My hometown of Louisville, Kentucky is all abuzz this week getting ready for our Churchill Downs 150th Run for the Roses. Three weeks of Derby events kick off every year with Thunder Over Louisville. In times past, my family would join hundreds of thousands to crane our necks toward the sky to see a dazzling fireworks display complete with coordinated music.

Festivities also include the Pegasus Parade which brings memories of my three children marching with their Manual High School Marching Band (ten years total).

An annual kick-off to the Kentucky Derby Festival is the hot-air Balloon Glow and the Balloon Race. My late amateur photographer husband went to the Balloon Glow from time to time. And as a family we watched the vibrant multi-colored air crafts out our back door, amazed that there were pilots and passengers on board. Unfortunately, the Balloon Race had to be cancelled this year due to weather conditions.

Some of the extended family attended the Derby. But my immediate family and more than a few relatives were happy to hold Derby backyard parties where we could eat savory potluck and seasonal dishes, play games like cornhole where you pitch a fabric bag into the hole of a slanted wooden board, and finally watch the big race on television.

Whatever springtime activities are part of your usual agenda, I hope you have great memories and wonderful stories to tell!

My Don Juan roses are not as perfect and pristine as those made into a blanket and placed on the horse who wins the Kentucky Derby, but their deep red blooms and mild fragrance are presently embellishing and perfuming my back deck. Blooming just in time to remind me of activities of years past.

Stories from Run for the Roses Festivities
Connie Carlisle Polley, 2024
ConnieCarlislePolley.com
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