Staff report
The annual Laurel County Kiwanis Club Farm and Industry Tour is scheduled Thursday, May 7.
Two businesses and two farms are featured on the afternoon tour, with a dinner and cake auction in the evening at Victory Baptist Church.
“We try to find a variety of businesses each year, and we focus on a different section of Laurel County every year,” said Larry Parman, event coordinator for the Kiwanis club. “We try to find farms and businesses in the vacinity of the church. Last year, we went to the northern end, so this year we are focusing on the southern part of the county.”
The tour schedule is as follows:
• 2 p.m. — Jackson Energy: Take KY 229 south from the KY 192 bypass. The building is about 0.2 miles on the right.
• 3 p.m. — Ralph Campbell farm and machine shop: From Jackson Energy, turn left on KY 229, turn left on the KY 192 bypass and then left on U.S. 25 toward Corbin. Go 7.2 miles, turn right on Robinson Creek Road. The farm is 1.5 miles further on the left and the machine shop is on the right.
• 3:45 p.m. — London-Corbin Airport: Go back to U.S. 25 and turn left. Go 6 miles and turn left at the airport sign.
• 4:45 p.m. — Donnie and Joey Massie farm: Go back to U.S. 25 and turn left. Go 0.25 miles and turn left on Middleground Way (KY 2069). Go 0.8 miles and turn right at stop sign (follow KY 2069). Go 0.3 miles, turn right on 1006. Go 0.2 miles and Massey Farm is on the left.
6 p.m. — Dinner at Victory Baptist Church: Turn right on 1006 and go 2.1 miles. Turn right on Lily-Sublimity Road. Go 0.6 miles and turn left on Hammons Lane. Church is on the right.
7 p.m. — Cake auction at Victory Baptist Church.
“We think the airport will be very interesting,” Parman said. “They have a lot of additions and renovations they want to show the public. We have never done the airport before, as far as I can remember.”
Parman said he isn’t sure how many years Kiwanians have been sponsoring the farm tour.
“I’m not sure, but we have been doing it every year for the 20-some years I have been in Kiwanis,” he said.
Victory Baptist Church members will prepare and serve the meal. After that, donated items will be raffled off at the cake auction, with 90 percent of proceeds going to the church’s building fund and 10 percent going toward local Kiwanis projects.
“We have churches of all denominations,” Parman said. “The only requirements we have are that they must have an active building or renovation project and they must have the facilities to host the dinner and auction.”
Parman said he expects about 75 people to participate in the tour, and more than 125 usually attend the dinner and auction.
“Last year, the weather was just horrible, and we still had about 50 people on the tour,” he said. “We get a lot of people (at the dinner) who come after work.”
The public is invited to each stop on the tour and the dinner.
