Henry County Harvest Showcase
Agriculture show returns to New Castle, Ky., for its 17th year
Music, food are a large part of the annual festival
NEW CASTLE, Ky. (July 2016) – Richard Riedel had sung with the Louisville Chorus for 10 to 15 years before joining a quartet. Never having sung with a quartet before, he switched gears easily and now performs with the Light Brigade Quartet.
“We’ve been singing together for 20 years,” said Riedel. Their four-part a cappella repertoire consists of a mix of traditional Barbershop songs, show tunes and religious numbers.
In addition to bassist Riedel, members of the Light Brigade Quartet include baritone Kevin Bowling (Madison, Ind.), lead Terri Gabhart and tenor Pat Conroy. Riedel, Gabhart and Conroy all live in Pleasureville, Ky. At one time all were members of the Louisville Chorus.
The Light Brigade Quartet is scheduled to perform from 10-10:30 a.m. Saturday, July 30, at the 17th annual Henry County Harvest Showcase. The showcase hours are from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. and feature a fun-filled day of farm related activities for all ages held at the Henry County Fairgrounds, just outside of New Castle on Hwy. 421.
 |
Photo provided The popular Louisville-based band Appalatin is scheduled to perform at 1:45 p.m. Saturday, July 30, to close out the Henry County Harvest Showcase. The band mixes Appalachian folk with high energy Latin music. |
The free event will feature an antique tractor show, agricultural related workshops, petting zoo, demonstrations, music, food, locally and handmade crafts, and farmers’ market vendors. Although activities do not start until 9 a.m., the festival will actually kickoff earlier in the morning with a breakfast provided by the Henry County Chamber of Commerce.
Other musical acts scheduled throughout the day include Don Edlin from 9:15-9:50 a.m. Edlin has performed his classical acoustic rock at The Little Kentucky River Winery in Bedford.
Returning favorite, the Eminence Singers, will take the stage from 10:40-11:15 a.m. They will be followed by Light Amos Hopkins with Bill Heuglin from 11:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m.
Singer-songwriter Hopkins performs traditional country, bluegrass and folk on a variety of instruments including fiddle, guitar and upright bass. He has performed on TV, radio and theater.
John Gage and his son, Will Gage, will follow from 1-1:45 p.m. Gage is a Louisville-based folk singer-songwriter who has performed at arts and festival stages throughout the Commonwealth and the region. He is the host and emcee of “Kentucky Homefront,” a radio show recorded live each month at the Clifton Center in Louisville and broadcast on WFPK public radio station.
The last act to perform from 1:45 .m. to close will be Appalatin. This band unites Appalachian folk with high-energy Latin music. In 2014 the band was awarded the Americana Award by the Louisville Music Awards Academy.
New additions to this year’s lineup that have not been done in the past include a showmanship clinic and livestock demonstration by the local 4-H Livestock Club, said Levi Berg, Henry County Extension Agricultural Agent. Included in the livestock will be sheep and goats. “We wanted kids to have a hands-on experience and get to work with the animals,” said Berg. Cattle and pigs will be part of the showmanship clinic.
The clinics and demonstrations are educational as well as fun. Demonstrations of a cattle-handling facility will be provided as well. Past handling techniques to move cattle “used to be loud, and you would push away the cattle as fast as possible,” said Berg. “Cattle nowadays can be moved more efficiently with no stress to the animal.”
A Dog Demonstration will show herding abilities, and Kentucky Kate will be on hand again for a milking competition. A petting farm from Turkey Run Farm will provide hours of fun for young children while displaying chicken, rabbits, cattle and many other animals.
A local veterinarian from the Henry County Animal Clinic will speak on Beef Quality Assurance and vaccinations. “This is a process producers have to go through. The vet will explain the benefits and how to treat certain diseases effectively, to educate the public,” Berg said.
The Berry Center and its Managing Director, Katie Ellis, are involved in the Harvest Showcase. Ellis lends a hand in the areas of promotion, setting up workshops and financially.
Ellis has pursued grant funding for the event and has received a $1,000 grant from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. She is waiting to hear if a $5,000 grant will be awarded from the Kentucky Agriculture Development Fund.
“We’ve raised about $8,000 to date for the showcase,” said Ellis. “All funds go directly to the program.”
Ellis is also involved in trying to institute various new workshops throughout the day. Although this is still in the planning stages, possible informal how-to workshop topics might include fencing, beginning beekeeping, quilting and raising backyard poultry.
Organizers like Ellis want “different things to appeal to a wide variety of individuals,” she said. “We want to highlight things for the rural culture, but also introduce ideas to visitors from Louisville and elsewhere.”
Ellis said there “is something for everyone. It’s great to see the local community come together.”
She said one of the best things about the Harvest Showcase is that it “has remained an all-local agricultural festival, which is really unique in this time and day. There’s something to be said for it being a local event.”