Friday, March 27, 2015

Middlesboro is Headed to the 2015 National Main Streets Conference in Atlanta


Middlesboro will be well represented at the National Main Streets Conference in Atlanta from March 30 - April 2, 2015. We've been invited to participate in three sessions and to set up a pop-up in the Expo Hall. You can see the full conference program here.

Our Executive Director Isaac Kremer will be joined in Atlanta by Deidre Donahue, America Saves! Project Manager and Jeannie Redmond Allen, founder of The Palace. Wish these folks good luck as they set off for what is sure to be an exciting and educational experience for all involved!

Monday, March 30

  • 8:30am-9:45am. America Saves! In Action. Our Executive Director Isaac Kremer will be a panelist along with five other leaders who have been involved in the national pilot project for the America Saves initiative. We'll share our experience and show other communities how they can participate in this exciting program. 
  • 12:30pm-3pm. Tactical Urbanism Workshop. Reprising his role at past conferences, Isaac will lead an hands on workshop demonstrating 10 tactical interventions to restore downtown areas for $500 or less. He will be joined by Dr. Kateryna Goncharova with the Ukranian State Institute for Preservation of Historic and Architectural Sites, and Ryan Gravel from Perkins+Will. The interventions will then be put on display in the Expo Hall the next two days.
  • Mike Lydon participating in our first
    Better Block event, October 2013.
    Credit: Discover Downtown Middlesboro.

  • 1:00pm-1:45pm. People Power: Engaging Your Community Members. During this crash course Deidre Donahue, our Project Assistant for America Saves will be joined by two others to share how she worked with business owners to connect them with this important program.
Tuesday, March 31
  •  8:00am-6:00pm. Tactical Urbanism Pop-up at the Expo Hall. We'll take the interventions made during the workshop the previous day and put this on display. Items from our pop-up shop, The Palace, will be brought down and even available for sale. Conference goers are invited to drop by as little or as much as they want to explore these Tactical Urbanism concepts.
Wednesday, April 1
    • Wednesday, April 1, 8:00am-2:00pm. Tactical Urbanism Pop-up at the Expo Hall. On day 2 we'll be joined by Mike Lydon who will be signing copies of his new book Tactical Urbanism: Short-term Action for Long-term change.
    • Wednesday, April 1, 4:00pm-6:00pm. Closing Plenary. Mike Lydon will give the Closing Plenary address. In 2013 Mike visited Middlesboro for our first Better Block event. He's been a long time friend, follower, and supporter of our work. After his talk Mike will be on hand to sign copies of his book.

    We'll have copies of Tactical Urbanism available for sale. Track us down in Atlanta during one of our sessions or at the Expo Hall to get your copy.

    Wednesday, March 11, 2015

    Right Now Someone is Walking Towards Middlesboro - Help Us Follow This Epic Trek!

    Daniel Boone and over 200,000 settlers passed through the Cumberland Gap between 1775 and around 1812. 
    We're going to keep it simple and let Mr. Fox share his remarkable story in his own words. If you see him while on the trip wave hello and give some encouragement. Better yet, take a picture and share it on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #BooneTrace2015. That way we can keep up on the progress.

    Mr. Fox should pass through Middlesboro around noon on March 16. Some re-enactors from the Park will be walking with him over the Gap and then gathering in the Visitors Center. Then he will proceed with walking through Middlesboro and northward in the footsteps of Daniel Boone. How cool is that?

    The Trail Is Calling…
    Or How I Wound Up On The Boone Trace
    in the Footsteps of Daniel Boone
    by
    Givan Fox
      
    The author, MacArthur Givan Fox has a resume that includes a degree in psychology and experience as a Black Hawk helicopter medic in Afghanistan.  He is the son of Doctor John Fox, President of the Friends of Boone Trace. “This is a guy who can take you apart mentally and put you back together physically—a good combination to have on a 200 mile expedition.  Givan will be joining me for the Kentucky portion, writes Curtis Penix, lead hiker of the Boone Trace expedition.


    have loved being outdoors since I was a child. I spent almost all my free time playing in the woods of Kentucky.  As an adult, the jobs that I have enjoyed the most have taken me outdoors in some fashion or another.  From running a camp for At Risk children in the Michigan woods, to working on the side of the mountain for the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, CO, to the many places that the Army National Guard has taken me, I believe even more strongly now than ever before, any day outdoors is a better day than any other.
    During college I had the opportunity to hike most of the Virginia sections of the Appalachian Trail, and I grew to more deeply appreciate backpacking.  The ability to move far, through remote areas, carrying all that I needed to live, was a challenge that I greatly enjoyed. Through the years, I have backpacked trails not just in Virginia, but also in Michigan, Kentucky, Illinois, South Dakota and Ireland.  Just over a decade ago, I moved to Colorado to be in the mountains that I had read about and seen pictures of for so many years.  Since then, my love for the outdoors has only grown.  I have found healing from life’s hurts and a better understanding of myself in the middle of nowhere.

