Nibby Priest -Life On Purpose

Living at Mile Marker 803.9 of the Ohio River in Downtown Henderson KY

Christmas 2010-Things to do in Henderson KY

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This week a former resident of Henderson KY sent me an email and asked me about things to do in Henderson Kentucky this coming weekend for fun and to revive memories of living here in the past. Here is a short list of things for her to do that I came up with:

1. Watch the Merchants Christmas Parade live. If you are unable to watch live from downtown Henderson KY- go to DowntownHenderson.org and watch live the online streaming broadcast. The parade starts at the Main Street Rail Road overpass and circles around the block. The whole parade usually lasts around 2 hours. I would like to see this parade in future years moved to evening hours.

2. Eat at Downtown Diner on 1st street. They have just recently renovated and have a nice new buffet.

3. Shop at Simon’s Fine Shoes and buy some Smartwool Socks. Your feet will never feel so good.

4. Visit Memories Past and Present – an antiques and gift shop located at 324 N Elm St in downtown Henderson with over 9000 square feet of display area. You surely will be able to find something there!

5. Have breakfast with Santa Clause at the St Paul’s Episcopal Church on Center Street from 8am till parade starts. This is a benefit for Riverview School which is also located in our downtown.

6. Check out the Historic Holiday Display at the Henderson County Welcome Center at the foot of 1st Street on the banks of the Ohio River.

7. Eat at the newly renovated Wolf’s Tavern & Restaurant at 31 N Green. They just reopened under new management and a new menu. They serve lunch and dinner 6 days a week and offer a menu with quite the variety of food.

8. Buy some Safari Sunset Tea from Third Street House at 307 Third St.

9. Check out the “Christmas in the Park” light display in Central Park downtown.

10. Drive by Colonial Court (at the beginning of North Main St) and see a cute little neighborhood all decorated and lighted up for the Christmas Holiday. Probably one of the most spectacular views in the Downtown Henderson area.

11. Eat some fried chicken at Bon Ton Mini Mart 2036 Madison St Henderson KY.

12. Watch a movie at our NEW Movie Theater Showplace Cinema on US 41 North.

13. Hike the Trails at Audubon State Park then eat at Gene’s Restaurant.

14. Attend the Alice P Taylor Concert Sunday afternoon, December 5, 2010, at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church.

15. Spend the night in Henderson KY’s premier bed and breakfast The L&N Bed and Breakfast Ltd.

16. Check out my Peace Themed light display at my home 330 N Water St, Henderson KY

What would you be adding to this list?

47 years selling and repairing Jewelry in Downtown Henderson KY

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Louise Mattingly (AKA Hat Lady) is retiring today from Campbell’s Jeweler.

She has worked there for over 47 years and is 84 years old.

What a career of selling and repairing jewelry for the folks in Henderson KY.

Campbell Jeweler has been in operation in downtown Henderson KY since 1962.

Louise is often called Mrs. Campbell.  Her almost instant reply is “oh I’m not– my husband Bill had hair!”  Louise is known for her fine fashions and impeccable style and wit.  She will be missed in downtown.

A reception is being held in her honor today at Campbell’s Jeweler from 10 am till 4 pm.

What is your favorite story about Louise?

Halloween Memories: Weak Kool-Aid, Reese Cups & Church Fortune Tellers

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This blog post is adapted from the children’s moment at my church Community Baptist Church today.

Memories are a wonderful thing. What are some memories you have of Halloween and growing up?

One of the nice things about getting older is that you have better memories than when you did when you are young.

One of my memories that I have of Halloween Parties of the past was at my growing up church. We would play games, wear costumes and ingest lots of weak Kool-Aid and Reese Cups.

These parties would take place in the church basement or social hall now known as the “youth room”. My growing up church is in downtown Henderson KY  it is a very old church. One thing is for sure sometimes you would hear strange noises or feel like someone was around, and they were not. I think it was the friendly Holy Ghost. The floors would creek and the place even smells old.

Two things that I remember most about the Halloween parties were the spook house and the fortune teller.

