Third-generation dairy farmer Ronnie Patton has attached milkers to three dairy cows lined up inside.
“What we're doing is with these, we're simulating what a calf does here on a cow with pulsation. It pulses like a sucking sound, and that's what that does, and the cow lets her milk down.”

Four milkers are attached to the cow’s teats, and milk swirls through sanitized pipes to a glass container before going into a refrigerated 800-gallon tank. In all, Ronnie will milk twenty cows twice a day, seven days a week. It’s hard work that can be challenging when dealing with 1200-to-1500-pound animals.

“You can get hurt in there. Yes, you can get kicked, and you'll get pooped on. It's where it hits you when they do it, it hits you in the face.”

Ronnie says his 200-acre farm is the last dairy farm left in Laurel County. Nationwide, the number of small dairy farms has plummeted 63 percent in the last ten years. Small farm extension agent Laura Rogers from Kentucky State University says fewer people in the younger generations are farming for a living.

“One thing is that our population is getting older. I don't see as many 18, 19, 20-somethings doing it. It's hard work. And they've been taught, stay on the computer. Look at the laptop. You can't look at a laptop. And, you know, hoe a garden, you got to do one or the other, and it tastes discipline.”

Ronnie and his wife Clara, who makes cheese from their cow’s milk, occasionally bring in help, but most of the time the couple does the work. For Clara, it’s 12-hour days when she makes cheese twice a week. She works in a 400-square-foot sanitized room in the rear of the couple’s cheese shop at Wildcat Mountain Cheese.

Clara has a degree in food science and worked as a health environmentalist.

“Cheese making is an art, plus science coming together. There's just certain things you know to do at certain times, the look, the feel of it. Science isn't necessarily going to tell you that science, a little bit more like temperatures controlled, pH, things like that, and then the bacteria, what they will do, but it's just everything coming together.”

Clara wears a white work apron, a hair net, and booties on her shoes to keep from tracking dirt and germs into the cheese-making room. Steel sinks, a steel table, and a two-hundred-gallon vat fill the room. The vat is half full of milk.

“It's low-temperature batch pasteurization, meaning we heat it to 145 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, and the pasteurization will kill off stray bacteria and potential pathogens that could be in the milk, and that levels the playing ground for the cultures, which is bacteria that we add into the milk to control, for the control of the cheese making. It's the cultures that ultimately will give the cheese the flavors. We use one type of culture for like Gouda, a different culture for cheddar, a different strain of bacteria for Swiss. So, they're all different.”

A nearby cooling room is lined with shelves holding different kinds of homemade cheese.
“We do Colby Gouda cheddars, and we do some flavored cheddars, like we do white cheddar, and we also do a traditional yellow cheddar. We then do a garlic pepper chatter, a pioneer coffee rub, and a jalapeno cheddar. We also make Swiss, and we named our Swiss Bernstadt Swiss, after our community of East Bernstadt. And we also do fresh cheese curds, which are white cheddar curds. We do those in about three different flavors.”

The Pattons sell their cheese from the farm shop and at small retailers from London to Lexington, and over in Huntington, West Virginia. The couple also sells their cheese at farmers’ markets where they get face-to-face feedback.

Clara says, “the real joy comes later on, when you're either serving that cheese, like some of the events that we do and or at the farmers market, and people just come back and they're just, oh, you have very good cheese, the best cheese in the world, or just those comments from people and the joy that they seeing them enjoy the product.”

One of the joys Ronnie experiences is bottle feeding the newborn calves. “I think it's most innocent things on God's green earth, a little baby calf, yeah. They're precious. And they grow up to be mean cows.” He laughs about that.

Ronnie names all his dairy cows. All part of running a small dairy farm. It’s a life the Pattons appreciate and do well. Ronnie has a framed picture of his grandfather in the cheese shop to remind him of his roots.

“My grandfather started the dairy in the 30s. Early 30s, they sold cream. And then in ‘39 they went to selling fluid milk, and he farmed it. When my dad came back from the Korean War he helped. And then when I got out of school in the 70s, I stayed here and done this.” If you’d like more information on the Pattons’ cheese, check out Wildcat Mountain Cheese on Facebook.

**The 1850 campaign is replacing lost federal funds one supporter at a time. Thanks to our listeners and supporters, we are very close to reaching our goal of 1850 new supporters donating at least $10 a month. Click here to join the campaign!

Her granddaughter, Jessica Duerr, gave O’Neal a gift that would bring her fans from around the world. Jessica decided her grandmother needed a new project, so she created a YouTube channel called Chit Chat with Granny Pat.

Jessica remembers, “I’d heard her say a few times over the course of a couple years after writing her books, that she just loves telling stories, and she really wished that she could do it on a wider audience and just tell them to a whole bunch of people. So, I just woke up one Christmas morning with this crazy idea, and thought, I'll just sit down at my computer for a few minutes and get this started. And I thought, what would be a clever name? Chit Chat with Granny Pat just came to me, and so I made her YouTube channel and gave it to her after all the gifts were opened that Christmas. And to say she was happy is probably an understatement. There were tears. She was really happy.”
O’Neal of Lexington, who turned 90 on May 1, recalls she was not sure what to make of the gift. “You're crazy? That's what I said. I know nothing about YouTube. I can't do that. That was about it.”

And O’Neal was less impressed with the name of her YouTube channel, and made sure Jessica and O’Neal’s daughter, Jan Deer, knew it.

“First thing I said to Jan and Jessica, her daughter, was Chit Chat with Granny Pat.  That's the silliest thing I've ever heard of. They liked it. The people will like it. I said, I can't believe that that's going to be the title of my YouTube channel, but it has a ring to it.”

O’Neal has always enjoyed telling stories about family history, but this YouTube channel took her storytelling to another level. O’Neal’s first challenge was figuring out the technical side of recording her first story for Chit Chat with Granny Pat.

“It didn't record, and I had to do it a second time. It was a kitchen. Why in the world did I choose the kitchen. I'm not a cook, but everybody cooks on YouTube. So, I decided to do a recipe, and I thought I was doing pretty good getting everything put together, and sat down to watch myself, and nothing was there. So, I had to start over.”

O’Neal did not think this latest project would last very long. “I thought within three or four months, I would be so tired of trying to understand what monetize meant and all those new words in my vocabulary that I didn't have a clue what they meant. I can't do that. But I stayed with it. I am just doing my thing and thinking, oh, this is terrible. I would watch it. After I did a video, I'd watch it, and then I'd start to post it, and I got it recorded, and then I watched it. I said, no, no, I can't show this. This is terrible. Nobody's going to watch it, but I left it, just let it go. So many times, I have been told this is your best story yet, and I think I was going to delete that story, so it tells you what people like.”

Her stories often involve show-and-tell inside her small Lexington condo.  In one segment, she shows off her vast collection of serving china. In another, she opens the radio cabinet from the 1940’s and explains how she bought it for twelve dollars at a garage sale. Many of her stories, she says, came from her mother.

“My mother told me the stories. So, they're not just my stories; they're her stories going way back. She could tell me about the Civil War; she could tell me about the ancestors in the Revolutionary War. She knew all about the First World War, and I had a brother who died in the Second World War, so I was learning a little bit of history on my own and also telling it to other people.”

Her stories on Chit Chat with Granny Pat are usually 30 to 60 minutes long. She does not edit them, which adds to her charm and authentic nature. If she has a sniffle or a cough, it stays on her recording. To date, Chit Chat with Granny Pat has nearly 39,000 subscribers. A fact that amazes O’Neal.  

She records one or two stories every week. After four years, O’Neal has more than six hundred stories on her YouTube channel.

Her viewers include people around the world. “I learned that people do want to listen to me. People want to hear my stories. I was thinking, I'm getting elderly, you know. And I was thinking about the elderly people like me who live alone. What have they got to do besides watch TV? They don't have anybody to talk to. I've got to talk to them, I'm going to tell them stories, true stories.”
O’Neal’s success on YouTube has impressed her family.

Her daughter Jan says, “I feel blessed. I feel very blessed to have a mother that’s in excellent health. She's in better health than I am in literally. The people that she has reached literally all over the world, literally. And I'm like, the other day, there was somebody that was from Australia. She's got New Zealand, Ireland, Italy, Europe, Canada, the UK. She's got people that she talks to in the UK. She gets gifts, card stuff in the mail all the time from people just all over the world and all over, especially all over the country.”

O’Neal says her life has been a constant search for learning why she’s on this earth. “I've always wanted to be seen, be seen by somebody, you know, I've wanted to put my mark on the world. I've asked myself for years, Why am I here? What is it I'm supposed to be doing? I'm getting older. Time is passing me by. I want to know what my purpose is in being here.”

Her YouTube storytelling has helped O’Neal understand her mission in life. She offered advice for other senior citizens searching for purpose in the later years.

“You just got to think positive all the time. You have to force yourself to think positive, because especially if you live alone, what am I going to do today? Each day is the same. And I think Jan and Jessica recognized that I needed something. All of my projects had been done.”
O’Neal has learned it’s never too late to take on a new project. It just might be something that ends up being a huge part of your legacy.

“What are you doing with your life, and what are you here for? I've just done what I'm here for. I've given history. I've added to history. And if nobody else knows it but me, that doesn't matter, somebody's going to see it one of these days.”

Yes, they are.

Episodes of Chit Chat with Granny Pat can be found on YouTube.

I ask. “Do you ever get any strange looks when you're practicing out here doing croquet?” Brian says, “I do, yeah, people slow down. A lot of people know each other, though it's a small community, so I'll just get a lot of honks and some waves.”

Brian wears a short-sleeved sports shirt with blue stripes and white stars, a white belt, casual blue pants, and white tennis shoes. He swings a professional mallet that he says cost about eight hundred dollars.

“This is a two-pound, 13-ounce mallet, and this is a carbon fiber head. It's hollow on the inside, and it has one-inch brass inserts on each end. And those brass inserts make the mallet heavier on the ends. So, when you're swinging the mallet, it helps keep the mallet (hitting) straight. When you're swinging between your feet.”

Brian bends at the waist with both hands gripping the top handle of the mallet, swings back between his legs, and then smoothly swings the mallet forward, hitting the croquet ball.

“It's the same every time. You don't want too many thoughts in your head. The only thought I think while I'm hitting the ball is how far I'm going to take a back swing; how much back swing am I going to take? All I’m doing out here is swinging the mallet.”

Brian began playing croquet twenty-five years ago when his father-in-law, Duke Diamond, introduced him to the game.

When I ask Brian about his father-in-law, he suddenly becomes quiet and emotional. His father-in-law passed away last year. Brian’s wife, April, says the two had a special bond.

“I don't think my husband had ever even heard the word croquet until we started dating. We hadn't been dating long. One of the first times he was at my house, my dad saw him. He was like, hey, what do you know about croquet? And he took him out in the yard, and they played a game, and he absolutely fell in love with it pretty quickly. He was so supportive of my husband, and he loved the fact that he loved playing croquet. It was just something they shared together.”

Brian began competing in croquet tournaments around the country, and in 2017, he was named Rookie of the Year by the U-S Croquet Association (USCA). Then last year Brian won the national championship in nine-wicket croquet.

He says it took “a lot of practice, a lot of hitting balls out in the yard, just watching a lot of YouTube videos, believe it or not, YouTube was a big part of me learning the game.” Brian is also a croquet referee, and he works part-time for the USCA. He says there’s a lot of strategy in playing croquet. “I used to love to play chess, so it's like chess. You always have to play, you know, three or four shots ahead. You've got to think about what your opponent's going to do, and you've got to know what you're going to do, you know, react. You have to be able to react. It's just like chess. It's playing chess out on the yard and billiards, chess and billiards put together. So again, 90% of the games are played above the shoulders.”

In May, Brian will be the Director of the 2026 USCA 9-Wicket National Tournament in Morehead. It will be held May 28th through the 31st at the Morehead City Park. Dean Rowland, a croquet player from Morehead, will be helping run the tournament.

“If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time a US Nationals has ever been played in the state of Kentucky, and it's happening in Morehead.” Dean described the four croquet courts for the national tournament. “I've got two courts out here in all Bermuda grass, and then I'm going to have two on the baseball field, and it's just Blue Grass.”

Dean’s wife, Pam Rowland, started playing a couple of years ago. “I played one time, and when we left, I was like, that was so much fun. I love that. And he was shocked that I loved it. And so, he just started taking me with him. So, I kind of got hooked.”

Pam and her husband encourage people to come out and enjoy watching the national tournament in May.

“It would be awesome to come watch, because they dress in all white. That's the USCA rule. Everyone has to wear all white. And as a spectator, it's just really neat to watch. As far as what it means to the community, I think it's just a phenomenal way to showcase our little town. I love Morehead. It's such a great place to live, and we have so much to offer that I don't think people realize. So, I think it'll bring people in and get them to recognize Morehead and Rowan County.”

Back in Lawrence County, Brian Hovis continues to practice the game he loves. “Women, men, and children all could be equally on the same stage. It's not a game of strength and power, but more of an intellect. Yeah, it's a thinking man's game.”

More information on the national tournament in Morehead is at www.croquetamerica.com.

**The 1850 campaign is replacing lost federal funds one supporter at a time. Thanks to our listeners and supporters, we are very close to reaching our goal of 1850 new supporters donating at least $10 a month. Click here to join the campaign!

Their smiles and infectious personalities times two pervade Providence Nursing Home on Versailles Road in Lexington. 67-year-old twin sisters Annette Dence and Paulette Baker are the activity directors at Homestead Post Acute and Pine Meadows Post Acute at Providence.

Annette started working at Providence 46 years ago. She recalls looking for a job as a 21-year-old.

“I had worked at the nursing home in Bowling Green when I attended Western for a short term, and I just enjoyed being around people. You know, just being around people was exciting. And so, before I entered this door, I prayed, and I said, Lord, direct my path and place me where you need me to be.”

She and her sister were star athletes in Washington County. Paulette would stop by Providence to see her sister.

“I would like assist as a volunteer with her. My husband and I ran a restaurant in Winchester. And so, after that was over, I just wanted to find something that would give me worthiness and that I would enjoy doing. I used to work with special needs early on in my career, and so I came to visit Annette one day, and they said they were looking for an activity’s person at Pine Meadows.”

That was 21 years ago, and the sisters have not stopped caring for the nursing home residents. Paulette credits their family upbringing and faith for their dedication to senior citizens.

“God is a comforter, and God will, he'll give you what you need at the time, you just continue to be thankful for the moments and the experience that you had and the gratefulness. I'm still here. I still have opportunity to make a difference in someone's life.”

The sisters consider the residents a second family. Annette says they plan activities throughout the week that keep the seniors engaged.

“We have Wednesday Bible study. What we try to do is promote what they were used to on the outside. And so, we bring things inside. We have Bible study. We gamble on Monday, we play blackjack, we go to church on Sunday, and gamble on Monday. We're very diverse; we just do whatever you know they want to do. We allow these residents to engage in what they're used to.”

Music is a big part of that.

“I think music is soothing. It's powerful. It's music. It tells a story. For example, when we do the “Oh, Happy Day”, it takes them back to church. It takes them back to when they were growing up in the church. For a lot of our elderly population church was a big thing for them; it was a big, big, big issue. And then, you know, they enjoy the music of their time. So, we go back. We go all the way back to the 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 80s. We sing it all. We do it all.”

Justin Holman is the administrator at Homestead Acute Care. He relishes the sister’s dedication through the decades.

“Well, it makes my job easier. Makes my life easier. It helps me to feel comfort in that I know that that the residents will be engaged and that they will be cared for, and not just physically, but in other ways. And I don't really have to worry about that now. I have no doubt that the residents will be cared for in the best way possible.”

Their care of the residents also comforts family members of the senior citizens. Thad Holway says he knew very quickly that his mother Sally was in the right place.

“Paulette and Annette and many of the staff there love these people and make them feel loved. And I saw that, and for every holiday, even Presidents Day, whatever, they decorated that place to the nines. And they just wanted to be there. My mom looked at me one time and she was sitting on the edge of her bed, and I was sitting in a chair in her room. She goes, oh, I should have done this five years ago. They bring me my food, they wash my clothes, they bathe me. She goes; this is heaven.”

Thad’s mother passed away at the nursing home a year ago.

“I went to Pine meadow to get her stuff, and Paulette was right there to greet me at the door and just gave me the biggest hug and held me for like 30 seconds and told me how much she loved my mom.”

Sandy Stover a nursing home resident of 26-years at Providence, appreciates how Annette cares for her.

“She's marvelous. She's wonderful. She's caring. I don't know. She has made this my home, not just me, not just me, everyone. She's the most gracious. It's just hard to put it. She cares so much about the people here. I just get a bit of an emotional because I said, I love her so very, very much as a caring friend.”

Paulette says it’s about family, kindness, and compassion.

“Every day that I come in here, there's a new somebody with the need or something, and it just makes me feel good to be able to help them and assist them and get to know them and be a part of their family. Because once they come to a facility, whether it be one day, 10 days, or 10 years, they become a part of our family. And so, you know, family means a lot to me. I come from a big family, and so I have a big family here.”

Paulette and Annette provide care that goes beyond their job titles. It’s their mission in life. It’s their legacy on this Earth.

Walking into the Madison County home of Ronnie McWhorter you are surrounded by examples of his woodworking craft. More than a dozen handmade walking sticks with a variety of handles stand in a container. One is topped off with a carved man’s face, another has a wood acorn, others feature wood handles.

“My dad used to go out and collect those things in the woods, and the handles is just something, just whimsical. You know, you just make something to hang on to. And I've made all kinds and shapes.”

On a nearby wall hang handmade guitars and dulcimers. The instruments are made of spruce, rosewood, snake wood, ambrosia maple, and black walnut.

McWhorter grew up in Jackson County where he gets much of his wood. As a boy he had a pocketknife for whittling. His grandmother lived nearby. McWhorter says in those days decades ago she made her biscuits in a wood dough bowl.

“She made biscuits, 365, days a year, and she had a bowl, big oval bowl, and she had it flour in it, and she would make a hole in the flour, put some buttermilk, some lard, baking powder, and with her hand, mixed that up and laid on the countertop and rolled it out. And she called them choke biscuits. You pinch them off, pick them up, put in the pan.”

In 1978, McWhorter joined a wood carving club in Lexington. His woodworking hobby began to expand. He made his first dough bowl in 1990.

“It wasn't very good, but I said, you know, that's something I can do. And I looked around and nobody was doing it anymore, so I just decided I'd give it a try, and here I am.”

