Corbin Tourism Director Emily Roberts was selected as the guest speaker for the Corbin Rotary Club meeting on Sept. 11 at David’s Steakhouse.
The Corbin Rotary Club meetings, chartered on March 8, 1928, host weekly meetings with guest speakers at noon each Thursday at David’s Steakhouse.
Roberts shared updates and stories from the City of Corbin and the Corbin Tourism and Convention Commission.
Roberts started as a tourist to Corbin herself. She was born and raised in Fairfield, Ohio, where she lived there until 2013. She came to Corbin to visit a family member. She was fascinated by the beauty and scenery, including Daniel Boone National Forest and Cumberland Falls. Before, she had lived in a suburban major city where time moved fast, whereas in Corbin, she noticed time moved a lot slower.
“I mean that in a good way. It’s a compliment. I fell in love with the people here.” Roberts said. “Something that I had never experienced before was driving down the road and everyone just giving a little wave to each other. As soon as I got home from that visit, I decided in my heart and mind that I wanted to live here [in Corbin].”
Roberts made mention of the places in Corbin that we are most known for in other areas of the world, whether that be different states in the United States or outside the United States in other countries.
Roberts mentioned that we are most known for our Sanders Café and Museum, as well as the original Kentucky Fried Chicken, or KFC. At the Sanders Café, a digital guestbook is available. Guests can sign in and tell where they are from. Roberts mentioned there are guests from all over the world. According to the August report, guests came from California, Hawaii, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, and other countries.
Roberts also mentioned that the City of Corbin is primarily known for Cumberland Falls, the L&N Railroad, and the Corbin Arena.
“It’s just a very neat experience,” said Roberts.
The Rotary Club has also announced that the Senior Citizens Thanksgiving Dinner is scheduled for Nov. 19. Although an official time has not been determined, they mentioned that they typically serve dinner at 11 a.m. and may begin packing to-go meals to deliver at 9 a.m.
Upcoming speakers are Tracie Byers on Sept. 25, Mike Addison with the Appalachian Children’s Home on Oct. 2, and Garry Conley on Oct. 9
On Tuesday, Sept. 9, the Corbin Tourism and Convention Commission held its regular meeting at the Corbin Tourism building.
The meeting began with a review of their financial report by Financial Advisor Bryan Gay.
“We had a solid month on restaurant tax,” Gay said. “We received $163,432. Compared to last year, we were at $160,179, so a slight increase over the last year.”
The transient tax for August was $16,985, which was smaller than last year. “About a $3,000 difference,” said Gay.
They had a net income of $29,490 for the month of August.
The AC unit and security equipment cost $10,582.
There were a couple of sponsorship requests.
First, the Corbin Night Market, organized by Rebecca Chastain for the night of Nov. 8 from 5 – 9 p.m., requested that Corbin Tourism waive the rental fee for the farmer’s market space in downtown Corbin. Corbin Tourism came to the conclusion that they would make a donation of $350 towards the event.
Next, there was a sponsorship request for the Evergreen Artisan Market, which is scheduled for Dec. 4 – 6 on Harvey’s on Main Street. They requested $1,600 to help advertise the event. Corbin Tourism approved $1,000 sponsorship for the event.
The last sponsorship request was for Pittsburgh Marine, scheduled for Jan. 9 – 11 at the Corbin Arena, and they requested $1,500. They approved a sponsorship of $3,000, stating that this would be a huge event because it attracts a large crowd.
The Corbin Tourism Board also discussed rebranding the Corbin Tourism website. They reviewed the first rough draft and said they would make edits and provide suggestions, then table it for discussion at the next meeting.
The next Corbin Tourism meeting is scheduled for Oct. 14.
