Football Opens Friday: Hardin County's Full Event Guide

Key Takeaways

• High school football opens Friday, and John Hardin hosts Hancock County at 7:30, the only home game in the county
• The Downtown Master Plan Open House is tonight, 5 to 7 PM at Pritchard Community Center, a drop in session for public input
• Heartland Homecoming Parade is Saturday at 10 AM, followed by the St. James Community Picnic from 4 to 9 PM at Robinbrooke Boulevard, not the church
• The Hardin County Bee School runs Saturday 9 AM to 1 PM at the Extension Office, 10 dollars a person or 15 for a couple or family
• Registration for the Lead, Launch and Leverage Business and Investment Experience at ECTC closes Thursday

Summary

It is a genuinely packed week in Hardin County, and Jon O'Brien used his Events segment to walk through a run that starts tonight with a public planning meeting and ends Sunday with a taco truck. Friday night football headlines the stretch, with exactly one home game in the county, and Saturday alone stacks a parade, a community picnic, a bee school, and a blind bourbon tasting.

It matters because there is something for nearly every kind of Saturday plan this weekend, from a family picnic to a downtown planning session that shapes what the city looks like years from now.

Full Article

Jon opened with the one everybody has circled: football is back. "So high school football season opens up," he said, and Hardin County gets exactly one home game this week. "We got one game in Hardin County, and it's the John Hardin game versus Hancock County, 7:30." Everyone else travels: Elizabethtown plays at Bardstown, Central Hardin is at Atherton, North Hardin heads to Lexington Christian, and Fort Knox faces Bethlehem down in Danville. "Go support your Hardin County locals," Jon said, and Rachel added that with only one home game in the county, John Hardin could be looking at one of its bigger crowds in a while.

Before Friday arrives, there is a meeting worth putting on the calendar. Tonight, Tuesday, from 5 to 7 PM, the city holds a Downtown Master Plan Open House at Pritchard Community Center. It is a drop in format, so nobody has to stay the full two hours, and the point is public input on what downtown Elizabethtown becomes next. "How often do you think, John, does the city actually ask people what they want downtown to look like?" Phil asked. Jon's answer was blunt: "I haven't ever seen that necessarily... they've done it not very often." If you have ever had an opinion about downtown, tonight is the room for it.

Wednesday brings the Lawn Party at the Bandstand, 6:30 PM at Freeman Lake Park, with food trucks, lawn games, and beer for purchase. The band playing is called Last Call, which Jon was careful to clarify is the band's name and not a sign the summer series is winding down. Bring your own seating, since none is provided, and keep an eye on the sky. Guero's salsa truck also sets up at the Advance Auto in Radcliff that day, ahead of its stop at the Rineyville Farmers Market on Sunday.

Saturday is the busiest day on the board. The Heartland Homecoming Parade steps off at 10 AM in historic downtown, and the panel spent a few minutes swapping stories about their favorite spots to watch it over the years, from St. James to a stretch near where the old News Enterprise office used to be. That afternoon, the St. James Community Picnic runs 4 to 9 PM with live music, games, food, and a beer garden. Jon flagged the one detail worth repeating: it is at St. James on Robinbrooke Boulevard, not the church downtown, which sits a mile away on West Dixie. "So make sure that you don't go to the wrong location," he said.

Also Saturday, the Hardin County Bee School runs 9 AM to 1 PM at the Extension Office on Opportunity Way, 10 dollars a person or 15 for a couple or family, covering everything from getting started with hives to prepping them for winter. Cars and Coffee happens that morning at Hardin County Honda, and bourbon fans can catch a blind tasting at BBT at 2 PM, with the results carrying over into a conversation on Bourbon Local the next day.

One item carries a real deadline attached to it. The Lead, Launch and Leverage Business and Investment Experience, a partnership between the Radcliff Small Business Alliance and the Hardin County Chamber, runs Friday and Saturday at ECTC, and registration closes Thursday.

And that is genuinely a fraction of what is out there. "There are over 125 things on the website for just this week," Jon said, spanning every town in the county with addresses, times, and prices. HardinLocal.com/this-week has the rest.

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