The October issue includes a coverstory interview with Drew Curtis, celebrating the 25th anniversary of news aggregator site, fark.com.

As we went to press, news broke of the death of Pete Rose, and we’re sharing two essays by contributing Ace writers Matt Dacey and Brian Gardner.

In this month’s Ace Reads, the Ace editrix recommends Ina Garten’s new memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens.

Ace Eats Out, as always, beginning on page 16.

October’s Halloween Guide for Lexington begins on page 8.

The pullout October 2024 calendar appears on the centerfold of the print issue.

To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s print edition each month, click here. Click here to join the Ace Eats Out Facebook.

BY MATT DACEY

 
The mid-seventies was an interesting time to be an adolescent. Our heroes were, on one level, larger than life. And on another level, they were comically crude. Evel Knievel. Archie Bunker. Fonzie. Kiss. Fred G. Sanford. And Pete Rose.
While Pete is inextricably tied to the city of Cincinnati, for a moment in time, he embodied the game of baseball in the hearts and minds of fans across the country more than any other player. I learned that myself when my family moved away from Cincinnati to Arizona in 1977 when I was 10.
As I met kids at school and in the neighborhood, when I told them I was from Cincinnati, the first question I was asked was if I had ever met Pete Rose. At that point, I hadn’t, but I did have an autographed ball that my parents got me for my first communion in 1974, and I was happy to show it to them.
During the first ten years of my life, Pete led the Reds to five National League West Division titles, three National League Championships, and two World Championships. To be a kid that age, at that time, in Cincinnati meant that you never knew the Reds to be anything other than winners. And right in the middle of it all was a guy who was actually from Cincinnati. Pete Rose was one of us. And we were winners.
The other seven players who made up the Great Eight, a team that many consider to be the greatest of all-time, were nothing to sneeze at, either. Johnny Bench. Joe Morgan. Tony Perez. Ken Griffey. Dave Concepcion. George Foster. Cesar Geronimo. We adored all of those guys, but because he was from Cincinnati, Pete was on a tier unto himself.

And if you were a kid who suddenly found himself living 1800 miles away from Cincinnati, Pete Rose was a part of your very identity.
Pete left Cincinnati for Philadelphia for more money after the 1978 season, and that coincided with my family’s move from Arizona to New Mexico in early 1979. I was so busy adjusting to my family’s second big move in 18 months, and so far away from Cincinnati, that I was barely able to process Pete’s departure.
When I met kids in Albuquerque and told them I was from Cincinnati, almost nobody asked me about Pete. He was a Phillie now, and wasn’t quite so larger than life. But when he led the Philadelphia Phillies to their first World Championship ever in 1980, you had to admit that he was still pretty badass, even as cracks started to emerge in the façade.
In 1984, Pete came back to Cincinnati as a player-manager for the Reds. He was 43 years old at that point, but he was close enough to Ty Cobb’s all-time hits record that it made sense for him to continue playing long enough to surpass it. He did so in Cincinnati in September 1985, which was the same month I moved from New Mexico to Lexington.
The last time I saw Pete appear as a player was July 17, 1986. It was a day game against the Phillies, and it was my first game since moving back the previous fall. One of my best friends from New Mexico, Richard, was visiting before going to boot camp at Camp Lejeune, and together we got to see Pete hit a triple in the bottom of the 11th inning to drive in the winning run in a game the Reds won, 7-6. It would turn out to be the last triple of Pete Rose’s career. It was also the day that I drank my first legal beer, as the drinking age for beer and wine in Ohio that time was 19, and I had turned 19 in May. So that day for me was a last gasp of childhood in a couple of different ways, as well as a first sip of adulthood. And there was Pete Rose, right in the middle of it all.

Too many words have already been written about Pete’s subsequent fall from grace, and here and now is neither the place nor the time to rehash the details, other than to say that it was one of the most heartbreaking things that could possibly happen to a couple of generations worth of kids from Cincinnati. The chip on his shoulder that Pete carried so well on the field getting more hits and winning more games than anybody who ever played the game, he didn’t carry so well later on. That chip on his shoulder hastened his downfall, and ultimately, Pete Rose’s worst enemy was Pete Rose.
I finally got to meet Pete in 2012. Another Cincinnati kid, Barry Larkin, was being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame after a stellar 18-year career spent entirely in Cincinnati, highlighted by a World Championship in 1990, the last time the Reds won a World Series. My friend Peter had the foresight to book a hotel room in Oneonta, New York, near Cooperstown, the day it was announced that Barry would be inducted, and we were there for the induction ceremony.
As we made our way back into town after the ceremony, we saw that Pete was signing and taking pictures at a memorabilia shop, and we immediately decided to do it. You could have your photo taken with Pete, have it printed, and Pete would sign it. And while you were waiting for them to print it, you got to sit and chat with Pete for a few minutes. I told him that I saw the last triple of his career, and he immediately said “Bottom of the 11th against Tom Gorman. Drove in the winning run, and we beat the Phillies, 7-6.” Off the top of his head.
Pete Rose was a deeply flawed human being, to be sure. Honestly though, most of us are. But most of us don’t have to endure seeing our flaws thoroughly and publicly documented, over and over again, for decades.

And still, nearly a half-century removed from the peak of his playing days, Pete Rose remains a significant part of the equation of what it means to be Cincinnatian.
Long before the term “small market” existed in sports, Pete Rose’s hustle showed us, and showed the world, that Cincinnati was every bit as important as New York or Los Angeles or Chicago. Pete embedded himself into the very definition of what it means to be “from Cincinnati.”
For all of his flaws, I will be forever grateful that I existed on the same planet at the same time as Pete Rose.

Matt Dacey lives in Lexington and is an Ace contributing writer.

Click here to page through a digital copy of the Oct 2024 print issue of Ace. To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s print edition each month, click here.

I myself am finding the whole thing rather intoxicating. Our little town, the site of an international event like this. You have no idea how much wrangling it took to get them here. I lobbied the coordinators for weeks. It was a lot of ouzo and karaoke.
—Taylor Doose, Gilmore Girls

Did you know that Lexington has been named a Top 10 Halloween Destination by USA Today and was featured in the Top 25 Best Halloween Festivals Across the U.S. by Oprah Magazine?  

Even though we may well enjoy temps ranging from the 30s to the 90s over these next few weeks, Fall has officially arrived in the bluegrass. It might rain. It might snow. And there might be heat advisories. But tailgating is back, Keeneland is running, and the entire month is lit by Halloween happenings. 

MON OCT 7 

Matthew R. Sparks and Olivia Sizemore discuss and sign Haint Country: Dark Folktales from the Hills and Hollers, a collection of weird, otherworldly, and mystic phenomena―tales that have been recorded and documented for the first time. 7 pm. Joseph Beth Booksellers. 

SAT OCT 12

Winchester’s Haunted Walking Tour is a spooky tour of Winchester’s historic streets. Hear tales of murder, mayhem, and ghostly apparitions while strolling through the original brick sidewalks of the Thomson neighborhood and downtown Main Street. Be prepared for a 2-mile walking tour that will last approximately 1.5 hours, and don’t forget to bring proper shoes and weather gear. Flashlights will be provided, 7:30 pm to 9 pm, Saturdays in October. 

WED OCT 16 

Ghouls, goblins and grizzly ghosts, it’s time for Fright Night Bingo. Enjoy a spectacular bingo night at the Kenwick Community Center with a spooky-theme! 5:30 pm to 7 pm

FRI OCT 18 

Scarefest returns to the Lexington Center for the weekend, thru Sunday. 

SAT OCT 19 

“Carve n’ Chip In.” The public is invited to bring their own pumpkins to McConnell Springs Park where staff will have carving tools and stencils available to assist with carving your masterpiece to add to this year’s Jack O Lantern Trail. 

SUN OCT 20 

Lexington’s Halloween Festival downtown will culminate with the annual Thriller reenactment where several hundred zombies will dance, dawdle and drag themselves down Main Street to the classic Michael Jackson tune. Pedestrians can watch all along the parade route. Rain date is 10-27-2024 

TUE OCT 22 

It’s time for Pumpkin Drop-Off for the 2024 Jack o Lantern Trail at McConnell Springs. You may place your jack-o-lantern on the trail yourself, or you can leave it on the porch, and Parks & Recreation staff will place it for you. Parks will provide the lights for the lanterns. Remember to pick up your Cricket Press Jack-o-lantern Trail 2024 poster and get the link to sign up for free admission to the trail when you drop off your lantern! 

