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Bridges, Barns, Scarecrows
and Banners - Oh My!
By
Aimee Nielson
 LEXINGTON,
Ky., (Oct. 31, 2007) – When it comes to finding a single thing
to best promote one northeastern Kentucky county, it’s just not
possible. Donna Fryman said that’s because there are so many
things from which to choose. So this year the promotion includes
bridges, barns, scarecrows and banners.
Fryman is the University of Kentucky extension agent for Family
and Consumer Sciences in Fleming County – the covered bridge
capital of Kentucky. She and her colleagues thought it
appropriate to feature the county’s three covered bridges in a
fall tourism promotion, especially the Goddard Bridge, recently
restored at a cost of approximately $1 million. But they didn’t
stop there.
 The
county is home to dozens of tobacco barns that have recently
jumped on the Kentucky Quilt Trails. Fryman helped construct and
paint many of the more than 50 quilt squares hanging on the
county’s barns.
“It’s caught on big time here,” Fryman said of the barn quilt
efforts. “If a person sees one they say, ‘Oh, I want one of
those,’ so they start looking for contacts to help put one on
their own barn, and we have helped a lot of people get their
squares up. It really adds decorative artwork, promotes our
heritage and also features our many tobacco barns that are not
really in useful existence anymore. So, it’s saving the barns as
well.”
The third component of the promotion is the Great Scarecrow
Roundup. It’s hard to drive through Fleming County in the fall
without seeing dozens of scarecrows decked out in creative
attire. This is the fourth year for the “crows,” which are
entries in a contest where county residents and schoolchildren
vote for the winner. It all started with Buckethead Bob, who has
literally traveled around the country promoting Fleming County.
The second year, Bob married Mophead Millie. The third year,
they added twins to the mix and this year, the family has a new
dog named Pailhead Princess – a name chosen by local school
children.
“The county has been having a problem getting owners to register
their pets,” Fryman said. “So, when Pailhead Princess arrived,
we got her a license and hopefully she can encourage other pet
registrations in the community.”
A Fleming County artisan who makes jewelry replicas of the barn
quilts donated a few pieces for Mophead Millie to wear during
the fall promotion.
 Fleming
County’s 4-H Youth Development Extension Agent Steve Kelly is on
the Flemingsburg Main Street committee. The committee is always
trying to think of ways to draw residents and tourists to the
downtown area.
“Last year around this time, I was driving through
Nicholasville, and I saw some banners,” he said. “I thought they
were nice and all the sudden, I realized they were hand painted
and I thought that was just a real neat way to get people
involved.”
Kelly took the banner idea back to the Main Street committee and
they decided to pursue it. Through a grant, they were able to
purchase canvas and other supplies and then invite the community
to participate. In all, participants painted 36 banners. Kelly
said the city hung the banners on light poles lining both sides
of Main Street.
“We had professional artists, first time painters, senior
citizens and young children painting these banners,” Kelly said.
“We want people to get out of their cars and walk the streets
(downtown). In my opinion, everything in this fall promotion is
public art – the quilt squares, the banners and the scarecrows
are all things that our people have done to express their
creative thinking and talent.”
Kelly said he believes Fleming County has a well-hidden group of
artists or people who would like to explore the arts. The fall
promotions this year are giving them many opportunities to do
that, he said.
“We were just trying to encompass all the activities we have
going on in the county this fall,” Fryman said. “We (Fleming
County extension agents) are all members of our local committees
like tourism and Main Street. We don’t have an official tourism
commission in the county. So, between the chamber office and
Cooperative Extension, we do a lot of the tourism promoting. We
just want to bring people to the county and show them all the
things Fleming County has to offer.” |
Contact: Donna Fryman or Steve Kelly, 606-845-4641
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