612 N. Main

Abby Dixon

• Brent Bridges

Share episode

612 N Main welcomes Abby Dixon to the turret.

Abby is the Executive Director of The Henderson Tourist Commission. If you want to know what's going on in this town, Abby knows the details (and was probably involved in the planning)!

We discuss  how Abby discovered Hendo,  and all of the amazing attractions that make it a unique  destination.

If you want to hear about Henderson's arts, festivals, cuisine and more you're in the right place!

Here are some links to the topics we discussed:

Speaker 1:

Hey guys, welcome to six 12 North of Maine. If you're interested in learning more about the Henderson Evansville Owensboro area, well, you're in the right place. This is where you hear the story of us and amazing stories. They are to sit back and relax while we welcome our special guests to the turn. Welcome to six 12. We're back in the turn. Once again, this is Brandon. I want to thank all of you that have downloaded the podcast so far. It's been a tremendous turnout and we sure do appreciate it. I want to send a special shout out to our fans in England, the UK and to Canada don't know where that came from, but come on to Henderson, Kentucky. We'd love to have you as a visitor. My guest today is Abby Dixon for the Henderson tourist commission. Abby, welcome to the turret. Thanks

Speaker 2:

For having me. I'm so happy to be here. It's my first puck

Speaker 1:

First podcast. Very good. So Abby, we're going to start this the same way we always do. Who is Abby Dickson?

Speaker 2:

Who am I? That's a good way to start. Brent. So first and foremost, um, Eliza Dixon's mom, um, I'm Evan's wife. Um, I love going home to my family at the end of the day. It's, you know, being with them is the highlight of my day. Every day. Aside from that, I'm a daughter, I'm a sister. Family means everything to me. I'm the director of the Henderson tourist commission. So, uh, even before that, I moved here and decided I'm going all in on Henderson. This is going to be my, my hometown now. So I'm a Downtowner and an advocate for all things. Henderson. I am a amateur gardener. I would say. That's kinda, I kinda, you know, when you have a toddler, you realize I'm not really feeling like I'm having any hobbies sending more. So I've decided I'm going to establish my own new hobbies. So trying the gardening thing to

Speaker 1:

Get help from that toddler in the gardening thing. Uh,

Speaker 2:

You know, that's interesting. We have a lot of fun. I think it might, it might make things take a little bit longer and we might get a little messier, but those are just memories made. Right.

Speaker 1:

Great to meet you and to get a chance to talk to you. Of course we've met before, but we really haven't, uh, been more than acquaintances. So you're not from Henderson. Are you?

Speaker 2:

I am not. I'm a transplant. And where are you from? So I grew up in Benton, Kentucky. Uh, Marshall County grew up weekends on the water Kentucky Lake. And you know, it's funny, like I think a lot of kids you think I just can't wait to get out of this place. Um, and then, you know, you look back and life was pretty good in Marshall County. It, it really was. Um, I don't get back too often, usually just to, to go out on the Lake for a weekend, but it was, it was a special place.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. It's a great place. You have been to Hutchins I'm sure, right? Yes.

Speaker 2:

So my granny was a waitress at Hutchins barbecue. My, um, my granddad, when they were newlyweds, my grandad was on strike, so he wasn't collecting a paycheck. So my granny went to work and she talked to her. She always talked about, they knew the folks who would come in and tip a quarter. And if you were getting a quarter tip, those waitresses would fight over getting your tables. So Hutchins hot pig,

Speaker 1:

The larger is Nashville. Right? So tell me about Nashville.