To date, McWhorter has made 536 dough bowls in his basement workshop. He keeps a journal of every bowl, the kind of wood he used, its size, and date finished. “I make them all sizes. I make them foot long to 25 inches long, depending on the size of wood I got.”

He draws a pattern on a chunk of log and then uses a hammer with a gouge to chip away small pieces of wood until a bowl begins to form. The 85-year-old former IBM engineer discovered a market for his dough bowls. The Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea began buying his dough bowls. The center features homemade crafts by Kentuckians. Executive Director Todd Finley says McWhorter’s woodwork met the high-quality standards of the center.

“Ronnie is one of our artists. I think he's been with us a little over 15 years. I've been here 10 years now. When I first met Ronnie, he brought in some dough bowls for us to pick from. And you know, I just could not stop talking to the guy. He is a phenomenal conversationalist. He is multi-talented. He can make an assortment of things.”

McWhorter’s talent includes playing some of the instruments he makes. He joined a dulcimer club.

“It's just relaxing to go once a week and play for a couple hours, you know, with fellowship, with people, and it's just, I just love to do it.”

McWhorter is humble about his love affair with wood and the beautiful crafts he creates.

“You cannot have a bad thought while hacking on a piece of wood. It's just a total release, and it's just exciting to see what what's inside of a piece of wood.”

Look for McWhorter’s wood dough bowls at the Kentucky Artisan Center which is open daily just off I-75’s exit 77 in Berea.

At the old, former train depot on Main Street in the town of Pleasureville sounds of construction come from inside. A young couple is working to open a barbecue restaurant at the depot.  Jenny Elston Stark has memories of a previous restaurant at the depot.

“We have been in a catering business for 14 years and a food truck business for three, so we thought we'd bite the bullet and go a little further. We’re so excited because this has come full circle for me. This was actually my first waitressing job when I was 18 years old.”

Pleasureville, a town of about eight hundred people, straddles the Henry and Shelby County lines. The Dutch settled here in 1784 after buying land from Squire Boone. Jenny appreciates the town’s history. The depot that was built in the late 1800’s became a focal point of the community.

“We're very excited for just the history here speaks volumes. The sign outside is 1880s. There was a fire here in between there at some point. But this is all basically, there's the rafters in the back, original. The floors are pretty old. I'm not sure of how original, but they're very close. The tracks are gone, but the history is not.”

In February Jenny and her husband Chad opened “All Porked Out” at the depot and look forward to making their own history in Pleasureville.

A couple of miles away, Mike Grimes is looking through a stack of books. The former social worker has edited and published thirteen books that document the local history of Shelby and Henry County towns like Pleasureville, Cropper, and Bethlehem.

“I had retired in 2011 and was really just looking for something to do to occupy my mind. You know, you want to keep your mind sharp. You don't use it, you lose it. And I had a barber up in Pleasureville, this lady, Kim, and she had all these old pictures of Pleasureville in her barber shop, and it really fascinated me, the stories behind who these people were, and so that's kind of what sparked my interest. Also, a desire to know where you live, know the history, how this came about.”

Grimes’ books are a collaboration with the families that live in the towns. “You can't do it without community involvement. For instance, on the Bethlehem book, the Sewell family, I interviewed them and just got tons of information. They were some of the original people out there. You know, Philip and Betsy Sewell are still there. They're living in the house that was built I think it was 1850s maybe, and they still live in it.”

The books on each town are full of family memories and photos. Pictures of church socials, high school sports teams, small businesses, and families from generations ago.

“It’s a community scrapbook, if you think about it in those terms. What I first try to do is to hit all the institutions, the post office, the school, the churches, the businesses, and start with that, and then filter down to the people from that.”

Grimes discovers all kinds of interesting stories that make up a town’s history. For example, in 1912, Pleasureville Academy won the state football championship by beating a big city high school team.

Grimes says it wasn’t unusual to have “older” players on the high school squad.

“These were the days before the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, which enforces the rules of eligibility on the schools. Well, there were none back then, and so what you had is people coming home on weekends who were in college to play for the high school team, the high school team who beat Male High School, you know, beat the Lexington high school that year. That was big.”

Olivia Harrell lives in Bethlehem and is President of the Henry County Historical Society.  The historical society has all of Grimes’ books on local town history, and records going back to the late 1700’s.

Herrell says, “Henry County was formed out of an act of the state in 1798. It was named for Patrick Henry, who was the governor of Virginia. And the first deed was

recorded in Henry County in June of 1799. We have deed books, physical court orders, wills, and marriages. People come in to do genealogical research. And of course, we're approaching where America celebrates being America for 250 years.”

Grimes says it’s important to record a town’s history while there are still older residents alive and able to contribute.

“I don't know how many people I interviewed for these books over the course of the last what, 11 years, 10 years where they said, I wish I would have talked to my parents more. I wish I would have asked them more questions about your history and your family, because once they're gone, they're gone, and I think it's very important to get their stories down before they go. Because since I've been doing this, a lot of people have passed on that I've interviewed and featured in these books are no longer with us.”

As time marches on, some of the small town's decline, and others find new ways to build a future. What doesn’t change is the distinct history of families who settled in the towns generations ago and are not forgotten in the pages of Grimes’ books.

“My main job is to compile all the information and put it into a digestible form. I do the captions. Every now and then I write a story in a book, but it's mainly the stories of the people who are from those places.”

Herrell also welcomes visitors at the Henry County Historical Society.

“If anybody ever wants to come visit Henry County, I welcome them to come take a tour of the Historical Society. I'm happy to give a tour. It doesn't take long. We're not a very big building, but we do make use of the space that we have, so please come see us.”

If your stomach is grumbling, you might stop by Pleasureville for a meal at “All Porked Out.” Jenny and Chad look forward to seeing you.

“We are mainly barbecue, but we do a little bit of everything. You get a little twist on things. We do an Italian night, sometimes with brisket, brisket meatballs, brisket lasagna. We try to intertwine all of our smoked meats. We do all smoked meats. He does all the meats. And he does wood burn, he does stick burn. He does not do pellets, gas, or electric. I do all of these sides. We make homemade sauces. And we are just so tickled. We are just so excited to get back in here and get this revamped.”

The trains are gone, but the Pleasureville depot is back in business. Welcome to the small towns of America. 

Even as a young boy growing up in a small Texas town, Father Jim Sichko knew exactly what he wanted to do later in life.

“I would come home and play priest. My dog was the parishioner. I always say I was so delighted. I think it was in third grade that Pringles came out because they looked like the host that the priest breaks. And that always stayed with me, even in third grade,” he said.

The 59-year-old Catholic priest says he and his four brothers and sisters learned at an early age what it meant to welcome and help new immigrants to America. It was 1975,, and the Vietnam War was ending. Vietnamese refugees were moving to the United States.

“They came to this country in boats to a land where they knew no one, spoke no English, had no clothes and no job. My parents sponsored five families to live with us for a year. And what did my mom and dad do? They made us five sleep on the floor and give the beds to the refugees,” Sichko said. “My father took the men to his work. My mother helped the ladies with understanding of the cooking and all that. And I inherited, and my sisters and brothers inherited 5,6,7, other brothers and sisters, and they went to school with us.”

Father Jim credits those early life lessons in mercy and compassion with helping him in his current assignment that takes him around the world.

In 2015, Pope Francis named 100 Catholic priests in the U-S, including Father Jim, the pastor of St. Mark in Richmond, as Papal Missionaries of Mercy. The Pope wanted them to join hundreds of other Catholic priests outside the U-S to travel the world speaking about mercy and compassion to people of all faiths and cultures.

After a year, Father Jim combined the Pope’s assignment with an idea that came from Bishop John Stowe of the Catholic Diocese of Lexington.

“So basically, I have two assignments that mold together. Bishop Stowe assigned me as an evangelist for the Catholic Church, and Pope Francis said, incorporate that within your work as a missionary of mercy. None of my speaking engagements are assigned. I have no staff. They are all by word of mouth. And so, for nine years, 300 days a year, I travel wherever I get asked to go, and I do nonstop. I'm only in Kentucky, really, Thursday afternoon and Friday. The rest of the time I'm in the air at variety of places,” he said.

Father Jim has been to all fifty states and six continents. He calls his talks “60-minutes of Jesus.”

“What I normally do is I go into the church, and it doesn't have to be a Catholic church. I go into the church community. I preach at all of the masses. I encourage the people to make this an effort, to come for these three nights. Each night is a different talk for only 60 minutes, and the people come, and it doesn't have to be a Catholic Church.”

His message?

“That without God in our lives, we are nothing, and with God in our lives, we can do anything, but we have to be people of mercy, kindness and compassion, and I think that's what resonates with people. Because we're living in a world right now that doesn't have much mercy, doesn't have much compassion, and doesn't have much care. It's very interesting because as I travel around the world, I see more and more anger.  I see more and more where we jump on the people who are down and out, instead of coming together and lifting them up and allowing them to be one with us.”

Father Jim has written two books about his journey. It’s a grueling pace, but Father Jim believes in his mission. Deacon Bruce Browning of St. Andrew Catholic Church in Harrodsburg says Father Jim is inspiring when he visits and speaks.

“Father Jim is an inspiration to everyone at our church, and everyone in the Diocese of Lexington, not only for what he does for the people, but what he does for the churches. And it means so much for him to come to a small church like Harrodsburg, and just to spread the laughter and the joy and all of the good cheer that he has for everybody, and it's such a pleasure for him to bring all of his goodwill to us,” Browning said.

True to his boyhood dream of being a priest, Father Jim remembers what he told a teacher in third grade when she asked what he wanted to do in life. “I want to be a priest. I want to do what I really feel in my heart God is calling me to do, and that is to preach the good news, to bring the sacraments to help the infirm and the despondent.”

As you read this, there’s a very good chance he’s flying off to another place to deliver that news.

Whitney Lewis slowly makes her way through some brambles near the Kentucky River in Jessamine County and aims her litter pickup tool called a Grappler for a beer can. She puts it in a small plastic bag.

Once the bag is full, Whitney starts with another one and fills it up with litter. She estimates that in the last three years, she’s taken 27,000 bags of trash out of Kentucky woods, roadsides, and lakes.

“It started as an Earth Day Challenge. I'd always picked up trash when I was out and about, and, you know, just a bag or two, because I'd be out there and I'd be collecting nature's treasures. So, I felt like, you know, the least I could do is take a bag with me and also clean up and give back while I was there.”

The Earth Day challenge in 2023 started with a goal of 500 bags and grew to 750. And she hasn’t stopped since then. Her Facebook photos and videos have encouraged others to join her quest to clean up Kentucky.

“Oh, wow, we hit a million bags last year. And I honestly, I thought it had taken us three years to hit that one-million bags. And I got to looking back, we did a million bags in one year's time last year, which is amazing. That's all; over eight thousand people contributed bags to the movement. I mean, it's grown hugely. I'm getting mail from Utah and Washington State. I mean, it has touched lives in other states as well. It's amazing. Never in a million years would I have dreamt.”

Whitney started a nonprofit with a website at cleanerky.org where she shares pictures and takes donations to support her litter pickup.

“I'm very grateful and blessed. Kentucky has been so supportive of what I do. And they do donate frequently, and I'm thankful because I couldn't do it without that. I do also collect driftwood at the rivers and stuff, and I sell that at reptile shows to fund the cleanups as well. So, I found other outlets, you know, because I want to keep going at whatever cost, so I'll find unique ways of making the money to fund to clean them up.”

In 2023, Whitney won the Governor’s Award for “Beautify the Bluegrass.” People voted through the Kentucky Living magazine.

“It literally spoke straight to my heart. That is something that is voted and my fellow Kentuckians saw the importance of my work, and it touched my heart. I mean, I cried because, you know, for the longest time, everybody's like, what are you doing? This whole mother nature thing? I'm like, I don't know. I really don't. I just know that it's in my heart to be out doing what I'm doing.”

The award was started by Kentucky Electric Cooperatives to recognize people in the state who improve their community through cleanup projects. Joe Arnold with Kentucky Electric Cooperatives says they’re taking nominations now through July 20th on kentuckyliving.com.

“We ended up finding all these people that were not getting any recognition at all for just doing homegrown public improvements. It might have been a litter cleanup or a stream cleanup. Sometimes it was renovating a main street or turning a vacant lot into a public park. And these people are doing it, obviously not for recognition or for awards. They're doing it because they love their community and their families and their homes.”

It’s the 10th year of the Beautify the Bluegrass award, and Arnold encourages people to submit nominees with before and after pictures. Five finalists will be selected, and then people can vote for a winner who will be announced in the Fall.

Lewis is dreaming big about her litter clean-up.

“I want to take it to a national level. There are so many other people in other states that are wanting to contribute to the count. So, I believe I'm going to make a five-million bag goal this year, and I'm going to open it up to the whole country, because these people want to get involved, and why not give them a way to do that? You know, can you imagine the difference we could make if everybody walked outside and picked up one, just one, grocery bag of trash? It would be life-changing, you know, for our planet and for the generations to come.”

In snow, rain, and sweltering heat, one woman is making a difference in her state and beyond.

“I love it. I love it. I love being out in Mother Nature by myself. It is the only thing I want to do is get out there and clean up. I mean it, and it comes from something much greater than me, because it doesn't make sense, especially in the rain and the yucky weather. But I mean, I live for it.”

A Winter breeze sweeps across a 17-acre lake at the Scout’s Camp McKee in Montgomery County. It’s peaceful and quiet except for the occasional sounds of ducks and geese.

Come Summer laughter and joy will fill the air here. Since the mid-1940’s, hundreds of thousands of scouts have camped and enjoyed Camp McKee’s woods and water. Through the decades, scout leaders have added new facilities to help make a week at camp a lifetime memory.

Among the upgrades were a new dining hall in 2003, a 50-foot climbing tower in 2002, and, in 2015, the McKee Aquatics Pavilion was built. New Scout Executive Jessica Moses says Camp McKee represents the past and the future of scouting in the Blue Grass Council.

“Absolutely, we stay very true to our roots here. I think if any of the alumni come back, they remember it just as it is. But we're also staying up to date with all of the new things that we can offer the scouts. We're always looking for the future and trying to stay up with making sure we're keeping things fun for them. We're making sure that they have everything they need. But we also want to keep that sense of home. And people remember Camp McKee as it is and can get that feeling of nostalgia when they come back here.”

Moses became the first woman Scout Executive to lead the Blue Grass Council. This past December, she officially took over the job of leading the scout council that comprises 55-counties from Lexington to Pikeville, and Maysville to Somerset.

Moses is one of only seven women holding the Scout Executive title among the 230 councils nationwide.

“I think it's amazing, because I have a daughter, and I want her to always know that any anything that you want to do, you can do it. It doesn't it. It's not something that you have to be a man. You have to be a woman. I think is if you work hard and you do what you're supposed to be doing, and you do your job well, then you can do anything that you want to achieve.”

As the number of scouts has dropped significantly across the country, the program has pivoted to become more inclusive and family friendly. In 2018 girls were allowed to join the boy scouts and form their own troops. Then last year the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) re-branded and became “Scouting America.” And in January this year the Blue Grass Council opened the door to boys and girls together joining a “family troop.”

Longtime board member and Scout Commissioner Bill Beach of the Blue Grass Council is encouraged by the new direction.

“So, boys and girls, brothers and sisters, and of course, moms and dads were already in the program, helping out, so it worked really well. It's a very good family-oriented program now. You've got girl programs, you've got boy-only programs, and we just recently introduced the family troop program. So that was just introduced January 1 of this year.”

Beach believes Moses is the right person to lead the council amid the changes. She worked for nine years for the council in various development and program positions.

“There were many things we saw in Jessica, but just to name a few, her management skills over the last 20 months of being an interim council executive far exceeded our expectations, and we were very pleased with how she handled all of that, her operational skills from the three positions she's held for the past nine years in the Bluegrass Council, which was district executive, then director of development and then interim counselor, Scout, executive, all three of these, she reached in her goals each year. The next thing that really showed out is her ability and her relationship building talent that she has throughout the 55-county area that we serve as a bluegrass Council. She not only has great relationships with the staff that she manages, but she also has great relationships with the 1000 volunteers that we have throughout the council, adult volunteers.”

As Moses sits next to a fireplace in a cozy cabin at Camp McKee, she looks to a new year of possibilities and challenges.

“I think everybody is looking forward to making scouting bigger than it's ever been. Scouting used to be very huge in America and in other countries even, and I think it's never going to lose its true meaning. It's never going to lose what scouting truly is, but the re-branding is just what every other company does. They re-branded, and it made sense for what the direction that we were going to include everyone, and it looks nice on letterhead and uniforms and everything else. I mean, you got to look nice. So, I think it was, was the right move, and I think it's been accepted very well.”

Passing through the Shelby County town of Bagdad, you come upon a two-story, century-old brick building. The large, light green letters above the front door say “B&N Food Market.” The owner, whose duties include but are not limited to head cook, baker, and grill master, goes by the name of “Buckshot.” His granddad named him that as a baby, and it stuck.

“I was born up in Frankfort. My granddad, he came up there to see me, I guess. And when he looked at me, he said, well, he ain't no bigger than a buckshot. And that's been since 1984, so I just go by buckshot.”

Now 41 and wearing a red apron, Buckshot says he worked as a young boy for his granddad.  Garnett Newton started the B&N Food Market in 1970.

“Back in the day, it was, you know, aisles full of stuff, groceries, all kinds of stuff. And they had a butcher block back there. He would cut up sides of beef and make the hamburger out of it and grind.”

Buckshot still has the 80-year-old meat grinder in the market kitchen and cooks the “Newt Burger” the way his grandfather did.

“We still do it the same way he taught us, and got to put the salt and pepper to it. Yeah, I try to tell them back there all the time, if I see them seasoning. Some people, you know, they think they know how.  I don't care how you know how to cook, but do you know how Newt knows how to cook? I'm real particular, because if you do it the same way that a legend does it, yeah, I mean, why not?”

Some grocery items still line one wall inside, but tables, seats, and a kitchen fill most of the market, which is often packed with customers looking for homemade comfort food. One of the biggest sellers is Buckshot’s barbecue, which cooks overnight in a smoke shed behind the main building. Half a dozen smokers are full of juicy meat. Buckshot went to Texas to learn from some barbecue masters.

“Let's see three racks of ribs are out there, or pork shoulders out there. Nine briskets are out there, two bone and pork loins are out there. I think six or eight turkey breasts are out there. Had to get it all prepared this morning.”

Nearby, there’s also a small brick building called the cake house with an industrial oven. Buckshot says what happens here is special.