WED OCT 23 

Looking for a spooky good time with family and friends? Get ready for an evening of fright and fun at the Kenwick Community Center’s Spook-tacular Celebration! There will be snacks, decorations, pumpkins, and special giveaways. Registration is free but is required for attendance. Be there or be scared! 6 pm to 8 pm 

SAT OCT 26 

For the grownups, check in at Belle’s Cocktail House from 4 pm to 8 pm for a spooktacular Halloween Bar Crawl. You’ll haunt the town, hopping from one eerie venue to the next in search of thrills and chills. 

SUN OCT 27 

The Lexington community is  invited to carve pumpkins Oct. 27 from 11 a.m.‑4 p.m. at Transylvania University’s Old Morrison. All pumpkins and carving supplies will be provided. Food trucks will be on site.

Register for a ticket for each member of your party who would like to carve a pumpkin. Individuals can request up to three tickets, and each will be good for one pumpkin. Please arrive at the time your ticket is reserved to ensure you receive a pumpkin for carving. Pumpkins not claimed within the first half hour of the ticket reservation will be released to others for carving.

The PumpkinMania display will be lit for five nights — rain or shine — Oct. 27‑31. On Friday, Nov. 1, the pumpkins will be collected by local farmers and used to feed farm animals, meeting the university’s sustainability goals.

MON OCT 28 

It’s drop-in day at Artworks at the Carver School for Halloween Printmaking. Make your own Halloween prints from a selection of spooky precut linocut blocks, or register in advance to carve your own design. 2 pm to 5 pm. 

WED OCT 30 

Dress your dog up for a Howl-o-Ween Yappy Hour, 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm Pleasant Ridge Park. Costume contest with winners in several categories include “Greatest DIY” and “Best Overall.” Donations go to Friends of the Dog Parks. Locally sourced food trucks, live music, frozen desserts, cold beer, hard cider, and activities will be available for you and your furry best friends. 

THU OCT 31 

Trick or Treat, 6 pm to 8 pm, Lexington. 

SPOOKY MOVIES 

OCT 4 Hocus Pocus, Masterson Station

OCT 11 Ghostbusters, Frozen Empire
OCT 12 Ernest Scared Stupid, Downtown Library 
OCT 18 Corpse Bride Moondance 
OCT 30 The Shining, Farish Theatre (downtown Library)
OCT 31 The Black Cat, Farish Theatre (downtown Library 

Lexington’s Halloween programming appears in the October 2024 print edition of Ace Magazine. Click here to read the October 2024 issue. To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s print edition click here.

How bad could that be?

Ina Garten was the hero everyone needed when, mid-pandemic quarantine, she stirred up a little fun on instagram with a recipe for a cosmopolitan mixed in a lifesize martini glass.
The post earned her more than three million views, and the thanks of a thirsty and exhausted generation.
She originally rejected social media as someone who was too busy for it before eventually conceding, “if I don’t go in the pond, I’m not gonna know what the pond is.” She now has 4.6 million instagram followers, and she’s found it both “unexpected,” and “important” to her business.

The iconic food celebrity was already at work on her memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens, when the pandemic struck, giving her a little unexpected extra time at her laptop, during which she also produced her 13th cookbook, Go To Dinners.
And her success story — the farthest thing from rags to riches — has been well told, many times.
She met husband Jeffrey while he was at Dartmouth. The two married young and both went on to careers in Washington, where she worked as a budget analyst for nuclear energy policy (under the Ford administration, and then Carter), and he wrote for the Secretary of State.
Bureaucracy taught her that she didn’t want to be part of a slow-moving government’s “larger process.” She wanted to “be the process.”
Jeffrey famously encouraged her to “do something you love,” and perhaps more famously, “don’t worry about the money.” (He went on to become a Dean within Yale’s Business School, and continued to teach after he retired.)
In 1978, she discovered an NYT ad for the specialty food store, Barefoot Contessa, in Westhampton Beach, where she’d never even visited. She’d taught herself how to cook via Julia Child, but admits “I’d never worked a day in the food business.” (The name of the shop was a nod to an Ava Gardner movie.)
She and Jeffrey took a trip to the Hamptons (she reflects now that he was probably humoring her) and the rest is history. She knew on the spot, “I didn’t want to write papers about enriched uranium; I wanted to bake cookies.”
She paid $20,000 for it ($5,000 under asking), and later opened a second shop, before selling the business when she turned 50 in 1996.
She says, “I’ve always been happy to jump off a cliff and figure it out on the way down.”
In the third professional act of her career, she became the author of 13 bestselling cookbooks, and the popular host of Barefoot Contessa and Be My Guest. She’s won five Emmys in addition to James Beard awards. She strenuously resisted a career in television, and multiple offers, before eventually acknowledging what a positive impact it would have on cookbook sales.
The memoir shares a little more dish than she’s previously divulged publicly. Spoiler alert: she had a painful childhood, and she and Jeffrey once “paused,” or separated, briefly. The book is conversational and chatty and exactly what you’d expect from her onscreen work.
Although Garten got her big break appearing on Martha Stewart Living, Martha Stewart wouldn’t be caught dead suggesting “storebought is fine.” Ina Garten will. She’ll say it with a wink and a nudge of privilege that makes it clear she doesn’t expect you to pop into the Disco Kroger; she knows she can trust you to go to the appropriate specialty store to pick up the $20 pint of ice cream, along with the $50 pie or cheesecake.
In last year’s 60 Minutes interview where she candidly confessed to being a nervous cook, she took the cameras along on a visit to one of her favorite bakeries in the Hamptons, owned and operated by two local women, who use local ingredients. When the interviewer suggested, “this is all lovely, but the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich is $20 dollars, a lobster roll is $38…” Garten interrupted her to deadpan unapologetically, “First of all, it’s organic, it’s local, and things are expensive here.”

—RR

Ace Eats Out appears on pages 16-17 of every issue. Click here to page through a digital copy of the Oct 2024 print issue of Ace. To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s print edition each month, click here. Click here to join the Ace Eats Out Facebook.

IN THE NEWS 

The New York Times has listed their Top 50 Restaurants in America, and Louisville chef Lawrence Weeks’s North of Bourbon has made the cut. Lexington readers know him from his tenure as executive chef at Honeywood, where he also introduced CurryCurryKatsu, a westernized Japanese sandwich shop that operated as a ghost kitchen out of Honeywood. (Weeks was profiled in Ace’s Annual Chef Series, The Fridges of Fayette County, in 2021.)  The NYT writes, “Weeks is among a growing cadre of chefs breathing fresh life into New Orleans Cuisine with restaurants outside Louisiana.”  North of Bourbon is the only Kentucky spot listed in 2024. No Kentucky eateries made the list in 2023.  

BIRTHS 

Tolly Ho has completed its move down the street, and is now open in the former Bad Wolf Burgers location at Foreman Avenue. (Bad Wolf went back home to Leestown.) The new location will not be open 24/7. 

OBITS 

Longtime Frankfort staple Jim’s Seafood & Steaks will be open through Sunday, October 13. The space will then be in transition for a purported sale to Buffalo Trace. 

The long empty Lee’s Famous Recipe structure at the corner of Red Mile Road and Versailles Road has been demolished. The site will potentially become a gas station. Lee’s on Richmond Road remains open. 

TRANSITIONS 

Beau’s Cafe has added dinner service (in addition to breakfast/brunch/lunch). 

COMING SOON 

At the groundbreaking for Versailles’ Highbramble Park Standardbred Racetrack last month, a restaurant was announced for the site. Opa’s Icehouse Meat Market & Biergarten will be a Texas Hill Country-inspired venue where you select your meats from the “Show Pit,” then it’s sliced on the Butcher Block. 

Ace Eats Out appears on pages 16-17 of every issue. Click here to page through a digital copy of the Oct 2024 print issue of Ace. To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s print edition each month, click here. Click here to join the Ace Eats Out Facebook.

 
I quit going on Facebook when I realized that every time I logged in I couldn’t remember anything I’d just read, and most of the time I also came away angry and couldn’t remember why. I realized that if Facebook were a restaurant offering up a similar dining experience, I’d never go back. All I miss by not going on Facebook is lost time, grief, and cat photos. I think everyone could do with less of all of those in their lives. Except for cat photos — those are great.”
So if you want to find Drew Curtis these days — other than his recent announcement of the 25th anniversary celebration for his news aggregator site, fark.com — don’t look for him on social media.
He says, “I prefer spending time with family and friends. I’m a fast-casual cyclist so I spend a lot of time riding around the back roads of surrounding counties, because being in shape just makes life easier, and it’s awesome being outdoors.”
The site remains his fulltime job though. “I do still spend most of my day choosing what links to post on Fark. So I’m still around on Fark in an ever-present ephemeral sort of way. My fingerprints are everywhere, even though I don’t pop into the comments much.”
Fark has always headquartered here in the bluegrass, part of a trend that’s been aggressively catching on in tech for the past decade — a migration away from the pricey coasts to remote work in affordable communities in the south and midwest.
Asked about the biggest evolution in the job, post-pandemic, he says, “I don’t travel anymore. I used to be in LA, SFO, or NYC at least once every two weeks, sometimes even more often. I haven’t been to NYC in almost five years now. This is mainly because remote work is so widespread in tech now that the people I need to see aren’t in those cities anymore either. They live in Bozeman or Miami or, most surprisingly, Toronto, or wherever else they happen to be. I loved traveling, but it’s nice not having to do it.”