Speaker 2:

So I left Marshall County. I went to Western for college, um, and of course being just an hour away in bowling green from Nashville, really got to know the city and thought it was a pretty cool place. So I was fortunate enough to work for the heart association after college. So moved to Nashville with a couple of my old friends from, from childhood. And we had a lot of fun in Nashville, uh, really experienced the city. Um,

Speaker 1:

It's so cool. There's so many different parts and pieces of Nashville. It's almost like multiple small towns put together around the great downtown

Speaker 2:

That's right. And it's really, it's just exploded like so, so what happened? My husband, Evan, you know, we were in the same group of friends and he would come visit. He was living in Henderson and he would come visit every now and then, and then, you know, sparks flew by eventually. And the more I came to visit him in Henderson, honestly, the less, I loved my life in Nashville because I could really see a happy life here in Henderson. So, you know, whenever I first moved here, people would ask, you know, so how, how did he recruit you to come from Nashville to Henderson? I have never looked back. I mean, I, we really have a wonderful life here. I get so stressed being in traffic now. So Nashville is definitely not the place for me anymore. Um,

Speaker 1:

That's a really interesting recurring theme that we have here at this podcast. I've tried to interview folks that ooze Henderson somewhat. That's probably the worst word I could possibly.

Speaker 2:

I've never heard it described that way, but I get it.

Speaker 1:

I want to find those folks that are successful that love this place as much as I do and have great stories to tell everyone I've talked to so far has been a transplant come in. They have fallen in love, including me have fallen in love with Henderson, Kentucky. So what is it about this place? Is it the four seasons? Is it the close proximity to big city lifestyles, but in a small city town? Uh, I'm not sure. Uh, it's certainly the most charitable place I've ever lived. Folks want help other people. Uh, but, but maybe you have a better answer than I do, but I'm so happy to hear, uh, that you found your way to Henderson and thanks to Evan. And, uh, we're going to definitely have to have him on the show sometime. He's a good recruiter. I'll tell you that. So what is he doing right now?

Speaker 2:

Uh, so Evan works at field and main bank. Um, and that's kind of, you know, I will say when we first got together, I just kind of assumed, you know, if this works out, he'll move to Nashville. Plenty of opportunity here. I have a great gig, very happy, but one thing that I learned right away, he truly loves what he does. And you just don't hear that very often anymore. He never comes home from work in a bad mood. I mean, he, he truly loves what he does at field in Maine. And so I started to realize taking that away from him really. Wasn't something that I intended to do. So

Speaker 1:

As he's stolen commercial lender,

Speaker 2:

He's in commercial lending. Yup. So he is our in our household. He is CFO for sure. Which is, it's probably better that way.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Well, that's fantastic. So you're in Nashville, you're coming back to visit, uh, Henderson. You've been to Western wa what did you study by the way?

Speaker 2:

Um, so I was public relations. Um, so, well, I, you know, I really, I took some hospitality classes, um, you know, not enough to, to grab a hospitality minor or anything like that, but I, I don't think I knew that the job that I do now existed, but looking back, this is exactly what I always wanted to do. So I felt just really fortunate. I feel like every step that, that has led me to where I am, you know, sometimes it's not real clear the direction you're headed, but I'm really happy with where I've landed.

Speaker 1:

I'm so glad to hear that because you are so good at what you do. And we're very lucky to have you where you are. So let's talk a little bit about the Henderson tourist commission. Tell us what you do.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So in a nutshell, I get to find all of the best parts of our community, whether it's the people or the places, or, uh, the, the shops, the things to do the best trails. Um, I get to share a snapshot of everything good and positive and wonderful about Henderson and do my best to share that story with the rest of the world. That's a daunting task, but it's, it's so much fun and I've always been a glass half full kind of person. So, um, getting to, to pick the positive and market who we are, um, is really a perfect situation. I also get to be a part of, um, what I'm going to call product development. So the things that are happening when our wheels are spinning to make our community better, I'm kind of the voice of how does this fit in with our tourism economy. Um, and, and how can this bring in visitors, um, so that we can see positive economic impact from, from tourism

Speaker 1:

Branding there, strategic planning, there, certainly communication, public relations, uh, and relationship building.