“A lot of magic. This is where all the cakes are made, the cobblers, the cookies, the brownies, and right now, I’m putting eight “Coon Hunter Cakes” in here.” 

The recipe for Coon Hunter Cake comes from Buckshot’s grandmother.

“I call it world famous, because people from all over the world eat it.”

B&N Food Market opens for breakfast, and by lunch hour, it’s not unusual to see a line of customers almost out the door. Many of the regulars have eaten here for years. Patsy Hart and her husband claim they’ve enjoyed meals here for 25 years.

“Yeah, when we first started coming, it was his grandfather who owned it. He made the, still the best hamburgers you ever ate, and he'd have other things, but that's what we got.”

The couple also enjoys the pork chops and sides.

“When you could cut a pork chop almost two inches thick and it's tender enough to cut with a fork, there's no discussion. And his cabbage, cooked cabbage and turnip greens or mixed greens? I could just eat double of those.”

On a weekday before Christmas, the 300-square-foot kitchen was crowded with Buckshot and several food preparers who also bring the meals out to customers. Burgers sizzled on a grill, white icing smothered cakes, and sides like pinto beans sat ready to fill plates. Kathy Robinson from North Carolina waited at the counter for a take-out meal with a roast beef sandwich.

“I plan my trips around being here on Thursday for the roast special. I have friends that live in Baghdad, and I always make sure I'm here on a Thursday to get the Thursday special.”

The atmosphere is casual and friendly. Devona Rankin is working at the check-out counter.

“People say, I don't know any other people that are coming in here anymore. I said, well, I don't know them when they come in, but I know them when they go out, because Little Miss talks a lot, has an inquiring mind. I love it. I love the atmosphere. I love the busyness. I love the craziness.”

For Buckshot, it’s all about honoring his family’s legacy and serving up mouthwatering eats.

“It's very important to me, because I take a lot of pride in this place, and my grandparents were, you know, top of the line people. I know my granddad was proud of me because he told me before he died, but he wouldn't know what to think of me now, because we took it, this place, it's gone to another level.”

The lines of customers are proof of that.

One tiny Kentucky town’s holiday tradition reaches people around the country every December. It began in 1947 with the postmaster of Bethlehem. The Henry County town of about one hundred people is on US 22, about 45 miles east of Louisville.

Anna Laura Peyton and her husband Lee ran the town’s post office right out of their home in ’47. Their granddaughter, the current postmaster, Melinda Spear stands behind the counter in the small building.

“You’re standing in what used to be a bedroom in my grandmother's house. So many a Christmas dinner was right over there, out there. There was many a Christmas dinner that we had here. I have so many fond memories.”

Melinda is the third generation of her family to hold the title of Bethlehem Postmaster and adores her grandmother.

“She was amazing. She was a wonderful cook. You never came to her house that she didn't have something ready for you to eat. Always fixing soda biscuits. If she fixed one, she fixed a million of them. In her lifetime, she could make the best jam cake you ever ate, the best chocolate pie you ever put in your mouth. I wish I had her recipes, but she didn't use recipes. It was a pinch of this and a dash of that. She was a very religious woman.”

Melinda says her grandmother’s faith led her to an idea to make a special request of the US Postal Service. 

“She wanted to have something on her cards. So, she requested, could I please have something made? And they granted it to her this stamp. It is The Three Wise Men following the Star of David. And it says, on here, Christmas greetings from Bethlehem, since 1947 so that's when it came into existence.”

Melinda says word spread about the special stamp from Bethlehem, and soon thousands of people were sending their Christmas cards to the town’s post office. Melinda estimates each year her grandparents stamped 50,000 envelopes for people from every state, and later from around the world.

“When my grandmother was serving here, she used to have people mail from Europe, from Germany, from Switzerland, from England. I've had a person mailing from Japan wanting the seal.”

The number of people wanting the special red stamp has gradually dwindled through the years. Melinda says she averages about 10,000 a year. In 2015, the US Postal Service considered a change to the Bethlehem Post Office to consolidate locations, but then decided to keep it open.

That was good news to many people in the area who make it a tradition to visit the Bethlehem Post Office and get the special stamp. Ronald McAlister grew up in Bethlehem.

“I love it because it's tradition, it's family. I still have family that live all over Bethlehem. And you know, if it was to go away, it would be sad. It would be a very sad thing.”

For Melinda, the Bethlehem Post Office and her family’s legacy is very personal.

“My grandmother was postmaster for 47 years, a little over 47 years, and then when she retired, my uncle took over for her, and he became the postmaster down here. And my mother clerked under both of them. So, she was in the US Post Office service anywhere from 50 to 60 years between the two of them. And when I moved back up here, I had said, mom, wouldn't it be cool if I could get down there and be the third generation?”

In addition to the special stamp tradition, the Bethlehem community has held a living nativity across the street for 66 years in December. Olivia Herrell, President of the Henry County Historical Society, says a couple hundred people volunteer to help.

“It happens December the 22nd through the 25th from 6:30 until nine o'clock each night. Volunteers stand in 50-minute increments, so three shifts a night. It takes all together, almost 200 people to make it happen. The volunteers that stand, the people who work behind the scenes building the set, and the ones who donate the animals and come back to feed the animals.”

Bethlehem may be small, but its impact has been felt around the world. If you are interested in visiting, the Bethlehem Post Office is open weekdays 9am-11am, and Saturday 8:30am-12:30pm.

The postmaster offers a welcoming smile and a candy cane. Melinda says every stamp you buy helps keep the little town of Bethlehem’s Post Office open.

Merry Christmas!

A groundhog digging in the basement of an old building started it all. Patrick Donley, a Louisville artist, had no idea what was hidden underneath his two-story storage building constructed in 1920 on Mary Street in the Germantown neighborhood.

Donley bought the property in 1995. He had plans of turning it into a space for artists. But then came the day in 2019, when Donley noticed something was digging up the dirt in the building’s basement.

“I saw this pile of dirt coming out from under a broken piece of slab. And I started looking at it, and there were a couple beer bottles, and I'm like, okay, well, that's just construction trash, you know, they drank when they built the building," Donley said. "But then there was a medicine bottle. And I was like, oh, that's interesting. And then there were some doll parts and some broken plates and a piece of stoneware and lots of broken glass.”

A groundhog, who Donley named Phyllis, had led him to a life-changing discovery. Donley’s building was sitting on top of a city dump that opened in the early 1870s. For fifty years, until its closing in 1919, people dumped their broken and unwanted stuff in the dump on Mary Street.

When the storage building was finished over the dump, all the discarded parts of people’s lives disappeared from sight, a forgotten part of Germantown’s history. Who could have predicted that almost a century later, a groundhog would lead to all that trash, turned into one man’s treasure.

Donley began digging in the building’s basement. It became an obsession as he unearthed more and more things. Pieces of fine china, parts of dolls made of porcelain, holy water fonts, stoneware for storing food, inkwell glass bottles, and hand-crafted medicine bottles. Thousands of items from people who lived nearby more than a century ago.

When COVID hit, Donley and Phyllis, the groundhog, were immersed in digging, isolated like many people at that time. That’s when their discoveries attracted worldwide attention.

“I was posting on social media and developed a huge following on Instagram that became global because I connected with the phenomenon of mudlarking. So, through the use of hashtags, I would hashtag my posts, mudlarking finds. And suddenly, I had followers in England who were amazed by what I was digging out from underneath the floor of my basement," Donley said. "I have followers in Russia, in Germany, in Japan. And so, it's become kind of a global phenomenon, this groundhog thing. But people started asking me, who had been following me for a while, What are you going to do with all this stuff? And I honestly said, I don't know.”

The excavation became the Mary Street Midden Project. Midden is a fancy term for trash, only this “trash” is headed for a museum. Donley has plans to turn his ugly storage building and all its treasures into a welcoming museum.

“We want to create a facade that you are drawn to. We are going to configure glass and windows on the front that defy your expectations of what this building is say, today when you look at it. It's kind of a scary stucco barn, and we want to transform it into a light-filled space that is more of a transformative experience. It's not going to be a dusty bottle museum; it is going to be displays that are illuminated in ways that are unexpected,” he said.

As for Phyllis, who eventually disappeared, Donley is not forgetting her contribution.

“This is not about me, and it never has been. It's really about Phyllis, and it's about the history and these objects and the stories that they tell, the people who made them, the people who used them. And hopefully it's going to be about you, the people who discover them through what we create, and that you'll learn something and take something and take something valuable away.”

Donley has painstakingly cleaned, organized, and documented every piece, some as tiny as a fingernail. He’s slowly piecing together the items. That level of organization has drawn high praise from a neighbor who lives a few blocks away. Jay Stottman is the Assistant Director of the Kentucky Archaeological Survey and has toured the dig site.

“I walked through the door, and I was blown away about what I saw. All these objects being meticulously pieced back together. I really didn't know what to think. So, we sat down and talked with Patrick and his volunteers, and he showed me around, and I was just blown away, because this is exactly the kind of time period that I study. All I could think about was like, Wow, the information that's here that could be used by archaeologists and researchers, and lots of people. There's got to be a way to make this, this kind of information available. And we found out that Patrick was well on his way to doing that.”

Donley has a board of advisors and is working on making his project a non-profit. He’s fundraising as he wraps up the end of all the digging that’s gone six feet deep. It’s a new journey for Donley in his early sixties.

“There's an online magazine called Next Avenue, and their whole focus is on people in my age range who think they're getting ready to retire, and all of a sudden, life throws down a fork in the road, and they choose that fork, and it forever changes their story. And this is definitely that fork for me.”

For more information, go to the Facebook page for The Mary Street Midden Project.

Have you ever said, I wish they taught this in school? Balancing a checkbook, budgeting, car maintenance, home repairs, or learning how to develop a career? In Anderson County, community leaders are teaching life skills and offering free night classes to students ages 14 to 30.

The program is called Empowerment or E3. “E” stands for educate, equip, and encourage. A 20-member advisory board made up of teachers, business and community leaders, and students oversee the monthly classes at Anderson County High School. Natalie Frasure, a teacher with 28 years of experience, volunteered to teach a class on career development like one she leads in high school.

“I teach a program called Jag, Jobs for America's Graduates, and I teach career skills, life skills, career development. We do civic awareness, we do social awareness, and that's what I wanted to transfer to this program as well to the E3 program.”

Frasure says the idea for the Empowerment classes started with Donna Crain Drury of Lawrenceburg.

"Her granddaughter, when she was in high school, was like, I feel like there's a lot of skills that I'm missing and that I'm not getting in the regular classroom, because there's so much academics that I need to learn. And so the two of them kind of came up with the idea, and then Donna and I spoke about it, and my husband and I have had similar ideas, like we want to teach kids how to change a tire, how to change a light bulb, how to change out like an outlet in in their home, and things like, when do you change your air filters? There are things like this that a lot of kids just are missing those skills. And so that's how this was kind of born from that.”

Other community members stepped up to teach life skills, like Jimmy Robinson, Deputy Fire Chief in Anderson County. His class is vehicle maintenance.

“It’s basically from how to change the tire if they’re broke down on the side of the road. What's the importance of maintaining your vehicle so it'll last you a long time, oil changes, all that, anything that you can basically do at home without having to get into major repairs.”

Robinson says he grew up learning those skills at home.

“I grew up on a farm, you know, so we didn't have money to go fix our own stuff, so you just learn to tinker with stuff and fix it. And kids don't have that now.”

For Shawna Stratton, parent of an E3 student, the life skills classes are a tremendous opportunity.

“I think that it was like almost an answered prayer. As a parent, I want to give him all of the resources that I can to make him a successful human and sometimes when you're a parent, what you say isn't as valuable to your child as if they hear it from other people. I can sometimes tell him how to finance, or how to budget or how to apply for a job interview, or how to look nice for those things. But I feel like sometimes when he hears it from other professionals or from someone, he respects that works in a different field, that sometimes it settles more with them.”

High school freshman Alex Small sees the benefits of learning about managing money.

“I'm in budgeting. We've gone over a couple things like the 50,30, 20 rule, 50% needs, 30 for wants, and 20 savings. We've covered the different types of banking and accounts, and we covered mortgages."

She also likes the idea of learning about vehicle maintenance.

“I live out on a farm, and I've been learning to drive pretty much since I was 10. And my dad and my chief, which is my grandfather, they want me to know how to drive and work on some of the vehicles that are on the farm, so that class interests me.”

Leaders of Empowerment plan to offer more life skill classes in the future.

Frasure says, “Every time we mention it to somebody, they are on board. They want to help. The problem we're having now is just getting the word out and making sure that the community knows what we offer and how we can help.”

If you’d like to get involved with Empowerment in Anderson County check out https://e3empowermentprogram.weebly.com/

Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Stones, and The Beatles…. all rock ‘n roll legends who helped shape a musical and cultural revolution in America in the 1960s.

A Versailles man was front and center to it all. Don Aters was 21 and living in San Francisco after serving in the U-S Navy, where he learned about photography. It led to a lifelong journey of photographing rock stars at concerts.

Don was in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood in San Francisco, where bands like the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Big Brother and the Holding Company (Janis Joplin) took the stage and flourished.

His wife Sharon, who lives in Versailles, says Don was in the right place at the right time and had a knack for making friends with concert promoters and producers.

“That was kind of the beginning of his photography, just a massive amount of people that was out there. They had no idea it was going to be what it turned out to be. No one had any idea how it was going to affect the culture going forward.”

Through his connections, Don went to Woodstock in 1969 to document what would become a symbol of the rock revolution among younger people.

One of his photos shows a sea of concert goers, wet and muddy. One young man holds up a solitary, red and white umbrella. An estimated 500,000 people attended the four-day music festival.

That picture ended up as the cover for Don’s book, “Winds of Change, Life with Icons of Sixties Counter Culture.” It was published before Don passed away in March of 2022.

Don’s friend, Wally Gross, helped him publish the book that is full of photos and words describing memories with legendary musicians. Wally says he and Don went to lunch every month for the last ten years of his life.

“We talked about all the different rock and roll bands, and he would give me the insights on how the bands were and who was still alive, and what the personalities were of the different members of the bands and good or bad, but these were his personal takes on all these people.”

TC Constanten, who played keyboards for the Grateful Dead in 1969, met Don in the 1990s.

“We hit it off immediately. I mean, he took a shine to me. I still don't know why, but he was wonderfully kind. He traveled with his photography bag, and he had a stack of laminates on it, like backstage passes. It was like this thick, all of these ones, like badges of honor from places where he'd been.”

Those concert passes are part of a vast collection of memorabilia that includes colorful posters from the late 60s used to promote rock performances.

Sharon says Don “knew everybody. He had everybody in his phone book. And, you know, they would call him asking for pictures because they wanted something for promotion. And he would find it and send it to them.”

Three years after his passing, Sharon is still going through Don’s office and trying to organize all the material from 50 years of documenting a musical era.

“He really loved photography. He loved taking photos of artists. He never would retire. He couldn't retire. He had too much to do. In his mind, he had a lot to do. So, he continued this well past the 70s, like right up until he passed.”

Lynn Asher, a friend and singer, sums up the photo magic that Don left us with.

“What inspires me about Don's work is how honest the photos are, capturing people in all their natural beauty and glory. Don is a ‘what you see is what you get’ kind of guy, and I relate to that; his photography is very real. I like that most of the images show the deepest part of the person, their soul. They also tell a story by being in the present moment; nothing flashy, just raw and emotional. No fancy tricks with the camera. It inspires me to know that Don was witness to so many special moments and events in history that I can only now experience through film and music.”

Loud rhythmic music with rapping vocals pulsates inside the walls of CycleYou Fitness and Sauna in Lexington on this Thursday night. Hip hop dancers are warming up in the dimly lit studio.

This is The Fam Foundation’s weekly, free practice open to beginners. Lisa Huynh, Director and Choreographer of the non-profit says hip hop is an acronym for “Honest Individual People Helping Other People.”

“I joined in 2018 I believe. And I didn't know about The Fam at first, I just came looking for classes. I've seen classes online, like all L.A. classes. I'm like, where can I find that here? And just like all those other kids, same thing as me. I wanted to find that here.”

The dancers’ range in age from fifteen to thirty. They wear oversized sweatpants and t-shirts. The Fam Foundation’s other Choreographer is 21-year-old Tre White, who dreams of dancing professionally.

“I started dancing when I was 10 years old in my living room, watching dance videos on YouTube. I literally haven't stopped ever since. I'm still dancing to this day.”

The hip hop dancers practice moves with names like popping, locking, B boying, B Girling, and tutting. The hip hop moves have roots back to 1973 in the Bronx, New York where Black and Latino teenagers looked for a way to express themselves.

Hip hop became a way to deal with anxiety, depression, and violence. It also helped the teenagers find a group of people they identified with and develop friendships. Huynh remembers as a teenager searching for a place she belonged.

“I was just always hopping from one thing to another. I don't know, I kind of felt like alone. But then when I went into dance, I've met all these people who shared this same talent, but also, they had the same goal as coming into this to escape from whatever they're going on in the real world, just like me.  I think, yeah, that has helped in, like, making friends throughout it.”

During a break in their practice, a few of the dancers talk about what hip hop and The Fam mean to them.

Taylor Williams says, “I like it because it's very like inclusive. It's very welcoming. It just feels like I'm supposed to be here. It feels like there's no judgment, and it's a very nice place to dance. I like the lighting, like the people. I like the choreography.”

Maria Folio agrees.

“I love it. I love moving my body, and I specifically love dancing. I haven't danced since college, and I really miss that sort of outlet. This is a really welcoming environment. They welcome people of all levels, and it's just nice to come out and do something at the end of my day to move my body and make everyone happy.”

The energy and free classes attracted Danica Hak.

“I love the fam specifically because it makes dance so accessible. I graduated from UK recently. It's been a little bit over a year, but something I was really worried about post grad was dancing after school, because dance isn't super accessible. Sometimes classes can be expensive. Sometimes the costumes are a lot of money. And so, the fact that The Fam offers free classes is incredible. I feel like we rarely see that, but also just the energy. It's just so welcoming, so wonderful and really amazing.”

Alex Hernadez, founder of The Fam Foundation, says the group grew from teaching hip hop at several places and students wanting to learn.

“I would end up having students that wanted to keep learning, keep doing stuff, and keep pushing. Because we it was one hour a week, you get to take my class and, like, no, we want to take it more. So, we started doing these rehearsals where we would do Saturday morning practices for three hours.”

Hernadez says he was a shy child from immigrant parents who was trying to find his place in Lexington.

