Kentucky Family Fun
By Valinda Almeida
If you're looking for low-budget family fun filled with music, folk art and
home-style cooking, venture no further than Renfro Valley, Kentucky. Set in
the foothills of the Daniel Boone National Forest in the eastern part of the
state, Renfro is known as the capital of Kentucky music. It is home to the
$6 million interactive Kentucky Music Hall of Fame & Museum, opened in 2002
to honor home-state singing natives such as Loretta Lynn, Bill Monroe,
Rosemary Clooney and the Everly Brothers.
Next door to the museum is the Renfro Valley Entertainment Center, plus a
shopping village, the historic Lodge Restaurant, motels, cabins and a
full-service RV park. Country singing legend Lynn, recent recipient of the
coveted Kennedy Center Honors Award, is center stage at the museum,
represented by a glittery purple gown encased in Plexiglass. The other 11
original inductees are honored in a similar fashion - with spangly outfits and
artifacts. Seven new members were inducted in February 2004, including
Ricky Scaggs, Billy Vaughn and the Coon Creek Girls.
"We have more than just country and bluegrass music featured here," says
museum co-executive director Wayne Combs, who doubles as a performer
next door. "We have a one-of-a-kind banjo gallery that includes an instrument
from ancient Africa. In the gift shop we are adding blues, jazz and gospel
CDs," he remarks.
Lynn, who penned the famed lines about being born a coal-miner's daughter in
a cabin on a hill in Butcher Holler, raised funds for the Hall of Fame. The
16,600-square-foot facility was renovated from the historic barn of the John
Lair family. Lair, a dynamic radio personality from Renfro Valley, made
waves on Chicago station WLS with "hillbilly" music but dreamed of bringing
the tunes and audience back to his Kentucky valley. And that he did when he
broadcast the first Renfro Valley Barn Dance in 1937. The concept just grew
and grew and the complex kept expanding.
In the state-of-the-art Kentucky Music Hall of Fame & Museum visitors can
listen to some of the old Lair radio recordings, make their own CDs with
staff assistance, or engage in a fiddle or songwriting workshop. Guests will
discover Aunt Molly Jackson, a gritty songwriter true to the Appalachian
coal-mining tradition shared with Lynn. Around 1930 Jackson wrote: "I woke
up this morning, with the worst blues I ever had in my life; Not a bite to
eat for breakfast, a poor coal miner's wife!"
But visitors needn't worry. You'll find plenty to eat here. Many restaurants
serve hearty home-style meals. Heaping plates of hot fried chicken and ham
are passed to guests gathered around long tables topped with blue and white
cloths. Next come bowls laden with mashed potatoes, peas, green beans and
cole slaw, then baskets of corn bread and rolls. Take as much as you like
and pass the rest to the next guest.
Up the road apiece is Berea, the Folk Arts & Crafts Capital of Kentucky.
Here you will find the new Kentucky Artisan Center, opened in the summer of
2003. A showcase for the state's rich cultural heritage in crafts, music,
literature and history, the center is free and open seven days a week. It is
off Interstate 75 at Exit 77. Another Berea highlight is a stop at Tater
Knobb Pottery, the 30-acre farm and studio of Sarah Culbreth and Jeff Enge.
The married couple enjoy showing visitors how they create exquisitely
designed spoon bread bakers, custom dinnerware and bead lamps. Other
local art, including woodwork, cornshuck dolls, jewelry, fine handwovens,
instruments and watercolors, can be found at Berea's Old Town Artisan's
village, on Chestnut Street and in College Square. College Square harbors
the Berea College Student Craft Industries and the Appalachian Arts & Crafts
Quilt Shop.
If you're hankering to explore Butcher Hollow, birthplace of Loretta Lynn
and Crystal Gayle, it's about 120 miles from Berea and seven miles from
downtown Paintsville, near the West Virginia border. Many people start at
the No. 5 General Store, owned by Lynn's brother Herman Webb. The store
and just about everything around it was owned previously by the Consolidated
Coal Company, starting in 1909. Almost all the men worked in the coal mines
and the women shopped at the company store. There was no other choice at
the time. The store now sells Lynn and Gayle souvenirs, as well as snacks
and non-alcoholic beverages. Webb directs visitors to the small cabin where
the family lived. Admission is $5.
Along the route is the coal mine where Lynn's father labored for 12 hours a
day. There is no sign to mark the unassuming man-made hole that leads to
the mine, so it's easy to miss without guidance. Butcher Hollow, just off the
150-mile Country Music Highway 23, shows the gritty, poverty-stricken
beginnings of Lynn's life. In spruced-up Renfro Valley, Lynn's enduring
musical success is celebrated in sophistication still true to her Kentucky roots.
For more information on southeastern Kentucky, please check out
www.tourseky.com or call 877-tour-seky (toll-free).
Visit www.RenfroValley.com to help plan your trip.