Speaker 2:

It's all about relationship building. Yeah. So it, it really is a little bit of everything. And, you know, there's the administrative work that just comes with being an executive director, but every day is really kind of different and exciting. And, um, you know, I feel like I'm challenged to be a forward thinker and a visionary and, and I get to learn from so many talented people across the state and across our region. So I'm just, it's perfect. Perfect fit for me.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Well, that's, that's so cool. That's so cool. I thought about you the other day when, uh, I'm driving down a water street and I see the steam boat pulling up, uh, you know, to the boat ramp and I'll think, Oh man, how cool is this that people want to leave this freaking awesome boat and come and experience Henderson. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So obviously we didn't have the river cruisers, uh, coming to town last summer, um, with COVID and that was, you know, gosh, the past year has been devastating in so many ways. Um, so to say that, you know, that was a low point, might be a little dramatic, but there was just this energy that was missing. And, uh, I think it's between the festivals, you know, not having handy Fest and bluegrass in the park and song Fest and not having these visitors from, from the river boats, there was just this energy missing. So to welcome those folks back in April was really, it was like Christmas morning for, yeah,

Speaker 1:

I think I said out loud, Oh, they're back. That's great.

Speaker 2:

They are back their Fanny packs, their birding hats. I just wanted to hug them all. But I guess we're not there yet.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Well, they love us though. Right.

Speaker 2:

So what we hear is, um, we are, we have enough going on here that there's always something to do, no matter what their interest is, you know, whether they, they want to go shopping. We have a great main street to go shopping on so many cute little local boutiques and stores, um, to have a great experience out at Don James Ottoman state park, we've really curated an experience with Ellis parks. So they get to, they get to be up close and personal with the horses, which mean for us, Kentucky wins that's, you

Speaker 1:

Know? Yeah. But

Speaker 2:

If you're from a big city, so many of these people said I've never seen a horse in person. So that's really cool. Um, they love hearing about the history of our architecture and our residential district. So we have enough going on that there's a lot to do, but we're small enough that they feel like they have discovered this gym of a town that they wouldn't have discovered otherwise. And, you know, our hope is that they decide they love it here so much on their, on their day trip to Henderson that they want to come back and spend more time with.

Speaker 1:

And, you know, I don't know if there are metrics out there or not, but I think that has to happen because everyone that I see on the street that I have a chance to talk to and meet, I used to live above Kurt Hamilton's law office. And so I would, I would try to, you know, uh, get downtown some and say hello and try to be friendly out there. Uh, and we wave, you know, the, the bus has stopped by six 12. So, uh, you know, we try to be friendly and welcome them, but all of them seem so positive and they want to come back and they have these plans, especially for things like songwriters and handy, fast and blue grass. I don't know how we got these amazing festivals or where they all came from. I'm going to find out if we're going to tell those stories here, that'll be good, but man, I am so happy. We're back. Uh, uh, Sandy Lee song Fest just announced that they're going to actually have song Fest this year. And then we've seen the lineup now for the 20, 21 handy Fest. So, uh, things are, things are getting back to normal. I like it. Isn't it a good feeling? It really is. So we've got all these cool things. Uh, we've got the parks, we've got the music. Let's talk a little bit about the food. Have you ever seen such a cool small town that has all these different food options that are not, you know, I love chains as well, but we have great, uh, privately owned restaurants. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

So in that's, you know, obviously going out in the County like to farmer and Frenchman, that's not a walkable thing, but living downtown was really important to me. Um, and I think I, I maybe I never really knew why, but seeing how much we go out to eat at our downtown restaurants, because it's just so easy to walk. I think maybe that was the selling point. Uh, but we have these folks that they have this culinary artistry and they're investing in our town to bring that here. And it's just, I admire those people. Um, you know, the Casey Todd's of the world that he's just, he's doing something different, but it's comfortable and everyone's invited to kind of join around the table there. Um, it's just a cool thing to see. And we have visitors coming to Henderson to eat at our restaurants.

Speaker 1:

That's what I was going to say is like, we're drawing people from other States, from other areas of this state, uh, to Henderson for food.

Speaker 2:

We recently booked a cabin out at farmer and Frenchmen. Um, we, we wanted to book a Saturday, but the first available Saturday was in November. Isn't that a great problem. Yes. And then there very few Fridays available. Um, and you look at this and it's just, wow. You know, I so much admire these business owners that are investing in. They're thinking about, you know, what, what can get more people here into our town and how can we share our talents with these folks? And they're killing it. You know, you have Katie new bear that are doing such a cool thing. Um, all of our downtown restaurants are incredible, even though the country stores mean that's its own flavor and its own kind of, uh, local culture. Um, that that's, I mean, we have like eight or nine country stores. That's really cool.

