By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor
The Boone County Senior Picnic is a popular event that has grown in attendance and significance for most of its 30 years.
Boone County residents wait in line Wednesday to get in to the annual Senior Picnic (photos by Mark Hansel.
The annual gathering provides a day of entertainment for county residents aged 60 or older at the Boone County Fairgrounds, but it has also become a showcase for the region’s organizations and businesses as well as a place to launch, or publicize, political campaigns.
The picnic is always a popular event and this year’s edition was no exception. The damp weather Wednesday probably kept the crowd below the 1,000 or so that have attended in peak years, but the hundreds of seniors that were on hand enjoyed a day of food and fun.
Boone County Judge/Executive Gary Moore said the picnic is also a day he marks on his calendar each year.
“As I have been greeting people this morning, so many have told me that they look forward to this day all year long and we do too, as a county government,” Moore said. It’s the day when the seniors are our main priority. We want to focus on them, make sure they have a great time and make sure they know that we appreciate everything they did through their lifetime to make our county a great place.”
Boone County Commissioner Charlie Walton (standing), speaks with Boone County seniors Geneva Gruelle, 94, and Jeanette Powers, 79, at Wednesday’s picnic.
Geneva Gruelle, 94, said she has come to the picnic every year since it started.
“It’s just nice to get out and enjoy the day,” said Gruelle. I think it’s great that they do this for us.”
Gruelle, of Union, was chatting with County Commissioner Charlie Walton, with whom she worked several years ago at Florence Elementary, where he was the principal.
Moore said for some of the county’s older residents, the opportunity to enjoy a day out among old friends is a rare treat.
“I’ve talked to a few that don’t drive, that got a ride here, or somebody picked them up, maybe a shuttle service and it’s like a reunion for them. They see people they haven’t seen for years, or maybe they went to school with, so it’s a great way for them to reconnect with each other.”
Jeannette Powers, 79, said that is her favorite part of the picnic.
“Every time I come, I run into someone I haven’t seen for years,” she said.
Politics a part of the picnic again this year, but not as usual
Boone Commonwealth Attorney Linda Tally Smith, at left with blonde hair, and attorney Louis Kelly, right, speak with residents at the Boone County Senior Picnic. Tally Smith announced her intention to seek reelection Wednesday despite recent controversy surrounding her conduct in office. Kelly said he plans to challenge Tally Smith for the Republican nomination because he believes the public has lost trust in her.
Politics is also an important part of the picnic, especially in the year before countywide elections.
In heavily-Republican Boone County most, if not all races, have been decided in the May primary in recent years and the November General Election has become something of a formality.
With that in mind, candidates, or potential candidates, get to spend time with a group that traditionally shows up at the polls in large numbers.
Embattled Boone Commonwealth Attorney Linda Tally Smith had a booth at the fair and revealed to the Tribune that she plans to seek reelection.
Tally Smith is under investigation from the Attorney General’s office related to her conduct while in office.
Shane Young, Commonwealth Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit (Hardin County), has been assigned as a special prosecutor to investigate Tally Smith’s conduct in the criminal case against David Wayne Dooley.
Dooley, who was convicted in 2014 of killing Michelle Mockbee at the Thermo Fisher Scientific plant where both worked, had that decision overturned and is awaiting retrial.
Evidence presented at the CR 60.02 hearing to determine if Dooley would be granted a new trial included an admission by Tally Smith and then-Boone County Detective Bruce McVay that they engaged in an affair. Tally Smith was at the time, and remains married to District Court Judge Jeff Smith, who is also expected to seek reelection in 2018.
McVay was the lead investigator in the Dooley case.
Boone County Commissioner Cathy Flaig, with umbrella, assists a resident at the Boone County Senior Picnic Wednesday. Flaig is expected to receive a challenge from political newcomer Justin Bailey in the May Republican primary.
Correspondences between Tally Smith and McVay that were admitted as evidence at the CR 60.02 hearing were among the equivalent of thousands of pages of documents contained on a thumb drive, which was provided to the Office of the Attorney General by attorney Steven D. Wolnitzek, on behalf of his client Nicholas Ramler.
Ramler, a former employee of the Commonwealth Attorney’s office was fired by Tally Smith and is now involved in civil litigation with Tally Smith and her husband because of his decision to copy the information from a server in the office.
The thumb drive included messages between Tally Smith and McVay that outlined some of the alleged misconduct, including the failure to provide Dooley’s original defense team with a tape that could have aided in his defense.
Links to a detailed history of Tribune stories about Tally Smith’s conduct and the Dooley case are available here.
Just a few feet away from the Commonwealth Attorney’s booth, Louis Kelly a former prosecutor and Assistant Boone County Attorney, who is also a candidate for the Republican nomination for Boone Commonwealth Attorney, was greeting seniors as they entered the fairgrounds.
Kelly, a Republican and a partner at the law firm of Adams, Stepner, Woltermann & Dusing, PLLC, said when he announced his intent to run in June that he is seeking the office because Tally Smith has lost the public trust.
While the Commonwealth Attorney race will be the most high-profile contest, it may not be the only one to generate a lot of interest.
There is speculation that Sheriff Michael Helmig, who has also announced plans to seek reelection, may draw a primary challenge from State Sen. John Schickel, R-Union. Schickel, who has shown an interest in the office in the past, has not confirmed that he will seek the seat, but is a regular at the picnic and was also in attendance Wednesday.
Justin Bailey, whose family owns Bailey Car Wash in Burlington, has announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for the County Commission set now held by Cathy Flaig and also manned a booth at the picnic. It is Bailey’s first foray into politics, but his father was among those defeated by Flaig in the 2014 Republican primary.
Flaig, who was narrowly defeated by Moore in a bid for the Republican Judge/Executive nomination in 2010, returned to the commission seat she previously held for 12 years, in 2014. She was also on hand and greeted seniors as they entered the fair grounds.
Boone County on display
The Boone County Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) was one of the many organizations with a booth at Wednesday’s Senior Picnic. Chapter chaplain Sheri Neu was on hand to raise awareness about the group and promote an upcoming event on October 1 at Verona Vineyards.
Several other organizations also set up booths at the picnic, including the Boone County Animal Shelter, the Parks Department and the City of Union. Mayor Larry Solomon made sure everyone he talked to was aware that the new Kroger Marketplace opens on US 42 in Union today.
Sheri Neu, chaplain of the Boone County Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) was there to raise awareness about the group and promote an upcoming event.
“We meet the second Tuesday of each month at the main Boone County Public Library,” Neu said. We do a lot of genealogy research and guest speakers come to our meetings to help us further our knowledge of the community and anything related to the Revolutionary War. We do a lot to give back to the military, some of our members greet the Honor Flights that come in to CVG.”
On Sunday, Oct. 1 the Dar, the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) and the Boone County Public Library will host the dedication of the George Vest grave marker at Verona Vineyards. Vest was a Revolutionary War soldier from Virginia who settled in Boone County. The event, which is open to the public, includes tours of the George Vest home at Verona Vineyards, as well as the dedication of the marker.
The Boone County Senior Picnic started 30 years ago, as a potluck dinner in the backyard of then-County Commissioner Irene Patrick. It long ago outgrew the backyard and has since become one of the largest events of its kind in the state.
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com
