Thunder Over Louisville Cancelled, Davis Jewelers’ Love & Marriage Opens, Early Bird Beer Fest Prices End Tonight, and More
Good Monday morning, and please be safe as our city and state endure potentially historic flooding.
It is enough flooding to cancel Thunder Over Louisville because of safety concerns.
City officials say their focus needs to be on our community and those affected by the weather.
There is still a full schedule of Kentucky Derby Festival Events planned leading up to the first Saturday in May.
As we approach Louisville’s favorite horse race in just over three weeks, it’s that other most wonderful time of the year filled with house parties and track excursions.
To help you prepare, we’ve curated a fun collection of apparel and accessories perfect for your home party or a day at the track. From fabulous fascinators and themed earrings to rose leis and lapel pins, we have something for everyone. Don’t miss our jockey hat party picks or the julep cup candle to add that special touch to your gathering.
From left, Katie Lowe and Abby Flanders model fascinators sold in the Frazier’s Museum Shop, April 2, 2025.
Sold in the Frazier’s Museum Shop, the Official 2025 Pegasus Pin is a great gift to send to friends far and near. This year’s design pops in pink and features the quintessential Louisville spring greeting, “Happy Derby!”
So race to our website and remember, enjoy free shipping when you spend $50 or more.
In today’s issue of Frazier Weekly, spring is in full swing here at the museum! Heidi Janes unveils our game-changing Mint Julep experience, Kent and Simon recap last week’s spring break camp and Saturday’s Night at the Frazier gala, and time is running out for early birds to snag discounted tickets to our fifth Frazier Summer Beer Fest. Don’t miss out!
Mindy Johnson
VP of Operations
Frazier History Museum
This Week in the Museum
Frazier Offering Craft-Your-Own-Mint-Julep Experiences Now Through Derby Day!
Craft Your Own Mint Julep graphic.
Thrilled was not the word that I would have used when we were tasked with creating a mint julep tasting experience a few years ago. I had tried one at the track my first adventure post-college—you know, the typical inauguration into being a true Kentuckian. I had tried them again at Derby parties, hoping to find something I liked about them, but I just could not. I was not a fan of the infamous mint julep.
It's hard to sell something that you cannot personally put your own stamp of approval on. So when we were asked to create a Craft Your Own Cocktail Experience featuring the mint julep, I balked.
But I accepted the challenge and started researching the history—leaving the actual recipe development to another team member. That became one of the best decisions we made.
Enter the secret recipe. (I’m not talking about Colonel Sanders with the KFC recipe, either.)
We learned the trick to making a great mint julep is simply in the simple syrup. Pun intended. When making your simple syrup, use 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar and boil in 1 cup of mint leaves, and let that sit on that stove and do its thing! Twenty minutes later you have perfectly infused mint simple syrup. It’s a game changer with the cocktail.
When we were doing our run-through practice of the tasting, I was sitting in our tavern listening intently to the instructions, doing the motions with zero intent on trying the finished product. I went to give it one sip and my life was rocked. Everything I thought I knew about mint juleps was shifting. I was a fan. I was excited for this class—and ready to promote it!
The key is in the simple syrup, folks. Don’t believe me? Or you are team no mint julep? Come to the Craft your Own Cocktail Experience featuring the Mint Julep. Try out our amazing infused mint simple syrup and allow me to prove you wrong! We offer the tasting every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, at 3 p.m., now through Derby Day, May 3.
Heidi Janes
Sr. Manager of Operations
On Saturday, April 5, our second annual Night at the Frazier gala took place. The museum’s largest annual fundraiser, our gala features food, Bourbon, cocktails, live music, dancing, karaoke, and activities. But this’s year soiree also featured the opening of our newest exhibition: Davis Jewelers’ Love & Marriage!
Guests could hear stories firsthand from individuals whose wedding stories are featured in the exhibition. In the exhibition’s “Something New” gallery, one guest proposed to his girlfriend—and she said yes!
An Elvis impersonator hosted Kentucky karaoke in the Guys & Dolls Lounge. Tony & the Tan Lines kept the dance floor packed. Rivertown Photo Booths captured the evening’s elegant guests at their best. RK Bluegrass, Michaelis Events, Bristol Catering, Mayan Café, Wiltshire Pantry, and Bearno’s Pizza fed the partygoers while half a dozen Bourbon distillers and spirits partners poured and served drinks.
Last, congratulations to Robert Tancula, who won the Winner’s Choice Raffle! Davis Jewelers Vice President Ashley Davis presented Robert his white diamond pendant.
We extend our gratitude to all of the wonderful guests, plus ones, partners, caterers, distillers, vendors, performers, object lenders, and staff and board members who turned out Saturday to make this a magical evening. We can’t wait to see you all again in 2026!
(Note: We’re still gathering all the photos from Saturday night. But in the meantime, for a small selection of still photos of this year’s gala, visit the web edition of this Frazier Weekly issue.)
Simon Meiners
Communications & Research Specialist
Spring Break camp is in the books—and what a week of camp it was! As we rest in the wake of a busy week, capped off by an even busier gala night, I offer you these highlights from our varied ventures. There are still openings available for our summer camps, but they are filling up quickly. If this looks like fun to you (and trust me, we had a great time last week), then act fast to sign your kids up for any of our eight weeks of camps from June 4 to August 1.
