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There’s no substitute for community, and Henderson KY is a sweet one to come home to.

July 23, 2018

Homecoming and True Community

By Mike Morgan, Fishers, Indianamorgan

There’s no substitute for community, and Henderson is a sweet one to come home to.

My wife Stacy and I recently spent an especially sweet three-day weekend in Henderson to reconnect with old friends and familiar places. I was born here in 1960 and lived here until I left for college at Western Kentucky. My dad was a popular veterinarian here for decades—Dr. Morgan, on South Green Street and later on Old Corydon Road. I am proud to be known here mainly as the son of James and Clare, because they were so appreciated by this community. They both passed away years ago, and my brother Jim and sister Lyn live in North Carolina. With no more family to visit here, it had been more than a decade since I’d been home. So it was with fresh and grateful eyes that I was able to visit my hometown on Oct. 18-20 and take in both what Henderson was to me and what it has become.

Clean and Spacious

It was great to see that the town has been well maintained even through the economic downturn. The streets are clean and so very wide (you forget how special that is when you’re away). The buildings present politely, even the empty ones as they quietly wait for their next assignments.

Stacy and I both felt as though the town has turned a corner. Eleven years ago, what I noticed was pawn shops. Today, public works like the lovely Riverwalk, the tasteful Judicial Center, the massive expansion of the high school, and the Depot on Water Street (made me smile—old train station’s MiniMe!) prove that the town is not stuck in time. Selfishly, I wanted to find a little bit of stuck; I drove in wanting to lay eyes on places and buildings just as I remembered them when I tooled down Green Street in my ‘76 Maverick, feeling as if I owned the town. I did find plenty of scenes that had hardly changed at all; but between your progress and my imperfect memory, I found several nice surprises around the town.

We spent rich hours of conversation one-on-one with friends from the HCHS class of ’78—Doug Bobo, Kenny Perkins, Pastor Russell Wood–and with Glenda Guess, who has the distinction of being the only teacher who ever sat on my lap. (I was playing Santa Claus in a play at North Junior High. It was perfectly innocent.) We visited First Methodist Church Sunday morning and sat in the very same just-right-of-center pew where my family sat for decades. But perhaps the highlight was returning to the home and farm on Old Corydon Road to find it well cared for by a sweet couple who moved here from Fishers, the town where we now live near Indianapolis, and are nearing the end of a two-year remodeling project. The 1967 house that Jimmy Bethel designed for James and Clare has a new future, and the farm has become a busy equestrian center with plenty of riders and boarders. We couples chattered for nearly two hours about the history of the property and all the surprising things our families have in common, now including the old Hilltop Haven Farm.

Real and Virtual Communities

What has struck me about this weekend is that true community is something that evolves over time, requires early and patient investment, and as they say in prize drawings, you must be present to win. I could not have arranged this weekend without the internet and Facebook—it’s how I knew which of my high school friends are still in town, and it’s how we found Norris and Mary Elizabeth Priest’s lovely bed-and-breakfast. (How often is one served eggs, bacon, and slight-of-hand on the same menu?) But that virtual community is, at best, an enhancement to the real one. I hope we 21st-century people will all figure this out someday, but I saw it clearly this weekend: the people you befriend online can never become a substitute for a real community, like the one that Henderson was to me in my youth and that opened its arms to me again this Autumn.

The note I’ve taken: real community is the product of history, memory, friendship, and progress, and so I thank you for delivering so richly on all fronts so I could reconnect with Henderson in so sweet and poignant a way.

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· Guest Review

Agritourism Monthly-Kentucky Proud

October 31, 2014

agritourismmonthlyThe L&N Bed and Breakfast is a featured article in the Agritourism Monthly Magazine produced by Kentucky Proud Kentucky Department of Agriculture November 2014 issue.

The entire publication can be downloaded and viewed here.

See the article on page 11 of this publication.

Yes, we are Kentucky Proud !

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· Guest Review, Guest Story, Henderson KY

Songwriters Festival Guest give Henderson KY a outstanding review

August 11, 2013

jimrungeeLast week we were proud to have Dr. James L. Rungee as our guest during the Sandy Lee Watkins Songwriters Festival.  Dr. Rungee is an avid Bluegrass fan and bass fiddle, banjo, guitar and harmonica musician.   He had nothing but outstanding remarks about being in Henderson KY.  He called Henderson Kentucky his “home away from home”.  We hope to have Dr. Rungee and his friends with us for many years to come for the Songwriters Festival.  For 2014 he has already reserved the whole house.

Below is a reprint from The Gleaner Opinion Page article that appeared Saturday, August 10, 2013.

Henderson Made Visitors Feel At Home 

I have just returned from what can only be described as a magical week in Henderson, getting to learn about, listen to and converse with some of Music City’s royalty as part of the Sandy Lee Watkins Songwriters Festival. This was my first visit, but won’t be my last!

What wonderful ambassadors your town has in Mary Elizabeth and Norris Priest of the L&N Bed and Breakfast. A more welcoming and cordial couple you won’t find anywhere (if you haven’t experienced breakfast and magic with Norris, you’re missing out!). A shout out to Taunee and her smile at Stay Fit 24, who wouldn’t hear of charging me anything for the two days I used the superbly equipped exercise facility there. And also to Aaron, Cailee and Emily at CKB, whose smiles and warm conversation made it impossible not to return over and over there to eat from the restaurant’s superb menu. The chef there definitely has his kitchen switched to game on (and is why I had to go to Stay Fit 24)!

I know I speak for every festival attendee when I say this is one of the best tickets around!

I commented to someone after the first early session on Wednesday night that I couldn’t recall ever having seen more talent in one room at one time, a comment I would find myself repeating over and over with each session. The venues were all wonderful. The sound engineers did an over-the-top job.

