LAWRENCE COUNTY TOURISM; HARVEST TOUR WAS ‘BIG SUCCESS’
By Susan Salyer
The Lawrence County Tourism Commission had a Regular Meeting on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025 at the Fred M Vinson Museum, 315 Madison Street, Second Floor, Louisa, Kentucky 41230 at 5:30PM. Tourism Commissioner Wes Kingsmore was in attendance along with commission members Susie Chambers, Chris Jobe, Debbie Hill, Christy Moore, Brenda Hardwick. Also attending were special volunteers Johnda Barker and Kate Cecil.
CMH 23
‘Country Music Highway 23’ reps were to be the Special Guests for the Tourism Meeting but they didn’t show up for the meeting. Kingsmore had spoken to one of the members of the group three weeks ago and that he mostly got an “advertising pitch”.
‘ROCKTOBER’ UPDATE
The Rocktober rocks can be found wherever you least expect in the county. There are still 17 rocks that haven’t been found. 8 rocks have been turned in to Brenda Hardwick at the Big Sandy News. So get out there and search high and low for the rocks and turn them in to get a prize of $50.
HARVEST TOUR UPDATE
The Harvest Tour was a great success according to Wes Kingsmore and Chris Jobe who made all the stops but one. There was food and fun at each stop, Jobe said. Everyone had a great day and the weather was perfect for this year’s Harvest Tour.
APPROVED MINUTES
The Minutes were unanimously approved with a Motion by Brenda Hardwick and second by Debbie Hill.
FINANCIAL REPORT
The Financial Report was unanimously approved with a Motion by Susie Chambers and seconded by Christy Moore.
THIRD ANNUAL TRAIL DAYS
The Third Annual Trail Days will be on November 15, 16 and November 17 is Kids Day. Trail Days gives everyone an opportunity to go walk the trails. (Depending on the weather Kids Day may be moved.)
THANKSGIVING TURKEY TROT
The Thanksgiving Turkey Trot will be on November 27, 2025 this year. The Turkey Trot is a 5K. Everyone is welcome to attend this early morning walk/run.
CHRISTMAS DONATION TO CITY OF LOUISA
The Lawrence County Tourism donated $3000 to the City of Louisa to help with the Christmas decorations all through town. Tourism also made a donation last year and everything purchased has been stored and can be used this year. Every year they add more to the decorations. Motion by Chris Jobe and second by Christy Moore. None Opposed.
AGENDA
- Opening Prayer
- Call to Order
- Special Guests – CMH 23 (Country Music Highway) The Special Guests did not attend.
Old Business
- Rocktober Update
- 2025 Harvest Tour Update
- Minutes to Approve for September Meeting – Motion by Brenda Hardwick 2nd by Debbie Hill. None Opposed.
- Approval of September Financial Report – Motion by Susie Chambers 2nd by Christy Moore. None Opposed.
New Business
- Third Annual Trail Days —Nov. 15, 16 and Nov. 17 is Kid’s Day
- Thanksgiving Turkey Trot- Nov. 27
- Christmas Donation to City of Louisa – Motion by Chris Jobe 2nd by Christy Moore. None Opposed.
- Adjourn – Motion by Chris Jobe 2nd by Susie Chambers.
###
Lawrence County Tourism Meeting Minutes, September 15, 2025
Prepared by: Susie Chambers, Secretary
The Lawrence County Tourism Commission met on Monday, September 15, 2025 at 5:30 pm at the Fred Vinson Tourism Office. Members in attendance were Wes Kingsmore, Brenda Hardwick, Chris Jobe, Debbie Hill, Christy Moore and Susie Chambers. IT committee member Kate Cecil was there as well as Johnda Barker with Ky Tourism Services and Susan Salyer with the Levisa Lazer. James Ellis was there as a guest.
Wes called the meeting to order and gave the opening prayer. He asked James to speak before we started our business meeting. James presented an idea to our members of doing an old time radio hour at the Garden Theater as a podcast using local talent. We were receptive to this idea so he will gather more information and come back to present to the board at a later meeting.
The minutes of the August meeting were read and approved with a motion by Brenda and a second by Christy. All in favor. The financial report was given showing a balance of $13,088.05. Susie made a motion to accept with a second by Debbie. All in favor.
Old Business- Our ARPA grant is finished. We will transfer the $26.95 left in the account to our general fund and close out this account. Chris made a motion for this transfer with a second by Susie. All in favor.
New Business- A. Harvest Moon Gala is Thursday, September 25th. With a motion by Christy and a second by Brenda we voted to spend up to $1,000.00 for this event. All in favor.
B. Farm and Field Day is September 26 at Fallsburg Creekside Cabins. C. Harvest Tour is September 27. We are a sponsor of this event. D. The Halloween trail ride at Wilderness Park in October and a Santa’s Elevator at Christmas will be put together by the county and A Ray of Hope charity. Tourism voted to donate a total of $1,000.00 for these events, (500 per event). A motion was made by Brenda with a second by Christy. All in favor. E. Thanksgiving Turkey Trot is on November 27 at 8:00 am. F. Wes would like to put together an event at the Garden Theater on Black Friday. We will discuss this further.
After our business was completed Christy made a motion to adjourn with a second by Brenda.
All in favor.
Our next regularly scheduled meeting will be on Monday, October 20, 2025.
######
The next Regular Scheduled Monthly Meeting will be held on Monday November 17, 2025 at 5:30PM at the Fred M. Vinson.