Launched here in 1999, Fark.com is a news aggregator site delivering over 20 million impressions a month, where you might find user-submitted headlines like “tiny deer rampage across Pennsylvania,” or “what’s worse than being stung by a scorpion in a Vegas hotel room?”
The roots of Reddit, launched six years later in 2005 by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, found inspiration in Fark, and both sites maintain a retro vibe today, with surging popularity among Gen Z. Redditors exchanged threads this past summer about how they saw “the internet being born.”
“Going back years before 1999, I had a knack for coming across weird news stories — which was an actual talent in the days of print and early digital,” Curtis says of the site’s origins. (A book about the first 25 years of Fark is on the way.)
“In the mid 90s,” he says, “I’d just email the stories out to my friends when I found them, but by 1999 I was finding so many that it seemed like I was sending too many emails. So I grabbed the domain fark.com and started posting them there instead of emailing everyone.
“Initially the idea was [that] Fark would be a central place for all things Not News. Over the next 25 years though, Not News somehow absorbed the entire news cycle. It was a happy accident. Well, for me anyhow, I don’t think it’s done the rest of us any favors.”

Stephen King wrote a jacket blurb for Curtis’s first book, saying, “I laughed so hard I almost threw up.”
Curtis said at the time, “everybody claims to want real news, but no one really does.”
Has that changed for the better or worse as we’ve added 24/7 news, podcasting, and AI to the media landscape?
Curtis says, “When I wrote my book in 2006 (It’s Not News, It’s Fark), I accidentally predicted a lot of what actually ended up happening, but even I was surprised by how far things have actually gone since. For example, when Fark started we were considered very edgy. Nothing’s changed on our end, but everyone else continued racing towards the bottom.
“One of my friends works for a mainstream news company which I will not name but you can pretty much assume it’s all of them at this point. He says they have multiple AIs reading both social media and other news sites 24/7 trying to figure out what’s trending —they even have one that reads Fark. Every morning when he comes to work he gets a huge document on Slack breaking down what the AIs think is trending, a dozen news stories he might consider writing that morning, and several sample paragraphs of those articles already written by the AI if he wants to use them. There’s also an option to just have it write the entire article for him, but the entire staff has been warned to carefully comb over what it writes because AIs hallucinate — a lot. Hilariously so in some cases. Just yesterday I read an article about a guy whose neighbor lived about 100 years down the road from him. Time traveler I guess.”
“To me the even greater question is if every news outlet is reading every other news outlet to try to figure out what’s trending, who’s flying the plane? No human is actually deciding what’s trending. Social media is of no use, it’s mostly bots screaming at each other.”
He adds, “It’s also not entirely clear if AI in general will ever be able to do anything useful at scale. There aren’t many good tests for AI capabilities. For example GPT4 can pass the bar exam at 90% percentile and well, that’s great, but how many bar exams are in its training data? Probably hundreds.”
Not to mention, he says, “the whole AI industry is stacked up with scammers who pivoted from crypto because —since no one can empirically prove how good a given AI is — it’s really easy to drive a hype cycle. Just last week another nine figure valuation startup’s product was exposed as being just a wrapper around Claude 3.5 on the backend. This happens often.
“The crux of the problem is AI companies started using the term AI before we actually had AI. We’ve got Derek from The Good Place, instead. So far.
“Elon Musk thinks his Grok AI is going to replace all legacy news media, but what he’s really going to end up with is an AI that aggregates millions of other AI bots trying to counter-jam media narratives to overthrow governments, and repackages that as ‘news.’ A news media AI human centipede if you will. If you don’t know what that is, do NOT google that. Ask your kids. Then ask them how they know what that is, because you have failed as a parent.”

Curtis doesn’t claim to be a disruptor, explaining, “I’ve always felt like the term ‘disruptor’ was just another way for someone to brag about not being careful with other people’s lives. However, while I won’t claim ‘disruptor,’ I’m often about three years ahead of the curve. This keeps happening over and over again. It’s not actually an advantage, because if you’re the first person to see an opportunity, no one else sees it. There’s a sweet spot between when a new thing appears and when that new thing gains traction, I have yet to hit it.”
Curtis and his family still live just outside Lexington, as he and his wife Heather are headed for empty nest syndrome, with their oldest son now a freshman at UK, and the younger two in high school. But “empty nest in the 21st century isn’t the same as it used to be,” Curtis says. “We still hear from our oldest at least once a day. He’s back to join us for trivia night at the local bar every Wednesday. He and I still work out together at a gym twice a week. It’s a new world out there. No one’s ever far away.”
How did these two savvy tech parents handle screentime for their kids?
Curtis says, “When I was in fourth grade, a couple classmates of mine had parents that didn’t let them watch TV. At the time TV was the devil, as was radio decades before that and even books in the 19th century. Anything fun is bad, basically, at the time. Anyhow, not having TV didn’t help my classmates at all, it actively harmed them socially. They couldn’t join in conversations about what the rest of us had watched the night before. They were cut off from their peers’ cultural zeitgeist.
“The Internet is different obviously, because there’s dark stuff out there. I’m not saying we let them run wild, but whenever they found bad stuff, we’d talk about it. Digital parenting is mainly recognizing when your kid is being radicalized by algorithms — and I don’t mean dangerous ones, I mean stupid ones. For example, my middle kid popped up one day with an opinion about video game journalism — we put an end to that real quick. For those reading this who have no idea what I’m talking about, consider yourselves lucky. You’re welcome to google it but I promise it will make no sense.”

As the site celebrates 25 years, he says, “ In general my path has been a strange and winding one. Fark is at an interesting crossroads right now for a few reasons. One good thing is Gen-Z loves Fark and they’re just now hearing about it — they’re half our daily audience now.”
As for watershed moments, when he knows he’s made the right choice, he says, “I’ve made many right choices that ultimately made Fark less successful, and by less successful, I mean not a billion dollar publicly traded company. I’m fine with that, I sleep well at night knowing I’ve managed to go 25 years without enabling genocide in a single foreign country. Not many other social media platforms can say that. In fact, none of them can say that.”
He adds, “And sign up for TotalFark, keep us going another 25 years.”

Fark’s 25th anniversary celebration is scheduled for Saturday October 12, 2024 at Lexington’s Lyric Theatre. Tickets are available via eventbrite. 

This article appears on page 10 of the October 2024 print edition of Ace. To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s monthly print edition each month, click here.

BONUS LIGHTNING ROUND

Name two things on your nightstand.
DREW: One million charging cables and a lamp I never use because screens produce their own light.

What are you reading? 
DREW: I’m in an unintentional book club.  It wasn’t supposed to be a book club, we just wanted to pretend it was one and just drink instead.  The problem was people started picking excellent books that the rest of us regretted not reading after the fact.  So now, we read the books.  And drink.

The last book we read was Neuromancer, which I haven’t read since the mid 80s.  It is amazing not only how much Gibson got right about the future we live in, but how much he still continues to get right. He even predicted algorithms that would act like narcotics on the human brain, like Instagram and Tik Tok. He was way ahead of his time.

Favorite thing to eat in Lexington?
DREW: Anything from SRO. The menu changes weekly.

You revealed in a 2010 talk the secret to all media: “write good content; make it easy to share; don’t suck.” Is it still that simple?
DREW: It’s still a prerequisite but it’s not the whole ballgame anymore.  AI is really throwing a wrench into things.  Now that anyone can write an AI scraper, entire news organizations are springing up out of nowhere that do nothing but read everyone else’s material and rephrase it. Original reporting is in danger of not cash flowing, even moreso with Google writing AI summaries of articles instead of sending traffic to the original author.  We’re going to end up with AIs hallucinating at each other at this rate.  

You’ve long predicted the imminent demise of mass media. How’s that going?
DREW: Nailed it.

I grew up in America in the 1960s, like a lot of kids, with my father and mother, and my siblings.
I was the youngest of four children.
Every morning, Dad would pack his lunch bucket and go to work.
Mom stayed home.
All four of us kids would dutifully ride the bus to and from school.
Every night the six of us ate dinner together in our assigned seats and roles.
It seemed like the “perfect” American life.
But that “ perfection“ was about to be shattered like a rock heaved through a picture window.

