(This article first appeared in the September print edition of the Hendersonian.)
The Lions Club will try out its new “people-moving trolley” at this year’s Arts & Crafts Fair on Oct. 3 and 4 at Audubon State Park.
Lion Kevin Baer said the club had been looking for a better way to transport people at its annual festival which draws thousands of people. In the past, the club shuttled people back and forth via pulling utility trailers with wooden benches on them. Baer said a little step stool was placed on the ground for riders to step onto the trailer and then there was another set of stairs that had to be climbed to get on a seat.
Baer found the trolley, a former Shriner’s trolley, from a person in Paducah on Facebook Marketplace. Baer also donated money to the Lions and the purchase was made through the organization.
Baer touched up the paint, put in new bearings and aired up the tires, and he also hired a job out to raise the canopy from five feet to 6-feet-3 so tall people can step up on the trolley and stand up straight, he said.
Baer said there’s chatter among the Lions that the trolley could be used for other events, such as transporting people at Christmas events, shuttling people from parking spots to Main Street on the Porch Fest evening, and of course, for Lions to ride in the Downtown Merchants Christmas Parade.
The goal for its first outing? “Go slow and steady and make sure it works for us,” Baer said.
The festival goes from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday this year.
This year marks the 54th of the festival, according to Myrle Partridge, Lions publicity chair.
More than 100 craft vendors sold their wares at last year’s festival. Handmade items range from dolls and apparel to food items. Fall, Halloween and Christmas decorations are also available. Food vendors will be there, too.
All the money raised helps to supports the Lions’ mission of eye health and conservation, including eyeglasses and eye surgeries for those in need, eye screenings for children in Henderson County Schools, scholarships for high school seniors and grants to local nonprofit groups.
Craft vendors will once again pay $135 while food vendors pay $190.
You can find more information, including how to sign up to be a vendor, at hendersonlions.org or the Henderson Lions Facebook page at facebook.com/hendersonlions.
