COVINGTON, Ky. – We survived this week, barely.

 

Assuming you did too, we want to give you some fun things to do this weekend in The Cov (after you catch up on your grass cutting).

 

The Iroquois called the river on Covington’s northern border the “Ohio,” a name translated by the French as La Belle Riviere, or “the beautiful.”

 

But Walt Whitman wasn't fooled. Of the Ohio and its reputation, he wrote: “In poetry and romance, these rivers are talked of as though they were cleanly streams; but it is astonishing what a difference is made by the simple fact that they are always and altogether excessively muddy -- mud, indeed, being the prevailing character both afloat and ashore.”

 

To that, we say, “So what, Walt! The riverbank is muddy! Duh.”

 

And a little dirt on the clothes won’t deter dozens and dozens of volunteers from descending on the banks of the Ohio on Saturday morning to clean up litter left by disrespectful and lazy people and by spring floods.

 

Yes, it’s the 2021 version of River Sweep, the 981-mile cleanup event organized by ORSANCO, and you’re invited.

 

Covington volunteers always kick butt at these things: Last year’s subdued pandemic-era event still collected 3.19 tons of debris, not counting the stuff that was recycled.

 

Come get a free T-shirt, breakfast and lunch, and make some friends. For details, see HERE or HERE.

While you CAN swim in the river (and we have, more times than we should say), there’s much cleaner, clearer, and healthier water to swim in at Covington’s pools.

 

Saturday is the long-awaited opening day of the 2021 swim season at the City’s two full-size pools (Randolph in Eastside, and Goebel in MainStrasse Village) and the Latonia Water Park/Splash Pad.

 

Admission is free for Covington families, but you need a pool pass. Fill out the application found at the link below and bring it with you, or fill it out on your first visit.

 

The forced closure of the pools last summer because of the pandemic was a huge disappointment to many. Come noon on Saturday, it’s swim time.

 

Details, HERE.

 

If you like markets, The Cov has three this weekend:

Political action thrillers (some with plots eerily similar to real-life events) are the featured attractions this weekend at Roebling Point Books & Coffee during two meet-the-author events. In this case, both authors have ironclad local ties.

The action on the field will take place across the ocean, but you can watch Euro 2020 from the comfort of Covington (with a suitable refreshment in hand) on the many televisions at Molly Malone’s Irish Pub tuned in to football.

 

A year late, the 24-team pan-European tournament, aka the European Championship, gets underway Friday with 24 teams playing 51 matches in 12 cities. And you can join the pub’s 2021 Euros Predictor League. Details HERE.

 

(Needless to say, this isn’t “football’ in the American sense.)

 

And then there’s … the Jim Bunning exhibit at Behringer-Crawford Museum, HERE … the Design your own Charcuterie Board workshop Saturday at Local Studio 325, HERE … and the Wine & Craft: Candle Making Workshop on Saturday at Local Studio 325, HERE.