Walking tours — which involve listening to cassettes that tell the story of places while visiting them — have been around quite awhile. But our local Tourism Commission was one of the first in the state to use cell phone technology for walking tours.
Visitors can dial a phone number for the tour, then punch in the number of each site they want to learn more about as they stroll among Winchester's Victorian era treasures or rural landmarks such as the Civil War Fort at Boonesboro.
Last week, the Tourism Commission was honored by the state for its cell phone tour. Thumbs up to Nancy Turner, the board and everyone who helped make this happen.
The band plays on
George Rogers Clark High School's marching band is like the drum-thumping bunny in that TV commercial for batteries: they just keep going and going, winning one contest after another.
Good for them! And good luck at the Kentucky Music Educators Association state finals competition this weekend in Louisville.
Making the grade
Students aren't the only ones winning acclaim for Clark County's public schools. Late in October, one of our teachers, Jan Vaughn Horn of Shearer Elementary, was honored by the state Department of Education and Ashland Oil as Kentucky's elementary school Teacher of the Year.
This is the second year she's been among the finalists.
That's the kind of excellence and good example of which we can all be proud.
'Tis not the season
On Monday night, after digging into the Halloween candy, I went outside to relax on my balcony and enjoy the warm weather and full moon when I noticed something I couldn't quite believe: All the downtown street lamps were decorated in green wreaths and red-and-gold bows.
By Tuesday, the Bluegrass Heritage Museum was hanging the greens and one of the TV networks was airing commercials about holiday shopping in downtown Winchester.
It used to be that the Christmas season began Dec. 24, after Advent, and lasted until Jan. 6. Then it was customary to wait until after Thanksgiving. Now some want Christmas to begin before the Halloween decorations have come down.
Let's not cheapen Christmas by making it all about shopping, or starting it so early that everyone's sick of it by the time it actually arrives. It just takes all the magic out of the most wonderful time of the year. Nine and a half weeks is too long for any holiday — even Christmas.
