Museum - Laurel Gorge Cultural Heritage Center in Sandy Hook, Kentucky

CHRISTMAS SHOP Vendors are all set up in the conference room with a wonderful variety of Christmas decorations and gift items. With only one vendor playing shopkeeper each day, we’re able to provide safe social distancing for our customers. The Christmas Shop runs thru December 23rd with regular business hours (MTTH 12 - 4 & WF 12 - 5) as well as special holiday hours (Saturdays 10 - 3) at the Laurel Gorge Cultural Heritage Center. The Foothills Artisan Center also has a nice selection of vendor items in our front room. Come out and support our local vendors and find a treat for yourself or someone special!

MORE CHRISTMAS CHEER We would like to thank Ann Thornberry for playing shopkeeper on opening day of the Christmas Shop. Ann also made some pretty bows to decorate our front entrance. Thanks, Ann, for your time in the Laurel Gorge today. The center and Christmas Shop will be open tomorrow 12 - 4.

ADDING SOME CHRISTMAS CHEER It’s been a busy week getting the Christmas Shop ready for business, so we are very grateful to Kaitlyn Hutchinson and Hannah Harris for volunteering their time to decorate two trees for the center. The sister duo did a wonderful job. One of the trees is our community tree which features hand-crafted items from the community, so new additions are welcome. Thank you, Hannah and Kaitlyn, for adding some Christmas cheer for our visitors. Be sure to visit our Christmas Shop!

CHRISTMAS SHOP Local vendors will have crafts and other merchandise on display for two weeks in our Christmas Shop. The vendors will not be at the event every day in order to reduce the number of people in the building at one time. One vendor or volunteer will play shopkeeper each day. Spreading the event out over two weeks will also reduce the number of visitors in the building at one time. Masks are required. Come out and shop with our local vendors. We have a nice variety of seasonal decor and gift items!

CHRISTMAS SHOP Watch the video to see how we are doing a vendor event with a different twist in effort to keep everyone safe. You will also get a sneak peek at some of the vendor items already on display!

Don't forget to reserve your kit for Crafting with the Director by Friday, Oct. 16th! You can stay for the session on Wednesday, Oct. 21st or take your kit home!

THANK YOU Lorie Conley, one of our Laurel Gorge Quilters, delivered her story-time pillows to the center today. Once all of the pillows have been collected, Elliott County K-2 teachers will fill the pillow pockets with storybooks sponsored by members of our community. We hope these will make great reading incentives for the K-2 students. Thank you, Lorie, for the colorful pillows!

The Elliott County Heritage and Tourism Council will be taken written entries for a county motto! A selection will be made available here on Facebook for the p...ublic to vote on. Entries will be accepted until November 8th. You can send your entry to [email protected]

THANK YOU Generous donations like these help make our crafting and quilting activities more available to our community. Thank you, Linda Jarrells, for all of these goodies! I see a few things our quilters can use and the rest will be perfect for Crafting with the Director.

MINI-MARKET FRIDAY CANCELLATION -- Mini-Market Friday in the Gorge has been cancelled for Friday, Oct. 16th since the increased number of COVID cases now has Elliott Co. in the red. We appreciate all of the vendors and visitors who have supported our Mini-Market events, and we hope to continue our scheduled events later in the month or reschedule for November if the situation improves.

Customer Appreciation To show appreciation for her loyal customers, Michelle Mayse had all of today’s customers’ names put in a bucket for a drawing at the end of the day. Vanessa Gaye Maggard was the winner of the drawing for a pumpkin roll from M&M’s Sweets & Savories!

Mini-Market Friday now under way 12:00 - 5:00.

Mini-Market Friday in the Gorge Friday, Oct. 9. 11:00 - 5:00.

Mini-Market Fridays in the Gorge -- Link provided if you want to schedule a photo session with Jacklyn Gibbs on October 30th.

FALL PHOTO SESSIONS AVAILABLE DURING MINI-MARKET FRIDAYS -- Local photographers will be doing photo sessions at the Laurel Gorge Cultural Heritage Center during our Mini-Market Friday vendor events throughout October. We will share the ads from the photographers and you can contact them to schedule a session. This is a great opportunity and wonderful location for family photos this fall!

In honor of John M. Clevenger. John M. Clevenger, BMC (Chief boatswain's mate) in the US Navy, grew up in Elliott County, KY. As a boy, he worked in his family’...s grocery store but soon realized that wasn’t how he wanted to earn his living. In 1945 he found his niche and began a long life of service when he enlisted in the US Navy. John served in three wars. In his early Navy years during WW II, he served aboard troop transports and medical ships that carried the wounded from the war zone. In 1948 when his tour of duty ended, he re-enlisted and met head on with the Korean War. After serving in the Vietnam War, he became the director of deep-sea diving schools at various ports throughout the world. After WWII he learned salvage and deep sea diving, using helmets and hoses that looked as if they came out of a science fiction movie. He spent time diving, repairing ships, clearing debris from around sunken ships, and recovering the remains of servicemen from downed aircraft. Because of his abilities to dive at extreme depths, he became one of a few Master divers in the world at that time. In 1963 he moved his family to Elliott County and built a home for his wife, Dorothy and children Sue and John Marcus and continued to commute from Washington DC to Kentucky. He joined the Fleet Reserve and served his country another eight years. After 30 years of service in the US Navy, John returned to his home in Sandy Hook, but his years of service didn’t end. He worked for Ocean Systems, diving for the military and commercial companies. Much of the work was top secret. He worked tirelessly trying to organize and build a Veterans of Foreign Wars in Elliott County. Then in 1992, along with former school superintendent Curt Davis, John’s dream was realized. Veterans Of Foreign Wars Post 11428 opened its doors. The post then worked and finally erected a Veterans Memorial honoring those veterans who served their country with honor. The VFW also helped the people of Elliott County by acquiring and lending medical equipment to those in need at no charge. John served on the RECC board of directors and FIVCO. He was a dedicated 60 year member of the Hepburn Lodge in Sandy Hook. After a long and fulfilling life, John passed away on April 1, 2019 at the age of 92. He has been and will continue to be greatly missed by his family, friends, and fellow veterans.

OCTOBER 9 MINI-MARKET FRIDAY IN THE GORGE -- Join us for our next Mini-Market event which will feature the following vendors: **Sharon Boggs -- arts & crafts, regional literature, woven baskets **Michelle Mayse -- baked goods and candies from M&M's Sweets & Savories **Diana Rose -- hand-painted ornaments and decor from Lots of ... Dots **Diana Baemon -- seasonal decorations and farmhouse decor from Farmhouse Creations **Wright's Greenhouse -- pumpkins and gourds **Jerry Lewis variety of wood crafts **Matt & Gaye Maggard wood crafts & embroidery from Studio M Vendors will be spaced for social distancing, hand sanitizer will be available at each station, and both vendors and visitors are required to wear masks. We'll be open from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 9th. We hope you can join us!

Vendor spaces available for direct-sales reps (Plunder, Paparazzi, etc.) for Mini-Market Fridays in the Gorge throughout October. Message or call 606-738-5543.Vendor spaces available for direct-sales reps (Plunder, Paparazzi, etc.) for Mini-Market Fridays in the Gorge throughout October. Message or call 606-738-5543.