“My anxiety was crazy bad. And yeah, once I started, when I found something that I like to do, I didn't care about anything else but just trying to do that thing. You know what I'm saying. So, I it helped me understand that helped me, kind of regulate emotions at times when I was a kid. Different styles of dance help for those kinds of things. But it helped me so much.”

Using hip hop as a form of therapy is one way it touches young dancers. NAMI of Lexington (The National Alliance on Mental Illness) collaborated with The Fam Foundation to produce a couple of dance showcases called “The Waiting Room.” Hernadez says it allowed young dancers to express their feelings. 

“The Waiting Room was divided into two parts. The first part was kind of the reasons somebody could be going to therapy. That's what it was themed after. And the second half of the show was themed after the cycle of grief, so depression, bargaining, anger, acceptance. And we addressed gun violence in the first half of the show, because that's, you know, close to the heart and stuff for a lot of people. You'd be surprised to find, I think, if you're not a hip hop fan, you'd be surprised to see how many songs there are out there that are hip hop related, that have such positive messages.”

More showcases addressing mental illness are planned for the future.

“Yes, for sure. That's why we want to reopen up The Waiting Room this way, because now we can do The Waiting Room every year but also use it as a showcase to highlight all of the incredible artists that we have coming up. So, it'll be a good even for everybody.”

You can watch the hip hop dancers on their Facebook page, The Fam Foundation Inc, including their recent performance at the opening of Gatton Park on the Town Branch.

In a flea market parking lot near the Lake Cumberland Wildlife Refuge, Hank Gevedon stood on a trailer, holding a 40-pound carp like a hunter lifting his prized trophy. The Somerset High School teacher showed off the fish to several dozen volunteers and students from his engineering class.

“Now, that's a good size silver [carp],” Gevedon told the crowd. “Oh my, guys we’ve been getting ready for this. Don't worry, I’ve got 1,000 pounds of fish. There is fish for everybody to cut today.”

Gevedon’s trailer has two old refrigerators and a freezer full of carp just caught at a fishing tournament at Kentucky Lake, which straddles the border between Tennessee and Kentucky.

He and his students set up several tables under a tent to filet, trim and place the carp in freezer bags. The meat will feed injured birds of prey from the refuge. Gevedon calls the event a “carp rodeo.”

“Two months ago this was a dream. A month ago we got our first load of fish,” he said. “Any day you get to fish, and then take that fish and freeze it and know that it's going to feed an eagle or an owl or a hawk in rehab, man, that's a good feeling.”

Several kinds of carp are considered invasive in Kentucky and other states. In the 1970s, carp were brought from Asia to control algal blooms at aquatic farms and water treatment plants, but floods moved them into rivers and lakes.

Carp spread quickly and can dominate waterways by feeding on plant life that other fish depend on. Invasive species specialists at the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife say carp pose a threat not only to other fish, but also to people on boats. Carp weighing 40-80 pounds can jump out of the water and collide with boaters.

Gevedon saw the need to reduce the number of carp and, at the same time, use them to feed injured birds of prey at the nearby refuge.

“We're taking an invasive species, processing it and feeding it to a possibly endangered species, and that's just a lot of fun,” he said.

The Lake Cumberland Wildlife Refuge needs thousands of pounds of food for its injured birds. Executive Director Kimmi Sparkman said the nonprofit has a tight budget, and they appreciate the donation of fish meat.

“Bald eagles especially love fish,” Sparkman said. “They are fishermen at heart. If you could give them a rabbit or a fish, most days they'll choose the fish. Hank's program is perfect for us, because it allows us to give these birds what they want, what they desire.”

Sparkman said the initiative is a win-win situation that comes with many benefits beyond providing meals for the birds. It reduces costs for the refuge, removes an invasive species from the wild and the leftover parts are used by organic farmers for compost.

“This is just wonderful,” she said. “What we do gets hard. There are days where you've worked on an animal for a long time, and despite best efforts, it just doesn't make it. And those are hard days. But days like this where everyone chips in and becomes a part of what we're doing, it's just phenomenal. It really lifts my heart, lifts my spirits and encourages me to keep doing what I'm doing.”

Rylan Bradley, one of Gevedon’s students, said he enjoys the experience of turning fish into food for injured birds. The engineering class is working on developing a machine that separates the bones of a carp from the meat.

“It's very different,” Bradley said. “It's fun. It's hands on. We're using our brain a lot to think about ways to automate the process.”

Gevedon was thankful for his students’ work and said he has plans for another "carp rodeo" in spring.

“All winter long, raptors in rehab — owls and hawks and eagles — are going to eat good fish because we're putting it together,” he said.

This story was produced by the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom, a collaboration between West Virginia Public Broadcasting, WPLN and WUOT in Tennessee, LPM, WEKU, WKMS and WKU Public Radio in Kentucky and NPR.

Gus and Beckham are two therapy dogs trained to let strangers pet them and shake their paws. If there are smiles all around and some laughter, the dogs have done their job.

Radiation Oncologist Dr. Alan Beckman has Gus on a leash attached to a blue harness. The four-year-old, cream-colored Golden Retriever even has a hospital ID attached to his harness, complete with his name, picture, and the official title of “volunteer.”

Dr. Beckman said Gus connects with people, especially those who are dealing with a lot of stress.

“He'll just meet and greet and then say hi, let them pet on him, and then he'll just lay down at their feet, usually. And it's interesting how he will usually go to people that are the most stressed or distressed. I don't know if he can sense that or he senses something, because he tends to go to people that need it the most,”he said.

On a recent visit to a cancer treatment waiting room Dr. Beckman and Gus spent a few minutes with each person. He wagged his tail, loved being petted, and shook hands with his paw. Tammy Counts, a family member of a patient, sat by herself and welcomed a visit with Gus.

“Sugar, can you shake? You shake? Oh, you're a good boy. That's a good job. Oh, you're a sweetheart. I bet you make people smile. I think it's a great place to have a therapy dog would be here because a lot of people need an added support. So, it's amazing. He has just got that perfect attitude and personality,” she said.

Dr. Beckman agrees his dog not only helps patients and their families, but the hospital staff also benefits.

“The people that are the caregivers, which are in the medical field and taking care of the patients have a stress level as well, and they are caring individuals that are technically excellent at their job, but also emotionally invested. And that is a stress on a different level that you know because they care. He gives them a little something to think about, and, you know, an animal to pet and to love on periodically,” he said.

Michele Kibbe is on the radiation treatment team, and had a big smile when Gus walked over to her work desk.

“He's just a joy to have here. He keeps us relaxed. We enjoy him as much as the patients,” he said.

Gus is rewarded by the staff who keep treats stockpiled.

“We are giving him Zooks, mini naturals, they're peanut butter and oat recipe. They're training treats so that he doesn't have too many calories during the day.”

Another therapy dog named Beckham is also spreading joy at the hospital. He may weigh only 20-pounds, but Beckham, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Shih Tzu mix, walks around confidently. His owner, Sandra Kelley, recalled what one patient said about him.

“One patient told me, I think he thinks he owns this place.” Kelley says Beckham can’t wait to go to work at the hospital. “When I get this outfit on, this blue shirt and black pants and get his vest, he starts jumping around, just so excited. He's going to work. I've had a lot of people stop me and said when we walk down the hall, his tails wagging. He's smiling.”

The experience is also rewarding for the therapy dog owners. Kelley, who is a retired nurse practitioner, wanted to give back.

“I've always felt called to make a difference in the lives of other people. I love dogs. There's a lot of people that love dogs, and they really do help. They calm people. What you saw in the cancer unit, you'll see anywhere we go, even staff. It just helps brighten their day a little bit,” she said.

Dr. Beckman sees a lot of positives with the therapy dog visits.

“It's a win, win, win, because the patients get something out of it, positive, the staff get something out of it, and Gus gets something out of it. So, if Gus were not doing this, like on his days off, he would be at home on the couch or on the floor waiting for us to come home, and instead, he gets to hang out here and have social interactions. And he's a social dog.”

Yes, he is. Job well done Gus and Beckham.

On West Main Street in Danville sits a stately, old, two-story building with arched windows that originally was a U-S Post Office. Above the front door in big block letters, it says “Federal Building.”

Today, it’s home to the Art Center of the Bluegrass. As you walk inside, off to the right, there are a dozen or so glass art creations on display. They are the work of Stephen Rolfe Powell, considered one of the world’s finest glass artists. Powell taught glass art at Centre College for 34-years before passing away in 2019. He left behind a collection of glass art that has travelled around the world to amaze and inspire art lovers.

Laura Elwyn is the Executive Director of the Art Center of the Bluegrass.

“We have over two million dollars’ worth of his finest museum-quality pieces. We have almost 100 pieces ranging from his earlier ceramics and glass works to the Zoomer that he worked on right before his passing. When Steven passed away, it was very important for his family to find an entity that could preserve and protect his life and legacy, and so it's this wonderful relationship that we have with the Powell family,” she said. “And it's been recently that we have acquired, fully acquired as part of our permanent collection, this wonderful selection of his museum pieces. And so, it brings visitors from us, you know, here locally in Danville, but it also brings visitors. We've had people from New York, from Tokyo, from Britain.”

A series of five different kinds of Powell’s glass art gives visitors a feel for his elaborate and extensive creations. Elwyn describes the glass series of vessels, each with its own name. Some are three-foot high glass vessels, shaped like balloons full of dynamic, bright colors. Others have curling long stems of glass at the top.

“We have the Teasers. Then he progressed to our Whackos, which may remind you of an aardvark elephant or kiwi. His third series are going to be right over here. We have our Screamers with the iconic S shaped neck, that is, that stands out to me when I think about that piece. And then his fourth series we'll see upstairs. They are the Echoes series, which they are these wide vessels that appear to float on their own reflection. And then finally, his fifth series is going to be these Zoomers, these large, curved panels of glass.”

Powell’s influence on the arts in Danville was deep. He founded Centre College’s glass program, and in 2004, Powell became a founding member of what would become the Art Center of the Bluegrass. He received many awards honoring his work, but perhaps his greatest legacy beyond his art is all his former students.

Among them was a young man from Shelbyville, Travis Adams, who would return to Danville after graduating and become one of Powell’s assistants.

“He was just so dynamic. I think as a teacher, there were no real bounds placed on your practice as you know an artist, and he really pushed the envelope of what people were doing in glass through his career, and what really the material could do. And so that's kind of intoxicating. As a student, you see somebody really just going out there as extreme as you could with the material,” he said.

Adams is making his own mark on the glass art world. He created Trifecta Glass Art Lounge in Lexington. It features an art gallery including some pieces of Powell’s collection, a glass-blowing studio where classes are held, and, behind a big green door, a cocktail lounge.

Adams is not content to just showcase his and Powell’s glass art in Central Kentucky.

“I'm a big picture thinker, so we've started showing outside of the state at some really phenomenal fine art fairs as a Trifecta Gallery, and that includes taking my personal work and Steve's work along that journey. We just got back from the Hampton Fine Art Fair. We're heading to Miami for Miami Art week in December. So those type of things are kind of sharing the artistry of glass with a market that's primed for it, but also, you know, going from what some would consider small town to big city, and saying, hey, we've got incredible artists right here in central Kentucky.”

Elwyn hopes more people will stop by for a visit to admire and enjoy Powell’s art.

“You have all these ripple effects with Centre’s programming and with the glass world making Danville a destination to see his art. It's impacted our community in many different ways, enriched a lot of lives and outside of his glass, I think his greatest legacy is allowing his students to soar. And so, we have former students who are still creating and making a living with glass works that, you know, they learned at Centre.”

To get a glimpse of the glass art at the Art Center of the Bluegrass and Trifecta Glass Art Lounge, check out the pictures linked to this story.

At ten o’clock on a weekday morning Southland Lanes in Lexington is buzzing with excited bowlers up and down the lanes. At one end a group of people all dressed in the same black shirt prepare for a competitive morning of bowling.

The shirts have white letters that say “Joseph Allen ADHC Bowling Team.”

ADHC stands for Adult Day Health Center which is one of the programs run from a non-profit called Bourbon Heights. The center in Paris offers support for adults with special needs.

59-year-old Sandy Hedges-Livingood, director of ADHC, described the challenges her clients are dealing with.

“It's age 21 and older, it's those with any physical and cognitive issues. Down syndrome, most of the guys in our group have cerebral palsy. Some are more extremes. Probably 80% of mine are not verbal. They may know a couple words. We teach some sign language.”

One of the bowlers is 29-year-old Katrina Miller. She’s endured sixty surgeries and is deaf. Katrina is smiling and can’t wait to start bowling.

Her goal is bowling three strikes which she calls getting a turkey.

“I love it. It's one of my favorite sports. I like trying to get turkeys and trying to beat my friend Jason.”

Her friend Jason Pollitt is nearby and ready for the competition.

“I have cerebral palsy. So, I have muscle issues in my legs, which is why I use a walker so I get around as much as I can, so I do pretty well. Considering where I started from, I do pretty well.”

Jason and Katrina are two of the 27 clients at ADHC. Sandy says she has to turn away people for the program.

“I'm blessed that we're full. I don't have to advertise; I don't have to put a thing out there. I turn at least one or two a week because I don't have the room. I've spoken to our leadership, and hopefully that will, you know, it's a prayer. I've got everybody praying that we get a new building. I don't want anything fancy. I just want to fill the ark like Noah.”

She says adults with special needs are often forgotten or dismissed by many people.

“We don't focus on their disabilities. We focus on their abilities. I want to be an advocate for them, because there are people that don't fight for them, even some of their families don't fight for them. They're not as fortunate as others, and they deserve more than we can give them. So, it's a God thing. He placed me here. I didn't ask for it.”

You can feel the passion Sandy has for her clients, or her “kids” as she lovingly calls them. For 20-years Sandy worked for IBM. It was her dream job, but then she was laid off.

“I needed a plan B quickly. So, I thought, I'll be an ombudsman. Because since I was a child, and I didn't notice it till I got a little older, I am an advocate for people. God gave me that heart to be an advocate for someone.”

That led to becoming a nurse, and then nine-years ago she got a phone call about working at Bourbon Heights with challenged adults. Sandy says it’s turned into much more than a job.

“It's hard to give God control on things, most things. But I laugh every day to him, because when you know you're having a bad day, and they'll go, hey, I love you, or they'll color me a paper, or, you know, right now, I'm injured, and they are all like my nurses. They follow me to the restroom, and they knock and are you okay? And every time I sneeze, are you okay? So, you know this works both ways. They're a blessing to me, and I pray that I'm a blessing to them.”

One of the main focuses of the program is making sure the clients get out in the community.

They are dropped off by family in the morning at Bourbon Heights and don’t leave until 2:30. Weekly field trips like bowling keep them active and energized.

Sandy says it’s difficult when her adults are treated poorly in public.

“What we do is say hey, they don't understand that's not acceptable, but you are who you are. God made you the way you are, so you accept you, and then maybe you know, you can go up and just say hi. I teach them how to speak to people and be polite, not to ever treat them like they're being treated. And they notice it. They truly notice it, and they'll make a comment. And so, we reinforce that, hey, you're just as good as they are, and matter of fact, you're better. You're more special.”

That devotion does not go unnoticed. The mother of Katrina Miller starts to get emotional when asked what Sandy and ADHC means to her family.

Cathy Miller says, “Sandy's meant everything. She gave Katrina a purpose when we moved down here, and something to do. And a loving group has taught her many life lessons and helped them to learn a lot of different things that they wouldn't have gotten to learn if she wasn't part of this group. She played bells. She's gone to the state capitol with this group. They've learned life skills, they've done gardening in the center, just done so much, and it's all because of Sandy. Sandy is the heart behind this whole group.”

The business community in Paris has also taken notice of ADHC.

Bobby Shiflet is the owner of Frames on Main in Paris and praises the work Sandy and her staff are doing.

“She does a job that not many people would do. To be honest with you, I don't think I could do it. I love what she does, and she loves it. I've never seen her without a smile on her face, and she connects so well with those kids and the older adults as well. And I tell her all the time, she's doing God's work, and I have no idea what she gets paid, but I know it's not enough.”

Sandy says one way people can help is by supporting the annual dance called the Blessing Ball.

It’s a prom-like experience for the ADHC clients that will be held this year on September 27^th at Leesburg Christian Church in Harrison County.

It’s all part of showing the clients respect and support through the community.

“We go to churches, and we ring handbells, and those churches bless us by passing the plate. We don't ask for it. We've got large corporations here in Paris that are very generous, and they're all faith-based, and they know, for example, we have a prom coming up, and we wear t-shirts, matching t-shirts, because I take about 110 from Bourbon County. All I have to do is say, Hey, would you like to sponsor us? And a check will either be dropped off in 15 minutes or mailed real quick. So that's a blessing, but we have to get them out in the community.”

The basement game room in a Versailles home leads to another room where the kids eventually gather. Nearby are a piano, keyboards, a sound mixing board, microphones, and cameras for streaming.

This is the Vocals and Chords Music Studio created by the homeowners, Rachele Holmes and her husband, Rich.

Rachele grew up playing the piano, singing, and acting. “I really love theater, it's my life. It has been my life since I was young. I started doing acting and musical theater in particular, from a very young age, singing in the church choir. I was one of the only eight-year-olds with a bunch of gray-haired people in my church in Huntington, Indiana. And found a love for music.”

Rachele is a teacher in Woodford County, a part-time minister, and mother of two daughters. Fifteen years ago, she began teaching children and adults piano in her home. With the help of her husband on the technical side, they built a recording and vocal studio in the basement.

Rachele does group and individual voice work and teaches improvisational skills. Rich sitting at the mixing board says, “nine times out of 10, I'm also recording it or streaming it from here, so we have the open mic nights and different group events here that have been live streamed for the parents to see it, because trying to put 50 people in this room is not the easiest thing to do.”

Performing in front of people can be quite a challenge, especially for her younger students. Rachele says, “This encourages them to think on the spot, be able to not be nervous in front of people when they don't know that they're next, and they don't know what's happening. But I love how they work together, teamwork.”

Rachele says the isolation during COVID is still having an impact on the children. “I’ve helped some of them through COVID, and they're now finding their grounding. They're finding their passion again. They're finding that it's okay to be passionate about what they do. Be passionate about music, be passionate about the other things they do in life as well.”

13-year-old Claire Jones, a Woodford County middle-schooler, says COVID shut down many kids. “After COVID, I think everybody kind of wasn't more socially active. I feel like people, at least in my generation, kids are always preferring to be on their phones rather than talk to people. But I think that going to these fun events that she has here - it really helps kids open up to show who they are and just to kind of help express themselves better. And I think going to Rachele’s has really helped me, mold me as a person, and I think I'm a lot more confident in myself now.”

