McConnell House to hold 25th Croquet Tournament

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By Portia Williams

[email protected]

WURTLAND, Ky. — The 25th Annual Heritage Stakes Croquet Tournament at the McConnell House will be held Saturday, Sept. 19, beginning at 9 a.m. The event is hosted by the Heritage Arts, Science and Tourism Center organization, which has held the event annually as an integral fundraising opportunity.

Bud Matheny, site administrator of the McConnell House, said the Annual Stakes Croquet Tournament is the most crucial part of the McConnell House fundraising efforts.

“This is our biggest event, and our biggest fundraiser of the year,” Matheny said. “We couldn’t survive without this one. We do others throughout the year, but this is our big one.”

They are also preparing for a series of events that will precede the Croquet Tournament.

“This is a very busy time of year,” he said. “We are setting up the tents and the tables, we have business after hours for Ashland Alliance which is a closed function tomorrow night, and then Friday night we have what we call, ‘Wicked Friday,’ which gives the Croquet players a chance to come and practice. Then of course, Saturday is our big tournament which starts at nine, and will probably end about five with the awards banquet.”

According to Matheny, businesses from the community have come together to sponsor the event for two and a half decades and still going strong. He said the event was conceived with a hint of nostalgia as organization leaders figured that many, many rounds of croquet has probably been played on the property over the 181 year life span of the pre-Civil War Era home.

The community is invited to come and observe the tournament play which will begin on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 9 a.m. and will end at approximately 5 p.m. Free McConnell House tours will be conducted during the course of the Croquet Tournament of the event.

The McConnell House is located in Wurtland, Ky., just off of US 23 sitting adjacent to the intersection of 23 and Industrial PKWY. For more information you may email us at [email protected] or contact the site administrator Bud Matheny at 606-585-1585.

Reach Portia Williams at 740-353-3101, ext. 1929, or on Twitter@PortiaWillPDT.

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