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Washington County Home celebrates Kentucky Derby Day

By Nancy Taylor 4 min read

Not to be mean about it, but a horse-faced creature answered the doorbell at the Washington County Home Friday afternoon.

"I'm 'Two Buck Chuck,'" she said with a little difficulty and a couple of huge fake teeth. That explained it all. Here was one of the six official entrants in the Washington County Home's third annual Kentucky Derby Day celebration.

On the home's spacious front porch, residents in festive hats were ready to watch the race. Many were holding plastic champagne glasses filled with green liquid. That brought out the wild side in a couple of them.

"It's beer," one of the men said. "Whiskey," his buddy chimed in. One of the women offered a more plausible explanation. "They're supposed to be like Mint Juleps," she said.

Minutes later the race entrants, all County Home employees, came out one by one as they were announced: Son of a Seabiscuit (Erin Davis), Purple Reins (Deanna Green), Where's the Beef (Savana Haught), Hoof Hearted (Caleb Hartline), Hot to Trot (Penny Hewitt) and the previously encountered Two Buck Chuck (Hollie Orders). It would be charitable to say they trotted out briskly. It was a little difficult to keep up that pace since the "horse" each was riding looked a lot like a swimming pool noodle.

All the entrants were volunteers, Activity Director Diana Hall said, except Hartline, who was told he was entered. There was also clarification from the entrants that Director of the Washington County Department of Job and Family Services Flite Freimann was in last year's race but was not returning this year. He was disqualified last year for "elbowing."

The racers eventually lined up on the front lawn and donned their goggles, which were coated to partially obscure their vision and make the race more "challenging." The familiar, peppy, Churchill Downs "Call to Post" bugle notes started sounding over the loudspeaker. "Gentlemen, start your engines!" Hall called. "Oops! Wrong race," she corrected, and the porch crowd laughed with delight.

Once the race started, the County Home's finest stumbled and wandered across the race course (marked with a couple traffic cones) and returned to the starting line. Kind of. There were no official timekeepers to make them toe the line, so to speak.

They were all a bit worse for wear. There had been frequent calls from Purple Reins/Deanna Green, wondering "Where am I?" and Hoof Hearted/Hartline bumped into a light pole. Most navigated the muddy "track" fairly well, but they all seemed a little disoriented. Several of them wandered around after the race calling, "Who won?"

It turns out Hot to Trot/Penny Hewitt won, although some apparently missed that part. Instead, everybody realized the action was over and adjourned to the special party that Hall had prepared downstairs. The Kentucky Derby theme was elaborately recreated in the refreshments and the decorations. There were Benedictine sandwiches, a Kentucky Derby classic, as well as Derby Pie cupcakes and Loaded Kentucky Nachos displayed among lots of artificial roses and rose petals and glittery "silver" accessories.

There was a little jostling among the "horses" at the party, as Hoof Hearted/Hartline objected loudly that he didn't come in last.

"There was somebody behind me that kept yelling 'Where am I?'" he pointed out, and County Home Administrator Purple Reins/Deanna Green finally acknowledged she was last.

As the party was winding down, the horse race energy was still lingering a bit. One resident was being wheeled down the hall when she said, "If we went a little faster, I could have air in my hair."

Nancy Taylor can be reached at ntaylor@newsandsentinel.com

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