Jones, who dreams of performing on Broadway someday, has come a long way, her teacher says. “Claire may be one of the only students I've ever had who consistently, weekly, gives, sends me videos, sends me audios, sends me texts, and says, how does this sound?”

18-year-old Jacob Robinette says Rachele pushed him to keep practicing piano and take his playing to new levels. “She's great. She's introduced me to what it actually means to play piano and be a part of a community of musicians. She first introduced me to the Governor's School for the Arts, which was amazing. I would have never thought of something like that, but she pushed me to do that, and she helps to push me every single lesson, every single time I play.”

Rich says it’s a pleasure to watch the students learn and excel. “Seeing them grow and develop, watching everyone come out of their shell and just develop into a confident kid who is having fun and learning something at the same time, and it's a skill that hopefully can take them to a higher level.”

The couple plans to keep evolving what they offer in music education and keep it fun, too. Rachele says, “I would love to get into doing more theater stuff with them, creating a variety show, so that they could not only just learn from me, but produce this, not just in a recital, but produce this in the community.”

For more information, go to https://vocalsandchords.com

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It says “Mom-Mom’s Lavender Farm,” and an arrow points towards Cleveland Road in Fayette County.

You pull into the driveway for Mom-Mom’s Lavender Farm, where the welcome sign proclaims, “Be kind to all.”

There’s a store with a porch and hanging flower baskets. The flowers are a bright white and purple.

Purple is a color that dominates the 10-acre lavender farm opened two-and-a-half years ago by Philip Santiago and his daughter-in-law, Patty Santiago.

Both are from Maryland, where it’s common to call a grandmother a Mom-Mom.

Patty says, “It's more northern. I think Pennsylvania does it too, but yeah, it's more up north.”

The Santiagos were inspired by Philip’s wife, Sue, who passed away a few years ago from brain cancer. They were married 53-three years. Philip gets emotional talking about Sue, a Mom-Mom.

“We both likedthe outside. We both liked doing things out in gardening and farming, etc. She always wanted lavender, and I was always too busy. So, when she passed from brain cancer, and I spent three years at home taking care of her for that, I was going to the house, and everything I touched was lavender, and it just says, wow. Okay, I got it. I'll do lavender. So anyway, she was a very special lady.”

Philip says his wife believed in kindness. When he and Patty created the lavender farm in Sue’s memory, they wanted kindness to be a central part of their business model.

“The idea of kindness plays through in the plants, the fact that they're natural, that they actually help people, they have a real purpose, they're very effective, the fact that we don't use chemicals that that we have sustainable agricultural practices. The lavender is a perennial. It keeps coming back. All those things are towards kindness, the fact that people can come here, and they can have a good time. I mean, the idea of the farm isn't to come here and sell you a bunch of stuff. It's for you to come here and enjoy yourself.”

Customers are encouraged to stroll along the many rows of various kinds of lavender growing behind the store. The purple plants, about 1100 of them, are two to three feet high and stretch in rows going down a hillside. Philip says lavender needs to grow in well-drained soil.

“If you don't have that, you're going to have trouble with anything you try to grow as far as lavender. And inside the state, you got a range of soil from 10 to one, where one is perfect, 10 is terrible. And it turned out, even though we didn't know it when we bought this farm where we put our lavender is all one. So, the main reason lavender fails inside Kentucky is too much water. It doesn't drain well, so we have that problem handled.”

It turns out Philip says that lavender has many uses, and an ancient history. “You go back 2,000, 3000 years, it was being used by the Egyptians. It was being used by every single ancient civilization. At that time, people understood the properties of lavender. The actual name lavender comes from Latin lavare which means to wash. Lavender was used as a main ingredient in washing because it smells good and it's antibacterial, so it really works well. So, it had those properties, but it also has properties of calming, of relaxing. It's great for sleep. It's great for burns. Absolutely phenomenal.”

The lavender fragrance and other tantalizing smells permeate the farm store. Shelves inside are stacked with lotions, oils, candles, and soaps made by Patty.

“There are soy candles. They're really a big hit. I make those. I make the decorative goat's milk, honey soap. I make the shea butter and the oatmeal soaps. They're the decoratives. And then I make the bars of soap. That's all goat's milk. And then I make the lotion bars, and that has shea butter in it and shea nut oil in it. That helps really keep it moist.”

The Santiago’s host festivals at the lavender farm that are listed on their website, https://mommomslavender.

Patty says one of the joys for her is getting to know their customers. “I get to meet some really amazing people, some really heartbreaking stories. And, you know, it just makes me be glad to be there for them and give them a hug or something, you know, because it just really touches me.” That kindness, Philip says, would make his late wife happy.

“She thought the most important thing we could do is be kind, teach kindness to children. If you can get that concept across, then you're gonna have nice, good people. And she really believed in it. Anyway, she was remarkable.”

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Welcome to the farms owned by Bobby Kemmer and his family. He is smiling and looks content.

What you can’t see is that the 35-year-old farmer steering the truck is sitting in a wheelchair, and his journey to this part of life has been filled with trauma, determination, and hope. His 145-acre farm is his piece of paradise.

“There's absolutely nothing like it. I don't think I would trade it for anything in the world. Sometimes it's hard to, you know, just slow down and just sit back and kind of take it in and just appreciate nature and just life in general, honestly.”

Bobby’s life changed in an instant on March 13, 2008. Back then, he had a passion for racing motocross and fixing dirt bikes.

“I just knew that I wanted to be affiliated with motorcycle racing in any shape, form, or fashion that I could be.”

That dream was literally crushed while he was practicing at a track in Montgomery County. Something went wrong on a jump that Bobby says he had done many times with no problem. He says he was ejected from his bike and landed hard on the ground.

“I had what they call an axial load injury, and it's from the top, kind of straight down, just a straight down compression. So, my third, fourth, fifth, and sixth vertebrae sustained damage, and more or less just blew apart.”

Gone were his dreams of racing. He was paralyzed from the chin down.

Initially, Bobby says doctors told him he would never breathe again on his own, and never have the use of his legs and arms. He proved them wrong.

“I wound up being on the ventilator for about a month and a half or so, and then was slowly able to wean myself off of that. Movement began really, really slowly. I'd say, two months in, I could, like, lift my left arm up a little bit and kind of push it. Had basically no movement of my right arm. And just kind of over the years, you kind of will feel something, maybe move that you couldn't before.”

17 years later, he has some movement in his shoulders and arms. “Like my left arm, I can't tell the difference between hot and cold water, but I can tell you the difference between a pin prick and a Q-tip touch. My right arm, I don't have any feeling past my elbow, except for my thumb and pinky finger. So, it's just, it's really weird how it, how it kind of works.”

Bobby didn’t let his physical challenges stop him from pursuing another passion, a love of the land and farming. Together with his sister and brother, Bobby bought land in Bath County on the border of Montgomery County. They split it into three farms, and Bobby named it Cripple Creek Farms. You could say he has a sense of humor about the farm name and his physical condition.

“A couple of years ago, I was selling a load of hay to this woman, and she comes up, she looks at the logo on the side of the truck. She just gets a big old grin on her face, and she said, did you name it after that song (Up on Cripple Creek), or do you just have a really good sense of humor? I said the latter. She said, Well, that's awesome. That's great. You have such a such a good outlook on it. I said, yes, it is what it is. You gotta make the best of it.”

Making the best of it means Bobby has adapted his life and way of thinking to become a farmer.

While he doesn’t operate heavy farm machinery, Bobby had his farm pickup modified so he can drive. On the driver’s side of his truck, a huge door swings up, and a lift takes Bobby in his wheelchair up into the cab behind a steering wheel.

He doesn’t use the steering wheel, or the brake and gas pedals. Instead, each of his hands rests on top of a rotating metal plate that has five six-inch prongs. The prongs hold his hand in place and give him something to grip and move.

“I went through a program here in Kentucky called vocational rehab. They help disabled people who are either going back to school or going to work to adapt a vehicle so that they can do that. So, I've got a truck that was adapted. I've had a few people say it kind of reminds them of a spaceship. It's just the control panels and the controls that my hands go into. Like my left hand would operate the gas and brake, my right hand would operate the steering wheel, but then I have a touch screen that puts it in park, driver reverse, and handles all that kind of stuff.”

Bobby drives the truck with ease across his farm, up and down steep hills. “It's not the cheapest owning a truck like this, but honestly, it's about as good as therapy for me. It does a lot more for me than, you know, just getting to appointments or doing work or anything like that. It literally is kind of a form of therapy for me.”

On the farm, Bobby manages hay and its sale. He also has several dozen Kiko goats, known for their meat. He keeps track of them by flying a drone. He’s learned to use the drone to herd the goats.

“They just didn't like the noise from the get-go. So that kind of worked out. It's kind of funny. Now, as soon as they hear it come up over the roof of the house, they kind of know what's coming for them, so they'll kind of go ahead and react.”

Bobby is also producing videos for YouTube that share farm life experiences. He says a couple of the videos have had more than a half-a million views, like bush hogging.

“It's hard not to smile when you see it or think about it. I wish every video could do that good. When we do videos on hay production, one of those videos is, I think it's upward of about half a million views. So, some of them do really, really good.”

For Bobby, farm life is a place of peace and an example of how he’s changed since the motocross accident.

“It took me a number of years to figure it out, but it actually takes more out of me to sit around and be depressed than to at least try to make something of the day. There's always something to put a smile on your face about. I mean, even in the worst times, there's some kind of self-aligning, just to be able to know that I proved the doctors wrong, too. I mean, that's worth it in itself.”

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Choristers, as they’re known, are excited about the start of their first week of summer camp at Cathedral Domain. It’s 800 acres owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington.

Sixteen members of the boys’ and girls’ choir of Christ Church Cathedral in Lexington are spending the next four days doing typical camp things like hiking, swimming, and rock climbing. But this group, mostly ages eight to eighteen, is also rehearsing the music they’ll sing at churches and public concerts.

Kathleen Balling is the music assistant at Christ Church Cathedral and is at camp with the children. “With this camp, they love coming up here. They love the mountain. And so, it's a chance we look through music that's coming up for the next year. Kind of give them a little taste of it, but also let them be kids, you know, and be together as a community in a fun way, going hiking, going swimming. Basically, having a giant sleepover and just enjoying each other's company. Because they do work really hard throughout the year.”

At Christ Church Cathedral choir is a big commitment of time. The boys and girls practice and sing at church six to ten hours a week. Their music director, Erich Balling, Kathleen’s husband, says the church choir is one of only four in the United States that follows the Royal School of Church Music.

“So, I would say the first thing is how we utilize children's voices, boys and girls. And what I mean by that is, in most church choirs, soprano women will cover the top part or parts. In our choir, it is children covering that soprano line, boys and girls, and then we have a dedicated team of altos, tenors, and basses that sing with them during the academic year. So, for these kids, it's essentially a nine-to-10-month proposition. They rehearse together twice a week.”

Erich says the children learn to sing from their heads, which is different from other children’s choirs. “We train them to sing more from their head voice than from their chest, and so that produces a lot of overtones and also a great deal of volume in the higher range, mid to higher range. What we're after there is a clarity of sound, and as I say, a lot of overtones, because when you have that, it's almost like a spinning effect in their tone.”

Kathleen describes the choristers as semi-professionals who are paid by the church. “If you're a new person, you get like 50 cents a time you would come to a rehearsal. For the high school students, it is more like a part-time job. They might get $100 in a month, or something like that. It just depends on how many calls we have, because they are dedicated to being here, and it is a lot. We want to honor their work.”

Chorister Stephen Mann is 13 years old. “I knew it was going to be hard, but personally, I think it's a really fun experience. It's a great learning experience, because you have to be prepared, and there are challenges to it, yes, but if you're committed to it and you're ready for it, it's really an amazing experience.”

17-year-old Abby Baston appreciates the religious education that comes from the choir work. “What I enjoy most about the music is that it connects me to my faith more, because, since it's sacred music, and we're singing a lot about God, it teaches me about the Bible and also helps connect me to my own faith.”

Of course, the children are not the only ones devoting time to the choir. Parents like Eric Sutherland say he’s seen a lot of growth in his son Stephen Mann. “He's been in the choir for years, and it has been life-changing for our family in many ways. Spiritually, we've kind of found a home that we feel very comfortable in to explore our spiritual needs, and he's getting a world-class choral education that also is bolstering his faith at the same time. He's kind of getting a deeper dive through the songs, kind of learning what the Scriptures mean on a deeper level than he probably would if he was just sitting in the pews.”

One of the big rewards from being a chorister is a two-week trip to England every three years. Erich says, “Our choirs have sung at Canterbury, St Paul's, York Minster, all the major cathedrals in England.” The link to the Royal School of Church Music is an important component of Christ Church Cathedral in Lexington. Erich explains, “Our cathedral supports this 100%, and it also has been in existence for so many decades. It's really a part of our DNA. It's part of how we function in our liturgical light, the way we worship, the music we sing, and we've been very lucky for that.”

To hear the boys’ and girls’ choir from Christ Church Cathedral sing, see the video below.

 
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From the beginning, designers saw Town Branch as a key focus of the 39-million-dollar park located on 11 acres behind Rupp Arena.

Allison Lankford, the CEO of the non-profit that planned and will manage park operations, says at first there wasn’t much of a stream to see.

“It looked like there were, strangely, trees growing up out of the middle of this parking lot. But if you kind of peeked in, you could see kind of a little water. One of the first things we did was take out all the invasive species to try to figure out what we had going on down there.”

Town Branch, a fork of Elkhorn Creek, is a small stream steeped in Lexington history. Pioneers built the first blockhouse in 1779 near the stream, which offered a source for drinking water.

As Lexington grew in the 1800s, businesses like distilleries and mills operated along the creek. But the influx of more people to Lexington also brought challenges. Town Branch flooded. It also became an open sewer, and in the mid-1800s, outbreaks of cholera killed hundreds of people in the city. People also complained about the stench and eyesore that had once provided clean drinking water.

By the 1930s, much of Town Branch had disappeared from view and flowed in culverts under city streets, collecting storm water along the way.

Today, Town Branch winds underneath Winchester Road at Midland Avenue, then turns under Vine Street, and goes below Rupp Arena. It reappears coming out of a culvert into Gatton Park on the Town Branch. As the steam was uncovered during park construction, workers found what was left of a stone wall that dates to 1790.

Lankford says, “We discovered a wall that clearly was historic and much more expansive than we thought. And so, we started restoring that stream bed, pulling back the banks, stabilizing it, and we paused on the end that had this historic wall.”

Steven Vogel, a park designer from Strand Associates in Lexington, says workers pulled away each stone of the wall.

“It was pulled down piece by piece, so that we could reuse that stone. And when it started to be deconstructed, you could see that it was actually three or four layers deep in most places. So, there was a lot of stone there that had been laid, again, dry-laid stone that had been standing since somewhere around 1790.”

Vogel says an interior concrete wall was built to stabilize the creek bed.

“We wanted to look at a system that was backed by an engineered wall, but also still paid homage to the stacked stone wall that was there. And so, behind what you can see is a fully engineered cast-in-place concrete wall with reinforcement that we know will stand the test of time, and then that stack stone wall is basically rebuilt right in front of it using all stones that were salvaged from the site. It's great to be able to go over there and see some of those stones that were in the original face of the wall still being used on that new wall.”

In addition to the stream, the park features an amphitheater that will seat approximately 4500 people, a stage under a roof, a children’s play area that resembles an old grist mill, a dog park, and a butterfly garden. Lankford says the park is an oasis of nature in the middle of a bustling city.

“It's a beautiful green space right in the heart of downtown, which makes it special in and of itself. We took 11 acres of asphalt and are turning it into, you know, this green public space with 450 trees, and thousands of plants. So that's special in and of itself, all centered around Town Branch Creek. But in addition to that, we've done so much community engagement around what the community wants for this space.”

To date, Lankford says they’ve raised 55 million dollars to build the park and operate it on a daily basis.

“Over 90% of that came from individuals, families, and a family foundation. So private philanthropy. We did receive a couple of federal grants, National Endowment for the Arts grants, along with our partner, Lex Arts, and the city has contributed money to improve areas outside of the park footprint at the main entrances and those roads and sidewalks.”

Lankford says the park will come alive on August 23^rd. “I can hardly wait till August 23 to hear children's voices and families enjoying the space, because that's why we built it, and so to have that day when we open it up to the community. I think of it as our version of Central Park, and I think it's just an oasis in the middle of the bustling community. I think it also helps connect our city. You know, we have great things going on in the distillery and then the heart of downtown on the other side, and we're in between. And I think it'll really connect our entire downtown and make it just a vibrant core, and this will be a centerpiece of it.”

For more information, go to www.gattonpark.org.

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Welcome to Stable Recovery, a long-term residential program focused on helping men not only become sober but find a path to a successful life that includes a meaningful career.

Taylor Made Farm, one of the world’s top sellers of thoroughbred horses, may seem like an unlikely place for a drug and alcohol recovery program. The idea of creating and running such a program on the farm was met with a lot of skepticism from three of the four owners of Taylor Made Farm.

As Frank Taylor explains it, when he first suggested the idea, his three brothers were pretty united in opposition.

“Their first reaction is, like, are you nuts? And you know, that's a good question, because I am about half nuts. But, you know, there's a lot of risk, and there are a lot of things that you could look at this and say, this is crazy to try, because you're bringing in people that have been incarcerated. You've got heroin addicts, meth addicts, alcoholics and you're bringing them in here and exposing them to high dollar horses and high net worth clients.”

Taylor had a personal understanding of addiction. He talks openly about his own battle with alcohol. For decades, his love of horses and building a successful business in the thoroughbred industry were mixed with drinking.

“My alcoholism is a little different than a lot. It didn't just take everything. I still had a family. I had five kids. I was successful in every way, you know, in the eyes and people in society, and what society thought was success. But I was really miserable. I was just very fearful, worried about going broke, and was more concerned about money than God, and I was just not living my best self, and I wasn't happy.”

Frank Taylor solved his personal battle with drinking, but that still left a larger challenge.

As Taylor Made Farm grew its reputation in the horse racing community, Frank Taylor found it harder to find dependable, sober farm workers.

Kentucky, for many years, has fought an epidemic of drug addiction. Taylor says those factors, combined with Taylor Made Farm’s core values that include caring for its team members, led to developing a recovery program.

Stable Recovery co-founder and CEO, Christian Countzler, says the program goes well beyond finding sobriety.

