Russdiculous & EthanAlmighty, 1975 Kentucky Colonels ABA Championship Anniversary, 1875 Mary Todd Lincoln Arrest Warrant, and More
Basketball, Bourbon & EthanAlmighty flyer.
It’s going to be a night of champions at the Frazier History Museum on June 26 and I’m having trouble determining who gets top billing.
Is it going to be former University of Louisville basketball player Russ Smith (a.k.a. Russdiculous) who won over fans with his larger-than-life personality, grit, and heart?
Or EthanAlmighty, the dog found emaciated and abandoned at the Kentucky Humane Society who has captured hearts by fighting back with his human companion Jeff Callaway to champion kindness?
How about we call it a draw and name the program Basketball, Bourbon & EthanAlmighty, and invite you to come join us on June 26.
If you’re wondering about the connection between Russ and Ethan, it’s easy. Russ is a dog lover and has a Bourbon label called Mr. and Mrs. He named one of his labels Ethan’s Batch to celebrate Ethan’s story and help raise funds for Ethan’s Blessings, a 501c3, to help other animals.
Ethan’s Batch will be among the Mr. and Mrs. labels we will taste, with a limited number of bottles for sale.
This is the kind of teamwork I am ready to toast!
It really will be a night of champions with Russ, EthanAlmighty, and Jeff, with a few surprises thrown your way. Mix in some kindness and, in the end, who cares who gets top billing? Click here to read more about the program and to purchase your tickets. I have a feeling we’re going to pack the house on this one.
Also coming up in this week’s Frazier Weekly, a special guest helps us celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Kentucky Colonels ABA Championship, the clock is ticking on our Beer Fest special ticket package, and festivals only Kentucky can serve up!
Rachel Platt
VP of Mission
Frazier History Museum
This Week in the Museum
Frazier to Mark Fiftieth Anniversary of Kentucky Colonels ABA Championship Thursday with Lloyd Gardner
Kentucky Colonels logo from 1970–71 to 1975–76.
Kentucky Colonels center Artis Gilmore stands with the state’s governor, Julian Carroll, after his team’s American Basketball Association championship victory over the Indiana Pacers, May 25, 1975. Credit: Bill Luster, Courier Journal.
Lloyd Gardner wearing his 1975 Kentucky Colonels ABA Championship ring, May 15, 2025.
May 22, 1975. Were you there in Freedom Hall when history was made? This Thursday marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Kentucky Colonels winning the ABA Championship, defeating the Indiana Pacers.
If you were there, you know a thunderstorm knocked the lights out shortly after the victory. Is that a sign or what?
It’s the stuff legends are made of—just ask Lloyd Gardner, who was the trainer, equipment manager, and travel secretary for the team!
It’s because of Lloyd we have so much treasured Kentucky Colonels memorabilia in our Cool Kentucky exhibition at the Frazier.
Lloyd will be at the Frazier this Thursday from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. to answer any questions you might have about the team and share his memories of that championship, which he calls one of the highlights of his life. He wears his championship ring every day!
Please join us to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary at the Frazier.
Lloyd says it’s one of the greatest teams in all of pro basketball with four Hall of Famers: Dan Issel, Artis Gilmore, Louie Dampier, and Coach Hubie Brown.
Keep reading to learn more about the memorabilia at the Frazier and hear from my hubby Gary Fogle on his lifetime love of that special team!
Rachel Platt
VP of Mission
Visitors look at the Dan Issel uniform on the Kentucky Colonels platform in the Frazier’s Cool Kentucky exhibition, November 2020.
Visitors look at the Artis Gilmore uniform on the Kentucky Colonels platform in the Frazier’s Cool Kentucky exhibition, November 2020.
Visitors look at the Artis Gilmore height chart in the Frazier’s Cool Kentucky exhibition, November 5, 2024. Credit: Clay Cook.
Many fun and interesting objects related to the Kentucky Colonels basketball team are featured in the Competitive Kentucky gallery of our Cool Kentucky exhibition. Perhaps the coolest are several uniforms worn by different players in different years of the franchise. It is interesting to see how the team’s colors, logos, and uniform designs changed over the nine years that the team played in Louisville.
