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Sometimes we live no particular way but our own,
And sometimes we visit your country and live in
your home,
Sometimes we ride on your horses, sometimes we
walk alone,
Sometimes the songs that we hear are just songs
of our own.
ROBERT HUNTER
Playwright Tennessee
Williams supposedly said that America has only three cities: New York, San
Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere
else is Cleveland.
Ouch.
Well, with all due
respect to Mr. Williams (and shout-out to Cleveland – represent!), sometimes
America has Louisville, too. When we fill
the streets with flowers, fireworks and music (and send crews out to pick up
litter); when we relax office schedules, dress codes and school for students; when
we swap gray flannel and travel mugs for pastel suits and hammered flasks; when we race
balloons and beds and bikes and boats and thoroughbreds; when we parade and
cruise; when we pre-party, party and after-party; when we brunch, box lunch and
eat the bar (and when sometimes the bar eats us); when we study the racing form
like for the bar exam, and when we
place our bets (and box them); when we sing My Old Kentucky Home; and when we revel
in the uniqueness, decadence and depravity of this town – then – America has
Louisville, too.
In these weeks before
the first Saturday in May, our hotels and restaurants are full. Our shops are slammed. Businessmen and women strike deals. Anyone can hustle to make a buck. The eyes of the world are upon us; millions
of people place their bets, and Churchill Downs always wins (which means we win,
too). It’s the most wonderful time of
the year!
But then “they’re off!” and
it’s over…
It doesn’t have to
be. Let’s double down on the Kentucky Derby
as Louisville’s brand and core economic
development strategy. Derby all year long (along with its related industries).
The Kentucky Derby is who we are and what attracts people to us (or as
the experts call people nowadays, “talent”). It’s not just the debauchery, but the openness,
creativity and self-expression; the inclusiveness, hospitality and appreciation
of life’s pleasures. The fun!
Bourbonism is
a welcome start to the city’s fuller realization that our culture is our
destiny, but bourbonism is merely a sub-category of Derbyism. Let’s give America
and the world Louisville all the time, not just sometimes. Let’s
make it official: Possibility City is dead.
Long live Derby City!
Please enjoy the
Cherokee Triangle Art Fair, Sherby, the Barnstable Brown Party and all District
8’s and Louisville’s Derby activities responsibly. If you have any inside tips on the big race
(or want to discuss any other item of city business), email me at: brandon.coan@louisvilleky.gov and copy jasmine.masterson@louisvilleky.gov or call: (502) 574-1108.
* * *
Things don’t always go as planned, so welcome to
Correction Corner. A few quick programming
notes:
The District 8 litter bin audit, originally
scheduled for this Sunday, April 30, has been rescheduled for Sunday, June
4. Volunteers will meet at 12:30pm, at
the Douglass Community Center. Please
contact our office if you’re willing to help.
Our interview with Mike Rutherford for Eight
More Miles: the Louisville Metro Council District 8 Podcast has been postponed. We’ll visit with
Mike later this fall. Instead, our guest
for Episode 2 is District 8 resident – and Kentucky State Senator – Morgan
McGarvey. We interviewed Morgan last
Thursday, April 20 and expect the episode to air Monday, May 1. For Episode 3, we’ll sit down with District 8
resident – and City of Louisville Department of Public Works Director – Vanessa
Burns.
It might go without saying but satellite office hours at the Douglass Community Center are cancelled for Derby Week. Visit me this Friday from 1-4pm or again on May 12.
Best Regards,
Councilman Brandon Coan
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