“We're trying to teach these guys how to stay sober so that they don't have to come back into facilities, they don't have to be incarcerated, they don't have to hurt their family anymore, you know? And I think that's a huge difference for us, which is why we're a yearlong program, because it takes time to do that. You are not going to heal the wounds that you've created over a lifetime of addiction in a few short months, it's going to take time.”

The men accepted into Stable Recovery often have no experience working with horses. For the first 90 days of the recovery program, they go to the farm’s School of Horsemanship. In addition to learning new skills, the men also find a connection to the thoroughbreds that builds something these men haven’t had much of.

Countzler, who also beat addiction, explains, “The horse has to trust the man, and the man has to trust the horse. And unfortunately, through you know, circumstances of their own doing, these men have lost the ability to be trusted. And so, when you put them in a stall with a 1000-pound animal and tell them that you've got to earn that horse's trust, they do that. And you know where human beings have failed them for a large portion of their life, these horses don't, they're there. They're waiting for them in the morning on the other side of the gate, waiting to be fed, waiting to be watered. And so, they can count on that.”

The recovery program can take up to fifty-six men who live in one of four homes on or near Taylor Made Farm. The men don’t pay anything to get into Stable Recovery, and in fact earn wages as they work.

Countzler says, “We're hoping that they're going to save, and we're teaching life skills the entire way through. We're getting on financial literacy. A lot of these guys have never had a checking account, so we're taking them to the bank and teaching them what a checking account is, and this is a debit card, and this is how you use it, and how to be responsible with it. There are four things that we teach at Stable Recovery: accountability, discipline, responsibility, and structure. Those are the four things that I found were really important to my recovery.”

For men like Lewis Germany, who works for Taylor Made Farm, the Stable Recovery program is a lifesaver. He says his addiction to pain pills and later heroin was a dead-end road.

“I would either be in the penitentiary or dead, most likely dead, because I was a needle user, and it got to the point where the last shot was coming.”

In stepped Frank Taylor and Stable Recovery. Germany says he’s never looked back and credits horses for playing an important role in his new life.

“There's a saying inside the barn. It says that what the outside of a horse could do for the inside of a man is, is indescribable. You can talk to them. You can come in here if you're having a bad day, you can. They don't care. They just want your company. And that's all I've known my whole life. And without them, I wouldn't be here.”

Frank Taylor says his brothers all support Stable Recovery, and other prominent horse farms have jumped in to hire workers who have graduated from the program.

“They're all completely bought in. And it's been amazing how well our clientele has accepted it and promoted it and actually love it and have given to Stable Recovery to help it grow. So, it's really been a win, win, win, for everybody involved.”

Looking ahead, there are plans to start a recovery program for women. Taylor says there are plenty of horses on the farm to help out.

“You know, it's like, what I say is, we got 700 horses out here, and we got 700 free therapists ready to go to work every morning. And, you know, good therapists cost you 150, 250 an hour. And these horses do it for nothing. And I think they do a better job myself.”

Go to stablerecovery.net for more information on the program and how you can donate to support the men in recovery.

“It is a labor of love. And the local people tell me that it's incredible that you own Jesse Taylor Day's house. And I said, folks, I don't own Jesse Taylor Day's house. I get to live in it, and I get to fix it up, and I get to pay taxes on it. But I said it belongs to the town of Hazel Green.”

Three years ago, the Wolfe County man and his wife Linda bought the home built in 1893. The 4,000-square-foot Victorian home sits in the center of the small community of Hazel Green. Built by successful businessman Jesse Taylor Day, his home was a showplace in its time.

But time took its toll.

Bowen says the home sat vacant for 26 years. In stepped the Bowens, who are working hard to not only restore the Day home but also do all they can to revitalize Hazel Green. Linda Bowen described what makes Hazel Green so special, a town of 165 people, located on Highway 191, about a ten-minute drive off the mountain parkway.

“When you come off the parkway, you take exit 46 and make a left, you come on 191, and you can see all the struggles that this area has had. And then there comes a point when you get up close to Hazel Green, maybe three miles out, and you feel this wonderful magic. The sky is bluer, the grass is greener, and it's like you're driving into Ireland. These hills are just rolling, beautiful hills, and it's a magical place to be. I love it.”

Linda mentioned Ireland. As you drive into Hazel Green, you are greeted by a bright blue and green welcome sign that reads, Historic Hazel Green, Celtic Village on the Red.

Celtic Village on the Red refers to the Red River that you drive over heading into Hazel Green. Celtic honors the area’s Irish and Scottish ancestors who immigrated in the 1700s to Appalachia.

Linda says, “The people who started this little community were from the Celtic nation, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Northern France. They came over from Ireland, and they said, I'm home, the music and the storytelling and the love of the land. And so, this is our landing place, mine and Joe's.”

It’s hard to keep Joe Bowen still for very long. By most accounts, he’s led an amazing life full of adventures, travels, and compassion. Bowen grew up in nearby Powell County and served in the US Air Force.

After leaving his military duty, Bowen decided to go on a bicycling adventure. In 1967, he started pedaling in California, and sixteen months and 14,000 miles later, Bowen finished his bike trip back home in Eastern Kentucky. His journey across America had also included stops in Mexico and Canada.

But that wasn’t the end of Bowen’s cross-country travels. In 1980, the construction worker traded his bike for stilts and walked 3,000 miles to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy research.

“I raised $104,000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and Jerry Lewis sent me a plane ticket, and they flew me to Vegas, and I helped open the 1980 telethon.”

Bowen would go on to national acclaim as he carried the Olympic Torch in 1996 and 2002. A second long-distance bike ride was to come. In 2005, the then 62-year-old Bowen embarked on his bicycle for another coast-to-coast trip. This time, he included thousands of Eastern Kentucky schoolchildren on the journey by talking to them by phone and laptop.

Through the years, Bowen raised over $600,000 for charity, had a family that included three daughters, and wrote a book, “Real Winners Don’t Quit.”

Now at 82, he’s helping restore some Eastern Kentucky history. The Day home needed work from top to bottom.

“I spent $32,000 on new windows. But it's not about the money. It's about saving Eastern Kentucky history.” Linda Bowen adds, “It's our heritage. If you weren't Native American Indian, then you came over on a boat, and the people who landed here came in through Virginia, and there was Scott Irish, Welsh, Northern France. And so, this is our heritage. This is a wonderful, free, beautiful America.”

Inside the home, the Bowens found many historical items from the late 1800s, like a pair of ladies’ shoes, a bottle of wine, original fireplaces, and two pianos.

Linda says, “We found a newspaper article from the Hazel Green Herald, and this piano came here from New York by train. It went on an ox cart, and two oxen brought it to the front door, and they brought it in this room, and it has been in this house since 1889.”

Today, the Day house is hard to miss with its new red metal roof, hazelnut brown wood exterior trimmed in Irish green. The front porch is welcoming, and the original iron fence with a gate still stands in front.

The Bowens estimate they are four months from finishing the renovation, with plans to open a bed and breakfast called the Celtic Village Inn. The couple has also started a non-profit to help improve Hazel Green. Tammy Moore, who bought and renovated her home in Hazel Green, says the Bowens have led by example.

“Joe and Linda came in, and they got people inspired. So, we just all jumped on that bandwagon.” Junior Lawson grew up in Wolfe County and lives in Hazel Green.

“They made a difference here in this town. How? So, by all the hard work they've done. They've went around the communities, you know, they've helped other people that's in this community, far as you know, fixing their places up.”

The Bowens envision a “theme” community in Hazel Green that embraces its Celtic roots. The couple formed a non-profit called Hazel Green Kentucky LLC. Linda Bowen explained why it takes a village to pump new life into Hazel Green.

“To help restore this community, to help get Wolfe County off of the poorest county in America's list. So, we are doing things. We're building the community. We're helping our local government. Today, you're the mayor. Next day, he's the mayor. Next day, I’m the mayor. So, the things that the people in the community want to do, we can help them with this non-profit. Like now we're getting ready to plant apple trees and hazelnut bushes. Hazel Green got the name from hazelnuts, and so there's about a dozen families that are going to have apple trees and we're working on restoring our town.”

David Musser of Hazel Green has studied and written about the Celtic roots and how they impact his community.

“The small town of Hazel Green has chosen to celebrate our Celtic roots. It is the first place in America to claim the title of a “Celtic Village.”

This was done to re-energize a once-thriving community and to create an economic engine to benefit the entire surrounding area.

There are numerous “Theme Towns” across America. When they stay true to their mission and resist national chain restaurants and hotels, they are enormously successful in providing local employment and new business creation.

There is a nationwide resurgence of interest in the Celts. There are over 230 Celtic festivals across the country.

More than half of Americans have a Celtic ancestor. This gives the idea of a Celtic Village an enormous drawing power. Hazel Green is just beginning this vision and has much to do to bring it to fruition.

Joe and Linda Bowen got the ball rolling, and the community has embraced the idea. The potential is enormous; not just for one small ‘Celtic Village,’ but for the entire region.”

As for Joe Bowen, his life has come full circle. From growing up in bordering Powell County, to meeting US Presidents and world-famous celebrities like Muhammad Ali, to now improving life in Wolfe County, Bowen relishes honoring those pioneers like Jesse Taylor Day who established Hazel Green.

“It's incredible that I get to be a part of something that was done, that was started a long time ago. This family was a huge success. They were in the lumber business, the coal business and tourism. They owned three hotels in Eastern Kentucky. This was in the late 1800s and early 1900s and people don't know that. They don't know that. This little town is sitting on right next to the Red River, and we are the entrance to the great Red River Gorge.”

So, the next time you are in the area, check out “Historic Hazel Green, the Celtic Village on the Red.”

The small town of about a thousand people had a reputation for hard work in the thriving timber, iron, and railroad industries. The Clay City National Bank on Main Street was located in the heart of town.

The two-story, red brick building opened for business in 1890. Pictures from the early 1900s show bank clerks working in front of a large, walk-in safe.

But by the 1940s business was declining as the railroad left town and jobs dried up in the timber industry. In 1944 the Clay City National Bank closed.

Today the former bank building is very much alive and open with a new purpose. In 1966 it became the home of the Red River Museum. During the early years of the museum, the second floor began to fill with donated items that represented life in Clay City during the 1800s and early to mid-1900s.

Farming tools, historical pictures, medical supplies, an old bicycle, a phonograph, and a telephone are some of the featured items. Through the decades more and more donated items filled the first floor too. The Red River Museum also grew outside the former bank building.

The train depot from nearby Slade was moved and reconstructed next door. Its walls are lined with old pictures showing life from a hundred years ago.

The area's last log, one-room schoolhouse was taken apart and rebuilt next to the bank building.

Museum volunteer Doug Rogers says the one-room schoolhouse is full of Clay City history. “We have a lot of stuff to do with the blacksmithing, all the tongs and the bellows and grist mills on this side, and probably the largest collection of molding planes I've ever seen in my life, hundreds of molding planes, woodworking tools.”

Next to the schoolhouse is a reconstructed, original one-room log cabin also full of history. Rogers says, “We have a wheel right shop in here, which is an old industry back in the old days that they used to repair buggy wheels and there was some blacksmith part of that too.” There’s also an old workshed full of farming tools.

All of this, Rogers says, represents a hard-working community that thrived a century ago. “Speaks to me of hard times and perseverance through a lot of tough times in this area, the different industries that come in here, and work that the people have done in this area to build it up to what it is today. You can go upstairs or outside in the building and see any kind of tool you want to do with woodwork and wheelwright and iron industry. All of that is right here, the timber industry, over in the depot there, we have all kinds of pictures, wonderful pictures. What it was like in early 18th century, 19th century around this area.”

To preserve a record of every item on display, museum worker Verna Rogers, Doug’s wife, is using a computer program called “Past Perfect Museum Software.” Verna enters each item into the computer by where it’s located in the museum, a description, and who donated it.

She says, “We are preserving the past. Every object in here has a story. We do know the stories for a lot of the objects, and we can, you know, we're very willing to tell you about it. Whenever I talk to visitors, I try to give the history of the object. I try to make it interesting. I try to give them a background. We are at 5,778 items that we have entered, and we are still not finished.”

For example, on one museum wall, they have the local newspaper’s front page from when President Lincoln was assassinated. Upstairs there’s a display of the equipment used to make baseballs in the Depression of the 1930’s.

Doug Rogers explained, “They needed a little extra money to live on. So, a local guy in the area got a contract with the big leagues to sow baseballs. They made all these jigs and stuff to hold these baseballs. And they'd sit around, and the league would send them these materials to build these baseballs. And that's what they were doing, making baseballs.”

The museum also has a sandstone petroglyph from a rock shelter in Southeastern Powell County called High Rocks. The rock carvings on the petroglyph are believed to be from early Native Americans. All of this and more is open to the public on weekends and by special appointment.

On May 9-10^th the Red River Museum is holding its annual “Homecoming & Old Engine Show” which features blacksmiths, pottery, quilting, wood carving, weaving, and oral history.

 
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We’re going into the Daniel Boone National Forest where the road turns from asphalt to gravel. A sign reads National Forest Historic Site Cottage Furnace and an arrow points down a dirt road.

This “cottage” will be unlike any cottage I have ever seen. After walking along a trail for about a mile we come upon a dry laid stone structure that looks more like a giant fireplace. In the middle of the front-facing wall is a V-shaped opening that goes just a few feet inside. Small trees are growing in the stone walls which turn out to be blocks of limestone.

It’s a quiet place in the woods, but in 1854 the Fitchburg Cottage was a beehive of activity. Back then Kentucky was the nation’s third largest producer of iron, and at least one hundred furnaces were burning hot throughout the state. Most of them were relatively small like the Cottage Furnace, about twenty-five square feet.

Johnson recalls, “It went into operation; I think in early ’56. It takes about two years to carve these stones out of the hillside. But the whole time this furnace is being built, you have people out in the woods, colliers making charcoal, and you have people out digging iron ore, mining iron ore, and bringing limestone in. So, this, it's like an anthill. This is just a big human anthill. I mean, it was, they were coming and going.”

Johnson grew up in Estill County and lives just a few miles from the Cottage Furnace and is a former social studies teacher. He has a deep passion for the area’s history and in particular, the furnaces that were at one time the focus of the local economy.

Why did Estill County emerge as a home for the furnaces? Johnson answers, “We had three things. We had iron ore. We had wood to make charcoal, and we had sandstone to make the furnaces out of. You had to have those three things, and you wouldn't find them in other parts of Kentucky. No, not together, not concentrated.”

Little is left of most of the Kentucky furnaces - so preserving the Cottage Furnace is important in Johnson’s view. We leave to go see an even larger furnace that Johnson and a few other people have spent years preserving.

The Fitchburg Furnace on the Furnace Fork of Miller’s Creek is much larger and grander than the Cottage Furnace. It looks more like a giant monument or castle as Johnson remembers calling it back when he was a young boy. The sandstone block structure is 81 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 60 feet high.

Unlike the Cottage Furnace, a visitor can go inside this furnace, and marvel at what the stone masons built in 1868. There is no sign of it now, but in the 1870’s the bustling town of Fitchburg grew up around the furnace.

Johnson compares the sudden economic boom from iron production in Estill County to the Gold Rush out West. “This was a boom town. If you go back and read the ledger, the census, there are people here from all over the world. There’re engineers, chemists, bankers.”

A man named Frank Fitch designed the Fitchburg Furnace. It took two years to build what’s believed to be the world’s largest charcoal furnace. It employed about a thousand men. It was a bold and risky project. In 1870 when the Fitchburg Furnace started operation, the railroad had not yet reached the hills of Estill County.

The nearest railroad was 55 miles away in Lexington. That meant any iron produced at the furnace had to be loaded on wagons pulled by oxen, and transported to barges on the Kentucky River.

The Fitchburg Furnace only operated for a few years. It and many other businesses across the country were shut down during the financial panic of 1873. The iron industry also left Kentucky as rich iron ore beds were discovered in Alabama.

For decades the now silent Fitchburg Furnace sat largely forgotten. In 2006, Johnson and five other people formed the “Friends of the Fitchburg Furnace.” Their goal was to find enough funding to preserve the large furnace and make it safe enough for visitors.

Johnson credits the late Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning for getting a federal grant of $750,000. The funds were used to shore up the furnace, build a roof, clean up the exterior, make the interior safe, and add information stations that detail the furnace's history.

When Johnson was a teacher, he’d bring his students on field trips to the Fitchburg Furnace. “I took my classes up there, and it's a history lesson, it's a chemistry lesson, it's a reading lesson, it's math, it's everything. I mean, this is chemistry at its finest. You know, what takes place inside that hearth is you're taking a solid, you're turning it into a liquid, you're extracting the impurities, and you're turning it back into a solid in the 1800s.”

The furnace is open to the public. Shonna Canter who grew up in Estill County is proud of the furnace’s history and preservation.

“Very proud, and it's just that this is the largest furnace in the world. Who has that? We do, and I wish more people would come and see it. They can pull right up to it. They don't even have to get out of their vehicle to see the beauty and just the workmanship.”

There’s also a book, “Fitchburg Furnace: the Story in Pictures and Text” that details the history and preservation efforts.

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Five members of the Southern gospel and country music band roll out trunks of musical gear to set up for an evening concert. They play for senior citizens at dozens of places each year.

Their free concerts started six years ago after a family member invited them to play at a Richmond nursing home. 53-year-old vocalist Jeff Brewer recalls, “We said, sure, we'll come up. And we did. Had a good time, and a couple other people said, well, hey, can you come here? Can you come there? Long story short is we're now over 45 facilities that we go to on a regular basis.”

The band plays for free because they consider it their ministry. They hail from Forks of Elkhorn Baptist Church in Midway.

Bass guitar player David Rayburn says the band is actually playing for one. “God sees what we're doing, and He blesses us to no end. It's unbelievable how that he has just orchestrated everything that we do every place that we go. It's just been amazing to see what He does.”

In addition to Brewer and Rayburn, band members ranging in age from 53 to 71, include Joel Miller on keyboards, Ken King on the drums, and John Witt on lead guitar. Adriel Harrod is the sound engineer.

Brewer says they play music that the senior citizens can relate to, but they also take requests which can sometimes prove challenging.

“We were playing this past July, and we were in Versailles, and we would ask, does anyone have a song they want to hear? You know, your favorite song? And a guy raised his hand, and it was Hark the Herald Angels Sing. This was in July, and it was in July, hot as blue blazes, and we sang Hark the Herald Angel Sing. You know, because that's what he wanted to hear. So, we have a good time with that. You know, these guys can play anything.”

They make the concert an intimate, fun experience for their audience. Lead guitarist Witt will play and walk right near the first row of people.