I woke up one Tuesday morning anticipating school just like any other day.
Except, everything about this Tuesday was different.
Sometime in the night, my father had suffered a massive heart attack.
His overweight frame was collapsed prone on the floor next to my parents’ bed.
My mother and brother struggled mightily to lift him back onto the bed.
It was as if we all thought, but didn’t say, that returning him to where he’d been sleeping would reverse what had happened to him.
If only everything could be put back to where it was before.
But things would never be where they were before.
I was there when the ambulance wheeled him away.
I was there when his personal physician showed up toting his doctor’s bag, and had to be given directions to the nearby hospital.
The plan— which I followed of course — was for me to go to school, and for everything to be normal.
Just another Tuesday.
Nothing would ever be normal again.

At 10 o’clock that morning, the announcement came directing me to the principal’s office. Naturally, the other kids thought that meant I was in trouble. But I knew it was something far worse.
My sister and I sat in the principal’s office.
We received the devastating news. My dad had died at the hospital, while we were at school. Becky bawled loudly, uncontrollably, and understandably.
Principal Roberts sternly told her, “Don’t cry dear, it’s all gonna be OK.”
Even at eight, I knew that was bullshit.

An eight-year-old boy without a father desperately needs to look up to someone, a hero.
Someone has to fill the void, and it needs to be someone who is invincible and eternal.
My dad had fought in World War Two.
He had four battle stars including the Battle of the Bulge.
He was awarded the Bronze Star, and he was my hero.
But now he was dead, and his invincibility had been dismantled.
I was only eight. But I had to move on.
I needed someone to emulate and admire.

Pete Rose was that person for me.
In Pete, my child’s eye perceived what a man should be. Tough, hard hitting, and giving all out effort every time.
When Pete got walked, he didn’t jog to first base, he sprinted. He originated the headfirst slide. He played, every game, every day, as if it was the only play, the only game, the only day.
He was what I thought a man should be.
As we have learned since, Pete is a very flawed human being. His shortcomings are well documented and tragic.
But for an eight-year-old boy, he wasn’t just a hero. He was a much-needed fixture, filling in the gaps in my life in a way that gave it meaning and purpose. He repaired the shards and sanded down the slivered glass of my shattered world.

I only met him once, at an autograph signing in a newly opened car wash on Southland Drive in Lexington, Kentucky. This was before huge appearance fees and multi-million dollar contracts were the norm. Of course he’d had thousands of encounters just like these, but, for me, I will remember it the rest of my life.

I cannot explain how devastated I am to learn of Pete’s passing.
Pete Rose is the all time hit leader, having more base hits than anyone ever to play in Major League baseball.
His favorite record was having played in the most winning games in Major League history.
He was the ultimate competitor, consumed with winning.
One either loves Pete Rose or hates him.
But for me, his biggest accomplishment is the unknowing role he played in my life—his persona filling in the gaps and erecting a new kind of scaffolding, a frame where I could build out the rest of a childhood.
I will never forget.
His death conjures the pain of losing my father all over again.
Again, suddenly. Again, without notice.
But grief adds up, and so, somehow, this hurts even worse.
Rest in peace, Peter Edward Rose.
The all-time hit king.
My hero.

Brian Gardner teaches writing at Transylvania University and writes about baseball for Ace. 

Click here to page through a digital copy of the Oct 2024 print issue of Ace. To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s print edition each month, click here.

Click here to page through a digital copy of the October 2024 print issue of Ace. To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s print edition each month, click here. Click here to join the Ace Eats Out Facebook.

Tolly Ho

The new location will not be open 24/7, but Ms. Pac Man made the trip.

Ace Eats Out appears on pages 16-17 of every issue of Ace. Click here to page through the October 2024 issue of Ace Magazine. To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s monthly print edition each month, click here. Click here to join the Ace Eats Out Facebook.

The September issue includes Lexington’s 2024 Annual Fall Guide, Ace Eats Out, our memories of Father Norman Fischer, and a preview of Leanne Morgan’s upcoming show at Rupp Arena, along with news about Chef Jonathan Lundy’s next downtown restaurant concept.

The pullout September 2024 calendar appears on the centerfold of the print issue.

To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s print edition each month, click here. Click here to join the Ace Eats Out Facebook.

Join the Ace Eats Out facebook group for daily conversations about eating in and eating out in Lexington. 

BIRTHS 

Hello Falafel is serving up Mediterranean in Park Hills. 

Manchester Liquor has taken over the former C&P location on Manchester. 

Viva Mexico has opened a second location, Viva Mexico at Old Vine. 

Watan Mediterranean Grill opened in August. 

BIRTHDAYS 

Dudley’s celebrated its 43rd anniversary in August. The Kentucky Department of Agriculture awarded Dudley’s a lifetime achievement award for including Kentucky Proud produce for 43 years. 

Jet’s Pizza turned 46 in August (and has four Lexington locations). 

Sedona Taphouse in Palomar raised a glass to their sixth birthday on August 27. 

OBITS 

Pivot Brewing has closed its doors on Delaware Ave, after eight years in business, celebrating one last call at both the Lexington and Louisville taproom on August 31, “raising a glass to the legacy of Kentucky’s first solar powered cidery and sending Pivot off in true brewery style with one final cheers.” As the owners and production team planned to step away from the business, the Brewery had been listed for sale this past summer with a posted asking price of $430,000, but did not sell. 

The Taco Tico at the old NorthPark has closed its doors. A lone Taco Tico remains at Pimlico. 

TRANSITIONS 

Jasmine Rice’s last day on Winchester Road was August 31. Owner, Kukie Ruadrew, will retain the Jasmine Rice LLC for catering, private events, cooking class, and food truck events during the season only.

Josie’s in Chevy Chase has discontinued dinner service, but breakfast and lunch remain in full swing.

Lyndon House has announced the addition of a fine dining concept to its current operations, Chez Lyndon. 

The former Ramsey’s location at Woodland and High has granted an occupancy permit to Sassy Bleu Inc., the entity that owns the popular Mimi’s Southern Kitchen. 

AROUND THE CORNER

Honey Baked Ham is coming to Hamburg, just in time for the holidays. 

Mileta is a locally owned Italian concept, set to occupy the former Par 6 Social location at Fayette Mall. 

Lexington Chef Jonathan Lundy has announced his next project with TJ Cox earlier this week. The new concept, 3TEN is expected to open this Fall at the Short Street space formerly occupied by Table 310, and the recently closed Creaux. The new space is expected to include echoes of Roy and Nadine’s, where Lundy and Cox both once worked. Lundy says of the upcoming menu, “I’m going in a lot of different directions and enjoying the freedom of not being glued to a specific concept. There’s so much I want to do to make it interesting, fun, and playful.” Will the long-mourned country ham pot stickers from Jonathan at Gratz Park be part of the new venture? It remains to be seen.

Georgetown’s Thai House will add a Lexington location, at 911 Winchester Road. 

Can’t get enough sushi? How about sushi on a conveyor belt? Zundo Izakaya and Ramen on Nicholasville Road will open Toku Revolving Sushi next door, in time for the holidays. 

Japanese fusion concept Umami Ramen & Grill will open in the former McAlister’s Deli spot in Chevy Chase. 

Wingstop is coming to Richmond Road, and to Tates Creek.

Ace Eats Out appears on pages 16-17 of the Ace 2024 Fall Guide. Click here to page through a digital copy of the Sep 2024 print issue of Ace. To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s print edition each month, click here. Click here to join the Ace Eats Out Facebook.

Click here to page through a digital copy of the Sep 2024 print issue of Ace. To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s print edition each month, click here. Click here to join the Ace Eats Out Facebook.

And she’s upsized, from Lexington Opera House to Rupp Arena

The last time Leanne Morgan performed in Lexington, she played two nights at the Lexington Opera House, and filmed her first (self-financed) Netflix special, “I’m Every Woman.” 

The special immediately hit Netflix’s  Top 10 and quickly became one of the most popular specials on the platform — following a clean family path similar to that of fellow Tennessean, Nate Bargatze.  

Having spent decades raising three children in Tennessee, Morgan did not have the option of following the typical path to mainstream comedy success. Paying dues at Mitzi Shore’s The Comedy Club or NYC’s Catch a Rising Star — hoping to go up as a walk-on at 2 am — wasn’t logistically feasible for a young mom living in the south. 

She wasn’t likely to encounter Judd Apatow at the Piggly Wiggly and be offered an HBO series like ‘Girls’ or ‘Crashing.’

So she charted a different path, one that began by telling funny stories at MLM parties where she’d sell jewelry, and new fans would go on to “book” her for another jewelry party, or a corporate luncheon, or a church basement, encouraging her to “come, and do your little thing.” 