Speaker 1:

That is very cool. And I need to get out to all of those. I've seen a few of them, uh, but you know, between the food and the music, uh, there are other arts here as well, which I think is so cool. I've always enjoyed, uh, the, Oh, what's the, uh, downtown Henderson partnership.

Speaker 2:

Art hop art hop is super cool.

Speaker 1:

And hopefully we can get back to doing that again, but, you know, that's, uh, that's one of my favorite events here in town, as well as going out to Ottoman state park. And there's always something going on out there or some sort of exhibit and then oval does a great job. So there's a, I'm sure I'm leaving someone out, but there are all these great art, visual art things that are happening. And then we have this amazing, amazing, uh, facility out at the community college where we can have great shows world-class shows. So I'm so ready to get back to all that. And it's counting right. It is coming. So what's happening here in towns, uh, in the upcoming weeks and months.

Speaker 2:

Well, you know what, before we get on to the events, I have to comment on kind of our local arts scene. So I'm not sure if you've heard, but tourism is partnering with oval actually, um, on a new gallery concept in our Depot welcome center on water street. Yes. Gallery one Oh one. So we are about to undergo a major renovation to convert the community room space into the type of gallery that you would experience in a big city. Um, we're really, really excited about this. Um, oval is the perfect nonprofit to partner with kind of elevate them, um, and, and allow them to share the talent of all of these local artists, um, with, with our community. Yeah. Okay. So we are hoping that we'll have a grand opening this fall, um, October November-ish, um, obviously with construction, you never know how things are going to go, but that's, that's the plan as of right now. So we're excited to put our hard hats on and, and get to work.

Speaker 1:

And what kind of, uh, what kind of exhibits can we expect? Are these, uh, going to be like paintings sculptures?

Speaker 2:

Yes. To both. So, um, I know oval is planning on expanding into more 3d art now that they have the space, um, at, at the gallery at the Depot to do it. Um, so that's really exciting. They'll have space to host more workshops. I know that's been a challenge in the past. Um, so for artists of all skill levels, and if you're like me, if you're just kind of an aspiring artist, but you really don't know what you're doing, um, I think it'll just be a great benefit for the whole community. And the gallery will be a draw, um, for visitors who are interested in, in art, then, you know, you have the new gallery at the library that's practically right across the street as well. So I can really see us becoming, I know we can be this arts destination where people come because we, we have this to offer and no other communities around here do. So I'm really excited about that.

Speaker 1:

You should be, and I'm just sitting here, I'm just kind of buzzing. I'm thinking about all of the murals that are going

Speaker 2:

Now. Very

Speaker 1:

Cool. So, uh, help me re uh, help remind me where I can see some of these murals.

Speaker 2:

Yep. So, uh, the original mural we'll say is at the perch on second street. Right. So right across from field and main bank. Yeah. Yeah. Can't miss that one. It's huge

Speaker 1:

Music there every once in a while, right at the park.

Speaker 2:

Yep. Yep. The first Friday's events are back. So first Friday of every month, there's usually a food truck, or you can pick up to go from the, the downtown restaurants, um, and enjoy live music. So that's a really cool thing that we have going on. There is the mural, the nourished mural is what it's called, um, on the back of Henderson juice company on main street. So you can see it from water street. That's, uh, Maddie Fritz, she's a local artist. So she painted that mural. It's really vibrant, really, also really big, really cool. There's a new one by Grace Henderson. That is in the works right now. Um, also on main street, um, on the side of the, a to Z computer building. So that's called the Kentucky roots mural. And like I said, it's just in the works, so, so more to come more to come that's right.

Speaker 1:

So, uh, are we ready to talk a little bit about what's, uh, what's coming up in terms of events. Let's talk about it. All right. What's that?

