Sounds Good

Did you know western Kentucky had a botanical garden? It's located at 25 Carter Road in Owensboro and open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., seven days a week during growing season (March until mid-November). Kate Lochte speaks with Susie Tyler on Sounds Good about summer events and activities, such as the Hot Air Balloons and Dazzling Daylilly Festival on June 21. The garden offers self-guided and guided tours, educational events, and rentals for weddings, business meetings, etc.

See beautiful pictures of the garden, ways to volunteer, and more.

If you've been thinking about getting your GED, but haven't been able to do so yet, the Kentucky Adult Education Council on Postsecondary Education is making this opportunity available for free through July 31. On Sounds Good, Kate Lochte speaks with GED Administrator Jacqueline Korengal about how to take GED testing. 

Murray-based portrait artist Joy Thomas has captured the likeness of members of the community and leaders in government and business. Some of her commissions include the official portrait of Secretary of the US Navy, Richard Danzig; New York Jets owner, Robert Wood Johnson; and recently, John E. Bryson, the 37th US Secretary of Commerce. Her work has been on exhibit across the country, featured in magazines, and has won several awards, including first place in "The Best Paintings of 2000" competition by The Artist's Magazine. In 2006, she published The Art of Portrait Drawing, which is available on Amazon. She came to our studio to speak with Kate Lochte on Sounds Good about her work.

Please note: The very beginning of this interview got clipped.

Murray Art Guild Director Debi Danielson speaks with Kate Lochte on Sounds Good about summer events and activities at the guild. Some adult workshops include pastels, photography, live drawing, and weaving. Youth workshops include drawing, woodworking, photography, watercolors, pastels, metalworking, and more! Click here for the full list of workshops and more.

Tour the tombstones and learn about some of Pembroke's most colorful former residents, including a Civil War veteran, a prison warden, and a man who died from an extracted wisdom tooth. Tracy Ross speaks with Janet Brevard, Programs and Exhibits Director for the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County about "Lunch in the Cemetery" at Rosedale Cemetery in Pembroke, on Saturday, June 1st at 1 p.m. Tickets are $13 for museum members and $15 for non-members. Prices include ghostly entertainment and a traditional summer picnic including fried chicken, all the fixin's and dessert. Chair or blanket recommended. Reservations required, call 270-887-4270. See more about this event, here.

Chad Lampe speaks with Laynie Mitchell about the importance of early childhood music education. Mitchell is Choir Director at Murray High School and an adjunct faculty member at Murray State University. She is offering a 4-week early childhood music class this summer on Thursdays in June at First Presbyterian Church in Murray. Classes start at 9 am. and cost $40. In the course overview, she writes, "In order to be fully developed individuals, all children should receive music instruction. Also music instruction received at an early age will make the greatest difference in terms of life-long music learning. The younger a child is immersed in an appropriate music environment, the better." Contact Laynie Mitchell at elaine.mitchell@murray.kyschools.us, or at 270-761-4804.

Click here to read the full course overview and Q&A. (Word)

Kate Lochte speaks with Stacey Menser on Sounds Good about the 16th annual Pennington Folk Festival, an outdoor, live performance honoring local thumbpicking guitarist Eddie Pennington this Friday and Saturday. The festival is located on 612 West Washington Street on the Butler Campus Lawn in Princeton, Kentucky. The festival is free, and it is recommended that you bring your own chairs. See more on the Pennington Folk Festival Facebook page.

Playhouse in the Park presents "Fiddler on the Roof," a long-running Broadway musical set in 1905 Russia, based on the story, Tevye and his Daughters, by Sholem Aleichem. The story centers on Tevye (played by Rusty Jones), the father of five daughters, and his attempts to maintain his family and Jewish religious traditions while outside influences encroach upon their lives. Kate Lochte speaks with Playhouse in the Park Director Lisa Cope, Pam Rockwell who plays Golde (Tevye's wife), and one of the fiddlers, Gracie Wallace about the production. The play opens this weekend, and runs through June 16. See how to get tickets at PlayhouseinthePark.net. 

Kate Lochte speaks Adsmore House & Gardens Curator Ardell Jarrat about a reenactment of a "high noon breakfast" reception at Adsmore in Princeton on Saturday, June 8 at noon. These festivities are based on Selina Smith's and John Osborne's 1907 wedding. Tickets are $15 and reservations are due by Tuesday, June 4. A brief program on Victorian-era wedding customs and a tour are included for luncheon participants. See more about the Adsmore House at their website.

Kate Lochte speaks with Steve Vest, the owner and publisher of Vested Interest Publications - Kentucky Monthly magazine’s parent company, who gives us the scoop on how to enter its 6th Annual Literary Showcase. Kentucky Monthly is seeking fiction, creative-non fiction and poetry submissions from Kentucky writers, which includes anyone who currently lives in Kentucky, or has lived in Kentucky and uses it as their subject matter. See how to submit your work on the Kentucky Monthly website.