Morgan, a happily married empty nester with two beagles, is now spinning her life story into a hit comedy tour, and a new book to be released in September. 

Currently on another 100-city tour, Morgan will upsize to Rupp Arena on her upcoming October visit. 

“At the pace these new shows are being added,” Morgan says, “I’m going to run out of spray tanner by January!” 

At home in Tennessee, she enjoys Costco runs, along with cooking and stocking the fridges of  her extended family. If a podcaster so much as mentions that their children are attending college anywhere on the east coast, she’s likely to volunteer to feed and shelter them, just in case they want to “eat fried chicken and sleep in a bed.” 

She mourns local losses on stage, whispering her grief, “the J. Crew has shut down in Knoxville,” and celebrates the wins, laughing, rejecting granny dresses and acknolwedging, “for 58, I think I’ve still got my arms.” She’s willing to go sleeveless. 

She says “I named my second tour ‘Just Getting Started’ because I’m a 58-year-old mother and grandmother who’s having the time of my life. This is a dream come true. I truly feel like I am in the prime of my life.” 

Morgan will perform at Rupp Arena on Oct 5. Her new book, ‘What in the World,’ is on stands in September. She will appear in the new Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell movie, ‘You’re Cordially Invited,’ later this year,  

This article appears on page 18 of the September 2024 print edition of Ace.

Click here to page through a digital copy of the Sep 2024 print issue of Ace. To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s print edition each month, click here. Click here to join the Ace Eats Out Facebook.

Lexington’s Fall Guide 2024

“A world of regret awaits you at Mammoth Cave! Come experience what has disappointed millions of people for over 225 years! Mammoth Cave National Park recently rated as one of the ‘most disappointing U.S. tourist attractions’! While we think the world’s longest cave system and over 4,000 years of human history is AMAZING, others find that the cave is ‘very dark’ and there is ‘nothing cool’ here to see. If you would like to experience the disappointment of Mammoth Cave, visit our website and choose from one of our many activities that will leave you unfulfilled!” 

— Mammoth Cave National Park Service, social media 

Look. Lexington is admittedly no Mammoth Cave, where the National Parks Service mans an unrivaled and unmatched social media presence in the world of tourism. (Yes. It’s a man. One man. His name is Matt.) 

So. We’re not going to try to top Matt.

Welcome to Lexington, Kentucky’s Annual Fall Guide for 2024, where we have left out all of the NPS Bear Safety tips (“If you come across a bear, never push a slower friend down…even if you feel the friendship has run its course.”)

We rarely have bears here (except for that one time, at UK, and that other Bluegrass Conspiracy thing), but it is that time of year when we don’t have to choose between football, basketball, or horses because there’s ample time to enjoy all of them — sometimes all in one day. We don’t have to choose between rain, frost, snow, sleet, ice, and heat advisories, because they might all arrive on the same day.  

Every year since 1989, Ace has published an Annual Summer Guide, Fall Guide, and Holiday Guide, along with the annual Real Best of Lexington. 

When Ace’s very first Fall Guide rolled off the presses (in black and white newsprint, no less) in the 80s, Google was another ten years in the making and the iPhone wouldn’t roll out for two more decades. Social Media wasn’t a thing, the internet was barely a thing, and we rode downtown on horseback when we wanted to see a movie at the Kentucky Theatre. (Of course we didn’t. Because the Kentucky Theatre was still shuttered during its long, dark, post-fire era) 

It was easy to lose track of what was happening and when back then. Sometimes, it still is.

But not if you have the Ace Fall Guide at your fingertips, digital or otherwise.

*As always, times and dates are subject to change. Confirm with the venue.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Art

SEP 7 Waveland Art Fair 
SEP 20 Art on the Town, Pavilion 
SEP 20 Gallery Hop, downtown 
SEP 20 Reimagine Exhibit opens, Living Arts & Science Center
OCT 19 KY Guild of Artists and Craftsmen Fall Art Market, Berea 
OCT 6 Eclectic Expressions, Harstad Fine Arts Series 
NOV 15 Gallery Hop, downtown 

Comedy

SEP 6 Iliza Shlesinger, Louisville Palace 

SEP 13 Earthquake, Comedy Off Broadway 

SEP 14 Kathleen Madigan, Lexington Opera House 

SEP 20 Steve Martin & Martin Short, Louisville Palace

OCT 5 Leanne Morgan, Rupp Arena 

OCT 12 I Mom So Hard, Lexington Opera House 
OCT 19 Jeff Dunham, Rupp Arena
OCT 21 An Evening with David Sedaris, Lexington Opera House
OCT 22 David Cross, Lexington Opera House 
OCT 24 Bored Teachers, Lexington Opera House 
OCT 27 Marlon Wayans, Louisville Palace

Concerts & Live Music 

SEP 1 Jazz on the Lawn, Ashland, the Henry Clay Estate

SEP 6 Jason Isbell, Rupp Arena 
SEP 10 Joan Osborne, Kentucky Theatre 
SEP 15 Ben Sollee, Harstad Fine Arts Series 
SEP 16 Ben Sollee, Woodsongs, Lyric Theater 
SEP 20 The Supersuckers, with Nine Pound Hammer, The Burl 
SEP 25 Todd Rundgren, Louisville Palace
SEP 26 Louder than Life, Louisville 

SEP 27 Sturgill Simpson, Rupp Arena 
OCT 4 Here Come the Mummies, Manchester Music Hall 
OCT 5 ZZ Top, Norton Center (Danville) 
OCT 17 Sam Bush, Kentucky Theatre 
OCT 26 The Avett Brothers, Rupp Arena 
NOV 8 Jelly Roll, Rupp Arena
NOV 9 Steep Canyon Rangers, The Burl  
NOV 20 Justin Timberlake, KFC Yum (Louisville) 
DEC 20 Ricky Skaggs, Louisville Palace 

The Henry Clay Memorial Foundation invites the public to its annual Jazz on the Lawn concert on Sep 1, 2024. 

This ever-popular concert takes place on the back lawn of the mansion, where guests are encouraged to bring their lawn chairs, blankets, and picnics. The Ashland estate is located at 120 Sycamore Road in Lexington. 

Thursday Night Live

SEP 5 Mercy Men
SEP 12 Big Maracas
SEP 19 Witness Protection
SEP 26 Rewind Band
OCT 3 Rebel Without a Cause
OCT 10 Vinyl Richie 

Read

SEP 7 Jim Embry speaks, Downtown Library 

OCT 8 Henry Louis Gates, Norton Center (Danville) 

NOV 9 Carnegie Classics: Murder on the Orient Express, Carnegie Center 

at the MOVIES  

FREAKY FLICKS 
OCT 4 Hocus Pocus, Masterson Station 
OCT 11 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Moondance 
OCT 18 Corpse Bride, Moondance 

ROSA GODDARD FILM SERIES 

SEP 11 Barbarella, Kentucky Theatre 
SEP 18 Fantastic Planet, Kentucky Theatre 
SEP 25 Ghost in the Shell, Kentucky Theatre 

CLASSICS SERIES AT THE LIBRARY  

SEP 9 The Royal Tenenbaums, Farish Theater
SEP 22 Amores Perros, Farish Theatre 
SEP 25 Sin Nombre, Farish Theater 
OCT 1 Spy Kids, Farish Theater
OCT 6 Pan’s Labyrinth, Farish Theater 
OCT 23 Sunset Boulevard, Farish Theater
OCT 30 The Shining, Farish Theater

SALONS

Celebrate Eclectic Lives in Eclectic Homes in support of Moveable Feast. On three Sundays in September, hosts will open their architecturally significant homes to celebrate art, music, and literature all while supporting the mission of Moveable Feast. Each event will be styled with entertainment, food, drinks, and up-close encounters with the arts. Attendance is kept to small numbers to help ensure a unique experience. Purchase tickets in advance. 

SEP 8 David Bartley and Shelby Reynolds in Kenwick
SEP 15 Jennie Leavell, featuring Ellen Skidmore and Frank X Walker
SEP 22 Art Shechet and Marilyn Robie, featuring George Ella Lyon and Tall, Dark & Handsome

STAGE/THEATRE

SEP 10 Seniors Got Talent, Lexington Opera House
SEP 12 Boeing Boeing, Studio Players
SEP 19 Old Dry Frye, Lexington Children’s Theatre 
SEP 20 The Book of Mormon, Lexington Opera House 
SEP 24 Artrageous, EKU Center for the Arts 
OCT 2 Dracula, EKU Center for the Arts 
OCT 8 Charlotte’s Web, Lexington Children’s Theatre 
NOV 6 Winnie the Pooh, Lexington Children’s Theatre 
NOV 8 Last Out: Elegy of a Green Beret, Norton Center (Danville) 
NOV 14 As You Like It, UK’s Guignol Theatre 

PUSH Physical Theatre’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 horror novel, Dracula, is an experiment in collaboration, and a departure from the award-winning company’s usual ‘silent treatment.’ By combining PUSH’s speechless artistry with traditional dialogue-driven theatre, the collaborators have created an unforgettable ride into the warped world of one of literature’s most famous villains. Wed, Oct 2, EKU Center for the Arts. 

