Night

Hundreds of music fans filled Main Street in front of the Clark County Courthouse Friday night for the Street Dance. Local favorites Custom Made Bluegrass along with Higher Ground and Jack Hoskins got the festival off to a rousing start. Bob Flynn/bflynn@winchestersun.com

An unforgettable night More than 200 guests were treated to a royal evening of fun and entertainment Friday night at the annual Jesus Prom at Calvary Christian Church. The guests, who were mentally and physically challenged middle schoolers through middle-aged people from Clark and several surrounding counties, were provided formal wear, hair and make-up sessions, photographs, limousine rides, dinner and dancing.

The Miss Teen Clark County Pageant will be Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Clark County Fairgrounds. The teen division is for girls ages 13-15. This year's participants are: Hayden Grissam, Lauren Palmer, Langdon Winburn, Elena Guerra, Allison Honaker, Jillian Gallenstein, Haley Hounshell, Faith Hughes, Chelsea Tallent, Cateria Harper and Lacee Duncan. The winner will be crowned by 2011 winner Abby Easterling.

University of Kentucky basketball player and NCAA champion Jarrod Polson will be at JD Legends in Nicholasville on Friday night. Polson, a 2010 West Jessamine High School graduate, will be available to sign autographs and take pictures with fans. The event will last from 5-7 p.m. at JD Legends on North Second Street.

A crowd of more than 100 turned out on a perfect evening for Extreme Karaoke at Rock Fence Park on Saturday. The event's winners were Jacob Hager and Brittany McKee Cooper in the youth category and Derek Puckett and Katelyn Thompson in the adult category. The next concert in the series is scheduled for June 2 and will feature The Mercy Men.

The state Department of Agriculture will spray Wednesday night within the Danville city limits for mosquitoes, according to Tom Broach, director of codes. When sprayed, the mosquito mist covers about four blocks and the mist evaporates as the sun rises. Residents who do not want their property sprayed or have questions may call Broach at (859) 238-2117 or the department at (502) 573-0282.

The ninth annual "Take Back the Night" rally and candlelight vigil will be at 7 p.m. Thursday in front of the Clark County Courthouse. The purpose of the event is to remember the victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault within our community. Judge Brandy Oliver Brown will be the featured speaker, and Bradlee Burtner will provide special music. The event is sponsored by the Clark County Domestic Violence Council and the Clark County Attorney's Office. Anyone interested in setting up an informational table, please call Julie Briscoe at 737-7006.

A little boy who wandered from his home and on to McGrath Street during the night was returned to his mother unharmed. Interim Police Chief Tony Gray said the boy, about 2 1/2 years old, apparently got up about 2:30 a.m. while his mother was asleep and was able to get outside of his residence on Toombs Court. A neighbor saw the child in the street and called police. Officers found the boy and returned him to his mother, Donna Vaught, Gray said. No charges were filed. "It just looks a situation with an adventurous little boy," Gray said.

Bluegrass Mental Healthand Wellness Partnership and The Danville Blues Society will team up to host Beatnik Blues - Chasing the Blues from 7-11 p.m. Friday at V-The Market on Fourth Street. The event will feature live blues and jazz music, poetry readings, an art auction and much more. All proceeds from the event will be used to fund mental health education and support the “Blues in Schools” program in the Danville and Boyle County school systems. The Danville Blues Society plays blues music every third Thursday of the month at 303W on Main Street, and part of its mission to keep blues music alive is to teach Blues in Schools.

It was just a matter of quantity over quality for the Boyle County boys. The Rebels only won three events Friday, but took second in five events and had at least two scorers in eight 13 possible events to finish with 156 points, outlasting Mercer County (105) and Anderson County (102.5). But it may have been a costly night for the Rebels, as relay runner Tristen Morrow pulled up with a hip injury at finish line of the 400-meter relay. “He ran a fantastic 4-by-2 split, he cooled down, got a little tight, had to re-warm up and never got warm again.

Danville High School held its opening night of “Wizard of Oz” Thursday to a packed house. Backstage, director Beth Marlowe met with the cast and crew for warm-ups and a pep talk.  “The most important thing -  have fun,” Marlowe emphasized as she glowed - with a little sweat beading on her forehead. All indications pointed to an incredibly tight-knit cast -  they stayed together backstage for a warm up session lead by Kolton Winfield, aka the Lion, who had them reaching for the sky and making silly noises to ready their vocal chords.

This past weekend my husband surprised me with a date. He even called me up to ask me out. It went like this: After I said hello, he asked me what I was doing on Saturday. I replied, “I don't know, why?”  He didn't really want to tell me because he wanted to surprise me, but I insisted on knowing what he wanted to do. It was then he informed me he thought he would get tickets to go see the Celtic Women at Eastern Kentucky University Center for the Arts. I excitedly accepted the invitation!

It was two o'clock in the morning and we were fast asleep. All of a sudden, the most hideous screeching noise I'd ever heard brought me straight up in bed. “What the ... !” I yelled. It only took a second to realize two things. The screeching was coming from my big ol' oxygen machine by my bed and the other thing - everything was pitch black dark. I fumbled to get my feet to the floor and head for the door. Gene, with his hearing aids out and glasses off, began to realize something was very different but his personal alert buttons weren't flashing like mine were.

Ask your typical blue-collar Kentucky basketball fan where the pinnacle of college basketball is located and more often than not, their finger will point you north along Lexington Road, toward Rupp Arena in Lexington. A few local alumni have even ventured there during the years, but East Jessamine High School spawned its own hard working athlete, and the only from his team to play varsity college basketball. Located in Grayson, Kentucky Christian University watched on as its big man on campus, Clay McKinzie, recently closed the book on his basketball career.

Students at Conkwright Middle showed off their science projects Thursday night. The projects were judged by volunteers rounded up by Community Education, and winners will move on to the regional science fair at Rupp Arena. Brianna Mohammed, a seventh grader, presents her project to judges Mary Grogan and Darrian Carr. Casey Castle/ccastle@winchestersun.com

The time for caring about how you win has passed. For the Centre College men, all that matters is whether you win. That's why Centre coach Greg Mason wasn't sweating the small stuff today after the Colonels fought off Berry for a 74-58 victory in the first round of the Southern Athletic Association tournament at Alumni Gymnasium. Centre didn't do some things as well as it usually does, but the Colonels responded well when Berry brought the fight to them, and that was enough for Mason, whose team is clinging to the hope of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament but must win this tourney to do so. “Berry's been playing pretty well recently ... so I knew we were in for a battle today, and we got it. Any time you're in a tournament, you're going to have teams playing with everything on the line,” Mason said.

Former Kentucky point guard Anthony Epps, a starter on UK's 1996 national championship team, will watched a lot of college basketball. That's why he knows the challenge UK faces Saturday night against Missouri point guard Frank Pressey. “He is one of the better point guards in the country,” said Epps, an assistant girls basketball coach at Marion County. “It will be a challenge for Ryan Harrow and Jarrod Polson to step up and contain him. Florida did a great job the first time containing him (in an 83-52 win)

A 30-9 first quarter deficit proved to be too much for the West Jessamine Colts (15-11) to overcome as the Maroons of Pulaski County (21-6) cruised to an 84-65 victory on senior night. “They took over the game early, and we put ourselves in a tough position, but I thought we fought and fought and did some good things to get back in it, but give Pulaski credit; they always answered any run and any challenge we made,” West coach Damon Kelley said. “They're one of the top teams in our region.