The ‘Tour de Corydon’

Lance Armstrong will not be here, but Corydon’s town council Monday approved what might be called the first ‘Tour de Corydon.’
A three-part bicycle road race event called ‘To Tell and Back’ will run around the Corydon schools and the nursing home district from 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20. There will be a race for women, a race for celebrities and children, and a men’s race. Each will last about 45 minutes, and between 150 and 200 cyclists are expected to participate.
Sean Hawkins, community development manager for the Harrison County Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Mike Hewlitt, of 2WheelSports in New Albany, explained their race plans to the town council Monday night.
Councilman Roy McKim said as long as the seven residents on the proposed circuit don’t mind and 2WheelSports’ liability insurance is adequate, it was fine with him. The council unanimously approved the idea. Town Council President Fred Cammack said he thinks one lane of the Corydon-New Middletown Road should be kept open during the races.
Hawkins will talk with the seven residents on North Harrison Drive and advise the principals by letter at Corydon Central High School, Corydon Elementary and Corydon Intermediate.
Hewitt said his organization sponsored a road race on S.R. 62 last year from Leavenworth to Magnet and back. This year it will be much longer, from Leavenworth to Tell City and back.
‘We could have a lot of local riders jump on board,’ Hawkins said. If it goes over well, it could become an annual event, he said.
Another annual event that promises to be somewhat huge this year is Gen. John Hunt Morgan’s Raid, to be staged Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 8, 9 and 10. Morgan Raque, a Morgan look-alike and actor, told the councilpersons that 167 re-enactors from several states, including Texas, have already signed up for the raid, and he expects 100 more.
The Civil War re-enactment will commence on Friday, July 8, at Morvin’s Landing on the Ohio River. The riders will make their way to Corydon, take part in skirmishes with the Harrison Home Guard and retake the town, as they did in July of 1863.
The state refused permission for horses to be on the town square this year, so Raque asked the town to ban parking on Beaver Street as well as the east side of North Capitol Avenue between Chestnut and Walnut for an hour starting at noon on July 9 so they can safely loot and pillage the town.
The re-enactors have several scenarios planned, and safety is foremost in their mind, Raque said. (More details of the Morgan’s Raid will be printed next week.)
‘We want to put on a good show that will stick in the minds of people for years to come,’ the veteran reenactor said.
And speaking of roadblocks, Debbie McClanahan requested permission for the Corydon Central Vanguard to hold a fund-raising roadblock on North Capitol at Chestnut and Walnut on Saturday, July 30, from 8:30 a.m. to noon.
The kids will be 16 and older and have adult supervision.
The council unanimously approved her request.
The council also gave permission to Betty Harper and Debbie Kaiser, representing the Harrison County Agricultural Society, to hold the annual county fair parade on Sunday, July 31, beginning at 7 p.m. The parade will take the customary route down Capitol Avenue to the fairgrounds.
The council held a public hearing on a request to vacate an old alley in the ‘Aetna Life Insurance Addition’ next to the Steve and Leah Porter residence on South Capitol Avenue. The alley was deeded yesterday to the Porters.
The council also signed final close-out documents relating to the Estopinol Group’s study of the Keller Furniture plant property and DLZ’s downtown revitalization plan. The town’s final payment of $19,936 to Estopinol will be paid from a grant from the Indiana Dept. of Commerce.