"We just want our young people to see what went on in those days. It will be a hands-on experience for them, and even for myself," she adds with a laugh. "I don't remember any of this. The courthouse will be open, old records will be on display, there will be tour guides and people to answer questions."
The free celebration, which includes re-enactments and demonstrations at the site of Logan's Fort, likely will be continued next year, although the numbers 225 and 230 won't be important.
"We are going to kind of branch off. Next year, we won't be celebrating the 225th and 230th anniversaries, but we'll still having a heritage festival," Middleton notes.
Stanford Mayor Eddie R. Carter, a history buff, says Stanford is rich in important state history and historical figures.
"Benjamin Logan is our founder, and Logan's Station was built in 1775," Carter explains. "William Whitley built the first brick home west of the Alleghenies, and the first horse-racing track in the nation (that ran) counterclockwise. Races were held there from 1788 to 1861, when the Civil War started.
"What was significant about the racetrack is that he hated the British so much, he wanted to go against them. So he raced the horses counterclockwise."
Carter adds Kentucky's first governor, Isaac Shelby, was from Lincoln County, and early pioneers, such as Daniel Boone, George Rogers Clark and Simon Kenton, passed through Logan's Station on their ways to other places.
One of Saturday's activities, the dedication of a Kentucky Historical Society marker for Wilderness Trail, is especially notable, Carter notes.
"It'll be 1:30 p.m. Saturday, right after the parade. Wilderness Road is such an important road in the western migration movement," Carter explains. "It's a very important part of the state's heritage and history, and (the trail passed) through Lincoln County and Stanford.
"It was just actually a trail in 1775 to 1796, and over 200,000 people made their way to Kentucky and beyond over the Wilderness Trail. In 1796, the state widened the road for wagons - up to that point, wagon couldn't pass. Daniel Boone and his men helped cut out part of the trail, and Ben Logan, when he came through, broke off from here at Hazel Patch, between London and Mount Vernon, to Stanford here."
Another important going-on ties in with the courthouse.
"We have a beautiful old courthouse, and a lot of it has been renovated - the copper roof over the courthouse, and the inside has been re-done," Carter says. "We're going to show our records off. We have the oldest in the state - they go back to 1780. Some are written on sheepskin. A lot of people have never seen them."
Additionally, a dedication of the courthouse renovations will be held after the parade, around the same time as the dedication of the Wilderness Trail historical marker.
Carter is excited about the re-enactors he's heard about that will be attending.
"It's a group of people who dress up in pioneer clothing, and they'll be camping out and living like in the 1700s. ... I've heard they really are authentic - it's like stepping back in time.
"And, a couple of groups of Native American Indians will be camped out."
Crucial to the work at Logan's Fort and the organization of the festival have been local historians Lynda Closson and Luzia Foster, Carter notes.
"(They) played a big part in getting this thing, the re-enactment of pioneers, here. It's a great committee.
"We want to try to educate people about our heritage at the site out there. Lynda and the Logan's Fort Foundation have done a lot of work in getting the history of the settlement."
Carter believes the importance of Logan's Fort and Benjamin Logan sometimes is overlooked. He says Logan worked harder to get Kentucky statehood than Daniel Boone or James Harrod. He almost became the second governor of Kentucky.
And "the great Daniel Boone was put on trial in 1778 at Logan's Fort out here," he adds. Boone was on trial for treason, no less. "It was pretty significant," Carter notes.
