September - October 2009

Newly changed red leaves hang from a branch with other foliage that has not yet taken on its Autumn hue at General Butler State Park. Although many leaves have already fallen, there are still plenty of vibrant pockets of color to be seen in a drive in the Courierarea. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Penny Roberson makes an oil painting of the overlook of the Ohio River at the Great River Paint Out at Hanover College. This was the third Paint out, which is held every other year. This year there were about 150 artists in attendance, including groups of high school students from Trimble County, Ky., and Jennings County, Ind. Individual painters came from Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. Roberson, of Noblesville, Ind., is a member of the Hamilton County Artists Association and a retired art teacher who said she spent a career teaching others to paint and has really dived back into her own art in the year since she retired. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Hanover College sophomore Wesley Hough makes himself comfortable in a chair in the Science Center on Monday and gets some reading done for a philosophy class that he is taking this semester. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Madison Consolidated High School junior Katie Hall paints a model of Little Jimmy for the set for the Madison Bicentennial Musical "Rivertown". Hall is the crew chief of the production. After working on plays at the high school for several years, Hall said it is cool to hear original songs about her town being sung by actors in the hallway instead of Broadway standards. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Madison Consolidated High School junior Dylan Kidwell arranges lights in the cat walk above the stage and seating in the MCHS auditorium for the Madison Bicentennial Musical "Rivertown". (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Choreographer Addie Turner teaches the chorus and other actors and dancers their steps during rehearsals for the upcoming production of Madison Bicentennial Musical "Rivertown" at Madison Consolidated High School. Turner is a 2007 graduate of MCHS. Students from Prince of Peace, Southwestern & Madison school are involved in the project. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Nichole Waldon applies mascara ash she and other actors and crew prepare on Friday for opening night of Rivertown, the original two-act play commissioned and performed for the Madison's Bicentennial. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

A combine kicks up dust while harvesting soybeans from a field farmed by Terry Barker near County Road 650 West in Hanover Township on Wednesday. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Combines collect soybeans from a field farmed by Terry Barker near County Road 650 West in Hanover Township on Wednesday. There is a chance of rain forecasted through Friday night, which will slow down the harvesting process. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

The Switzerland County High School marching band performs in the parade during the 45th annual Canaan Fall Festival on Saturday. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Artist Leticia Bajuyo (Above and Below) works on an installation art piece that will eventually be a giant, two-horn gramophone sculpture created with wood, thousands of compact discs and fishing line, in Madison on Friday. The piece is being built in town, but will be taken to Louisville for a show at the Cressman Center, which will run through the end of November. Bajuyo is an associate professor of art and gallery director at Hanover College. She is currently on a semester-long sabbatical to pursue her vision without the pressures and commitments of the classroom. (Staff photos by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Documentary filmmaker Ric Burns flails his arms in an animated discussion of the truly American attributes of Tecumseh during an interview before his presentation on the Shawnee leader at Hanover College on Monday. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

The late morning sun shines on drying tobacco leaves that hang from scaffolding on land farmed by Mike Gray near Sandy Beach. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Tobacco hangs from scaffolding on land farmed by Mike Gray near Sandy Beach. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Julio Hernandez cuts tobacco in a lot leased by farmer Mike Gray near Sandy Beach on Thursday. Gray and his father Larry Gray grow about 60 acres of tobacco together and another 300 acres of corn and soybeans. Mike Gray said the weather has not been too bad for the tobacco this year, but the heavy rains took out about half of his other crops.
With the transition from the auction system to contracts for selling tobacco, Gray said he and other large producers biggest challenge is finding enough places to hang the tobacco after harvest.
To meet the challenge, Gray has foregone the expense of new tobacco barns, and instead created simi-permenant hanging "scaffolds" on his property that have no walls, but have a metal roof and two levels of racks to hang the plants from. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

From bears, to pumpkins to Santa faces, Brian Christman sets out his creations in front of his home to be seen by passersby on Main Street in Vevay. In addition to his pieces that he does for himself, he also creates sculptures on commissions. He said when he's asked to create something new, even something that seems difficult, he always goes for it. He said that is how he learns and grows in his art. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Brian Christman leans against his work bench in his outdoor sculpting studio in Vevay. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Brian Christman carves out the snout of a bear with his chain saw. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Brian Christman makes delicate marks into a log that eventually took the shape of a bear in his outdoor workshop next to his home on Main Street in Vevay. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