I ate way too much popcorn at Rookies, and the intimate in-the-round setting at Delizio’s really made one feel as if they were sitting in one of the writer’s living rooms watching a song-jousting match with a bunch of his or her buddies!

Little did I realize last Wednesday as I pulled away from my house in Tennessee en route to Henderson that I was headed home.

No, I have never been to Henderson nor do I have kin there. But from the neighborly hellos and waves from folks in the downtown streets, to the friendly servers, bartenders and store owners in every downtown establishment that I patronized, to just random town residents expressing genuine concern that I was finding everything and confirming I had all I needed, I could not have been made to feel more like family!

This event is indeed worthy of at least equal billing as the established blues and bluegrass festivals hosted by Henderson. With loyal sons and daughters like Kerry Kurt Phillips and Susie Watkins, the festival’s destiny is certain and clear and could not better honor it’s namesake’s legacy. I was not surprised when I looked up home in the dictionary and found:

home [hohm] noun

1. A house, apartment, or other shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household.

2. The place in which one’s domestic affections are centered.

3. 42420

Thanks to a wonderful town for a GREAT week. I plan to be back next year if not sooner!

Jim Rungee is a resident of Murfreesboro, Tenn.

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· Guest Review, Guest Story, Henderson KY

Jack and Dotty Haskins: A 1932 Ford Coupe and 50 Years of Marriage

October 1, 2012

Jack and Dotty Haskins of Cincinnati Ohio spent the past weekend here at the L&N Bed and Breakfast completing a 20 day tour of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and Kentucky celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary in their orginal 1932 Ford Coupe.

What made this so interesting is that 50 years ago when they got married they spent their honeymoon touring the same places they did on their anniversary in the same 1932 Ford Coupe.

The were just having a great time touring in their 1932 Ford Coupe.

We were proud that they included the L&N Bed and Breakfast on their anniversary.

How can we help you celebrate a special occasion in your life? 

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· Guest Review, Guest Story, Review, Uncategorized

Bluegrass Weekend 2012

August 15, 2012

Some pictures from our guest this past weekend.  We were glad to host several attending the Bluegrass in the Park Festival in Henderson KY.  We were sold out this weekend and Mary Elizabeth had a big birthday on Saturday (August 11).

Carl and Jodi Sellmyer of Bloomington, IL had this to say about their stay.

My wife and I had the good fortune to attend the Bluegrass In The Park Festival in Henderson this past weekend.  We simply could not have had a better time.  From the Thursday Del McCoury concert through the Friday and Saturday riverfront festival the air was filled with music.  It was a really rich experience for us to enjoy all of the top quality music and to actually meet and visit with many of the performers.  The festival volunteers were well organized and deserve the community’s thanks and respect for all their hard work.  The Saturday breakfast was very good and I know that takes a lot of effort too.  The food from the vendors was also very good.  We appreciate all the improvements which have been done to the city and the riverfront.   We stayed at the L&N Bed and Breakfast.  Our hosts Norris and Mary Elizabeth Priest treated us like royalty.  Everyone we met treated us as a friend and it really made our visit special.  We offer your community a very sincere thanks!

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· Festival, Guest Review, Henderson KY

Visitors from the United Kingdom enjoy Henderson KY

October 30, 2010

A few weeks ago we had the fortune to visit your town on our latest holiday to the U.S. We are gradually visiting all the states and this time John James Audubon brought us to Henderson, but what we found was much more.

We stayed at the very comfortable and hospitable L&N Bed & Breakfast with Mary Elizabeth and Norris Priest. Having found it by chance on the Internet, we were not prepared for the wonderful welcome we received and the excellent breakfast. Norris recommended Rookies for our evening meal, and we were pleased with the food and the service.

Rightly very proud of your town, Mary Elizabeth and Norris encouraged us to do more than just the sculpture walk before we headed onwards to the Audubon museum. What we found was a pleasant array of historic buildings and something familiar to us from home — a Carnegie library (Henderson County Public Library). Both of us work in libraries in the UK, so we made ourselves known to Director Donald Wathen, who was very welcoming and kindly gave us a tour of your interesting library. At a time when we are concerned about the drop in usage of libraries in the UK, it was heartening to see a thriving and busy library. We arrived just as Tai Chi was finishing and a genealogy class in progress. You also provide an amazing range of resources for the size of library.

How we wish we could have stayed longer, but the visit to the museum called and this completed our visit here. What a fantastic museum and the sculptures on the walk are such a wonderful idea.

I hope you print this to show how proud you should be of your hospitality and town and to thank those we met along the way who made our visit happy and memorable.

Julie and David Potton

Belper, Derbyshire

United Kingdom

(See this letter to the Henderson KY newspaper as it appeared in the Henderson Gleaner on October 30, 2010)

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· Guest Review, Henderson KY, Library

Henderson KY: What a place (letter from a guest)

June 2, 2010

This letter appeared in the Henderson KY newspaper The Gleaner 5/28/10

Steve and Carol Mackintosh Editor:

We rode into your town recently on our tandem bicycle on our way from Mobile, Ala., to Owen Sound, Ontario, on the Underground Railroad bike route.

After asking where we could stay downtown near the river, we were directed by the nice folks at your city hall to the L&N Bed and Breakfast. We had dinner at Rookies amid a very friendly crowd of people who were very welcoming and have just finished having breakfast with Mary Elizabeth and Norris Priest.

We just wanted to say what a great place Henderson seems to be and how friendly everyone has been. We are from central New York (think cows, not subways), and this is our second long bike trip. Places like Henderson are what make this such a great country.

In spite of our political and cultural differences, our fellow Americans are wonderful people.

Steve and Carol Mackintosh

Deansboro, NY

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· Guest Review, Henderson KY, Memories

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