EAT + DRINK 

SEP 9 Lexington Coffee and Tea Week 
SEP 13 Kentucky Bourbon Festival, Bardstown 
SEP 14 Kentucky Food Truck Championship, Renfro Valley 
SEP 26 World Chicken Festival, London 
SEP 27 Ham Days, Lebanon 
OCT 5 Wilmore Arts & Crafts Festival 
OCT 5 Bourbon on the Banks, Frankfort
OCT 19 Country Boy Brewing Fall Bazaar

September is National Bourbon Month. Toast responsibly. 

FAIRS + FESTS

SEP 14 Harvest Festival, Evans Orchard 

SEP 15 Southland Street Fair 
SEP 19 Bourbon & Beyond, Louisville 
SEP 20 Christ the King Oktoberfest
SEP 27 Wildside Winery Balloon Festival 
SEP 27 Festival Latino de Lexington, Downtown Lexington 
OCT 11 Mary Queen Fall Festival, Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary 
OCT 20 Thriller, Downtown 

PUMPKIN SPICY 

SEP 28 Pumpkin Patch Train Rides (thru Oct 26)
OCT 5 Pumpkin Festival at Wildside Winery
OCT 24 JackOLantern Trail, McConnell Springs
OCT 27 PumpkinMania, Transy  

HOLIDAYS 

NOV 9 Christmas Bazaar, Versailles 
NOV 21 A Christmas Story, Lexington Opera House 
NOV 22 Junior League Holly Day Market, Alltech Arena 
DEC 8 Cirque Dreams Holidaze, Rupp Arena 
DEC 29 Mannheim Steamroller, Lexington Opera House 

To advertise in Ace’s Holiday Guides, call 859.225.4889, x235.

HOME + GARDEN 

SEP 14 Household Hazardous Waste Disposal, Old Frankfort Pike 
SEP 15 Mentelle Park Home & Garden Tour 
SEP 26 St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway announced
SEP 28 Free Mulch Giveaway, Old Landfill Pad 
OCT 5 Home & Garden Show, Oleika Temple 

HORSE

“A bit like Cuba’s, Kentucky’s economy depends almost entirely on things that are good for you but are said to be bad for you: Cuba has sugar, rum and tobacco; and Kentucky has bourbon, tobacco, and horse racing. When you see the Derby run on TV, the cameras linger on opulence in hats and horseflesh, and the farms often look like rolling feudal estates, but if you go to Keeneland [sic] racetrack at Lexington you see…real, popular participation in the sport of kings.”

—Christopher Hitchens, Vanity Fair Magazine 

SEP 7 Festival of the Horse, Georgetown
SEP 9 Keeneland’s September Yearling Sales begin
OCT 4 Keeneland Fall Meet begins
OCT 13 LRWH Hunter Pace, Shaker Village 
OCT 23 National Horse Show, Kentucky Horse Park 

SPORTS & OUTDOORS

BIKE

SEP Cycle September (activities continue throughout the month) 
SEP 28 Community Garden Walk & Bike Tour 10 am West Sixth 
NOV 2 Lex Glow Ride

RUN/WALK FOR IT

SEP 26 Bourbon Country Burn, KY Horse Park 
OCT 4 Bourbon Chase, Clermont to Lexington
OCT 12 Yes, Mamm 5k, RJ Corman’s Nicholasville
OCT 13 Iron Horse Half Marathon, Midway 
DEC 14 Reindeer Ramble, Keeneland

UK Football

SEP 7 UK vs South Carolina, home game
SEP 14 UK vs Georgia, home game
SEP 21 UK vs Ohio, home 
SEP 28 UK at Ole Miss
OCT 12 UK vs Vanderbilt, homecoming
OCT 19 UK at Florida
OCT 26 UK vs Auburn, home
NOV 2 UK at Tennessee
NOV 16 UK vs Murray State, home
NOV 23 UK at Texas
NOV 30 UK vs Louisville, home 

UK BASKETBALL

OCT 11 Big Blue Madness, Rupp Arena
OCT 18 Blue-White Exhibition, Memorial Coliseum
OCT 23 UK vs KY Wesleyan Exhibition, Rupp
OCT 29 UK vs Minnesota State Exhibition, Rupp
NOV 4 UK vs Wright State, Rupp
NOV 9 UK vs Bucknell, Rupp
NOV 12 UK vs Duke at Atlanta
NOV 19 UK vs Lipscomb BBN Invitational
NOV 22 UK vs Jackson State BBN Invitational
NOV 26 UK vs Western Kentucky BBN Invitational
NOV 29 UK vs Georgia State, Rupp Arena
DEC 3 UK at Clemson
DEC 7 UK vs Gonzaga at Seattle
DEC 11 UK vs Colgate, Rupp
DEC 14 UK vs Louisville, Rupp
DEC 21 UK vs Ohio State at Madison Square Garden 
DEC 31 UK vs Brown, Rupp Arena 

ELECTION DATE REMINDERS

Don’t Forget to Vote!

OCT 7 Voter Registration Deadline, 4 pm 
OCT 31 Early voting begins 
NOV 5 In-Person Polls Open, 6 am to 6 pm 

This article begins on page 7 of the September 2024 print edition of Ace.

Click here to page through a digital copy of the Sep 2024 print issue of Ace. To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s print edition each month, click here. Click here to join the Ace Eats Out Facebook.

Lexington priest, Father Norman Fischer, has died unexpectedly. He was on sabbatical, having recently spent time at St. Xavier in New Orleans, and had arrived in Delaware to serve as chaplain at the Catholic HEART Workcamp. 

Fischer was the pastor at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in downtown Lexington, and served as chaplain for Lexington Catholic High School.

Saint Peter Claver Church will hold a special mass for Father Norman tonight, July 15, at 7 pm. Additional arrangements will be announced at a later date.

Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton addressed the loss to the community, writing, “Father Norman Fischer had a smile that would light up the room, and an ongoing passion to serve people. Father Norman was a great leader for his parishioners and students. He was an advocate for inclusion, equality and diversity, and was the first priest of both African-American and Filipino heritages in the Catholic Diocese of Lexington. I had many opportunities to talk with him, and loved his great sense of humor and ability to connect with others. His passion for people and service will be missed.” 

He is remembered for his “jokes, singing, homilies, and dancing…” and even a “little breakdancing back in 7th and 8th grade talent shows.” 

The Bluegrass Community Foundation recently celebrated The Lexington Black Prosperity Initiative. Fischer was one of three honorees named last month for “their exceptional contributions to racial equity, social justice and community empowerment across Lexington.”

His parishioners are stricken and shocked by the unexpected news, with many sharing the impact he’s had on their families:

• “you buried our child, and you married our daughters. You were a friend in our darkest hours and in the best of times…”
• “Father Norman is God’s pure love personified here on earth with every smile and hug and selfie.”
• Padre, I’m sure you are dancing and leading a massive choir in song, and probably playing a little basketball too, in Heaven.”

Fischer was a 1995 graduate of Centre College in Danville, where he was known for volunteer service and aspirations as a healer. He received his Master’s of Divinity from Mundelein Seminary in 2000, and began ministering to the parishes of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Peter Claver. His friend and fellow Centre alum, Stephen Powell, created the “chalice and bowl of Father Norman’s dreams.” In 2021, he received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from Centre.

An updated version of this article appears on pages 14 and 15 of the September 2024 print edition of Ace. Click here to page through a digital copy of the Sep 2024 issue. To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s print edition each month, click here.

Long before opening Jonathan at Gratz Park in 1998, he’d made his culinary bones at the popular Lucie Slone Meyers mainstay, Roy and Nadine’s.

In 2009, he produced the cookbook, Jonathan’s Bluegrass Table, writing, “From our front porch swings, we enjoy sunsets over fields of sweet corn, sorghum and soybeans. Food and animal feed crops have replaced much of the traditional tobacco base, and farmers markets have found permanent homes in the cities. There is nothing like a Kentucky tomato or local wildflower honey. Pork has reached near-cult level — country hams, jowl bacon — there is simply none better. The same limestone that nurtures the thoroughbred horses here also imparts its richness to grass-fed lamb, cattle and goats, whose milk has inspired local cheese artisans. A sixth-generation mill still grinds local corn and wheat just up the creek from where I played as a child.”

