"Our State"
This is Kentucky. Turn and gaze;
How fair the Earth! the heaven how near!
Where smile the stars, where glow the days
More gloriously than thcy do here
See where she stands! about her knee
Her mighty sons: among them Clay
And Lincoln,-yea! long may shc he
Mother of men as great as they!
-Madisox Cauwk
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At the Falls of the Ohio
Nineteen Hundred and Six
ABSENT SONS AND DAUGHTERS
OF OLD KENTUCKY:
Greeting:
IJActing upon a suggestion made to it by a
young lady, born in Kentucky but now
living in Colorado, the Louisville Commercial
Club is to have a Home Coming Week for all
Kentuckians, next June.
EPreliminary steps taken by the Club to-
ward getting lists of those who have left home
and friends to fight life's battles elsewhere
have resulted so satisfactorily that the Com-
mittee on Conventions and Entertainment of
the Club, of which Col. R. S. Brown is
Chairman, under whose auspices the general
scheme of arrangement will be worked out,
feels that the time is ripe for extending an
invitation to those whose names have been
procured. Your name is on the list now in
our possession, hence this invitation. As one
June in Kentucky
The trumpet vines are blowing reveille -a
hundred -a thousand coral bugles sounding the
morning call of peace.
The corn is being plowed. A light mist lies
on the woods.
A little brook slips under the villows, darkens.
and dances out again laughing in the sun.
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who first saw the light of day in Kentucky,
you are most cordially invited to come once
more to see the old folks at home.
EffVe want to get the railroads of the United
States to make a rate of one fare for the round
trip for this great event, so the chances of hav-
ing many thousand transplanted Kentuckians,
their wives, their sons and daughters, will be
greatly enhanced. If you feel that you will be
present, please accept the invitation by signing
the enclosed post card and mailing it. All ac-
ceptances will be taken before the passenger
associations of the country, and we have assur-
ances that the half-rate will be granted. Your
acceptance may be based upon that assumption.
qJThe other card enclosed is for you to use in
sending us any names of former Kentuckians
you may know. Kindly fill out this card at
once, so we may extend to them this invi-
tation.
EJWhile Louisville will be the host-city, all
Kentucky will join in the welcome to its re-
turning sons and daughters. It is p ed to
Thc wheat is nearly ready for harvest. The
green world is busy, glad. blossom-laden.
The hedges are bright with butterfly weeds.
Elder and wild hydrangea peep above the edge of
the gorgc.
The cricket heralds midsummer.
--Ingram Crocket.
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have a Commissioner from every County, ap-
pointed by the Governor, open headquarters
in the big new Armory, there to receive and
register natives of each County. The Com-
mercial Club has received assurances, if such
were necessary, from every section of the old
Commonwealth, that it will have the heartiest
co-operation in the pleasing role of entertainer.
Taft is not possible at this early day to give
more than an outline of the programme; all
plans are necessarily immature, but we have
progressed sufficiently to announce in a general
way the events of "Home Coming Week."
\Wednesday, June 13th
will be known as " Reception and Welcome
Day." Registration of all visitors at the 119
County headquarters in the new Armory.
Civic and Military Parade. Mr. Henry
Watterson has been invited to deliver the
chief address of welcome, and former Governor
David R. Francis, of Missouri, the response.
Among the others invited to appear on the
Kentucky"
I love your woods and ver-
dant ills,
And every stream and farm-
land,
For to your sons, dear
mother State,
Your every road ' a
charmland:
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programme are former U. S. Senators Wm.
Lindsay and John G. Carlisle, of New York
City, Associate Justice John M. Harlan, of
the U. S. Supreme Court, former Governor
Thomas T. Crittenden, of Missouri, and
former Vice-President Adlai E. Stevenson, of
Illinois. This list will be enlarged with the
names of other Kentuckians who, in adopted
homes, have marked their names high on the
roll of fame in the law, the ministry, and
commercial pursuits.
