Corbin Tourism review success of Moonbow Eggfest, prepares for SOAR Summit, other fall events

Sep. 22—CORBIN — Just days after coming off a successful Moonbow Eggfest that saw around 350 people attend, Corbin Tourism Director Maggy Monhollen is busy at work planning and preparing for future events.

Monhollen called the seventh annual foodie event a success and said the event's committee were pleased with how the event turned out, even though attendance numbers were down from previous years.

"We weren't sure how it was going to go, we had less cooks this year," Monhollen told the Corbin Tourism Commission during its monthly meeting Tuesday evening. "I was worried that we were going to get mowed over, but we didn't. We had the right amount of people for the right amount of cooks."

But just as the work for one successful ends, work on the next one begins, or ramps up when it comes this year's SOAR Summit. Scheduled to take place in Corbin October 13-14, Monhollen has been preparing for this year's Summit since before the bid to host the event was awarded to Corbin.

Monhollen said event organizers were moving forward with plans of hosting this year's Summit in person. As of Tuesday, Monhollen said around 550 people and 66 vendors had registered for this year's event. She said the goal was to bring in 3,000 people, but said she believed organizers would be happy with 800-1,000 people in attendance given the circumstances surrounding COVID.

To prepare, Monhollen said she had recently been busy procuring singers for The National Anthem and "My Old Kentucky Home." She's also worked on preparing for the Governor's VIP lunch and dinner, and has worked with local artists to set up a vendor's area at the Corbin Center for the Summit's breakout sessions.

"Our star feature is going to be the reception," said Monhollen. "We could very possibly have 700 people downtown on Main Street for the reception."

Monhollen has secured the band, stage, as well as the tables and chairs for the Summit's reception, which will see Main Street closed for outdoor dining. Food will be catered by locally-owned restaurants and the reception will feature live music as entertainment. Monhollen has worked to confirm the event's menus, has asked officials at the Arena to set up a cash bar at Nibroc Park, and has worked with downtown's restaurants to stay open until 11 p.m. on the night of the reception, October 13.

"The SOAR people take up a lot of time, and they demand a lot of attention," said tourism board member Jeannie Hensley.

Just before this year's Summit kicks off, the City of Corbin will once again host Octoberfest. Scheduled for Saturday, October 9, Monhollen said officials were switching up this year's Octoberfest.

"It will be a vendor event," she said. "We have tons of vendors signed up already, but we're also doing hayrides and a DJ."

Monhollen said she tried to get a petting zoo for this year's event, but said the company was already booked on the day of Octoberfest. She said this year's event could feature a corn hole tournament.

Then, in November, Corbin will host the second-annual Colonel Sanders Half Marathon, which for the first time, will also feature a 10K race. Monhollen said 121 people had registered for this year's event scheduled for November 13. 90 have registered for the half marathon, 31 have registered for the 10K race. Monhollen has been able to secure $12,100 in sponsorships for the event as of Tuesday evening. Proceeds from this year's race will benefit the Corbin Backpack Program.

Monhollen is also preparing for this upcoming holiday season, as Daniel Mackey, sales manager with Celebration Lighting, attended Tuesday's commission meeting to discuss the 2021 Christmas Decor Program. This year, Corbin Tourism will once again decorate the welcome signs located near Exit 25 and at the area commonly referred to as the island on the north end of downtown. They will also decorate Sanders Park and have 125 pole light decorations to adorn downtown with Christmas lights.

Monhollen said the commission had budgeted $15,000 for this year's Christmas Decor Program. Celebration Lighting has quoted the current plans for the decor program at $15,135, but also featured several holiday themed structures that can act as photo opportunities to be set up downtown. Mackey said including photo ops in this year's program would drive the cost up a little.

Monhollen and the commission didn't approve any purchases Tuesday, choosing instead to take their time considering the various options Celebration Lighting presented. The two sides also discussed the possibility of Corbin hosting a Christmas lights drive-thru similar to the cities of Lexington and Louisville. If approved, the drive-thru could be located on the drive between the Corbin Center and the Corbin Arena.

Monhollen said a drive-thru would be amazing for the City of Corbin, but also added the project would have to be a joint effort between the tourism commission and the city. She plans to host a joint meeting between the tourism commission and city commission early next year to discuss the possibility of hosting a Christmas lights drive-thru for the 2022 holiday season.

In other tourism news:

-Downtown Corbin saw two new business open in the last month: Ever Aston, a ladies clothing boutique, and American Business Systems, which offers a full line of Document Printing, Solution Software and full line of shredders, folders and other office equipment. Both businesses are located on Main Street.

-This year's Kayak Bass Fishing College Series Championship and High School Championship, which were scheduled to take place on Laure Lake on October 9, have been rescheduled. The events were a collaboration between tourism commissions of Corbin and London, but are being rescheduled for the summer of 2022 as a result the pandemic.