After the closing of his eponymous venture at Gratz Park in 2014, he and Cox went on to consult with Greer Co at projects like Coba Cocina and Italx, and opened Corto Lima downtown in 2017.

Lundy announced his next project with Cox earlier this week. The new concept, 3TEN, will open later this Fall at the Short Street space formerly occupied by Table 310, and the recently closed Creaux.

The new space is expected to include echoes of Roy and Nadine’s, where Lundy and Cox both once worked.

Lundy says of the upcoming menu, “I’m going in a lot of different directions and enjoying the freedom of not being glued to a specific concept. There’s so much I want to do to make it interesting, fun, and playful.”

Will the long-mourned country ham pot stickers from Jonathan at Gratz Park be part of the new venture? It remains to be seen.

Click here to page through the digital edition of the Ace 2024 Summer Guide print issue. To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s print edition each month, click here. Click here to join the Ace Eats Out Facebook.

Below is a sampling of what’s open and what’s closed for July 4 in Lexington so that you can plan accordingly.

FREE PARKING

In the spirit of freedom, the city of Lexington has proclaimed free parking at the metered spaces downtown on July 4, 2024. Remember when heading downtown, there will be Bluegrass 10k traffic in the morning, parade traffic in the afternoon, and fireworks traffic in the evening.

CLOSED on July 4, 2024

Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government offices are closed on Thursday, July 4, in observance of the holiday. The Lexington Recycling Center, the Electronics Recycling Center and the Haley Pike Waste Management Facility are also closed on the holiday.

The DMV is closed on July 4. All Lexington Public Libraries are closed on July 4.

Banks and post offices are closed in observance of the holiday.

LexTran operates on an extended Sunday schedule on July 4th.

In addition to the post offices being closed, FedEx and UPS and Amazon typically do not deliver in observance of the holiday.

July 4, 2024 Grocery Options in Lexington

Costco will not be open on July 4.

Critchfield on Southland will be open.

Fresh Market will be open regular hours on July 4.

Since July 4 falls on a Thursday, the Tuesday/Thursday Lexington Farmers’ Market is open in its new Tuesday/Thursday home on National, and is fully stocked with Kentucky Proud corn and other produce for your cookout

Good Foods Co-op is open from 8 am to 8 pm on July 4 (and the hot bar will be open regular hours).

Lexington area Krogers are open on July 4. Can you get a prescription filled? Most Kroger pharmacies will be open, but will have reduced hours. Check with individual stores.

Most Meijer locations are open on July 4, check individual pharmacies.

Target will be open regular hours.

Trader Joe’s is open. 

Walgreens will be open normal hours, but select pharmacies may have reduced holiday hours.

Walmart will be open normal hours on July 4.

Whole Foods is open regular hours. 

Lexington Restaurants July 4, 2024

Lexington area restaurants and bars vary widely on holiday observances. Confirm hours and schedules with each individual venue. Plans are always subject to change.

Restaurants Open for the Holiday

All BHG restaurants are open on July 4, 2024 (Drake’s, Harry’s, Malone’s, etc)

Both Carson’s downtown and the new Carson’s Andover are open regular hours on July 4, and will be serving brunch for the holiday, 10 am to 2 pm.

Dudley’s will be open on July 4 and pulling out the grill to celebrate.

Grounded All Day Cafe is open July 4, 8 am to 2 pm.

The Mousetrap is open in Lansdowne on July 4 from 9 am to 6 pm  (just in case you need to pick up pimento cheese and pretend like you made it for the holiday cookout.)

Starbucks are open on July 4.

Holiday Restaurant Closings

Blue Door Smokehouse is closed Thursday July 4, 2024 and reopening regular hours on Friday.

Distilled is closed for the holiday.

Favor Kitchen is celebrating their four-year anniversary this weekend, and closing on July 3 and July 4 for the holiday.

Liberty Road Cafe is closed July 4 thru July 8, 2024 for the holiday and reopening on July 9.

All Ramsey’s locations will be closed on the 4th of July BUT will have a booth setup downtown. They will be grilling and handing out local Kentucky Proud corn. 

Tony’s is closed for the holiday.

Tuk Tuk Snack Shop is closed on July 4.

Click here to page through the digital edition of the Summer Guide 2024 print issue. To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s print edition each month, click here. Click here to join the Ace Eats Out Facebook.

Liz Hodge kicks off this year’s Summer Guide with an amusing account of a tanning incident gone awry on page 6. (Wear sunscreen.)

The June issue includes Lexington’s 2024 Annual Summer Guide; June’s monthly restaurant and food news, Ace Eats Out; an obituary for Lexington designer Lynn Pedigo, a preview of a popular June lavender festival, and a guide to 2024’s Farmers Markets in Lexington.
Ace Eats Out takes a closer look at a struggling institution on Southland Drive.

To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s print edition each month, click here. Click here to join the Ace Eats Out Facebook.

Lexington’s Staycation Summer Guide 2024

Welcome to Lexington, Kentucky’s Annual Summer Guide for 2024. 

Every year since 1989, Ace has published an Annual Summer Guide, Fall Guide, and Holiday Guide, along with the annual Real Best of Lexington. 

When Ace’s very first Summer Guide rolled off the presses (in black and white newsprint, no less) in the 80s, Google was another ten years in the making and the iPhone wouldn’t roll out for two more decades. Social Media wasn’t a thing, the internet was barely a thing, and we rode downtown on horseback when we wanted to hear live music at Thursday Night Live. (Of course we didn’t. TNL didn’t exist in the 80s.) 

It was easy to lose track of what was happening and when back then. Sometimes, it still is.

Today, we do all have 748 digital reminders at our literal fingertips all day everyday (and of course, all of our calendars and guides are available online, in full digital glory), but sometimes you just want to plan the entire Summer — at a glance. You want to know where the funnelcakes are.

From live music to movie series and dozens of Fairs and Fests, Lexington has something for everyone, in every neighborhood, every day this summer. 

*As always, times and dates are subject to change. Confirm with the venue.

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

JUN 21 Maserati Mingle, Summit 
JUN 22 Paint the Town, downtown Lex
JUN 22 Mom-Mom’s Lavender & Crafts Festival 1 pm (1061 S. Cleveland Rd)
JUL 12 Berea Craft Festival
JUL 20 Concours d’Elegance, Keeneland
JUL 31 Ballet Under the Stars, Woodland Park (thru Aug 4)
AUG 10 Picnic with the Pops, Keeneland
AUG 17 Woodland Art Fair 

Lexington’s annual downtown plein air painting event, Paint the Town is June 22, 2024. Artists will spend the day painting cityscapes throughout downtown Lexington.

Comedy

JUN 1 Sam Morrill, Comedy Off Broadway
JUN 12 Daniel Tosh, Louisville Palace
JUN 13 Wanda Sykes, Lexington Opera House 
JUN 20 Josh Blue, Comedy Off Broadway
JUN 21 Jim Norton, Lexington Opera House
JUN 30 David Spade, Lexington Opera House
JUL 18 Trey Kennedy, Lexington Opera House 
JUL 28 Brett Goldstein (of Ted Lasso), Taft (Cinci)
AUG 9 Kevin Smith, Lexington Opera House
SEP 6 Iliza Shlesinger, Louisville Palace
SEP 14 Kathleen Madigan, Lexington Opera House
SEP 20 Steve Martin & Martin Short, Louisville Palace
SEP 20 Martin Lawrence, KFC Yum (Louisville)
OCT 21 David Sedaris, Lexington Opera House 
OCT 26 Dane Cook, Cinci
NOV 2 Jim Gaffigan, Taft Theatre (Cinci)

Eat & Drink

JUN 8 Beer Cheese Festival, Winchester
JUN 14 SoulFeast Week, Lexington (thru Jun 23)
JUN 15 Kentucky Wine and Vine Fest, Nicholasville
JUN 22 Annual Ashland Lawn Party, Ashland Henry Clay Estate
JUL 18 Lexington Restaurant Week  (thru July 28)

FAIRS + FESTS

JUN 6 Bluegrass Fair begins 
JUN 13 Harrodsburg’s 250th Anniversary Festival
JUN 22 Mom-Mom’s Lavender & Crafts Festival 1061 S. Cleveland Rd)
JUN 29 Pride, Lexington
JUN 29 Kentucky Craft Bash Beer Festival, Louisville
JUL 4 Lexington’s July 4th Festival
JUL 12 Berea Craft Festival
AUG 10 Small Town America Festival, Mt. Sterling
SEP  Festival of the Horse, Georgetown 
SEP Midway Fall Festival

The Annual Mom-Mom’s Lavender & Crafts Festival is at 1061 S. Cleveland Rd and will benefit Paws for the Cause. (See page 18.)