Thursday, June 14th
is to be "Foster Day " in honor of Stephen
Collins Foster, the author of the immortal
song, "My Old Kentucky Home." The
events of this day will include brass band and
vocal concerts, it being planned to mass several
bands to render ""My Old Kentucky Home,"
and have a chorus of several thousand children
honor Foster's memory. The committee hopes
to have a statue of Foster made by a noted
Kentucky sculptor, to be unveiled and later
placed in the New Capitol at Frankfort.
No fairer women in the world.
Nor braver men are living,
To bles the places whence they go
Than those that you are giving.
And for your strong and loving ways,
Your happy homes and graces,
Your sons are zealous that your name
Shall hold the highest places,
And love you, dear Kentucky.
- William lishoot Visscher.
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Friday, June 15th
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""Daniel Boone Day," will give all of us the
opportunity of paying tribute to the Ken-
tucky pioneer, reviewing the State's earliest
history, the trials and privations of its men
and women in the eighteenth century, the
fights led by Gen. George Rogers Clark,
Kentuckians at the River Raisin, etc., etc.
It has been suggested that the day be spent in
the parks, and that following the oratory there
be given old-fashioned games, in which prizes
will be awarded; sewing bees, apple parings,
corn huskings, the day concluding with the
Virginia Reel," on a platform (inside a stock-
ade) built to hold a thousand couples. Shocks
of corn and barrels of apples will be arranged
for this winter to be used in the husking and
paring. The committee will pay special recog-
nition on this day to all the living kindred of
Boone who attend the festivities. A hand-
some medal will be given the person present
who can prove the closest relationship to the
great pioneer.
Kentucky
Daughter of the East.
Mother of the West;
Link that binds North and South.
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Saturday, June 16th
has been set aside as " Greater Kentucky
Day," with barbecues, camp fires, and the
like, a day when we can tell how Kentuckians
have assisted in making the fields of other
States more prolific, the bench and bar of
other States more learned, their press more
profound; how Kentuckians have helped dis-
close the hidden mineral treasures of other
States; how they have contributed to advance-
ment under all conditions.
Sunday, June 17th
we will sing "Until We Meet Again,"' and
listen to good sermons from the pulpits 0f
Louisville's churches, preached by Kentuck-
ians who are ministers of the Gospel in other
Commonwealths.
4JThe committee expects to arrange with the
railroads to grant 30 and 60 day extensions
on all tickets, which will enable visitors to
leave Sunday night for any point in the State,
Honor to their Native State
Kentucky genius, grace, and g.ntleness, Ken-
tucky initiative. push and pluck, have to every
State imparted a wealth of valued achievements
and inestimable refinement. Everywhere popular,
brave, truthful, the Kentuckian has left the im-
press of his forceful yet lovable manhood in
all States and all lands to which he has wandered.
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to stay for a time with friends and relatives.
A rate of one cent per mile will probably be
in effect for these side trips. Special excur-
sions will be run to Frankfort to see the pro-
gress of the work on the New Capitol., and to
Mammoth Cave and to the two High Bridges
across the Kentucky River.
qhIn addition to the Boone prize, before men-
tioned, the committee expects to make other
handsome awards to the following:
qThe former Kentuckian who comes the
greatest distance.
4jThe former Kentuckian present who has
lived longest outside the State without having
returned.
ECThe former Kentuckian present who left
the State at the tenderest age.
IqThe former Kentuckian present who left
the State at the most advanced age.
For further information, address
Commercial Club,
V. H. INGELHARD, Prc:ideJnt. Loui.mI1l, Ky.
R. E. HUGHES, Secretary.
"My Old Kentucky Home"
Strikes a more responsive chord in the breast of Jobs P.
true Kentuckians than even the national anthem. JohnP
It is the call of the hearthstone. It has been Mono
heard at home by countless Kentuckians who CompMY
have been glad that they were not suffering the Louisvile
pangs of homesickness beyond the border of the K-wcy
State. It has brought many wanderers back to
thaeir native heath rejoicinj.
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