    Shortly after my first deployment to Afghanistan in 2011, John Fox, my father, shared his growing passion for Boone Trace or “That Little Road,” as he has taken to calling it. As we were traveling along the back roads of Kentucky, I began to think about backpacking the route from Martin’s Station, Virginia to Fort Boonesborough.  How amazing that would be to walk in the footsteps of Daniel Boone and his men and at least two women!  To understand the challenges and hardships with the terrain, weather, animals and native people, even if in only a small degree, I felt would better enable my father and me to find other sections that might have been blurred by subsequent development.

    I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind as a second deployment came into my world.  I would get to fulfill one of my Army dreams, that of being a flight medic and do the job for real in Afghanistan.  It can be difficult when the reality of our dreams does not match the hopes and expectations that we have.  Needless to say, it was one of the most frustrating and challenging years of my life.  I love doing the job, but I found that I could no longer align myself with the organization that allowed me to do that mission.

    Somewhere in the midst of the pain and frustration, my dad said he had talked to a guy named Curtis who had an ancestor who had traveled “That Little Road” and been at Fort Boonesborough and he wanted to hike Boone Trace in its entirety.  The desire to be outdoors and on the trail came back in an instant.  I began to seriously consider the idea that I would take this walk.

    It turned out to not be a difficult decision at all.  Having helped my father find what we thought was one small section on my first exposure to the Trace and another section on a later visit just before my second deployment, I couldn’t conceive of not being involved in this expedition.  I can truly understand the way this trail gets into your mind; under your skin, and you want to find and see it all.  Dad always said there is something almost electric when you are on “That Little Road.”  Having experienced it for myself, I want to see it through, from south to north.

    On an even more personal level, I want to complete this expedition for my father since he cannot do it himself.  The minor concerns of health issues and advancing age are the only things standing in his way.  I know that he will be with us in spirit with each step and physically supporting us with resupply, guidance and smoothing the way through private properties.  His unflinching work to preserve Boone Trace deserves nothing less than my exertion to walk “That Little Road.”

    This expedition began as a simple route finding trip.  The major challenge, I thought, would be to try to walk as closely as was possible and reasonable to Daniel Boone’s original Trace.  While I still believe this will be a major challenge, I see now that this will not be enough.  The bigger challenge will be to raise awareness of the need to preserve Boone Trace and share the compelling story of Curtis and his ancestor in the founding of Kentucky and the nation’s western expansion.  I feel deeply moved by the level of interest and excitement that has grown as people have become aware of the Trace and what Curtis and I are attempting.  What I thought would be a simple walk in the woods has turned into something far more monumental.

    I feel very privileged to be a part of this expedition, to be making history the way we are, and hopefully to help preserve this amazing piece of history, and, I am especially privileged to be Curtis’ hiking partner on the trail.  On one hand, I feel almost as if I fell into this whole experience without realizing what it really meant.  But when I think about it, I whole-heartedly believe that my military training and experience, my medical background, and my impassioned history with the outdoors have, somehow, all led me to this point.  There is no other place I could be than on “That Little Road” next to Curtis.

    To paraphrase the words of John Muir, “The trail is calling and I must go!”

    Tuesday, March 3, 2015

    Help Us Build Community Through Free Live Music in Middlesboro, Kentucky!




    Middlesboro, Kentucky, is thrilled to be one of ten communities nationally to win the Levitt AMP [Your City] Contest. From the hundreds of votes cast there were no fewer than 60 businesses and organizations with people who cast at least one vote. 

    As excited as we are about this win, we still have a long way to go to make these concerts a reality. Here is how you can help:
    1. Make a donation today. In order to get the full $25,000 grant from the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation we need to raise $7,500 more to meet our matching requirements. For every dollar you give we are able to bring in $4 more. Please give generously today at: http://power2give.org/go/p/8913
    2. Volunteer and/or make suggestions for acts. You can quickly and easily do this today! http://goo.gl/forms/WVVQmFDdcs.
    3. Become a sponsor. Are you an owner of one of the 60 organizations and businesses that voted? Or do you represent a group that would benefit from getting exposure through this signature event? If so, please consider becoming a sponsor. Giving levels and benefits follow:
      1. Title Sponsor. For those who give $1,000 or more, they will receive top billing in all promotional materials. All other benefits also apply.
      2. Supporting Sponsor. For those who give $500 or more, their name will be placed on our website and in promotional materials for the event. All benefits at lower levels apply.
      3. Patron. For donors who give $250 or more, public recognition will be given during the Levitt event and press releases to follow. Two passes will be provided to VIP meet-and-greet events with musicians prior to each concert.
      4. Friend. For donors who give any other amount, they will receive invitations to a donor recognition party on the evening of Thursday, October 15, 2015.
    Lastly, if you want to learn a little bit more about our organization and our many active projects, please consider attending the Discover Downtown Middlesboro Annual Meeting on March 12, at 6pm. Location will be at our pop-up shop, The Palace, located at 2008 Cumberland Ave in downtown Middlesboro.