcher - Derby Brkfst Pic 1
But there's also more than just breakfast being served in Frankfort on Derby Day.  There's hot air balloon rides, craft exhibits from Kentucky artists and the most popular Derby Breakfast tradition - a Derby hat making booth!  Fun and excitement for everyone! ...

The Governor's Derby Breakfast has been the highlight of Frankfort, KY for 34 years on Derby Day.  To some, it is as much of a tradition as the Kentucky Derby itself.  To others, it's breakfast and then off to the races at Churchill Downs in Louisiville to enjoy the excitement of the Kentucky Derby! ... [Read More]