The Lee County Republican Women's Club hosted their annual Veterans Day Luncheon at the museum. On Thursday, November 11th there was the first ever Veterans Day Parade with Bob Smith being chosen as the first Grand Marshall of the parade. Smith is not only a veteran but also the president of the Three Forks Museum Board and owner of the Three Forks Tradition Newspaper. He also oversees the veteran memorial wall, the 4th of July fireworks and is on the Woolly Worm Festival Committee. The parade traveled by police escort from the rail yards at the red light in Beattyville up to the museum. Once inside Bob led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. He also spoke to the group and read a poem he had written. Avis Thompson prayed over the meal and then the ladies of the club served Veterans and families soup, sandwiches, desserts and drinks. It was a great afternoon of fellowship. Also it was the first organized event to take place inside the museum after the flood in March. The museum volunteers had worked hard to arrange items and displays in the Veterans Wing for the event. PhotosVideoBob Smith reading the poem he wrote for Veterans Day 2021.
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National Endowment for the Humanities pass-through Kentucky Humanities: Flood Relief Emergency Funds $10,000 to the Three Forks Historical Center, Beattyville, KY.
With the pass-through emergency flood relief grant funding from The National Endowment for the Humanities and Kentucky Humanities, the Three Forks Historical Center in Beattyville, KY successfully replaced the heating and air conditioning unites that were destroyed in the horrific flood on March 1st, 2021. The museum, in order to help protect the new system from future flooding, also ordered custom built 36 inch stands fabricated by a local welding company. Funds went toward the stands and the downpayment on the newer more efficient heating and air units. With an itemized bid, the museum board searched for months trying to find a company who would respond. Finally we found Commonwealth Controls. They were the same company who came to our aid in March of 2021 and did a free inspection of our units. Thank you Kentucky Endowment of the Humanities and Kentucky Humanities for your support. We would not have been able to complete this Heating and Air project without your support. Temperature control of the 4,000 soft building is vital to the preservation of the artifacts, documents, and photographs inside the museum. Financial Review of the project: Grant Funds Spent = $10,000 Museum Funds Spent = $5,947.40 Total project Cost = $15,9470.40 The Rolling Thunder visiting the Three Forks Museum and the museum board had a grill out for them. They presented the museum with a donation check for the food and spent some time out on the picnic tables enjoying hamburgers, hotdogs, cupcakes, and chips. One of their member, is the son of our board member Kenneth Isaacs. Love to have them visit with us. Last fall they also came into the community to host a few flag raising ceremonies in Lee County to raise awareness for POW and MIA service members.
Thank you for supporting the Three Forks Historical Center! We are blessed to have you all as friends! Follow them on Facebook/RollingThunderKY5 Mission Statement of the Rolling Thunder: The major function of Rolling Thunder®, Inc. is to publicize the POW☆MIA issue to create awareness. To educate the public that many American Prisoners of War were left behind after all previous wars and to help correct the past and to protect future Veterans from being left behind should they become Prisoners of War or Missing In Action. They are also committed to helping American Veterans from all wars. West Liberty Military Museum Closes. Donated cases and artifacts to the Three Forks Museum.9/3/2021 We at the Three Forks Historical Center were sad to hear that the West Liberty Military Museum located in the jail next to the Courthouse downtown was closing. Our President Bob Smith's sister Alane called and arranged a few pick up days for volunteers to take trailers and trucks to West Liberty to load up on display cases, artifacts, and more. We can not thank you enough Tony and Alane for thinking of us. We are sad that you had to close down, but feel honored that we can help display the artifacts you loaned and donated to the Three Forks Historical Center. Thank you Jon Allen, Lee County EMA, Chuck Caudill, Lee County Judge Executive, Josh Caudill, Lee County Schools, and museum board members Kenneth Isaacs and Dedra Brandenburg who traveled and loaded artifacts several Fridays in a row. This year will be the 16th Annual Three Forks Old Engine, Tractor Show & Fish Fry. It will be hosted at the Three Forks Historical Center on HWY 11 North, Beattyville, KY.
All day Saturday, September 11th, 2021 there will be a display of old tractors and engines. Registration starts at 9am. The first 25 engines to register will receive a dash plaque. The show will go on throughout the day with participants parading their antique tractors down Main Street at 3 p.m. The fish fry will follow directly after the tractor parade. The meal will consists of fried fish, hushpuppies, cole slaw, french fries, baked beans, desert and drink. The cost will be $8.00. Children 6 and under eat free. Accepting donations to place into a silent auction fundraiser. If you have items to donate please call 606-464-2888 or 606-464-5038. Silent auction will close on the event day at 5pm. Farmers, Arts and Crafts vendors are welcome to set up. If you would like to set up, give us a call at (606) 464-2888 or (606) 464-5038 Come out and support the museum! We would like to sincerely thank Home Run Clean for their work at the Three Forks Historical Museum the last two days. The museum is around 5,000sqft and this family run company from Clay City has volunteered their time and equipment to clean the floors as a community service project.
Kentucky Humanities has awarded $800,382 to 51 cultural organizations throughout the state through funds from with National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act approved by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Joseph R. Biden. Kentucky Humanities ARP Grants provide funding to museums, archives, historic sites, and other nonprofit cultural agencies impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Businesses across the country, including not-for-profit agencies, continue to feel the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Bill Goodman, Kentucky Humanities Executive Director. “This money appropriated by Congress will help many cultural organizations throughout the Commonwealth get back on their feet and adapt to the societal changes COVID-19 has brought. Kentucky Humanities is glad to work with the National Endowment for the Humanities to get these much-needed funds in the hands of humanities-based organizations throughout Kentucky.”
