The annual Baptist Town vs. Mechanicsville basketball game is being revived on Sunday. The game, originally used to bring the two neighborhoods together at Kendall-Perkins Park, was halted a few years back.
The game originally started with Owensboro Black Expo as part of their summer of events. After some time the annual game phased out but Rafe Buckner, now chair of the Northwest Neighborhood Alliance, has brought the event back to life.
“I just remembered that energy from that original game and I was like, that was nice to see people that were really into the game,” Buckner said.
He realized that both neighborhoods were loving the idea of coming together in support of either team. Over the past few years, residents have been gathering and celebrating their respective neighborhoods with shirts and other events. Buckner enjoys seeing the people coming together, fellowshipping with each other and uniting the two neighborhoods.
As chair, he worked a way to add the game to the Super Sundays he has been hosting at Kendall-Perkins Park since 2019. At the last game, he said there was a great turnout full of excitement — down to the last-second basket which left the crowd “going crazy.”
Since it’s addition to the Super Sunday schedule, the game will act as a celebratory end to the weekly program — complete with a DJ, bouncy houses, face painting, food and drinks.
“It was just kind of an event that we put together to get back into the park, get off the cell phone and get people talking to one another,” Buckner said. “We just kind of made it into almost like a block party.”
Even more than the game, Buckner views this as a way to get the community to change a view on both neighborhoods. As a longtime resident of Baptist Town, he has seen the event attract people from all walks of life from the city.
The game is set to start at 5 p.m. Sunday at Kendall-Perkins Park.