Of those, I think that the most interesting is the warmup suit worn by Artis Gilmore in 1975. Gilmore is seven-feet-two-inches tall—and you can really tell from his uniform pants! To properly display Gilmore’s uniform, we had to modify one of our mannequins and extend the legs. We were unable to find a mannequin as tall as Artis! The exhibition also features a growth chart with a life-sized image of Gilmore so you can see how you measure up. Personally, Gilmore is a whole two feet taller than me!
Amanda Briede
Sr. Curator of Exhibitions
Lifetime Kentucky Colonels Fan Gary Fogle on Team’s 1975 ABA Championship Run
Gary Fogle (back row, number twenty-three) playing on his seventh-grade basketball team, dreaming of someday playing for the Colonels, 1975.
I’ve been a sports fan ever since I was a small child—and the first team I ever followed with great passion was the Kentucky Colonels.
I remember my father taking my brothers and me to a game in Louisville Gardens (an arena that seated about 5,000 but, to me, seemed as big as the Grand Canyon). This was in the late ’60s and I was about six or seven years old. It was a magical moment to see these professional athletes in person.
My father would take us to a few games every season but most of their games I listened to on the radio. Even games when they were on the road on the west coast with a late start time my brother Danny and I would put the radio in between our beds, turn the volume down real low so our mom and dad didn’t know we were listening because it was a school night and well past our bedtime. And then the next morning mom couldn’t understand why we were so tired and moving slowly.
We not only listened to the game but the post-game wrap up and player-of-the-game interview.
And because I listened to so many games on radio, I can even remember the commercials that ran. One with Dan Issel munching on potato chips.
Toohey Automotive’s commercial aired after every game (“when your car goes phooey, call Toohey” was their slogan).
For the entire nine seasons the Colonels existed in the ABA, I lived and died with every victory and defeat. I remember my heartbreak in 1971 and again in ’73 when they made it to the finals and lost. And then my jubilation when they finally won their only championship in May of 1975.
Fifty years since this grand moment has not faded in my memory.
Their theme song began with . . .
“Here come the Kentucky Colonels / Let’s all stand up and cheer / Your Kentucky Colonels / Are going all the way this year!”
And in 1975 they did! It was wonderful!
Gary Fogle
Kentucky Colonels Fan
Guest Contributor
Downtown Bearno’s Pizzeria Commemorates Colonels Title with Banner and Beer
A Kentucky Colonels championship banner mounted on the side of Downtown Bearno’s, May 2025.
On May 22, 1975, the Kentucky Colonels won the ABA Championship. To celebrate, we recently mounted a banner on the side of our Downtown Bearno’s Pizzeria, located at 301 West Market in Downtown Louisville!
To mark the fiftieth anniversary, Downtown Bearno’s will also be featuring $5 Golden Miller Lite Cans! (Miller Lite is also celebrating its fiftieth anniversary.)
George Timmering
Owner, Downtown Bearno’s Pizzeria
Guest Contributor
Frazier Summer Beer Fest Ticket Package Deal Ends Tonight at Midnight!
On tap, it’s your last chance to cash in on our huge Frazier Summer Beer Fest sale! Today only, if you buy 3 General Admission tickets you get 1 GA ticket FREE (a $50 savings). But act now, because the sale ends tonight at midnight. Tick tock!
Frazier Summer Beer Fest is back for its fifth year on Saturday, July 26, with over 200 beers and Kentucky spirit spilling over onto Main Street in downtown Louisville. We’ll be hopping with craft beers, live music, food, a fun zone, and more. Don’t miss out on this annual beer fest unlike any other.
Tap into the sale now and save money with your friendly beer drinking friends before time runs out! Cheers!
Greg Schoenbaechler
Sr. Marketing Manager
Object in Focus: Mary Todd Lincoln’s Arrest Warrant, May 19, 1875
Mary Ann (née Todd) Lincoln, 1861. Credit: Mathew Benjamin Brady.
Arrest warrant for Mary Todd Lincoln issued May 19, 1875. On display in the Frazier’s Commonwealth exhibition. Part of the Frazier History Museum collection.
