‘Red, White & Blue’ political event to return next week
Owensboro’s signature political event, “Red, White & Blue,” will return next week, with candidates making appeals to the crowd on the lawn of the Daviess County Courthouse.
The event begins at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26, and will last for about an hour, said Candance Castlen Brake, president and CEO of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce.
The Red, White and Blue event is a successor to Thomas “Red” Saltsman’s annual Red’s Picnic in Sorgho, which lasted from 1958 until his death in 2005.
That event drew politicians from across Kentucky to Sorgho each summer. The chamber of commerce took over the event after 2005 “in honor of Mr. Saltsman and his family,” Brake said Thursday. This year’s event is sponsored by Big Rivers Electric Corp.
Candidates for every state and local office on the ballot have been invited to the event, including gubernatorial candidates Gov. Andy Beshear and Daniel Cameron, the state’s attorney general.
Cameron has accepted an offer to attend, but, as of Thursday, Beshear was not expected to attend, Brake said.
The chamber is working to confirm candidates for other state races on the ballot, which include secretary of state, attorney general, auditor, treasurer and agricultural commissioner.
All three candidates for Owensboro City Commission will be in attendance, Brake said. Commissioner Sharon NeSmith was appointed earlier this year after the death of Commissioner Larry Maglinger, but a special election is being held to fill the seat through 2024.
“We feel like it’s very important,” Brake said of the event. “We know communities that are healthy and strong have a lot of civic engagement.
“We feel it’s important to have opportunities for the community at large to weigh the candidates and see civic engagement,” Brake said.
The event will be immediately followed downtown by the city’s “Trail of Treats” Halloween event.
“It will be a really fun night downtown,” Brake said.
By James Mayse Messenger Inquirer