Speaker 2:

Well, handy Fest is back and I think that's like the best news. We've all heard in a really long time. Um, so handy Fest is coming up June 16th or 19th smoking hotline up, uh, last year was supposed to be here 30. So we're calling this year 30.2. Yup. There you go. Um, the really cool thing about our festivals is they are totally planned and executed by volunteers. So you have this, this group of who are just passionate about these festivals. Um, and I, it amazes me every year. Um, I mean, I, I know I've said it before, but these are world-class festivals right here in Henderson, planned by volunteers on our beautiful riverfront, where we get these amazing acts and Haney Festus free, free, free.

Speaker 1:

I mean, it's amazing that this happens in Henderson, Kentucky. Now, maybe I shouldn't be amazed because we have such amazing stories to tell, and that's why this podcast exists. And we're going to try to get those out there, but, you know, to put it on is not free. Right. And if you have the means to contribute a little bit, you have the opportunity to do that. I know I saw something on Facebook. I think it was last week where the handy Fest has, uh, an option for you to go online and to contribute. So I passed on a few dollars just so we can keep it free.

Speaker 2:

See, and that if we all chip in what we can, whether it's time, talent, or treasure to the things that we're passionate about, I know that's something like when I think about what I want my daughter to see me doing every day, that's it like, be it be a part of your community, do what you can do to make it a better place. And I mean, no one can argue handy Fest makes Henderson, but a really cool place.

Speaker 1:

Very cool. Now we're going to have everything right. We're going to have food. We're going to have music, of course. Uh, and Zydeco nights coming back, I believe so there, I'm sure there'll be red beans and rice and t-shirts and everything else that goes along with it, but I can't wait. So that is in June. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yup. It's June 16th through 19th

Speaker 1:

Link on the show notes, you can find the show notes wherever you listen to this podcast, whether that's on the website, which is six, 12 North main.com, that's six one two N M a I n.com. Or you can find us on Spotify, iTunes, Google podcasts, Stitcher, and anywhere else that you can imagine that you can find podcasts. There are notes when you click to listen to the podcasts, uh, there are links there in the description. So we will put some links to all the things we discuss here for your ease. So you can find those. So what, so what else is going on Abby?

Speaker 2:

So we have handy Fest coming up. Um, actually before that, I'll tell you, we have the, um, front porch festival that DHP puts on. So that's June 5th. So I'm going to say that's kind of gonna be our first, like big on South main. Um, I think there are over 10 front porches involved. So 10 opportunities to, to catch some really great live music, um, popular music. Do you think that will be, um, I'm thinking back to the first front porch festival that was two years ago, there's a little bit of everything. Uh, so on the pocket, was there, there always a hit, uh, there were some up and coming local country artists. So that was pretty cool too. I think it's just kind of a nice mix of everything and it's just community gathering, which I think is really cool. Um, song Fest. Of course, we touched on that coming up in July and then bluegrass in the park and August. Uh, so we kind of become this cool festival town on the river in the summer. And I mean, again, that's one of the things that I love about living downtown, um, is just being able to walk out my front door and take a stroll and be at these amazing events.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, man, I'm being too. Absolutely. I love that. And you get to know some of these artists pretty well by going to some of these events, they're approachable for the most part. I know that, uh, if you are familiar at all with the Sandy Lee Watkins, uh, song Fest, you probably know Jim moose Brown. So if you don't know, he's the guy standing behind some of the major acts like a Willie Nelson, uh, Bob Seger and, uh, some other, uh, amazing people. Uh, and he's maybe the best musician I've ever physically seen play. You know, I mean, he is, he's amazing. So, uh, you know, you sit down and you have an adult beverage with a guy and talk to his, he and his wife, and all of a sudden, you know, you're watching him in some of the biggest stages in Nashville and around the world. Uh, and that's just what happens at some of these and these local events. You just get to know people and it's great and they love it here.

