EDMONTON — Metcalfe County’s three-day sesquicentennial celebration got under way Friday afternoon with a welcoming address by local officials.

Keynote speaker was Herb Sparks, an Edmonton attorney, who said Metcalfe County is “populated with the greatest people on the face of the earth.”

“I’m proud to be a Metcalfe Countian and I’m thankful for my years here, knowing the fine people I couldn’t have met anywhere else,” he said.

Sparks spoke to a large crowd on the courthouse lawn, as dark clouds threatened rain.

He talked about the beauty of the county and its folklore.

“Everybody has got a story. Is the movie cowboy Allan Rocky Lane really buried in the Summer Shade Cemetery? Did John Dillinger really hide out in the Beulah Villa Hotel in Sulphur Well? Did Frank and Jesse James stay with their kinfolk at Foundation in 1872 before they robbed the bank in Columbia?” Sparks said. “This county is literally a treasure trove of beauty and history.”

During the welcoming address a portrait of the county’s first judge-executive and his wife was unveiled.

“John Yates Wallace became our first judge in 1860 when his magisterial district in Adair County was resurveyed to become a part of this county,” Sparks said.

Wallace was appointed to the first two-year term of judge-executive in Metcalfe County. In 1862 he was elected to serve a full-term as county judge.

“As luck would have it today, our present county judge, Greg Wilson, is a seventh generation direct descendant of John Yates Wallace,” Sparks said.

The portrait of Wallace hung in his great-grandson, Gilbert Wallace’s, home for 16 years. On Friday Ruby Wallace, widow of Gilbert Wallace, donated the portrait of John Yates and Kitty Wallace to the county so that it may hang in the fiscal courtroom of the Historic Metcalfe County Courthouse.

“He always wanted it put in the courthouse when he was gone, because he treasured the courtroom,” said Ruby Wallace, who lives in Edmonton.

With her was her daughter, Judy Wallace, who said it was great growing up in Edmonton.

“I get choked up thinking about it, because I love this place. I’ve always loved it. It was the only place I had lived until just a few years ago when I remarried and moved to Russell Springs,” she said. “This is still what I call home. It will always be my home.”

After the welcoming address, the crowd was treated to musical performances by several entertainers, including Jessica Taylor and Gilbert Curry.

Among those who sat in lawn chairs on the courthouse lawn listening to the music was Gladys Hughes, who was born and raised in Metcalfe County but now lives in Barren County.

Hughes said she came to the celebration just to see old friends.

“I was here in 1960, which I won’t be here in 2060, so I figured I’d better come today,” she said.

Hughes says Metcalfe County is a special place.

“A lot of places, when you tell them you’re from Metcalfe County, they look at you kind of funny, but then when you talk to them and tell some of the history of it, they realize it’s more professional than just a poor, old hick town in southcentral Kentucky,” she said.

Hughes had plans to enjoy the festival all day Friday.

“I’ve been here since 10 o'clock and I’ll be here until 10:30 tonight,” she said.

Seated a little farther away from the stage was Veachel Lile, of the Shady Grove community of Metcalfe County.

Lile is a World War II veteran, having served in the Pacific Theater. If he had to pick one thing he liked best about Metcalfe County, he said, it would have to be the local post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

“Me and my son both belong to it. He is a Vietnam veteran and I’m a World War II veteran. I guess the VFW is the most important thing to me,” he said.

The sesquicentennial celebration continued through Sunday. Friday night’s events concluded with free concerts by WillowShade, The Kentucky HeadHunters and Black Stone Cherry.

Black Stone Cherry’s drummer, John Fred Young, walked around the courthouse yard Friday talking to friends and fans.

“Man, I’ve lived here my whole life,” he said.

To him, what makes Metcalfe County special, is its small town character.

“I think growing up in a small town, it keeps you grounded,” he said. “You have a lot of small town support and you have a lot of family support. You just don’t get this type of coming together in Los Angeles or a bigger city that has millions of people in it.”

The celebration will continue Sunday with free hot hair balloon rides at the Metcalfe County Fairgrounds at 8 a.m., followed by a Frontier Breakfast from 8 to 10 a.m.

An inspirational choir will perform at 10 a.m. and a communitywide church service will start at 11 a.m.

Dinner on the grounds will take place at noon on the courthouse lawn, followed a community choir performance at 1:30 p.m. and a cowboy church at 2 p.m. at the fairgrounds. The celebration will conclude with the burying of a time capsule at 6 p.m.