By Valinda Almeida
If you're looking for low-budget family fun filled with music, folk art and
home-style cooking, venture no further than Renfro Valley, Kentucky. Set in
the foothills of the Daniel Boone National Forest in the eastern part of the
state, Renfro is known as the capital of Kentucky music. It is home to the
$6 million interactive Kentucky Music Hall of Fame & Museum, opened in 2002
to honor home-state singing natives such as Loretta Lynn, Bill Monroe,
Rosemary Clooney and the Everly Brothers.
Next door to the museum is the Renfro Valley Entertainment Center, plus a
shopping village, the historic Lodge Restaurant, motels, cabins and a
full-service RV park. Country singing legend Lynn, recent recipient of the
coveted Kennedy Center Honors Award, is center stage at the museum,
represented by a glittery purple gown encased in Plexiglass. The other 11
original inductees are honored in a similar fashion - with spangly outfits and
artifacts. Seven new members were inducted in February 2004, including
Ricky Scaggs, Billy Vaughn and the Coon Creek Girls.
"We have more than just country and bluegrass music featured here," says
museum co-executive director Wayne Combs, who doubles as a performer
next door. "We have a one-of-a-kind banjo gallery that includes an instrument
from ancient Africa. In the gift shop we are adding blues, jazz and gospel
CDs," he remarks.
Lynn, who penned the famed lines about being born a coal-miner's daughter in
a cabin on a hill in Butcher Holler, raised funds for the Hall of Fame. The
16,600-square-foot facility was renovated from the historic barn of the John
Lair family. Lair, a dynamic radio personality from Renfro Valley, made
waves on Chicago station WLS with "hillbilly" music but dreamed of bringing
the tunes and audience back to his Kentucky valley. And that he did when he
broadcast the first Renfro Valley Barn Dance in 1937. The concept just grew
and grew and the complex kept expanding.
In the state-of-the-art Kentucky Music Hall of Fame & Museum visitors can
listen to some of the old Lair radio recordings, make their own CDs with
staff assistance, or engage in a fiddle or songwriting workshop. Guests will
discover Aunt Molly Jackson, a gritty songwriter true to the Appalachian
coal-mining tradition shared with Lynn. Around 1930 Jackson wrote: "I woke
up this morning, with the worst blues I ever had in my life; Not a bite to
eat for breakfast, a poor coal miner's wife!"
But visitors needn't worry. You'll find plenty to eat here. Many restaurants
serve hearty home-style meals. Heaping plates of hot fried chicken and ham
are passed to guests gathered around long tables topped with blue and white
cloths. Next come bowls laden with mashed potatoes, peas, green beans and
cole slaw, then baskets of corn bread and rolls. Take as much as you like
and pass the rest to the next guest.
Up the road apiece is Berea, the Folk Arts & Crafts Capital of Kentucky.
Here you will find the new Kentucky Artisan Center, opened in the summer of
2003. A showcase for the state's rich cultural heritage in crafts, music,
literature and history, the center is free and open seven days a week. It is
off Interstate 75 at Exit 77. Another Berea highlight is a stop at Tater
Knobb Pottery, the 30-acre farm and studio of Sarah Culbreth and Jeff Enge.
The married couple enjoy showing visitors how they create exquisitely
designed spoon bread bakers, custom dinnerware and bead lamps. Other
local art, including woodwork, cornshuck dolls, jewelry, fine handwovens,
instruments and watercolors, can be found at Berea's Old Town Artisan's
village, on Chestnut Street and in College Square. College Square harbors
the Berea College Student Craft Industries and the Appalachian Arts & Crafts
Quilt Shop.
If you're hankering to explore Butcher Hollow, birthplace of Loretta Lynn
and Crystal Gayle, it's about 120 miles from Berea and seven miles from
downtown Paintsville, near the West Virginia border. Many people start at
the No. 5 General Store, owned by Lynn's brother Herman Webb. The store
and just about everything around it was owned previously by the Consolidated
Coal Company, starting in 1909. Almost all the men worked in the coal mines
and the women shopped at the company store. There was no other choice at
the time. The store now sells Lynn and Gayle souvenirs, as well as snacks
and non-alcoholic beverages. Webb directs visitors to the small cabin where
the family lived. Admission is $5.
Along the route is the coal mine where Lynn's father labored for 12 hours a
day. There is no sign to mark the unassuming man-made hole that leads to
the mine, so it's easy to miss without guidance. Butcher Hollow, just off the
150-mile Country Music Highway 23, shows the gritty, poverty-stricken
beginnings of Lynn's life. In spruced-up Renfro Valley, Lynn's enduring
musical success is celebrated in sophistication still true to her Kentucky roots.
For more information on southeastern Kentucky, please check out
www.tourseky.com or call 877-tour-seky (toll-free).
Visit www.RenfroValley.com to help plan your trip.
FAMILY TRAVEL FUN.COM
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