Speaker 2:

They do. That is one thing, whether it's, you know, our river cruisers or folks that, um, you just kind of run into, if you're out at Audubon state park or these very talented musicians that come in for our festivals, everyone loves it here. They talk about how friendly our people are. They talk about how beautiful our riverfront is. Um, specifically it's so green it's so lush, uh, your town is so clean. Um, I'll never forget. I was leading a tour bus and I've told this story a hundred times at this point, I was leading a tour bus a couple of years ago, and we're going out to Audubon state park. And as we're pulling in, there's a mama deer and a baby deer, and they just stop, you know, they're used to cars coming in and out and they're used to people. So they just stopped. And probably for two or three minutes, they were just totally still. And all of these people, you know, we see this kind of thing every day, but all of these people on the tour bus, about 50 of them, they were just in awe. They had never seen anything like this before. So visitors really, really love our town. And that's one thing. Um, you know, I, I hope to tell these stories to our locals so that, um, you, if they, if they ever need to pick me up on, on loving where they live, I hope that I can help be a part of that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Fantastic. I love that so much. You know, I, I hear that message. Uh, so often I had the opportunity to recruit pharmacists for this area for a long time, and it was pretty easy to do. And my, my pitch went like this. This is the perfect place to raise a family. It is the perfect place. It's the right size. You get to know your friends and neighbors. You get to have an influence over whatever you would like to have an influence over whether that's local government or your church, or, uh, anything, anything, uh, in terms of an, uh, community organization that you'd like to be a part of. Uh, if you'd like to be a community servant, this place has plenty of opportunity and we have great examples. Uh, we have all four seasons. We have everything that you could use that you could do outside. And we have all, some incredible things to do inside. Why wouldn't you want to come here? You're two hours from Nashville. You're two hours away from Louisville. You're three hours from St. Louis. You know, it's easy to get to, it's easy to get out of, and you don't have to sit in traffic for an hour every day,

Speaker 2:

The game changer right

Speaker 1:

There. Yeah. So I just, I don't know. I need to, I need to quit guessing, I guess, but to me it's just such a cool place to, to live and, uh, hopefully that makes your, your job a little easier. I know you love your job. It's not, uh, it's not work for you. I can tell, but what's next for the tourist commission? What are you guys working on these days?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So now that, um, things are opening up, we are planning, uh, for our advertising for this upcoming year, which is really exciting. You know, we really didn't know how, how things were going to go over this past year. Um, obviously tourism was probably the first industry to be hit hard in the pandemic and really will likely be the last to fully recover. But we know that tourism is such an important part of the full recovery plan. So we are excited to do our part, um, to bring folks to Henderson and, and get the economy rolling again. So advertising, um, I'm really excited. We're about to give out some grants to the organizations that attractions the, the people in our community that are putting on great events and doing great things to make our community more appealing to visitors. So it's always fun when you get to write someone a check. So that's really exciting. Stay tuned there. Um, and we're just, we're really looking forward to a bright future here in Henderson. We were not hit as hard as a lot of our other communities. The state, we were really well positioned for travel in the pandemic because we have places like Audubon, state park and farmer and Frenchman in these destination getaways. Um, you know, when you're not traveling to a big city, people have wanted a road trip, get some fresh air, spend some time outside. We're a safe destination. So we've, we've really been pushing that. I think that'll be something that we'll continue to push. Um, we see that travelers are more confident now, um, you know, to, to get back on the road again,

Speaker 1:

The rules are becoming a little easier to deal with.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yes. We're opening. So we're back, we're back. It feels like we're back. It feels like we never really went away to the extent that a lot of places did. And for that I'm so grateful. Um,

Speaker 1:

Like more like a pause to me than a stop. Yeah. Yeah. Well, very cool. Abby, how can we reach the commission if folks have questions or comments or want to be involved in some of the things that we've talked about today? How can we best reach the Henderson tourist commission?

Speaker 2:

Yup. So we're on Facebook and Instagram. I'm on Instagram tour, Henderson, K Y on Facebook where the Henderson tourist commission I'll give you my emails. So ABB Y at Henderson, K y.org, email me anytime.

Speaker 1:

Ms. Dixon. Thank you so much for being here and for being our guests at the six, 12 North main, we really appreciate you. What you do. We love your family and you absolutely need to follow the Henderson tourist commission on all social media outlets. It's a great fall on, you know, what's going on here in town. So once again, thank you for being here and the turret. Thank you for listening to six 12 North main hit that subscribe button. And if you really like us, leave us a recommendation wherever you listen to the podcast, we'll see you next time.

Speaker 3:

[inaudible].