WQXE NEWS

The City of Elizabethtown is gearing up for its August Lawn Party at the Lake event.

The August event, which is part of a summer-long series hosted by the city, will take place Wednesday, August 7 at the bandstand at Freeman Lake Park.

This month’s concert will feature the Northern Kentucky-based Kentucky Symphony Orchestra’s 10-piece subsidiary group the Devou-Doo Daddies. Their performance is titled “Get Movin’ (Feet Don’t Fail Me Now) Millennial Versus Gen-Z Swing.” The orchestra says 1990s swing revival takes on 2020s hip-hop infused swing during the show.

Elizabethtown Events Manager Beth Pyles says each lawn party event offers food vendors, and while outside alcohol is not permitted alcoholic beverages will be on sale at the lake.

“The concert series is totally free and family friendly,” Pyles said. “The gates will open at 5.30 p.m. and the acts will take the stage around 6.30, so it gives you a little bit of time to come in and get seated. It is festival style seating, so we ask that people bring lawn chairs, you can bring blankets. We will have picnic tables, but it’s very, very casual.”

Pyles said the first year for the concert series was a successful one, and in 2024 there’s nowhere to go but up.

“We had such a wonderful turnout last year after we got through the rain, but we’re very, very excited,” Pyles said. “The bandstand at Freeman Lake is such a beautiful fixture in our community. If you haven’t been out to see it, it is the perfect place to relax after a hard day, and we’re really excited.”

Follow the Elizabethtown City Events Facebook page for more information and updates.

KFW says fishing is available to anyone regardless of age, background, and experience level, and Kentucky has plenty of bodies of water that offer fishing opportunities year round.

KFW is encouraging experienced anglers to bring new fishers into the fold with their “Mentor to Win” contest. The contest is free to enter and is open to any licensed angler 16 years of age or older that mentors a new angler, also 16 years of age or older, that purchases a fishing license after having either never purchased a license or having not had a license in the last three years.

Mentors will use the KFW’s MyProfile portal to enter the name and ID number of the person they took fishing. Mentors can take as many new fishers out as they like for multiple entries.

The contest ends August 31. The winner will receive a new kayak, paddle, personal flotation device, and two spinning rod and reel combos.

Visit the KFW’s fishing website for more information on the contest and Kentucky’s fishing opportunities.

Kentucky health officials are warning of an alarming increase in cases of pertussis, also known as whooping cough.

“We have been in a state of increase for quite a while now,” said Lincoln Trail District Health Department Public Relations Officer Michelle Phillips. “They actually have issued a health alert because we’ve had 130 cases already in the state so far, and 44 of those have been since April, and it’s very dangerous especially for very young children and our older adults.”

Whooping cough is a highly contagious respiratory illness with symptoms that begin with a runny nose and mild coughing but then develop into rapid, violent coughing fits that cause a “whooping” sound, vomiting, and labored breathing. Whooping cough spreads easily from person to person via the air, but like most respiratory illnesses the best defense is vaccination.

“Vaccines are one of the best ways that we can prevent diseases, and one of the biggest importance of the vaccines is protection for those who can’t be vaccinated, so providing that immunity for those who can’t receive the vaccine,” Phillips said.

Lincoln Trail District residents can contact the health department for more information on getting children vaccinated against the disease.

“We do participate in the Vaccines for Children program, and that covers children who have Medicaid, who don’t have health insurance, or who have health insurance that doesn’t cover certain vaccines,” Phillips said “We don’t do adult vaccination at this point, but that is something that’s going to be coming later this summer or in the early fall months.”

Visit the Kentucky Department of Public Health’s website for more information on pertussis.