W’burg bicentennial committee looking for some pageant winners

If you are a former local beauty queen, then there is a good chance the Williamsburg Bicentennial Committee is looking for you for its “20 Decades of Williamsburg Parade.”

During a planning meeting Thursday, Mayor Roddy Harrison announced that organizers came up with the idea for a “20 Decades of Queens” float or floats in the April 28 parade.

The committee is looking for former Miss Williamsburg Water Festival Pageant queens, Miss Whitley County Fair Pageant queens, and Corbin, Williamsburg or Whitley County High School homecoming queens.

They are also looking for homecoming queens from county high schools before Whitley County schools incorporated.

If you are one of those former queens and are interested in taking part in the parade, contact Kay Martin at (606) 765-0701 or Jayma Moore at (606) 523-8384.

Both are in charge of organizing the “20 Decades of Williamsburg Parade,” which will start at 4 p.m. on April 28.

There is an April 13 registration deadline for those wanting to enter floats in the parade.

Whitley County was founded in 1818 with Williamsburg as its county seat.

Williamsburg officials are concentrating their celebration in April because this is the month that Williamsburg was selected as the county seat 200 years ago.

“Our basic goal for this is for people to learn a little bit about Williamsburg and a little bit about Whitley County. We want them to see how things can be pulled together. If the kids learn something and people get together and have a good time, it is going to be a success,” Harrison noted.

Historical homes tour

Tickets for the April 21 Historical Homes Tour are $30 each and went on sale Tuesday at Williamsburg City Hall and the Williamsburg Tourism and Convention Center.

“I got $60 today from someone coming up from south Florida,” organizer Cissy Lunce noted Thursday.

Lunce added that she put an announcement about the historical homes tour on Facebook the other day, and got 30 messages from people wanting to know how to get tickets.

Organizers are still trying to figure out how they will get the tour participants from one location to another though.

The tour is tentatively scheduled to start at 11 a.m. on April 21.

Proceeds from the historical homes tour will be used to help pay for other bicentennial events in the city.

Another newly announced event that will coincide with the city’s bicentennial celebration is a benefit concert for the restoration of the Lane Theater, which will take place starting at 6 p.m. on April 21.

The band Tidal Wave Road will perform in the lobby of the Lane Theater, and there will be theater tours during the concert.

Ice cream social planning

Officials announced Thursday that planning for the April 14 ice cream social, which will include storytellers, music, games and the “20 Decades of Williamsburg Costume Contest,” is behind schedule, but now has new organizers. It is still expected to take place from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. on April 14 as planned.

Officials have no idea how many people will come out for the event.

“We could have 20 people or 500 or 2000,” Harrison said.

Bicentennial exhibits sought

Submissions are being accepted until 4:30 p.m. Friday for the Whitley County Fine Arts Bicentennial Exhibit “ARTifacts: 20 decades of Whitley County.”

Local residents are asked to submit artifacts that reflect the history and culture of Whitley County, such as handmade items, household items, farm tools, historic clothing, etc.

People are asked to bring a brief history or story about each item submitted.

“All submissions welcome, but not all will be selected. After receiving submissions, a panel of local jurors will review artifacts to curate an exhibit that creatively reflects our bicentennial theme and celebration,” Fine Arts Extension Agency Cortney Moses noted in a recent release.

There is a limit of no more than five artifacts per person, and no photographs will be accepted.

The exhibit’s opening reception will be on April 7 from 6-8 p.m. The exhibit will be on display until June 29 from 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday at the Whitley County Fine Arts Center, which is located off Main Street across the street from Williamsburg City Hall.

For more information about the exhibit, contact Moses at (606) 549-7373 or (606) 549-1430, or email her at cortney.moses@uky.edu.

Watch for a full-page ad highlighting all the city’s bicentennial events in the March 28 edition of the News Journal.