FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                                                      Contact:

                                                      Kathy Melvin, Business Integrated

                                                      Communications   502.609.9813

River Fields Hosts 50th Anniversary Celebration

“Dancing by the River” Scheduled for September 12

Louisville, KY (August 26, 2009) — The public is invited to join River Fields in celebrating its 50th anniversary Saturday, September 12 during its annual fundraiser, “Dancing by the River.”  River Fields has been promoting a “green” agenda since 1959.

Attendees will dine and dance in an elegant, tented field in the heart of Metro Louisville’s only state-designated Scenic Corridor, at the corner of River Road and Lime Kiln Lane, directly across from Goose Creek. 

“We are very proud that in our 50-year history, River Fields has preserved 2,200 acres of land forever, for the benefit of the public,” said Meme Sweets Runyon, the group’s executive director for more than 23 years. “Because of River Fields, this land will be here for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”

River Fields has more than 2,100 members who live in 104 Zip codes.  Funds raised at “Dancing by the River” will support River Fields’ work to protect, preserve and enhance the natural, historical and cultural resources near the Ohio River between Westport and West Point, Kentucky, on both sides of the river.

The gala begins with hors d’oeuvres at 7 p.m., followed by a buffet dinner catered by Lilly’s –LaPeche at 8 p.m.  Dessert by “Desserts by Helen” and dancing begins at 9 p.m. The Robert Nickerson Band will provide music until midnight. A live and silent auction will include one-of-a-kind items, including a stay in a 3-bedroom condo at Ocean Reef Club in Florida, where guests can enjoy beautiful beaches, two 18-hole championship golf courses, fishing, scuba diving and snorkeling, and sailing, to name just a few of the many amenities. Auction items also include a Boone-Gardiner Center landscaping package, a getaway to an oceanfront condo in Edgewater Beach, Florida, and tickets to a Masters’ Practice Round, as well as fine wines.

The event’s corporate sponsors are long-time supporters Brown-Forman Corporation, Stites and Harbison LLC, Commonwealth Bank and Trust, and Boone Gardiner Garden Center.  River Fields is grateful for their generous support and environmental leadership.

“Dancing by the River” is co-chaired by Inez Segell and Hope and Matthew Boone Gardiner, owners of Boone Gardiner Garden Center, also a corporate sponsor of the event. The members of the “Dancing by the River” committee are Lucie Blodgett, Janice Blythe, Marea Clark, Lee T. Cory, Fay Dorval, Arnita Gadson, Cindy Kohorst, Margaret Kulp, Donna & Allan Lansing, Mary Celeste Lerman, Kathy Melvin, Sarah Michals, Mary Ann Quesenberry, Melody Raidy, Jane Ramsey, Bea Rosenberg, Amelia Runyon, Jane M. Townsend, Ann C. Wells and Meredith L. Williams.

Tickets for the buffet dinner, dancing and dessert are $200 per person; dancing and dessert only, beginning at 9:00 p.m., are $75 per person. For information, contact River Fields at (502) 583-3060 or at melodyraidy@riverfields.org.  Tickets may be purchased through the River Fields website at www.riverfields.org.  Reservations close September 8.

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River Fields is the largest and oldest river conservancy along the 981 mile Ohio River.  For nearly 50 years, River Fields has utilized its resources to effectively protect, preserve and enhance the natural and cultural resources of the land and water around the Ohio River in our region.  Through its programs of land conservation, advocacy and education, River Fields strives to create harmony between nature, history and the people who live here.  River Fields owns land or holds conservation easements on 34 properties, totaling more than 2,200 acres, most of which is preserved forever. River Fields is one of the nation's few land trusts tackling regional advocacy work and land conservation. 

River Fields Board of Trustees

Robert E. Kulp, Jr., Chairman

Dr. Hiram C. Polk, Jr., President

Paul J. Bickel III, Owsley Brown II, Stephen P. Campbell, Marea Clark, Lee T. Cory, Arnita Gadson, Matthew Boone Gardiner, Elizabeth Dodd Lococo, Hunter G. Louis, Debbie Linnig Michals, Kenneth W. Moore, Edwin H. Perry, Bea Rosenberg, Inez Segell, Jane M. Townsend, Ann Wells