Save This Date

Saturday, August 8 is National Marina Day and Grand Rivers is celebrating BIG. Here are the schedule highlights but check the Grand Rivers Marina Day website often as we add more fun to the lineup.

Lighthouse Landing Marina and Resort Activities
Free Sailboat Rides 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. - Free sailboat rides leave on the hour and last approximately 50 minutes. You may sign up for time slots on the day of the event. This event is very popular and space is limited. Children must be accompanied by an adult and the adult must also bring with them a child's size lifejacket.

Drawing for Free Sailing Lesson and Sailboat Rental ($270 Value) Enter to win a 2 hour sailing lesson and one day sailboat rental at Lighthouse Landing. Rental boat holds up to four people maximum and damage deposit is required. You must be 21 to enter.

Green Turtle Bay Marina and Resort Activities
Fun for Kids 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. - Including free kayak and paddle boat rides, bouncers and water slide, rock climbing wall, face painting, arts and crafts, and more.

Free Rides on the River Rat 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. - Take a ride around the marina on the boat from the River Rat movie.

Grand Rivers Street Dance featuring Southern Fry’d - 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. beside Dockers Grill at Green Turtle Bay Marina and Resort.

Huge Fireworks Show at Dusk. Best place to view is at the courtesy dock area beside Street Dance and the beach area

How Did I Forget to Tell You This?

The NEW Grand Rivers Visitor's Guides are here. I can't believe I haven't posted this news. Maybe because I was busy in June mailing a record 588 guides to inquires. That is a big number for our tiny village; remember only 350 people live here.

Kudos to Mz. Laura K for her design work on the guide. To borrow a word, the guide is fabulous.

An online version will be available on the Grand Rivers website soon.

In others news, Japanese beetles have invaded the rose bushes of the clinic. Of course my bushes (which stand maybe three feet away) are beetle free. Imagine that.

Don't worry about the clinic roses. This morning there were two nurses and an LPN attending to them, and I can tell you those beetles don't stand a chance.

Thank You Evansville Courier Press

Thank you to Karen Phelps and the Evanville Courier Press for this great article on Grand Rivers. You can read the full story here -

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/jan/05/big-accolades-come-small-ky-towns-way/

2008 in Review

It is hard for me to believe that another year is drawling to a close. 2008 was a year of challenge with fire, extreme weather, crazy gas prices, and a slow national economy. Despite these challenges, our visitors, volunteers, and business community made it a good year for Grand Rivers.

In March Grand Rivers sponsored the fifth Annual LBL ultra Run with the West Kentucky Runners Club. We expected record attendance for the event and ended up with record low temperatures and snow. The winter storm closed down most of Western Kentucky, but the runners wanted to run. We had an event planned and people that wanted to come so we were going to make it happen. Almost 300 runners battled the elements to complete the race. All of our Chamber volunteers were on hand to help; despite the weather. The West Kentucky Runners Club is a remarkable group to work with and the community of Grand Rivers and our volunteers continue to amaze me.

In April the community of Grand Rivers lost the Iron Kettle Restaurant to fire. The Kettle was a Grand Rivers landmark. The Kettle stood on site of the historic Boston Block building which was also destroyed by fire in the 1940s. Six area fire stations responded to the call; Grand Lakes, Princeton, Eddyville, Kuttawa, Smithland and Ledbetter. The community of Grand Rivers owes a huge debt to these brave individuals who fought through fire, smoke and 25 mile an hour winds to contain the fire and saved the adjoining buildings.

Due to gas prices and the economy we directed our marketing dollars and public relations efforts close to home. The local media supported our efforts and our visitors came in record numbers over the summer. The summer also brought plenty of activity with a new Farmers Market, the Lighted Boat Parade, Kids Free Fishing event, Street Dances, and a huge August Marina Day Celebration at our Marinas. All organized by HUNDREDS of volunteer hours, and supported by contributions from the Chamber, the Commonwealth Yacht Club, Patti’s, Green Turtle Bay Resort, Lighthouse Landing Resort, Variety, Grand Rivers City government, and our entire community.

Despite the economy, our Chamber volunteers also raised over $4,000 this year for Breast Cancer, the Heart Association, City Beautification Committee, the Chamber Scholarship fund and more.

The fall was busy with the 1st Kentucky Commonwealth Cup race, the 30th Anniversary of the Hunters Moon Fall Festival, and the first year for the Grand Rivers Storytelling Event. We celebrated November and December with a record number of lights and a record number of visitors to the Variety Christmas Spectacular.

It was a good year for Grand Rivers. Thank you to our visitors, our community, the Chamber, and our businesses. You made it happen. Happy New Year to All!

Grand Rivers Jetty Pictures

I've had two requests for jetty pictures this morning. One from my post on Southern Living Readers Choice Awards, and one from an ilistpaducah reader. I'll add jetty pictures to the Grand Rivers website after the first of the year, but the quickest way to share them is to post them here -

Welcome to Kentucky Lake Views

Welcome to my blog. I work, live, and play in Grand Rivers, Kentucky, the village between the lakes. I love this village and the lakes that surround us. Most of all I love the spirit of the people in this community. We are connected and we are accountable. We laugh, sometimes argue, and always look out for each other just like family. We find our common goals and work toward them. Some of our visitors do have the opportunity to meet our locals and connect with that spirit. For those of you who don’t, this blog is a peek inside our community.