Vocalist Brewer kneeled next to a senior citizen and held the microphone out so she could join in. “We have met so many wonderful people, people that work at these facilities, people that live at these facilities, and they actually treat us like rock stars. I mean, so we're not gonna lie, yeah. I mean, it's fun. It feels good. We play to the crowd, and they sing along.”

They also play at some churches. Brewer says they’ve entertained people across Kentucky and beyond. “We've been pretty much all around the state. I mean, we've been to Lexington, Richmond, Shelbyville, Winchester, and Renfro Valley. We actually did our first out of state thing last year. We went to Tennessee and did a couple facilities down there. And again, it's something we love to do. The Lord has just blessed it, you know, like I said, it just keeps growing and keeps growing. The only downside to it sometimes is we don't have enough time to get to these places as much as maybe we'd like to.”

For the senior citizens who enjoy the music, it’s a break in their routine and a step-down memory lane. Audience member Jack Ferguson grew up in the North Carolina mountains.

“I don't know the words and all that, but I recognize the rhythms because I grew up in the mountains in North Carolina, which is very similar to what you're hearing here. Sure, we had the Saturday night roundup in the city auditorium, and we had a lot of square dancers.”

Ferguson believes the music resonates deeply. “It's so important to the people who, some that live here, this is what they grew up with. And it's refreshing to have this interlude here and to hear this familiar music. And you notice they're dancing in their chairs, and they're swaying with the rhythm.”

That kind of appreciation is music to the ears of the Ol' Elkhorn Pickers Club. Ken King explains what they witness. “To be able to see it is, is something really that's unexplainable, the joy. You know, I've heard these guys say it, and I've said it, I don't know how many times we I believe we get more of a blessing out of it than they do, because to be able to sit from where we are and see their faces and watch them be able to relate to every song that we're singing, singing along to every word.”

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Vanessa Holden is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Kentucky with expertise on African American women and slavery in the antebellum South.

“Kentucky didn't secede during the American Civil War, and unlike many southern cities, Lexington was not burned to the ground during the American Civil War. And while we did have a couple of fires that happened in the 19th century and 18th century, we've got really complete sets of records that other parts of the South can't boast. They're really invaluable for the study of slavery as a system, but also enslaved people because they're often named.”

Preserving these records and making them accessible to people online is the goal of the Digital Access Project, or DAP for short. Holden and Shea Brown, Special Projects Deputy in Land Records at the Fayette County Clerk’s office helped start DAP. They along with a team of university students and retirees began digitizing the old records in May of 2022.

Brown says to date DAP has digitized 150,000 pages in 278 books. DAP is funded by the Blue Grass Community Foundation.

“We pay all of our digitization specialists, and they work in teams. All of these records are in script, sometimes easy to read script, sometimes not so easy to read script. And a lot of our traditional age college students were never taught to read and write in cursive. Our community members, many of whom, most of whom are retirees, know how to read cursive, and our students were excited to work with the book eye scanner. They weren't intimidated by the digital technology.”

The records offer a wealth of information on Kentucky history including the big business of slave trading in Lexington. One of the South’s largest slave auctions was in downtown Lexington on Main Street in an area formerly known as “Cheapside.”

A historical sign on the site near the old Fayette County Courthouse says by 1860 one in four residents of Lexington were slaves. Holden says enslaved people were used in many ways during business transactions.

“What a lot of people don't realize is that enslaved people were valuable, not just for their labor, but they're valuable as financial products. You can borrow against enslaved people's value. You can use enslaved people to pay off debt. And this is a really good example of one of the ways that enslaved people are moved around indiscriminately to fix up financial situations for enslavers.”

One example in a deed book details a debt that was owed to a deceased man’s estate in July of 1809. To pay off the debt, lawyer and famed statesman Henry Clay who represented the estate, is charged with selling some enslaved people whose names and assigned values are listed on one page. In another deed book from 1834 a man’s assets like crops are listed on a page along with some enslaved people.

Brown read, “a negro man named Carr valued at $520, a woman Sally, valued at $290 and not only Sally, but it mentions her child, Bob at 200 and it gives other names, a girl named Susan, a boy named Sam, a girl Cyril Jane. And their values right here. And the thing about the black communities, at this time, the enslaved population, they were classified not as human beings, but as personal property.”

The record books also give a history of the free African American community in Lexington.

Holden says “there was a visible free black population here in Lexington. Some small business owners, some landowners and property owners, some who were given their freedom right after the Revolutionary War, some who paid for their freedom over time or purchased family members to join their household and free people of color living right here in the city, doing business.”

Brown and Holden emphasize that the history they are preserving is about all races of people who lived in Lexington. The records predate Kentucky’s statehood in June of 1792. Brown explains that before 1792 Kentucky was part of Virginia.

“Fayette County is important because you remember, in 1780 Kentucky was part of Virginia. We were the Commonwealth of Virginia. We only had three original counties, Fayette County, Lincoln County and Jefferson. So, our records go back to the very beginning of Kentucky history. That goes back to the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Commonwealth of Virginia goes back to England and Great Britain, those areas of common law. What we're doing is we have digitized these records that benefits the history of Kentucky, the history of a pioneer America as a whole.”

Brown says by law all county clerks in Kentucky are required to digitize their records. If you are interested in exploring the digitized records from Lexington, go to https://fayettedeeds.com, click on Land Records Search, click on Non-Indexed Documents, and then click on Book Type for indexbook. Book types include court orders, old surveys, property tax records, wills, and marriage books.

For instructions on how to navigate through the online website visit https://www.fayettecountyclerk.com

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94-year-old Clayton Smith and 92-year-old Shirley Smith tied the knot 71 years ago.

It started very innocently.

Shirley was a young nurse in Pittsburgh, and Clayton worked as a “soda jerk” at a nearby drugstore. Shirley remembers, “all the nurses used to go to that drug store to see the soda jerk, because he was so cute. And so, I went too, and I liked him. I thought he was cute, but he didn't pay any attention to me.”

Shirley was not going to let that stop her so according to Clayton, she surprised him with a mischievous stunt at a picnic.

“We were sitting at this table, and I with this pretty blonde lady, and she's across from me, and she gets down under the table and fills my cuffs with dirt and comes up just smiling.” What did he think of that? “I didn't know what to think.”

About a year later they married before Clayton shipped off to Korea in the U.S. Army.

71-years later Shirley appreciates Clayton. “He's a true gentleman. He's just so kind and loving, and he's always there. I can trust him. I can depend on him, and he was a good father. He's just so special.”

Clayton says the feeling is mutual, and every Valentine’s Day he makes sure Shirley receives a dozen red roses. While they’ve shared an enduring love Clayton says one of the qualities, he admires is their ability to not let anger or a disagreement linger.

“It may sound silly, but we don't have any serious arguments. And I came from a fighting family if that's the right term, and so I didn't want any part of that. And we've probably had a few battles, I'm sure, but I mean, we do it sensibly, and we try to never go to bed, not speaking to each other. That's kind of one of our rules. And sometimes we have to stay up a little longer than usual, but it works.”

The Smiths now call home their apartment at Sayre Christian Village, a nonprofit retirement community in Lexington.

Two of the Smith’s neighbors are Jim and Billie Halsey. While the Smiths say they fell in love fairly quickly, 82-year-old Billie says it was definitely not love at first sight when she and Jim first met at Eastern Kentucky University.

“Oh no, we dated for six years before we got married. Now, our college roommates got married right away that year, but no, took us six years. I didn't think much of him. Actually, I wasn't looking for anything at that moment. He was nice looking and all clean cut, and, you know, he had his Marine Corps haircut and the whole thing. It took a lot to impress me at that stage in my life.”

55-years later they are happily married. Financial problems can often challenge a young couple. Shirley says she learned a lot from her husband.

“He was good at managing money, which that was the good news and the bad news, because I was not, so that he kept me on the straight and narrow as far as spending money. We had a good time. We like to party and go out, so it was fun.”

Jim, now 87, appreciates the love and support Billie has shown him through the years, especially during the tough times.

“I had a long bad stroke. And she did a great job during that time, over a period of quite a few years, she took care of everything, did a good job.”

The couple, like the Smiths, also believe the art of compromise is key to a long, happy marriage.

Billie says, “we are total polar opposites, so everything's a compromise. And if you can't compromise, if you strictly think about what you want and what you need, it ain't gonna work. So, you gotta compromise on most things, actually. I mean, even from food to money, everything. So that's the key to it, I think is, is compromising talking about it. We had to learn to do that.”

The Halseys and the Smiths were front and center for this month’s “Sweetheart Ball” at Sayre Christian Village.

Red decorations and plenty of Valentine’s Day treats filled a party room where dozens of senior citizens celebrated love and romance. Live music filled the air, and out on the dance floor members of Transylvania University Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, dressed in suits, served as dance partners. The Smiths were crowned “king and queen” at last year’s Sweetheart Ball.

This year the Haleys took the honors. Both couples hit the dance floor as “Love Me Tender” tickled their ears and hearts.

Shirley loves this part of her life. “This is the best time yet. This is wonderful. I just love this part of my life. And so here we are at the end of our lives, and we're in Sayre, and we love it. We love it here. We love being together. We love not having to cook or clean or do anything like that. And we say this is the best part of our lives. But of course, the very best part of our life is yet to come.”

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Doug Hampton of Cynthiana remembers exactly where he was when that happened.

The 76-year-old from Harlan County says he had never tasted pizza until he went to the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City. He was eight-years old.

That experience led to a lifetime pursuit of trying to make the tastiest pizza in his home kitchen.

For many years as an adult, he wasn’t satisfied with his homemade pizzas.

In fact, eleven years ago he was ready to quit and throw in his apron. In stepped his wife of now 57-years.

Patsy recalls, “he wanted to make pizza so badly and hadn't had any luck. And I said, why don't you go to Pizza school? And I sent him to Pizza school so he could learn to make them. And he came home and made us one. And it was good.”

Interesting that the “pizza school” was in New York City, the same city where he tasted his first pizza. Hampton says he’s all about doing his very best on whatever he sets his mind to.

For many years he was a referee for high school and college basketball games.

In the last 21-years Hampton has had a front row seat, center court to all the home UK basketball games. He’s the Time Out Coordinator.

“Hearing the coaches, listening to the play, you know. You just hear all the sights of the game, the refs view. And when you're down there, the players are so much bigger than you think they are up in the stands, and they're so much quicker.”

His passion for doing his best has certainly influenced his pizza-making. Word began to spread among his friends that Hampton was turning out some delicious pizzas.

Close friend and pizza lover Greg Shirley who goes by the nickname “Fork” says Hampton’s notoriety really took off when he began posting pizza pictures on Facebook.

“So, he starts posting these little Friday night experiments for his family and, you know, I'm doing this. Well, once he started delivering and people started getting a taste of it, it just took on a life of its own.”

Hampton says he turns out a hundred pizzas a year from his basement kitchen, and he gives them all away to friends, family, and charities for auction. Along with each pizza he includes an envelope.

Fork explains, “so the catch with your pizzas, there is never a charge for a pizza, but there's a self-addressed, stamped envelope in there for a donation to the Cynthia food pantry. Everyone's encouraged to make a donation, and because of Doug doing that, they're getting a lot more donations and a lot more food. You get the best pizza you've ever had. You get a smile from Doug, which is also priceless, and you get to help out the community.”

Hampton says the key to a great tasting pizza is the dough. He makes his own dough and lets it sit in his refrigerator for 48-hours so it can ferment.

In simple terms, fermenting means the yeast is consuming sugars in the flour, causing the dough to rise and develop flavor.

For his Detroit style pizza, Hampton wants his crust crunchy. A Detroit pizza is a rectangle and thicker. After his dough ferments, Hampton adds a layer of pepperonis on top.

He covers that with a special shredded cheese. “It's Brick Cheese, and it's a very, very, very close cousin to mozzarella or Monterey Jack. You can order it online, and the local cheese store here can get it for me.”

He adds garlic powder, sea salt, and a special sauce. “This is a special sauce that's made just for the Detroit pizza. It's a little thicker, and it's heavily laden with basil. If you'll look, you can see the basil all throughout it.”

Remember the pepperonis on top of the dough? Now Hampton adds another layer of pepperonis called “Cup & Char.”

He says “here's something I always look for. They've been in business since 1931 almost 100 years. I put them on the top, and they will turn up in a little cup. And what that little cup does, that gathers the grease and fat, and grease is flavor.”

He’s still not done. Hampton sprinkles on oregano, add more salt, and add garlic powder.

He now places the pan of pizza into the oven for seven minutes, then turns the pan around and bakes it for another seven-minutes.

He does that because he says the back of the oven is hotter. Hampton pulls out the pizza, and using an oversized spatula, lifts the pizza out of the pan and onto a pre-heated flat baking steel.

“That's 525, degrees, and that's going to make it crispier on the bottom.” Two more minutes in the oven, and then it comes out to sit on the counter to cool off for 10-minutes. As a last touch Hampton dribbles olive oil on top and adds some Romano cheese.

Sitting at the counter and watching all this are Fork and another buddy, Stephen McCauley who can’t wait to take a bite.

“I was planning for this trip. And anytime we know pizzas are coming, you plan ahead for it, because you know you're going to go all in.” Fork is salivating.

“I think the pizza matches his personality. He's a guy that's always just been a great friend and a great community member, just for as long as I've known him, and everything he does at a high quality. And this is just one of those other things that he does at a high level.”

The time has come for both men to enjoy some of Hampton’s pizza. Fork describes the experience like this.

“Your bottom is, is fully firm, crunchy. Then you've got a middle, not a bit doughy. I mean, it's light to be that thick, right? It's not like a pan pizza that's real thick. And I mean this, you go crunchy, light, and then you hit all the ingredients. Look at that. I mean, it's absolutely perfect. You can see every layer of the pizza. It's not like any of it just melted together into a blob. It's perfect.”

McCauley agrees with a big smile.

“There's no comparison. I mean, this is the envy of everyone around that I'm getting to enjoy this right now. So definitely excited to be here, and like I've said earlier, my wife and kids are wondering how much and what I'm going to be bringing home. So, everybody's excited about that coming home tonight.” Finally, it’s my chance to relish this homemade pizza.

“Hmm, oh my oh, the crunch and the flavor. I'm almost speechless. Oh my gosh.” It’s those kinds of reactions that make it all worthwhile to Hampton.

“You took a bite of that Detroit, and you let out this big moan. That's what I work for. You know, people texting me back and say, hey, man, the family loved it. You know, my daughter said, it’s the best, that's my reward.”

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The concrete block wall room is nine feet by twenty-one feet. It is windowless and has a metal conference table and several plastic chairs.

Wiley sets up two laptops on the table along with a plastic bin full of files.

Welcome to GED instruction inside the Pulaski County Detention Center (PCDC) in Somerset.

Men and women crowd the jail which has beds for 171 but is over capacity PCDC Jailer Anthony McCollum says with about 350 inmates. Among them is 32-year-old Kelsey Tasker, a mother of four children, who’s sentenced to six years for a variety of drug offenses.

“I was nine years old when I first tried marijuana and I smoked marijuana until the day that I was incarcerated, really, but I was introduced to meth when I was, I want to say I was 21 and I had been hooked on it ever since.”

Tasker says the pod she lives in at the jail holds thirty women. She says those who don’t have a bunk bed, like her, sleep on a thin mat.

“It's chaos behind the locked door, really, and it's just a lot of loudness.”

It’s not an ideal place to study for a GED but that’s exactly what Tasker did this past year.

From 2020 to 2024, she was one of 4,460 inmates in Kentucky jails and prisons who earned their GED through the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS). Ryan Quarles, President of KCTCS says the GED program gives inmates hope and a path to a new life once they’re released.

“As Kentuckians exit the criminal justice system, it's in our society's best interest they learn a skill or get a degree, because they're more likely to not return to jail or prison if they have a skill which leads to a job.” PCDC Jailer McCollum agrees.

“What we wanted to do whenever I took office is to have people ready once they are released from custody, to have people to go out and be able to be reentered into society. A lot of them in here didn't have their high school diplomas. And so, getting jobs or even getting into college, a high school diploma was one thing that they had to have.”

Wiley says he has about thirty inmates right now working on their GED at the Pulaski County Detention Center.

“I don't see them as whatever they did to get them in here. I see them as somebody that wants to get out of here and do something else. Because I've had them before asking like, aren't you afraid to come in here with some of these people? No, because to me, they're just a person trying to learn something and do something to better themselves.”

Wiley meets with the GED students one at a time for a couple of hours a week. Tasker says it’s a nice break from the chaos in her pod.

“It was nice to get that break. It really was in that, you know, the calmness of the outside of the room, because it can, it can get pretty hectic in there, you know, trapped up in one room with all these females and, you know, some of them are long-timers, and some of them, you know, just for a couple days. But you know, we have to make the best out of it regardless.”

Tasker used a tablet to study packets of schoolwork that Wiley gave her on the four main subjects: math, social studies, language arts, and science. Tasker says she studies in the pod in the morning.

“I would get up in the mornings and I would drink all my coffee and watch the news while everybody else would go back to sleep after breakfast. And that way the tables were open and, you know, it was nice and quiet, and because once lunch is served, there's really no reading or anything like that going on in there.”

Tasker finished her GED in a couple of months and had her picture taken in a graduation gown with her diploma.

“Oh, it was a major accomplishment. It really was. I haven't been in school in 16 years, and that's a long time, and my kids were ecstatic to hear that I had actually completed it.”

She wants to have a career someday to support her family.

“It gives me an opening to expand my future for, you know, when I get out, and that makes me think of, what kind of careers that I want to have, and you know how I want to switch my life around and for the better, not only for me, but for my children as well.”

Cindy McGaha, Director of Adult Education for Somerset Community College, says, “it gives them a chance to change their lives. They can be a better example for their kids. They have better opportunities once they get out for jobs or to go on to school. It helps their self-esteem. They are able to feel a little bit better about what they've accomplished and know that they can do things when they set their mind to it.”

The joy on Tasker’s face in her graduation photo tells it all. The GED program is free to the inmates.

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90-year-old Virginia Lois Thomas and her friend Lisa McCoy started Thomas’ Toy Chest when Covid hit Kentucky in 2020.

Thomas says, “We thought, well, could we do something to help? So, we started getting toys and talking to people about it, and everybody was enthused. And we had bicycles and everything, you know, on there for the people.”

The first year they gave children toys at the First Christian Church, and the following December the event moved to the Clark County Courthouse.

Thomas’ grandson, Tyler Montgomery offered to move the Christmas toy give away inside his business, Abettor Brewing Company in Winchester.

