Show I KENTUCKY HOMECOMING State Celebrates Entry of First I Settler Into Cumberland Gap I On July the thc governor of Kentucky and a number of other notables will gather at Bardstown Ky for the rededication of My Old Kentucky Home The ceremony will be one of the highlights of the thc states state's mid mid-cen- tury ury homecoming celebrations For the second time in the last 50 years Kentucky issued invitations Ito to natives and their descendants throughout the country to visit the thc state during a homecoming year The ceremony opening the celebration was held April at Barbour- Barbour Barbourville BarbourVille Barbourville ville Ky It was on April 29 1750 that Dr Thomas Walker passed through Cumberland Gap and became the first permanent settler in the blue bluegrass bluegrass grass state The Barbourville cele cele- celebration celebration celebration bration was in his honor honer In planning homecoming 1950 homecoming 1950 state officials and the Kentucky Chamber of ot Commerce frankly ad ad- admitted they hoped the thc celebration would boost the states state's tourist trade and bring dollars into the common common- wealth I Knowing that tha t several hun- hun hundred hundred dred red thousand American tourists would invade Europe this summer Kentucky officials outlined a pro pro- program program program gram that would attract those who would look for vacation spots closer Ito home Boone First But the most optimistic planners were surprised at the thc early response to homecoming plans Tourists from many parts of the nation found the states state's celebration the answer to their spring vacation problem and thousands visited the th a common common- commonwealth commonwealth commonwealth wealth to see its many attractions Communities throughout the t h e estate state planned special programs to attract tourists during the summer and fall A picture of Daniel Boone hero of the states state's pioneer days was chosen as the homecoming insignia It was an appropriate choice because in a sense Boone was Kentucky's first Dr Walker crossed Cumberland Gap in 1750 and settled the same year but Boone did not explore and hunt in the blue grass state until 1769 He returned to settle six years later Kentucky officials made a fine selection when they designated the rededication of My Old Kentucky Home as one of the highlights of the celebration For of Kentucky's shrines Federal Hill as the home was known until it became state property retains much of the at at- atmosphere atmosphere atmosphere of the commonwealths commonwealth's early history It was there that Stephen Collins Foster the melancholy and tragic composer wrote the song My Old Kentucky Home It was there too he received the inspiration for others The house was built by Judge John Rowan one of the leading Kentucky pioneers The rear wing was erected in 1795 and the main section about 1818 1813 It was to this house that came the important men of ol the times senators congress congress- congressmen men and future presidents presidents including ing Abraham Lincoln Lincoln to to plot the nations nation's political future last Last Homecoming in 1906 As focal point of homecoming 1950 the mansion has been re re- refurbished refurbished re- re refurbished furbished and restored Museums throughout the country have offered as much as for single items of the original furniture now in the house Kentuckians however will tell you there are other things that make the state one of the leading tourist attractions in the country They will quote Boone who once said of Kentucky a fla aspot aspot spot on earth where nature seems to have concentrated all aU her bounties And John James Audubon famous ornithologist called Kentucky the Uthe greenest leafiest state I have ever seen Audubon lived and drew and painted his portraits of Ameri Ameri- American American can birds near Henderson Ky To the neutral observer Kentucky is a strange state Middleground be be- between between tween the North and South the only southern state not to leave the Un Un- Union Union ion during the Civil War the peace and tradition of past years and modern highways industrial plants and up to date farms live together I and seem not to detract one from the other The states state's last homecoming was held in 1906 This years year's celebration is sponsored jointly by the Com Com- Commonwealth Commonwealth Commonwealth and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Thomas Graham and Charles I. I Dawson both of Louisville are directors Four of the thc states state's most famous sons Fred M. M Vinson Chief Justice of the United States Alben W. W Barkley Vice President of the United States Governor Clem Clem- Clements Clements Clements and John Sherman Cooper are honorary chairmen of the committee com com- committee committee in charge of the celebration I |