On May 19, 1875—150 years ago today—Mary Todd Lincoln was arrested.
That arrest warrant is on display at the Frazier History Museum.
If you’re wondering why Mary—a Lexington, Kentucky, native who’d served as the First Lady of the United States just a decade prior—was arrested, it’s because her son doubted her sanity.
For context: Mary’s life was characterized by heartbreaking loss. Three of her four children died in childhood: Eddy, three, died of tuberculosis in 1850; Willie, eleven, died of typhoid fever in 1862; and Tad, eighteen, died of pleurisy in 1871. And, of course, her husband, President Abraham Lincoln—while holding Mary’s hand—was fatally shot in the head by an assassin in 1865.
By spring 1875, Mary’s behavior had grown erratic. Her only surviving child, Robert, thirty-one, decided to have her hospitalized.
On April 10, Robert paid Dr. Robert Patterson, proprietor of Bellevue Place (a private sanitarium for women near Chicago), for a consultation. On May 16, Robert assembled a battery of medical experts and lawyers to discuss his mother’s recent behaviors. Allegedly, she spent recklessly; she blamed her headaches on an Indian spirit; she warned the south side of Chicago was on fire; and she complained of a man communicating with her through the wall.
On the morning of May 19, 1875, Robert applied to the court of Cook County, Illinois, to have his mother declared insane. Judge Marion R. M. Wallace issued a warrant for her arrest. At 2 p.m. she was tried by a jury and found insane. That evening, she escaped the Pinkerton guarding her room and visited several drug stores, trying to obtain a fatal dose of laudanum to commit suicide with. One druggist, to foil her attempt, twice gave her a placebo. She drank each vial, with no result.
The next day, she was admitted to Bellevue. She spent four months hospitalized there.
On September 10, she was released.
A year later, she made a brief trip back to Kentucky, visiting Mammoth Cave and touring the sites of her youth in Lexington.
She died in 1882.
Learn more about her case in The Insanity Files: The Case of Mary Todd Lincoln (1986) by Mark E. Neely Jr. and R. Gerald McMurtry. Note that Neely and McMurtry offer their own views on this subject about which many historians have come to different conclusions.
In 2010, the Frazier History Museum came into possession of Mary Todd Lincoln’s arrest warrant. View it on display in our Commonwealth: Divided we Fall exhibition.
Simon Meiners
Communications & Research Specialist
Summer Professional Development for Teachers Explores History of Labor Day
Front cover of Which Side are You On: The Story of a Song written by George Ella Lyon with artwork by Christopher Cardinale, 2011. Credit: Cinco Puntos Press.
The Frazier Museum education team is pleased to offer a regular rotation of engaging and interactive professional development sessions for local teachers. This summer we are teaming up with Caroline C. Sheffield, PhD, Associate Professor in Social Studies Education at the University of Louisville, to offer “Which Side Are You On? Inquiry Learning through State History.” Taking place on June 14, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., this interactive professional development experience will provide teachers with the tools needed to help students answer that question.
Using the picture book Which Side are You On? by George Ella Lyon and Christopher Cardinale as an anchor text, this session will use the conflict between miners and coal companies to explore how labor unions helped create safer and fairer working conditions. Participants will be provided with a set of ready-made and road-tested teaching materials, including primary and secondary sources, accessible to students in grades 4–12. The session will also include a guided tour of related artifacts within the Frazier Museum exhibitions, a screening of the film KentuckyShow!, and a pizza lunch.
Spaces are limited and registration is required. To learn more or book a space, click here.
Questions regarding the session may be directed to education@fraziermuseum.org.
Megan Schanie
Sr. Manager of Educational Programs
Every season is festival season in Kentucky! In towns big and small, communities come together to recognize history and heritage. Whether it is blackberries in Nicholas County, beer cheese in Winchester, poke sallet in Harlan, or apples in Bedford, there is no shortage of traditions to enjoy. More than just entertainment, our festivals allow us to connect with culture and community, helping to bridge divides on the basis of our shared heritage. And with 120 counties in the Commonwealth, I truly believe there is a festival for everyone! So with this in mind, I will be writing an ongoing series highlighting a few of our many, many festivals across Kentucky. More than just announcing dates, I will also explore the festivals’ histories and local significance. And perhaps, more importantly, I will make sure your weekends are never boring.