Bill Goodman and Kathleen Pool of Kentucky Humanities visited the Three Forks Historical Center on Tuesday, June 22nd to present $10,000 in flood relief funds. On behalf of the museum, Kentucky Humanities petitioned the chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington DC for an emergency funding allocation to support museums and historical centers that were effected by the flood in March. The request was approved and emergency funding became available. The Red River Museum in Clay City and the Three Forks Historical Museum in Beattyville were two of the recipients of this flood relief funding. While visiting, Goodman and Pool took a tour of the museums and interviewed museum board members for their podcast show. Funding received by the Three Forks Historical Museum will be used to replace the heating and air conditioning units,
The first fundraiser for 2021 for the museum will be selling concessions for the 4th of July Celebration on Happy Top Park. Join the community at Happy Top on Sunday, July 4th for music, inflatables for the kids, splash park fun, and a spectacular fireworks show at dusk. The museum also plans to have the annual Old Engine and Tractor show on the second weekend in September. The fish fry will start at 4pm! ![]() The flood alert for the area went from moderate flooding alert with a crest of 24 feet to a major flooding alert in 5 hours time with waters cresting at 35 feet. In Beattyville, it was a few inches larger than the flood of 1957. All of town was submerged in river waters and mud by Monday morning March 1st. All through the night rescue teams had worked tirelessly to evacuate residents in danger of the riding floodwaters. There was not enough warning for businesses to get their valuables out such as their computers and account books. The water receded by Wednesday and everyone gasps at the damages. Once the images and stories of the flooding hit the news and social media, groups and individuals starting donating their time, supplies, and most of all prayers for everyone effected. The Three Forks Museum did not escape harm. The waters rose to about 2 to 2.5 feet high inside the building. The log benches from the front porch were recovered from over 100 yards away. The museum board members waited until water receded on the Wednesday afternoon to go inside and assess the damages. The first priority was to empty the closets and pick up everything off the ground. Then we worked at emptying the bottom shelves of the display cases and setting everything out in the sun to dry. Next is was bringing in 2x4s to lift and place the display cases off the floor for air to circulate underneath. We also bought four dehumidifiers to place around the building and in the bathrooms were drywall is present. Thanks you to WSKV 104.5fm and Grace Baptist Church for donating totes and fans. Also for delivering the dehumidifiers we purchased from Lowes in Winchester. Also thank you to Tony Pence and the fraternity from Morehead State University who came down to help. Commonwealth Systems were in the area doing free HVAC assessment and we were able to have Nick come over to look at our system. The key to drying everything out would be warm dry air so we needed our units working. Nick came back another day and dismantled and cleaned both outdoor units and installed a new fan motor into one. More repairs are needed to the HVAC as the heating elements are shot. We are in need of new flame sensors, thermocouples, and igniters. On the floor we placed the Floor Sweep compound. John David was concerned about adding more water in there and he though this compound would keep the dust down and we could scrub it around to pick up the dirt before mopping. It has worked wonderfully so far. We also put a call out for Murphy's Oil Wood Soap, as the majority of the museum walls are wood. There were also pianos, and other furniture that will need a good cleaning. With everything we can get into totes, the next step is to clean out the garage area so we can use it for storage until we can get the main museum cleaned and straightened back up. Thank you to all the volunteers who have came to help so far. John David Sipple, Kenneth Issacs, Suzy Booth, Kim Oliver, Anita Brandenburg, Kendra Savage and her son Maddox, Kristy Dunaway and her daughter Lacy, Sheerree Nations, Emma and Larry Adams, Trina Gipson, Shirley Reece, Ila Cox Nickel, Amy Parrott, and more. Also thank you to everyone who has brought supplies. Bob & Linda Smith, Evelyn Jenkins, Allison and Luke Catron of Georgetown, Shanna Charles, Jim Cable, Ernie Childers, Linda Botner, Yvonne Stamper, Marcella Fox, Masters of Disaster, and more. Sorry if I didn't get everyone's names. Below is a slideshow of photos. Donations Appreciated. We are trying to apply for any funding we can find for non-profits. There is a lot more work to be done and volunteers are welcome and appreciated. If you would like to help call Dedra at 606-560-9059. Donations can be mailed into P.O. Box 1033, Beattyville, KY 41311 or use the PayPal link on this website to make a donation online. Without question, the year 2020 was difficult for families, jobs, and everyone's mental and emotional health. To bring some joy to the holiday season, the Christmas Spirit Committee put together an enjoyable evening for the community. With many sponsors, the funds were used to light up the museum, Main Street, and the North Fork Bridge. Characters dressed up and danced as the cars went by in a reverse parade. Elvis sang from the porch of the museum and his music made it into everyone's car radios by way of a FM transmitter. The Grinch was as tall as the porch roof and waved at kids from on top of his stilts. Santa and Mrs. Clause handed out candy canes and chocolate to families who drove by. Down on Main Street at the courthouse, the Beattyville Kiwanis Club did a drive through treat bag giveaway. They have been giving away Christmas treat bags for 100 years and continued the tradition this year. For a night, it almost seemed that the world was back to normal. The kids also loved looking at all the fire trucks lined up on the property. Thank you Beattyville/Lee County Fire Dept for participating. Here is a video slideshow of the decorations and activates during Christmas Spirit 2020. |
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November 2021
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Board Members: Bob Smith Linda Smith Josh Smith JD Sipple Edna G. Crabtree Kenneth Issics Rhonda Estes Geneva Duncil Frank Kincaid Sherry Lanham Everett Lee Marshall Dedra Brandenburg Suzy Booth Joshua Hagan Ray Shuler |