Blue Licks Battlefield State Resort Park
Sept. 20, 2008

The Short’s Goldenrod Festival is a celebration of one of the rarest plants in Kentucky and the United States. Dr. Charles Wilkins Short first discovered Short’s goldenrod in 1840 at the Falls of the Ohio near Louisville, Kentucky. In the 1920s, construction of the McAlpin Dam flooded Rock Island and the goldenrod was lost. The species was thought to be extinct when E. Lucy Braun rediscovered it in 1939 near Blue Licks, Kentucky. Until recently, the 2 square miles around the park was the only known location in existence. Today, Short’s goldenrod is threatened by habitat loss. Maintaining habitat for this very rare plant requires intense management such as prescribed fire and invasive plant control. All proceeds from the festival will go towards efforts to preserve Short’s goldenrod. Learn more about Short's goldenrod by visiting the Kentucky Rare Plants Database.

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8 a.m.	Registration
9 a.m.	5K Run / One-Mile Walk
10:30 a.m.	Canoe ride (1.5 hours)
11 a.m.	Local market (all day)
	Nature walk (1 hour)
	Kentucky Life: Dave Shuffett and Brandon Wickey (30 min.)
	Pioneer Activities (all day)
11:30 a.m.	East Kentucky Power Cooperative: Live animal program (1 hour)
12-1:30 p.m.	Lunch (music by Paul Tierney)
1 p.m.	Cornhole tournament
	Amy McIntosh: Botanical Drawing Class (2 hours)
1:30 p.m.	Gwynn Henderson: Kentucky Archaeology (30 min.)
2 p.m.	Storytelling by Kentucky author George Ella Lyon (1 hour)
	Nature walk (1.5 hours)
	Canoe ride (2 hours)
3 p.m.	Pie eating contest
4 p.m.	Music by Gunpowder Creek