HOME AND GARDEN 

JUN 9  Kenwick Bungalow Tour
JUL 20 Grand Tour of Homes
JUL 27 Bluegrass Iris Society Iris Sale, Lexington Green 
AUG 24 Tour of Remodeled Homes 

HORSE

JUNE Polo practices and matches begin, KY Horse Park 
JUL 8 Lexington’s Junior League Horse Show begins, KY Horse Park 
JUL 12 Breyerfest, KY Horse Park 
JUL 27 Hats off to Kentucky Horses Day, KY Horse Park
JULY Live Racing, Red Mile 
SEP 6 Festival of the Horse, Georgetown 
SEP 9 Keeneland’s September Yearling Sales begin
OCT 4 Keeneland Fall Meet begins

LIVE MUSIC

BIG BAND & JAZZ

Big Band & Jazz is Lexington’s longest running and outdoor concert series held weekly from 7-8:30 pm at Moondance in June and Ecton Park in July.

Moondance Amphitheater

JUN 4 Keith McAlily Quartet with Kirby Davis
JUN 11 Miles Osland Little Big Band
JUN 18 Lee Carroll’s C the Beat ​​​​​​​
JUN 25 Walnut Street Ramblers​​​​​​​
JUL 2 Lexington Summer Concert Band​​​​​​​

Ecton Park

JUL 9 Tim Lake and the Blue Jazz Persuaders​​​​​​​
JUL 16 DOJO – DiMartino Osland Jazz Orchestra
JUL 23 Brett Evans Trombone Orchestra
JUL 30 Mark Gardner
AUG 6 Marlin McKay Quintet​​​​​​​
AUG 13 RPM Quintet

SOUTHLAND JAMBOREE

The Southland Jamboree concerts  at Moondance are free, 7pm Thursdays at Moondance Amphitheatre, Beaumont Center in Lexington Kentucky.

JUN 6 Ida Clare
JUN 13 Fast Track
JUN 20  Custom Made Bluegrass
JUN 27 Rounder’s Station
JUL 4  Mash Grass 
JUL 11 Hammertowne 
JUL 18  West Liberty Mountain Boys 
JUL 25  Fenced In 
AUG 1  Cane Run Bluegrass 
AUG  8 Bibelhauser Brothers
AUG 15 Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers
AUG  22  Coaltown Dixie 
AUG 29  String Roots Trio 

SUMMER NIGHTS IN SUBURBIA

Summer Nights in Suburbia brings a variety of local and regional acts to Moondance Amphitheater each summer. Attendees are invited to enjoy the free concerts, bring their own picnics, or purchase food and drinks from local vendors. Summer Nights shows begin at 7 pm.

JUN 7 Born Cross Eyed
JUN 21 The New Developments 
JUL 5 Red, White & Blues with TD Young 
JUL 19 NVRMND
AUG 2 The Minks 
AUG 16 Honeychild
AUG 30 Vinyl Richie

THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE

Central Bank Thursday Night Live returns to Fifth Third Bank Pavilion in downtown Lexington on Thursday evenings from 5-8 pm.

JUN 6 64 West
JUN 13 Five Below Band 
JUN 20 Positive Movement Band 
JUN 27 Lauren Mink 
JUL 11 Bedford Band
JUL18 The BANDj Experience
JUL 25 Brett Higgins & the Family
AUG 1 The Twiggenburys
AUG 8 The Ranahans
AUG 15 The Tim Talbert Project
AUG 22 Kenny Owens & Group Therapy
AUG 29 Blacktop Rodeo
SEP 5 Mercy Men
SEP 12 Big Maracas
SEP 19 Witness Protection
SEP 26 Rewind Band
OCT 3 Rebel Without a Cause
OCT 10 Vinyl Richie 

CONCERTS, TOURS AND MUSIC FESTIVALS

JUN 1 The Great American Brass Band Festival, Danville
JUN 1 Railbird (Sat & Sun), Red Mile
JUN 6 Spirit in the Bluegrass Music Fest, KY Horse Park 
JUN 7 Southern Culture on the Skids, The Burl 
JUN 15 Tim McGraw, Rupp Arena 
JUN 17 John Oates, Lyric Theatre
JUN 19 John Hiatt, Lexington Opera House 
JUN 20 Lucinda Williams, Kentucky Theatre
JUN 20 New Kids on the Block, Riverbend (Cinci)
JUN 22 Janet Jackson, Riverbend (Cinci)
JUN 28 Santana |Counting Crows, Riverbend (Cinci)
JUL 2 Third Eye Blind, Riverbend (Cinci)
JUL 5 Red Hot Chili Peppers, Riverbend (Cinci)
JUL 9 Justin Timberlake, Rupp Arena
JUL 17 Ben Folds Lexington Opera House 
JUL 18 Master Musicians Festival, Somerset
JUL 24 Olivia Rodrigo, Rupp Arena
JUL 24 Alanis Morissette, Riverbend (Cinci)
AUG 1 Blink 182, Rupp Arena 
AUG 18 ABBA Tribute, Lexington Opera House
AUG 27 Steve Earle, Lexington Opera House 
AUG 29 Cirque Du Soleil Rupp Arena
AUG 30 Cage the Elephant, Riverbend (Cinci)
SEP 6 Jason Isbell | Alejandro Escovedo Rupp Arena
SEP 10 Joan Osborne, Kentucky Theatre 
OCT 26 The Avett Brothers, Rupp Arena

MOVIES

Film Fests

JUL  12 Harry Dean Stanton Film Festival 

Beginning in 2011, the Lexington Film League has hosted a non-profit festival in honor of Harry Dean Stanton in the state where he was born. The annual festival utilizes various venues throughout downtown Lexington for screenings, speakers, concerts, and Harry Dean Stanton related events. The 2024 fest honors Harry’s love of music with films that are musician themed and/or soundtrack heavy.

Freaky Fridays 

The Kentucky Theatre presents ‘Freaky Fridays’ to satisfy your cravings for cult film, once a month, at 10 pm. 

JUN 21 John Waters’ Desperate Living
JUL 19 The Man Who Fell to Earth
AUG 23 Ms. 45
SEP 20 Weekend 

Free Friday Flicks at Jacobson Park

Friday Flicks offers an evening of activities and a movie beginning Fridays in June. Pre-movie activities include children’s games, free temporary tattoos, petting zoo, non-profits, and a preshow themed around that night’s movie. Activities begin at 7 p.m. with the movie starting at dark.

JUN 7 Wonka 
JUN 14 Trolls Band Together
JUN 21 Migration
JUN 28 Super Mario Brothers

Movie Clubs at the Lexington Public Library 

Lexington’s Downtown Public Library is home to the Farish Theatre, which programs a series of movies all summer long, like the International Movie Club, and the Classic Literature Film Series. Check with the Library to confirm times. 

JUN 9 Translator for Peace
JUN 10 Of an Age (Australian)
JUN 17 La Cage aux Folles
JUL 1 Lady Macbeth 
JUL 15 The Hate U Give
JUL 29 Belfast 

Summer Classics

For two decades, The Kentucky Theatre has screened classic films every Wednesday (matinee and evening) from late May until early September. Over the years, this summer series has proved to be a perennial favorite. Each movie will include a Wednesday matinee and a Wednesday evening show. 

JUN 5 Desk Set
JUN 12 Auntie Mame
JUN 19 Snow White 
JUN 26 ET
JUL 3 The Red Shoes
JUL 10 Taxi Driver
JUL 17 Jurassic Park
JUL 24 The Third Man
JUL 31 The Jerk
AUG 7 Rebecca
AUG 14 To Sir, with Love
AUG 21 Cinema Paradiso
AUG 28 Rocky
SEP 4 The Big Lebowski

Lexington Sports Summer 2024

Golf

JUN 14 Lexington Men’s Senior City Championship

JUN 20 Junior City Championship, Kearney Hill
JUL 11 The Kentucky Championship formerly known as Barbasol
JUL 12 Men’s City Championship
SEP 17 Women’s City Championship 

The Kentucky Championship – previously known as the Barbasol Championship – is an official FedExCup event on the PGA TOUR schedule. Formerly known as the Barbasol, the Kentucky Championship is July 11-14 at Champions at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky, just outside of Lexington. 

Run for It 

JUN 1 Run for the Nun 5k, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

JUN 8 Mutt Strutt
JUN 15 Wild Hearts Superhero 5k
JUL 4 Bluegrass 10,000
JUL 19 Distillery Dash 
AUG 10 Midsummer Night’s Run 
OCT 13 Iron Horse Half Marathon 

Lexington’s 2024 Ace Summer Guide appears on pages 6 through 11 of the June 2024 issue of Ace. Flip through the digital version of the June 2024 Summer Guide here. To subscribe to digital delivery of the print edition of Ace, click here. To join the Ace Eats out Facebook group, click here.