A weekend of big fun, big funds

howard m. snyder Herald-leader social columnist

Last weekend was a party­goer's nirvana. There were four benefits and a big family reunion to cover. Unfortunately for me, three of them were at the same time Saturday. Oh, dreary, I spent more time on the road traveling to and fro than at the parties.

Last week, The Boone ­Society convened in Lexington for its biennial reunion. The society is an association of descendants of the families of Daniel Boone and his wife, Rebecca Bryan. If you don't know who the Boones and the Bryans are, you don't know Kentucky history.

When Kentucky was settled in the 1770s, Boone was the man of the hour. His adventures as explorer and Indian fighter became well-known through his ­autobiographical account that appeared in John ­Filson's 1784 book Discovery, ­Settlement, and Present State of Kentucke.

The descendants descended on Lexington on Wednesday from as far away as California to spend a few days touring the Bluegrass and visiting historic sites associated with the family. On Saturday, they had a banquet at the Crowne Plaza Hotel ­— The Campbell House.

”The Boone name has a magic twinge to it,“ said ­David McMurtry of Lexington, a Boone-Bryan descendant who has written several books on the Bryan ­family and their descendants. ­Indeed, Lord Byron referred to Boone in his celebrated Don Juan. Oh dahlings, he was an international superstar of his day.

”I'm from the mountains of Northern California in the gold country: Forbestown,“ author Kathryn Weiss said. ”I'm descended from Mary Boone (Daniel's sister) and William Bryan. They came over the Cumberland Gap with Daniel Boone in '79.

”I've had a really good time,“ she said. ”I think the Boone Society does a wonderful job. ... They're a very, very good group of people.“

Helping kids and horses

It was a quick trip out to Keeneland and its fabulous Keene Barn for the fifth annual Night of the Stars gala, a benefit for Central Kentucky Riding for Hope. The stars of this event were ... children and horses.

About 500 patrons, many of them personally touched by Central Kentucky Riding for Hope, gathered for cocktails, a buffet supper, dancing and auctions.

”This is our major fund-raiser here,“ said Martha Jane Mulholland, a board member of Central Kentucky Riding for Hope.

CKRH is in the final stages of building an indoor riding center to provide equine-assisted activities for children and adults with physical, cognitive, emotional and social disabilities.

The live auction featured eight therapy horses in costume, each ridden by a Central Kentucky Riding for Hope participant.

They weren't really putting the horses on the block. They were just selling the chance to sponsor the animal and pay its expenses for the coming year, said Pat Kline, executive director of CKRH, which is in its 27th year.

Part of CKRH's work is in partnership with Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital and their physical, occupational and speech therapists

Mulholland said, ”There's nothing like seeing the joy in a parent's eyes and the tears that come when a (autistic) child speaks their first word.“

Henry would be proud

It was off to Ashland, the Henry Clay Estate, and its annual lawn party. When I got there, dinner was over and the auction was under way. If you haven't been, Ashland, which fronts West Main Street as it becomes Richmond Road, has the most marvelous forested lawn in the city. There are only 17 acres to tend to.

”It's a party with 14 years of tradition to help the estate. It's our biggest fund-raiser of the year,“ said Ashland's ­executive director, Ann Hagan-Michel. ”We count on local support, lots of corporate sponsorship and then lots of our neighbors and people in the community come and have this dinner.“

This year's theme celebrated Henry Clay, attorney. Clay was the first ”friend of the court“ to appear before the U.S. Supreme Court, Hagan-Michel said, ”and his colleague that did that with him was George Bibb, of the Kentucky Bibb lettuce family.“

Lettuce and law!

Among the 350 or so guests was Louise Kelly, a songstress about town. Oh, dahlings, I haven't seen her in years. I think it was the only hug I got that night.

”I'm having a wonderful time,“ she said. ”The weather's perfect. The committee did a beautiful job this year.“

Party, animals

As if that weren't enough, on Friday I went to two events.

First, I went to the Headley-Whitney Museum for the sneak preview of Scenes of Gainsborough Freedomfest.

”It is the Woodford Humane Society's biggest fund-raiser,“ said Peggy ­Maness, board president of the group. ”Ninety percent of the proceeds go toward the care of the animals of the Woodford County Humane Society. We have no federal or county funding, but these are local artists who have donated their work.“

This exhibit will be at the Headley-Whitney Museum, where they will be available for bidding, until July 13, before the works are moved to Freedomfest at Darley Gainsborough Farm. For that event, Maness said, ”you do need to purchase your tickets in advance, because only 1,200 tickets are sold.“

For memory's sake

Then, it was over to Keeneland and the Phoenix Room for Making Memories, Bourbon & Barbeque, a ­benefit for the Alzheimer's Association. Hundreds of patrons sampled bourbon, stuffed themselves on ­barbecue and participated in live and silent auctions.

”The is the second year we had this at Keeneland,“ said Audra Meigan of the ­Alzheimer's Association, the largest organization in the country that works to fund research to find cures for Alzheimer's.

Some of the patrons I talked to included Eunice and Anthany Beatty. You might remember him as Lexington's previous police chief. Now he's the University of Kentucky's assistant vice president for campus services.

Eunice said she and her husband have had relatives who have had Alzheimer's.

”One of the things we talk about,“ she said, ”is that we don't see enough African-Americans joining in supporting this cause. So we are committed to supporting Alzheimer's. It touches everyone.“