Pageant at the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival in Pineville, Bell County, 2019. Credit: Middlesboro News.
Attendees gather at the Beaver Dam Strawberry Festival in Beaver Dam, Ohio County. Credit: Shelby Whitley, Executive Director, Beaver Dam Tourism Commission.
Dancers at the Native Dawn Flute Gathering at Old Fort Harrod State Park in Harrodsburg, Mercer County. Credit: Harrodsburg Herald.
Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival (May 22–25, 2025)
Nestled in the Cumberland Gap, deep within Appalachia, is the scenic town of Pineville. Since 1931, local residents have held the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival in honor of the native mountain laurel flower. Created by Mrs. Annie Walker Burns, the festival was originally intended to celebrate her ancestor and pioneer, Dr. Thomas Walker (notable for having explored Kentucky seventeen years before Daniel Boone). However, over the years, the festival has evolved to showcase a wide variety of history and culture from southeastern Kentucky.
For many individuals, the Pageant at Laurel Cove Amphitheater is the highlight of the festival. Women representing Kentucky colleges and universities gather in Pine Mountain State Park to participate in the annual pageant. Wearing a crown of mountain laurels, each contestant has traditionally performed a curtsy to Kentucky’s governor, always in attendance, in hopes of being named Queen. More than the Pageant, one can also enjoy a carnival, the Grand Parade, national music acts, and plenty of food.
Beaver Dam Strawberry Festival (May 22–26, 2025)
Found in the central portion of western Kentucky, Ohio County is famously known as the “Home of Bluegrass,” as well as the birthplace of Bill Monroe, a.k.a. the “Father of Bluegrass Music.” If you visit Beaver Dam the last weekend in May, however, you may be surprised to find strawberries in lieu of banjos (though I wager there will still be plenty of those). This is because the Beaver Dam Strawberry Festival owes its existence to the rather unique history of the bright, red fruit in the region. Much more plentiful during the 1930s, local farmers would bring their strawberry crops to the Beaver Dam railroad station each weekend to be shipped to Louisville. Though there was a Strawberry Festival during this time, it soon lay dormant until being revived decades later in 1998.
The festival has grown every year since, and now includes a pageant, a parade, a car show, a pet show, carnival rides, live music, a cornhole tournament, and, of course, tons of food. And make no mistake! This festival is extremely popular, with over 3,000 expected to be in attendance. So if you like strawberries, good times, and great folk, get in your cars and head to Beaver Dam this weekend. You won’t be disappointed!
Native Dawn Flute Gathering (May 23–25)
Created in 2010 by Angie and Fred Keams, the Native Dawn Flute Gathering (held in Old Fort Harrod State Park in Harrodsburg, Mercer County, Kentucky) is a spectacular celebration of Native American music and traditional craftsmanship. According to Angie, the event is also seen as an opportunity to “educate, share, give back and to say ‘We are still here’”—a powerful affirmation of both community and purpose. Her husband and member of the Navajo Nation Tribe, Fred Keams, was born on a reservation in Arizona before eventually moving to Kentucky (where he has lived the last twenty years). Crafting traditional instruments known as Woodland flutes from cedar wood, Fred has sold his creations to people from as far away as Australia and Africa. He is also an extraordinary musician, having performed at last year’s 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit opening at the Frazier Museum!
Of course, you will be able to meet Fred and Angie if you attend this year’s Native Dawn Flute Gathering at Old Fort Harrod State Park in Harrodsburg. What’s more, Native Americans from across the United States will also be making the journey, bringing with them handmade arts, crafts, and traditional Native foods. Over the course of the weekend, you will be able to enjoy Native American flute players and makers, Northern and Southern powwow drum groups, and tribal dancers. And did I mention that all of this is free?!? Mark it on your calendars . . . this one will be well worth the short drive to Mercer County.
Jason Berkowitz
Stories in Mind Facilitator
On the Trail with Abby: Discover Becker & Bird Distillery in Augusta
On the Trail with Abby graphic.
