CATLETTSBURG — The Gate City’s annual Labor Day celebration will kick off Friday night with the dedication of the newly renovated Oakland Avenue Park.
Festivities will continue through the weekend and include some new additions to the traditional celebration, titled River to Rails this year.
The weekend will culminate, as it has for the last decade, with country music star George Jones performing in downtown Catlettsburg on Monday night. Jones has recorded 194 charted singles over his career, which spans nearly seven decades, more than any artist in any format in the history of recorded music.
The Labor Day festival is Catlettsburg’s signature annual event. It marks the traditional holiday but also serves as a sort of homecoming event for hundreds of Catlettsburg natives who flock to town each year to reminisce and reunite with old friends, according to organizers.
Gail Sammons, a member of the Catlettsburg Leadership Community Development Club, who has helped to organize the annual event since she graduated from high school, said the festival “is just something that everybody waits for when you get into summer.”
“We try to do something that people can come back and just mingle and mix and stand around and talk. It’s really more just a big party. It’s just celebrating the fact that we lived to see another year and you see old friends,” she said.
Catlettsburg Police Chief Mark Plummer, who also serves on the organizing committee, shared the same sentiment. “It’s basically a homecoming for the people who have moved away. They all plan on coming home for Labor Day,” he said.
According to Sammons in the last 10 years since Catlettsburg’s sesquicentennial celebration, the festival has spurred a wave of other projects aimed at restoring Catlettsburg. The floodwall murals, the restoration of the park and other improvements have all in part been inspired by the sesquicentennial, she said.
“That sort of really got the town started getting cleaned up. It just got the ball rolling, since then we’ve tried to do something every year,” she said.
CARRIE STAMBAUGH can be reached at cstambaugh@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.
Local News
Area festival celebrates laborers and town history
River to Rails to mark Lincoln’s 200th birthday
- Local News
-
-
Business touts better living
Yvette Pennington is a true believer in the power of living better as we live longer.
-
Police beat: 2/9/12
The following information was taken from Ashland Police Department reports:
-
Safe Harbor benefits from Shop and Share Day
Shop and Share Day brought a record number of donations to Safe Harbor of Northeast Kentucky.
-
Local briefs: 2/9/12
For the fifth year in a row, Susan G. Komen for the Cure has given the Southern Ohio Medical Center Cancer Center funding to support the Hands of Hope grant program.
-
Judge's ruling paralyzes General Assembly
Confusion reigns in the wake a judge’s ruling that state redistricting maps passed by the General Assembly are unconstitutional. That ruling says until the legislature offers a plan which meets constitutional muster, 2012 candidates for the legislature must run in the districts drawn 10 years ago.
-
10 most romantic hotels in the U.S.
Valentine’s Day will be here soon, and a romantic getaway may be just what the heart needs. TripAdvisor has released its list of the 10 most romantic hotels in the country, based on travelers’ reviews about the beautiful scenery, friendly staffs and romantic amenities like hot tubs and fireplaces.
-
Search for new ACTC president to begin soon
A national search will begin soon to replace Ashland Community and Technical College President Gregory D. Adkins, who is retiring.
-
Red Tails recommended
With sincere appreciation to their hosts, local military veterans whose service spanned World War II to Iraq and Afghanistan gathered at Kyova 10 Theatre late Tuesday afternoon for a screening of the film “Red Tails.”
-
More updates coming to Boyd jail
While a nonfunctional fire alarm system has been fixed, the Boyd County Detention Center is now dealing with problems in another of its security systems.
-
APD probes early morning stabbing
Ashland police are investigating a stabbing in the area of 30th Street and Greenup Avenue early Tuesday morning.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Business touts better living
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Video of Ga. Man Who Killed Girl Released
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
Nevada Highway Patrol, City Settle Beating Case
White House Attacks Romney on Birth Control
Homs Bombardment Continues, Global Outcry Grows
Mo. Teen Gets Life Sentence for Killing Girl, 9
Lower-hassle Screening to Be Tested at Airports
Raw Video: Dog Rescued From Icy Colo. Water
Helmet Camera Captures Calif. Fire Rescue
Worker Tells 911: Powell 'exploded the House'
Triple Win: Santorum Takes Minn., Mo., Colo.
Injured Marine Inspired by Homecoming
No Rape Charges Against Son of NYPD Commissioner
Egypt's Ruling Generals Play Risky Game With US
Former Komen Exec Defends Funding Cut
Skip the Coffee Cup and Inhale Your Caffeine Fix
Calif. Gay Marriage Ban Ruled Unconstitutional
Jury Selection for Ex-UVa Athlete Enters 2nd Day