We would convert the church social hall into a fun Halloween experience. The haunted hallway was converted into a spook house. We would take cooked spaghetti and refrigerate it and have people stick their hands in it and tell them it was human brains. We would take grapes and freeze them and tell people that it was eyeballs- all things that gave people a scare. It was a fun experience putting the haunted house together. It was a memory.

In another closet off of the social hall we had a fortune teller setup. The fortune teller was good she dressed up nice had a Chrystal ball, a deck of cards and everything. She would invite people into the hall closet and tell them of this incredible future they had. I had to try out the fortune teller many times because she told me of so many good things that were going to happen to me, I just couldn’t resist.

My fellow friends enjoyed it too and would go back multiple times. It became so interesting that the adults starting going in the closet to have their fortune told. Yes, this was taking place in the basement of the First Baptist Church.

The lady who was fortune teller was Mrs. Mary Bullard. She was quite a stitch of a lady. Us kids really loved her. She was a school teacher and a music lover. Her daughter Jeannie was the church organist for many years and her husband JC ran the sound system for the church. She went with us on many church music camps and always kept us entertained with many of her bigger than life stories.

The next year Halloween rolled around, we had another party at the church. Since Fortune Teller Mrs. Bullard was such a hit she was asked back and again the adults enjoyed her prognostications as well. She told one lady she was going to have a baby- she did a few months later. She told another she was going to get married- she did a few months later. At that point, I think the fortune teller character at the church Halloween parties was axed for future years.

We all know that “immortal invisible, God is only wise” and only God knows our future. What we do know are that God’s people (like Mrs. Bullard) can create for us memories that help God live in our lives.

Mrs. Bullard died in October 8, 1990 but her memories of love and care for us kids live on today.

Mrs. Bullard taught many of the young musician programs at the church. During those programs, we learned many songs I still remember today that tell me bible stories and lessons Jesus taught.  She created for me memories.

How many attended bible studies this morning at 9:45 a.m. (or as we used to call it Sunday School)? If you didn’t I encourage you to remind your responsible adults to get to church each Sunday early so you can attend and make memories like I did when I was your age.

I will tell you another short story that I heard this week. Someone said that they missed going to church for about six weeks this summer and when they came back nobody missed them.

This is another reason we need to be a part of bible study/Sunday school or small groups. When we are in smaller groups and meet regularly like we do each Sunday here at Community Baptist Church  it makes it easier for all of us to check on those that are missing.

15 Reasons I like Henderson KY County Public Library

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  1. You can research the archives of the Henderson KY newspaper The Gleaner.
  2. I can walk or ride my bicycle to the Henderson County Public Library. Truly a benefit to living in the downtown community.
  3. They have a nice place for me to park my Electra Townie Bicycle.  Soon to have a designer bicycle rack.
  4. They maintain an extensive database for Obituaries of people who have died and have a connection to Henderson KY.
  5. They have a wide selection of DVD, CD, Audio Books that Henderson County KY residents can check out.
  6. They have a nice website at www.hcpl.org.
  7. The staff is very friendly and giving.
  8. They offer free computer classes.
  9. They have free and open Wi-Fi.
  10. They have a nice meeting room for just about any kind of meeting and guess what — its FREE too!
  11. They have some of the most prestigious art exhibits in downtown Henderson KY.
  12. The building and bathrooms are very clean. Mr Don Wathen, chief librarian and director is a neat freak too!
  13. They have a mobile wireless computer lab that is excellent for training.  Businesses in Henderson KY can even arrange to use the mobile computer lab inside the library.
  14. They help people in our Henderson KY community that are down on their luck and have little means by providing  computers and internet access for those that don’t have or cannot afford.
  15. They host seminars to help people find jobs, buy homes and just learn more and become better people.

Books and libraries are not dead they are just evolving.   Seth Godin says it best in his blog “The Future of the Library”.

I’m so proud of HCPL.org and their initiative to “train people to take the intellectual initiative”.

When was the last time you visited the Henderson County Public Library ?