Bourbon tourism is booming—and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® is growing faster than ever! Each week, the Frazier’s Abby Flanders takes readers on a digital stop-by-stop tour of this expanding adventure, spotlighting the distilleries, stories, and expressions behind America’s native spirit. Ready to hit the trail in real life? Start your journey at the Frazier History Museum, the Official Starting Point of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®.
Outside Augusta, Bracken County, where the Ohio River gently curves past historic streets, lies a hidden gem on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®. Becker & Bird Distillery, one of the most historic spirit sites in America, traces its roots back to 1798 when Revolutionary War veteran Johannes Becker began distilling on the very site. The next generation of Becker & Bird continued this legacy in 2018 after finding Becker’s original recipes and relaunching the historic brand.
The distillery’s Bourbon lineup clues us into this storied past. American Revolution is a young whiskey that honors Becker’s service in the Revolutionary War, while Whiskey Rebellion nods to his time distilling in Pennsylvania during the eponymous uprising. Their Kentucky Statehood Bourbon celebrates the state’s 1792 admission to the Union and Becker’s subsequent move to Augusta, after which he took the name of John Baker.
Abby Flanders poses outside the wine cellar at Becker & Bird Distillery in Augusta, Bracken County, Kentucky, May 11, 2025.
If wine is an appealing second to Bourbon, you can explore the largest and oldest wine cellar in America, built in the 1850s by Abraham Baker Jr., John Baker’s grandson. This cellar, which remarkably survived the Civil War, is on the National Register of Historic Places, and acted as a shelter for women and children during the battle of Augusta. Tours offer insights into the distillery’s rich heritage and the Bourbon- (and wine!-) making process.
Weekend visitors can book a Guided Cellar Visit or the Bourbon Field & Forest Tour for a deeper dive into the stories, the scenery, and, of course, the spirits. Head to their official website to snag a reservation.
With its deep historical roots, bold expressions, and one-of-a-kind tours, Becker & Bird offers a rich and rewarding stop on the Bourbon Trail®—where each sip tells a story centuries in the making!
Learn more about the winery and distillery in this video featured in the Frazier’s 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit.
Abby Flanders
Administrative Chief of Engagement
Frazier Offering New and Improved Bourbon Tasting Experiences
Visitors taste Bourbon in the Frazier’s Speakeasy, November 5, 2024. Credit: Clay Cook.
There are different types of museum goers: some browse quickly through the galleries while some stop and read it all. Then you have some of our guests who come in for a tasting during their visit!
It is rare to enter a museum and see a beautifully lit shelf of Bourbons for sale in the shop. It is also rare to tour the museum and also sign up for a tasting mid-tour—but you can do both here at the Frazier!
You do not simply just get a tasting at the Frazier when you add one on with your admission. We have added a walking tour component to each of our tastings this season.
Come join us for a fun museum tour with a very knowledgeable Bourbon tour guide and wrap it up with a tasting from the best distilleries in Kentucky.
Our new Single Barrel Secrets tasting experience gives a chance to go more in detail with our guide while exploring the Spirit of Kentucky® Bourbon exhibition. After that, we finish up with an exclusive tasting flight of three of our very own barrel selections that you can only get at the Frazier.
For our Craft your Own Old Fashioned and Kentucky Hug offerings, we will now start with a password to a secret location for a guided tour before you start your tasting experience.
So come taste, talk, and tour with us this season at the Frazier History Museum!
Learn more and secure your spot at a Bourbon tasting and tour on our website.
Heidi Janes
Sr. Manager of Operations
Museum Shop: Frazier Barrel Selection Bourbons *Only* Sold Here!
A selection of Frazier Barrel Selection Bourbons only sold in the Frazier’s Museum Shop, May 9, 2025.
Discover a rare lineup of Bourbons available only at the Frazier History Museum. These bottles can't be found anywhere else! Our exclusive Town Branch Single Barrel Selection is available solely through our Single Barrel Secrets tasting experience. Sample all three unique selections during the tasting, then pick up your bottle in the Frazier’s Museum Shop—if you’re lucky enough to get one.