John Roberts climbs a ladder on a painting job in Madison on Thursday. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Hanover College senior Jason Taber stands chest deep in bushes to get to a corner that still needed scraped on the exterior of the St. Stephen's A.M.E. Church on Saturday. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Kelsea Kingery, of Greenfield, Ind., looks through a kaleidoscope at Fran McIntire's "Stained Glass & Scopes" booth at Old Court Days on Saturday. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

A view of the inside of a kaleidoscope at Fran McIntire's "Stained Glass & Scopes" booth at Old Court Days on Saturday. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Fifth grader Josh Rosenbalm portrays King George III in a presentation called "A More Perfect Union" at Rykers' Ridge Elementary School. The presentation included all 27 students in Dariel Courtney's fifth grade class. they summed up the time between the U.S.'s separation from Great Britain with the Declaration of Independence through the writing and signing of the U.S. Constitution. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Portraying a group of patriots, fifth graders Ryan Adams, from left, Ray Clutter and Eli Kent burst out with laughter after set pieces fell to the floor beside them in a presentation called "A More Perfect Union" at Rykers' Ridge Elementary School on Friday. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Nurse Rebecca Wilson gives Quintin Beard, 5, a dose of the H1N1 flu vaccine at the Three Rivers District Health Department in Carrollton on Thursday. The vaccine clinic was free and open to the public. No appointment or insurance was required. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Mark Stultz takes his daughter Sophie, 7, on her first long hike at Clifty Falls State Park on Thursday. The two were at the park with the rest of their family from Carmel, Ind., during their children's fall break from school. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Maryli Peres, left, and Reyna Ortiz run around in the grass during the ninth annual Hispanic Cultural Awareness Festival at the Broadway Fountain on Saturday. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Evan Searcy, 5, plays a game of checkers with his grandfather, Larry Searcy during the annual senior citizens event, "Memories of the Family Farm," at Point Park in Carrollton, Ky.
The free event included a "down home" meal, a costume contest, entertainment including square dancing and line dancers, Clay Cable and Friends, Pay It Fourward and David Stahl.
There were also free games, door prizes, a stick candy shop, old-fashioned displays at the General Store, a quilting bee and more. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Jennifer Courtney waits with her sons, William, 6, and Liam, 4, at the corner of West and Main streets as the pint-sized Wolverine and Captain America collected sweets at the Shop & Treat on Friday. The pre-Halloween event allows children to collect goodies from downtown merchants. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Environmental inspector Jason Pfeiffer, left, of Linebach-Funkhouser, Inc., and Chris Cummins, of the Ky. Transportation Cabinet, collected samples from various areas of the Madison-Milton Bridge on Monday, including sealants and joint compounds. The samples will be tested for asbestos. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

The Army Corps of Engineers Henry M. Shreve floating crane, of the Louisville Station Repair fleet, made its way up the Ohio River on Saturday. Weather permitting, the crane will be used on Monday at the Markland Dam and Locks to lift the middle wall miter gate leaf out of the lower end of the 1,200 foot main lock chamber. The leaf fell from its hinge several weeks ago, making the larger of the two locks unusable.
The plan is to lift the leaf out of the water and place it on a barge for inspection and possible repairs. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

An Army Corps of Engineers crew with the Henry M. Shreve floating crane, of the Louisville Station Repair fleet, removes a miter gate leaf from the lower end of the 1,200-foot main lock chamber of the Markland Dam and Locks on Monday. The leaf shown was damaged when its adjoining leaf came off of its hinge in late September. That leaf remains underwater and will be salvaged within the next couple of weeks. The leaf that was removed Monday was positioned onto a nearby barge. It will be inspected and assessed to determine whether it can be repaired or if it need to be replaced.
Col. Keith Landry, commander of the Louisville District of the Corps of Engineers, said that while the lock chamber is closed more inspections will be done throughout to make sure everything is up and ready for operations once the miter gate leafs are replaced. (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Baker Corp. bridge engineer Aaron Stover faces a large group of people from the Indiana and Kentucky state preservation offices, the National Park Service, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Historic Madison Inc., the Jefferson County Historical Society, the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, the Advisory Council for Historic Places and other concerned citizens, and tells them about the proposed replacement process for the Milton-Madison Bridge on Monday as part of the "Section 106 Process." (Staff photo by Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)