Kent Klarer
Sr. Manager of Youth Programs & Education Advancement
Early Bird Prices for Frazier Summer Beer Fest End Tonight at Midnight!
Frazier Summer Beer Fest returns July 26!
It’s a block party in front of the museum on Main and Ninth Street featuring more than 200 specialty beers—ales, lagers, porters, stouts, hefeweizens, barleywines, and more—along with food, retail, live music, and activations. VIP tickets get you access to the museum’s indoors—including three floors of exhibitions, air conditioning, and indoor bathrooms—plus additional beers.
We recently announced Early Bird prices: $80 (VIP) or $40 (GA). Those are the lowest that individual ticket prices will go! So secure yours ASAP before our Early Bird rates end tonight, April 7, at 11:59 p.m.!
Simon Meiners
Communications & Research Specialist
Fewer than Ten Tickets Remain for Wednesday’s Mary Dowling Tasting & Literary Experience!
Mary Dowling Tasting & Literary Experience graphic.
Don’t look now folks, but Wednesday night’s Mary Dowling book launch and Bourbon event is almost sold out. There are fewer than ten tickets remaining for the tasting and literary experience that will kick off a nationwide tour celebrating Mary Dowling and her daring legacy.
This Wednesday, April 9, event includes a signed copy of the book Mother of Bourbon, co-authored by Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Famer Kaveh Zamanian.
And we’re happy to announce that the Mary Dowling team is offering a Kentucky Paloma as a welcome cocktail for every guest to enjoy along with three tastings, plus Zamanian’s readings from the book about Dowling’s audacious defiance of Prohibition.
Live a little—come have a taste!
Andy Treinen
President & CEO
Intern Project Developing Curriculum to Align with 120: Cool KY Counties Exhibit
120: Cool KY Counties graphic.
We’ve hit the intern jackpot yet again! The Frazier’s education team has been able to accomplish many things over the years through the support and concerted efforts of our college interns. This semester, Katie Royce has been hard at work not only assisting school groups during their educational visits to the Frazier but also organizing materials from the 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit into themes and resources for use in the classroom. She is working on Phase I of the project, which will continue into the summer, fall, and beyond. Check out her article below to learn more.—Megan Schanie, Sr. Manager of School & Teacher Programs
Hello everyone! My name is Katie, and I am the current Education Department Intern here at the Frazier History Museum. I am a student at Bellarmine University, where I will graduate with my bachelor’s degree in history and minor in political science this December and continue my education this fall at Bellarmine to begin the MAT program.
I am so excited to be given the opportunity to expand my professional and academic knowledge. As a history major with the intention of becoming a history teacher, I find this internship to have been a great experience. My work is primarily focused on the Frazier’s 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit, where I am helping create teacher lesson plans that will intertwine with our cool county stories. The 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit is full of Kentucky history, people, and ideas. It consists of two touchscreen maps of Kentucky that you can interact with by tapping to learn, listen, and watch for more history on each county. Each county includes an interesting text story, a video, and a song by a local artist from that county. When our project is complete, teachers and students from around the state will be able to access the resources from wherever they are.
The education department recently began to expand its connections and contacts with every Kentucky county and our goal is to work with each one in an ongoing capacity to learn how we at the Frazier can help and serve as a resource in each classroom and in every part of the Commonwealth. The resources that I am working on will be available in the future at no charge for any and all teachers and students to use to increase their knowledge. I am always happy to look into cool stories about your county and what our students want and need to learn, so feel free to write to us at education@fraziermuseum.org.
This month, I am working on women’s history and developing topics that align with the 2026 National History Day competitions across the state. I look forward to continuing my work here at the Frazier and helping your students learn more about their home state!
Katie Royce
Education Intern
My colleagues at the Frazier are a passionate bunch about many things, first and foremost let’s say history! But I found a close second when I put out the call for pet pictures to help celebrate National Pet Day on April 11.
Pictured here are two carousels of the pictures we received. (To learn the names of our staff and their furry (and scaley) friends, with cute names like Dobby and Egon and Kevin Bacon, click here!)
It’s not surprising when you consider sixty-six percent of US households in 2023 owned a pet. Dogs are the most common pet, followed by cats. We also have a crested gecko among us in the Frazier family!
For one of my coworkers, Megan Schanie, it took four pictures to capture her entire pet menagerie at her home, calling it her “wild crew.” The names were as fun as the pictures!
And one more piece of trivia that $hows how much we love our pets: Americans spend $136 billion on their pets and pet products. We’re no dummies: that’s why our Museum Shop carries pet toys, too!
Heidi Janes’s dog Dobby poses with a Baker’s Mark dog toy sold in the Frazier’s Museum Shop.
How can you resist our Barker’s Mark dog toy? Dobby, owned by Heidi Janes in guest services, gives new meaning to the term “Kentucky chew!” Here’s a link to all our pet products in the Frazier Museum Shop. Spend away as we count down to National Pet Day and celebrate the creatures that bring us joy!
Rachel Platt
VP of Mission
