Tourism board, Main Street Manager ditch Octoberfest

Members of the Corbin Tourist and Convention Commission, at the urging of the town’s Main Street Manager, agreed to discontinue funding for the annual Octoberfest in favor of helping to get the newly formed "Moonbow Nights" events off and running.

During its monthly meeting last Thursday, Main Street Manager Sharae Myers suggested using $7,500 Tourism budgeted for Octoberfest for Moonbow Nights after noting that the last two Octoberfest events had been met with lackluster enthusiasm.

Board member Betty Comer said she, Maggie J’s clothing store owner Maxine VonGruenigan and Lorraine Hodge helped launch Octoberfest and that "it was a huge success" for 13 years, with little to no financial backing behind it. It was traditionally held the Monday after the Daniel Boone Festival – an annual event held in Barbourville the first full week of October since 1948.

Myers took over planning of Octoberfest in 2007 and made it a two-day festival, coinciding with the Daniel Boone Festival.

"When we did it, it was a one-day even and people loved it," Comer said. "We would get all the craft people from the Daniel Boone Festival to come down here the Monday after and they really liked to do that. We didn’t charge them anything for space so they would come. We always had a large turnout. Moving it to the weekend just didn’t work and I hate that we are not going to have it anymore."

Comer said Octoberfest, which is normally held in NIBROC Park, likely won’t happen at all now.

Moonbow Nights, the product of collaboration between downtown merchants, was formed as a way to take advantage of the regular Moonbow viewing periods at Cumberland Falls. The Falls is the only site with a regularly occurring moonbow on earth. Merchants hold sidewalk sales, art exhibits, provide live music, coffee tastings, cooking demonstrations and other events.

Board Chairman Steve McBurney suggested taking $3,500 of the $7,500 budgeted for Octoberfest and using it to decorate downtown. The rest could be given to Moonbow Nights.

But Myers said the remaining $4,000 would not be enough to launch an effective advertising campaign to promote the event. She said the merchants were only able to pool together about $450 at the first Moonbow Nights in early June for advertising and promotion.

Tourism agreed to give $6,000 for advertising and promotion for the next three Moonbow Nights events. The next one will happen Sept. 5.

Board member Susie Razmus spoke strongly in favor of Moonbow Nights saying it was time for the town to start capitalizing on its relationship with Cumberland Falls State Resort Park.

Board members set aside an additional $3,500 to go toward downtown decorations.

In other business, the commission:

¥ Presented Corbin Mayor Willard McBurney with a check for $224,000 for decorative lights to be installed in downtown Corbin.

¥ Approved $25,000 to the Chamber of Commerce as sponsorship for this year’s NIBROC Festival.

¥ Approved $5,000 to sponsor Tour SEKY’s fall forum. McBurney suggested a $3,500 sponsorship, but Razmus said she felt as if that was too little. The board unanimously approved the increased amount.

¥ Approved a $10,000 for the Fine Arts Association of Southeastern Kentucky, Inc. The money will be used to sponsor two events for the organization during its annual Concert Series.

¥ Approved a $2,500 for the Downtown Merchants Association to fund Christmas Open House.

¥ Approved the purchase of light bulbs to replace old ones in the towns Christmas decorations.

¥ Approved $1,000 to sponsor the Cumberland Falls Lady Redhounds Tournament.

¥ Briefly discussed revamping the group’s Internet web site. McBurney said the current site has some deficiencies and that the board would talk more about it next month. The website can be found online at www.corbinkytourism.com.