Thomas welcomed the idea. “We had a lot of people donate toys. And then we went to Tyler's, because it was warm, you know, it's warm in there and everything. And we locked the door, and at three o'clock, we unlocked the door and just let people go. And boy, they the place was full of toys. You wouldn't believe.”

When children arrived, they found Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus sitting in huge rocking chairs on a large stage surrounded by toys. Who you might ask was Mrs. Claus? Well, none other than Ms. Thomas, wearing the red and white Mrs. Santa costume.

She says seeing the smiles and joy among the children was special. “It's wonderful. We just love them all.”

Thomas who grew up in Clark County recalls as a child that her family couldn’t afford a lot of presents at Christmas.

“No, I was a little country girl, and we just didn't have a lot of money. So, we just had Christmas. Maybe one time you'd get one present, you know. I thought I was just like everybody else.”

Her grandson says his “gran” has a huge heart. “My grandma's one of the most wonderful people on the planet. I owe her so much that I can never, I'll never be able to repay it. And you know her always being there for me and believing in my dreams, and I think teaching me how to dream is something that's really important to me, and she's just a person that I think about daily and would really do anything for.”

Montgomery says his grandmother endured some health challenges in the last year, and the toy drive this year was not a sure thing.

“Gran has had some instances where she's fallen. And so even though she's in great health, you know, falls are hard on a 90-year-old, so we had to step in. Originally, we weren't sure how we were going to make it work. And then my staff here at Abettor (Brewing) was adamant that we didn't let this fall.”

With the help of the Winchester community Thomas’ Toy Chest is back again. A few weeks before Christmas retired judge Julia Adams stopped by the brewery to donate some toys.

“Christmas is about giving. It's about a gift that was given to us and the giving that we need to do for others.”

Adams praises the woman who dons the Mrs. Santa Claus costume. “Lois is a wonderful human being, kind, generous. She's also pretty forbearing. She knows how to forgive easily and move on.” Asked if the toy giving will continue next year, Mrs. Claus says “if things go good, we will. Yes, we will.”

Her grandson says Thomas’ Toy Chest is an important part of her legacy. “She pulls it off really well, the Santa Claus. I mean, I think there's an element of my grandmother that's always been Mrs. Claus, and she always wanted to be Mrs. Claus. You know, she always wanted to help people. And I feel like she feels like that was her purpose here on Earth is to be Mrs. Claus and be helpful to everybody that she can, you know, help.”

This year the toy giving celebration was held on December 21^st.

On that note, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

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Welcome to the clubhouse of a running group called the Todds Road Stumblers.

They’re gathering just off Todds Road on Combs Ferry Road in a rural community East of Lexington. It’s on the Fayette-Clark County line.

Hot coffee is being served and a large box of donuts waits to be devoured after the runners return. The conversation is animated and excited for the Saturday morning run which begins at seven.

Runners of all ages and abilities fill the clubhouse. Two of the oldest Stumblers, Barry and Judy Collins in their late seventies, say all people are welcome. Judy now walks with the Stumblers.

“So, I'm the oldest lady out there right now that and I walk, I don't run, but I'm the oldest stumbler right now.”

The Saturday run includes many different distances. The rolling hills along Combs Ferry Road offer a good training course for long-distance runners.

Carrie Asalon says, “I came out here because I heard the hills were killer, and I just wanted to work hills. And I think it was my first, my very first run. I ran with a group and realized they were amazing. They're such a good community. And I have not stopped since.”

Asalon and her running friend Mary Jenkins say they appreciate the running community that’s grown with the Todds Road Stumblers.

“We're all across different demographics and different generations, and it's really good to have you know an older generation to give you some tips and friendships that form between them, and you can't get that in every run group.”

There are no membership dues, and new runners who finish their first six miles receive Stumbler hoodies, shirts, and coffee cups.

The clubhouse is full of local running memorabilia. One wall is covered in plaques with the names of runners who have completed 500 miles with the Stumblers.

There’s a trophy case, a wall of pictures featuring runners, and newspaper articles. In one corner, poster-size running course maps in plastic hang on the wall like a giant book.

The Stumblers trace their roots back to 1975 and Alex Campbell, Jr. The Lexington businessman and philanthropist had a passion for running, often along Todds Road.

One day Campbell got caught in the rain and found shelter under the roof of a barn near a tenant house, now the clubhouse. The owner suggested the tenant house could serve as a place for runners to meet and get out of bad weather.

Judy Collins says Campbell offered to pay rent to Mr. Gay, the tenant house owner.

“Alex said, we’ll give you $200, and he said, no. He said, how about 100 so Alex said, okay, we'll do 100 and Mr. Gay said, I'm gonna give you that money back, the 100 back. And he donated it to the club.”

Campbell, a very successful Lexington businessman and philanthropist, has passed away, but his legacy lives on with the club’s 50^th anniversary coming in 2025.

John Unger, 69 years old and still running with the Stumblers, says Campbell deserves a lot of credit.

“It means a whole lot. Mr. Campbell got me my first job in Lexington, and he supported so many of the runners, lot of the former UK runners would come out here. And he even got a got a bus load of people. We went to Roanoke and ran as a team. And you know, Mr. Campbell has done so much for the running boom here in Lexington.”

Runners like Lynn Roche-Phillips say the welcoming culture with the Stumblers is priceless.

“I've been running with the Stumblers for 23 years. Love these people. Love that it's a party every time we go out to run. Love the support. Love the love doesn't matter if you're a 14-minute miler or seven-minute miler. People support you and love you and appreciate you.”

Everyone runs at their own pace and distance.

Linda Mihalec enjoys the fellowship. “I first came here to find a group to run with, and I love running with a group. I have people to work out with, I have people run hard with, I have people run easy with, and I love the community here. I have a great time, and it makes working out hard fun. So a lot of it's just about the people.”

Mary Jenkins agrees and says the natural beauty along the country roads is stunning.

“The environment is just gorgeous. And you know, when you when you catch a sunrise, a Kentucky sunrise over the hill, you just never want to, ever not come back.”

More information on the group is on the Todds Road Stumblers Facebook page.

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This is the story of one Kentucky family that’s made and sold country hams for three generations.

At Penn Country Hams in Taylor County near Campbellsville, the workday starts before sunrise. It’s still dark on a Friday morning as workers arrive.

Inside a large concrete floor room, they are rolling plastic tubs full of one and two-day-old hams out of a refrigerated room.

A couple of workers take each ham and rub it all over with a salt and sugar dry mixture. This is the beginning of a curing process that will last four to six months.

General Manager Blake Penn, 42, oversees the aging process. He’s the third generation of the Penn family to make and sell country hams, starting in 1959.

Blake learned about country hams at an early age. “I was a rambunctious little guy. So, I would get into everything. So, to keep me calm, they would let me sharpen knives and debone ham. When I got off the school bus, I could take a femur bone out of a pig's leg at 12 years old.”

Blake’s grandfather, Donald Penn, grew up on the family farm in Taylor County. Donald remembers when there was no electricity on their farm as a child. With no refrigeration, they kept hams in salt for months.

Blake says, “in the old days, they would take a ham and they would kill it in the Winter, like a hog, and then they would salt it. Then that salt would cause water to drain out of the ham, and as it got into the Spring, that temperature variation would slowly get the ham drier, until it got into Summer. So that they had the meat, and it was able to be kept without refrigeration.”

Blake’s grandfather Donald is now 89 years old and has a home right in front of the main company building. Asked how he would describe the taste of a salt-cured country ham, Donald said, “Yeah, it's a little salty and it's a rich (y) ham flavor. See, every part of the ham has a different taste. I'm a real big ham eater. I like it.”

Fortunately, the age of electricity meant the family farm finally had refrigeration which plays a key role today in aging country hams. After the hams are rubbed down with salt they are moved gradually through a series of temperature-controlled rooms.

First, the hams go into a cure, or “Winter room” that’s 38 to 42 degrees.

After one month the hams are brushed and washed, covered with a netting around them, and hung in the equalization, or “Spring room” where it’s 55 degrees.

Then the hams are moved to the aging room at 70 to 85 degrees. It takes about four to six months to complete the country ham aging process.

Blake says, “It's a very, very artisan product, time-consuming, and it reminds me a lot of like the bourbon industry and how they age their product. You know, we're looking for certain flavors and aromas over time periods, and people that have tasted that, and really appreciate it.”

Blake says it’s hard to describe the flavor of a country ham that’s aged for months. “It's given a more robust country ham flavor to those enzymes that give that a flavor. And the longer that goes on, it's going to become more pronounced in the flavor profile. And I guess my grandpa already said it best to you, it gets more rich. And that's about as close as I can get to that describing that flavor profile.”

Penn Country Hams sells their products that include sausage, jerky, and bacon in a retail area of the company in Taylor County, and online. On a large sign outside the company the Penns proudly proclaim they’re “home of the million-dollar ham.”

For many years the Penns have entered their hams in the Kentucky State Fair grand champion competition. In 2019 their 16-pound ham won in the commercial division and was auctioned off for $1 million which went to charity.

Blake says it was a validation for decades of work on the 60^th anniversary of the company opening.

“When they actually announced my name, I almost broke down emotionally over it, because I didn't expect it, and I was wanting it really bad, and I've been working really hard for it. So, it was a big, big deal for me. It helped me out a lot, you know, with the recognition and getting a spotlight on the business, and, you know, we've only just excelled since, and I think I see another one coming.”

The Penn family has come a long way since Colonel Gabriel Penn was given a land grant in Kentucky for his military service during the Revolutionary War.

From a family store opened in the mid-1800s in Taylor County to the founding of their country ham business in 1959, the Penns have helped feed countless families.

It’s a legacy that Blake Penn appreciates and feels. “I have a campsite up on the hill that I built. We camp with my family, like me and my kids and stuff, and sometimes friends.  Sometimes I'll be sitting there early in the morning, and I can see over the whole farm here, up on the hill, it's like I can feel everybody.”

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“And this system was coming up into, you know, over Pine Mountain and into this area, and it almost looked like a freight train. It just kept coming and coming. I kept watching it, and I just knew immediately, this is going to be catastrophic.”

It was horrific. About 16 inches of rain swamped 13 Eastern Kentucky counties killing 45 people and destroying 9,000 homes.

Barton is a U-K Professor of Forest Hydrology and Watershed Management. He says what happened in Eastern Kentucky is similar to the recent flooding disaster in North Carolina and Tennessee.

Barton says in both situations, extremely warm temperatures caused evaporation to hold massive amounts of water in the atmosphere.

“What happens is, when you have those extreme temperatures, one you get a lot of evaporation from, either the land surface or the water surface, as far as this year's event, and it holds that up into the atmosphere. And the atmosphere can actually hold more water when it's hotter. And in both instances, the same thing happened. Those atmospheric fronts moved northward and started to lift. And when they hit the mountainous regions of Kentucky in 2022 and North Carolina and Tennessee this year, the air lifts, it cools, and all that water is released. And unfortunately, the amount of water in those systems is just tremendous, and it overwhelms the system.”

To better understand and predict flash flooding in Appalachia, Barton is the principal investigator of a four-year, $1.1-million project that was just awarded by the U.S. National Science Foundation. It’s a collaborative effort by scientists and civil engineers from Kentucky universities including the University of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, and West Virginia University.

Barton says learning how to better predict flash flooding in the mountains is a key part of the project.

“We have a plan to work with a lot of schools in the area and communities to educate people about the dangers of flash floods and how we can predict them, and then actually use technology in these communities to provide better early warning systems to become aware of when a flash flood is going to happen.”

To gather data about water flow in mountain streams the scientists will use Robinson Forest. The nearly 15,000-acre forest is in Breathitt, Perry, and Knott Counties.

100 years ago, a logging company owner named E.O. Robinson deeded the land in a trust to U-K. For decades scientists have used Robinson Forest for education and research.

As an example, Barton says since 1972 water quality and flow data has been collected at various streams in the forest. The streams have a small dam called a weir.

“We have a sensor in there that takes a measurement every 15 minutes, and we actually have a transmitter on this that uses a cell tower or uses a cell phone type of technology, and I can, in my office, actually go to this particular weir and see real-time data of the stream flow coming off of this site. Amazing. In addition, though, we've also collected a water quality sample here every week for over 50 years.”

Collecting water data in a controlled area like Robinson Forest, Barton says, will be invaluable for predicting what happens in the future. He says changes in the climate and weather patterns will lead to more problems with flash flooding.

“Because the temperatures are getting warmer. And as I said, with global heating, you're getting more evaporation and more water in the atmosphere and when it's hotter, it can hold more. We have about 1300 millimeters of rain every year, and we get about 100 millimeters every month. So that's a good amount of rain and it used to be, it would come, periodically, a little event here, then a few days later, another event. And now what we're seeing are these sort of really big, high-intensity events, followed by dry periods.”

If better ways of predicting flash flooding can be developed, many lives could be saved. Future generations of families living in Appalachia will depend on it.

Barton says, “I mean, there are families that have been in the same location in these bottom lands for many, many generations, and they've lived through a lot of floods. They've rebuilt. And, yeah, this is their home. So, it is hard to tell somebody that they probably would be better off moving somewhere higher and I think this last flood, we actually have seen a lot of people, you know, pull out and move to higher ground.”

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The high school-age girls are standing, proudly dressed in a uniform that includes a gray skirt, and a blue sweater vest over a white collared shirt, topped off with a full-length tie.

They’re singing and clapping to welcome a group of eight people from Lexington sitting on a stage facing the girls. Smiles and joy radiate from the Lexington visitors.

Dr. Tad Hughes says he wasn’t prepared for the amazing reception. “We felt like we were rock stars. But we had to say, no, we're not. We are just humans trying to do some good things. It was amazing. I never really felt that, that amount of joy that was directed towards me.”

Dr. Hughes and the Lexington group are in Kenya with Kelly Brewer who is leading a grassroots effort to help impoverished girls afford an education. It’s called Kenya Girls Forward or K-G-F, started by her mother, Jo Robertson, and a friend, Carolyn Witt Jones, in 2011.

Brewer says, “In Kenya, the government only pays for school through eighth grade, and it's a very patriarchal society, and if the families have the financial means, they will prioritize their boys.”

Brewer says 85 percent of the girls in Kenya live in poverty.

She says the girls are vulnerable to abuse and getting pregnant at a very early age. “Then they're down a path of lots of babies and very little opportunity, and I think there's, you know, a lot of abuse.”

Martha Maina works for Rural Women Peace Link in Kenya, advocating for and empowering girls. “We have regions that are high in violence, prone to violence. We have regions that FGM, the female genital modulation, is still being practiced. We have areas that alcohol is still an issue. So, you find these girls, when they drop out of school, they are at the risk of getting pregnant at a very early age and responsibility is now starting piling up, and the level of poverty continues, or the poverty chain continues. It's a challenge for many of these young girls.”

Rural Women Peace Link helps select girls in Kenya for sponsorship through K-G-F.

Selline Korir of Kenya says the girls waiting for sponsorship are very anxious and stressed. “Many of the girls that we encountered and selected, we found them when they were very timid. They were very emotionally hurting. They were because they couldn't tell exactly how they are, where their school fee will come from. They were very much removed.”

Brewer says money goes a long way in helping girls in Kenya. For $500 a sponsored student receives a year of boarding school.

She says, “It's unbelievable how far the money can go. We're trying to put together different levels of giving. So like, what $25 would buy them, what $50 would get them, what $100, what 250 you know, and then if you make the commitment to sponsor a girl through her high school, then you get the communication with them. You get their letters, and you get their updates on their progress reports and their grades and their test scores and that sort of thing. That's huge.”

To date, K-G-F has sponsored 306 girls, and Brewer wants it to continue growing.

Her mother passed away a couple of years ago from breast cancer.

Brewer had been donating to the cause for years, but she says a trip to Kenya with her husband Rob really inspired her to keep her mother’s mission alive.

“Our first day, we spent the day with the Kenya Girls Forward alumni. And you hear their stories and their determination and their courage and their fight just to go to school. I think for me too, it was just the impact that $50 can make over there. You can buy school uniforms; you can buy toiletries for these girls. You can buy books.”

Dr. Hughes says the visit to Kenya to meet the girls was eye-opening. “One of the things we got to see was the people that had graduated, like the girls, the women that had graduated. They were now doing great things in their community, buying, able to buy a home for their families. These were kids that were running away because they didn't have a good life, and so they were able to go to school. And that part, kind of makes you feel special.”

One of the first girls the Brewers sponsored is now a graduate student at the University of Notre Dame.

31-year-old Mercy Jerop says K-G-F changed her life. “You develop a sense of community, like you feel like I'm in a space where people understand what I'm going through. We can figure out solutions together to these challenges that we are facing, gives you hope, and sometimes, like, sharing your story inspires someone else. So, it's not just about, like finances. Just go to school we paid for you. It's like you get someone to accompany you through the journey that helps you grow in so many different ways. Like, professionally, you get to learn about your careers and what you interested in.”

For Brewer seeing how far Mercy has moved forward personally and professionally is tremendously rewarding. “She has overcome things that you and I can't even imagine. She's remarkable, and she's got a precious family. I got to meet her mom and two of her sisters, her son and her nephew. It's given more to me than I feel like I've given to it.”

More about Kenya Girls Forward is at https://bgcf.givingfuel.com/kenya-girls-foward-charitable-fund.

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He stands just a foot off the road beside an old stone fence. A five-foot section of the stone fence has collapsed, and Gerrow is piecing it together one stone at a time. He uses an assortment of chisels and hammers to chip away at the stones as he wedges them into the fence.

Gerrow is practicing a craft called dry laid stone masonry that goes back to the early 1800s in Central Kentucky. “It is a lot like a puzzle, sort of like a free-form puzzle, I guess. I mean, you've kind of got to have, like, the Mason's eye and be able to see what sort of rock you need. That's like, one of the big parts about getting better is just being able to discern, like, what'll fit next best.”

Dry laid means there’s no mortar used. That allows the stone wall to be free draining. Water passes right through the wall allowing any moisture to evaporate. The dry laid stone fences are also built so that over time any ground movement has little or no effect. Built correctly, stone masons say a dry laid stone fence can last a hundred years without much upkeep or maintenance.

It’s a craft Gerrow is learning as an apprentice with the Dry Stone Conservancy, a nonprofit based in Lexington.

“The idea is that I have this as a trade. It can be a backup, if my degree doesn't work out, and if everything does work out, it will be my hobby. I want to, you know, long term, when I get older and I have my own property, I'd like to build a bunch of stonework all over it, which is what I see other masons doing. It's pretty cool to think about.”

The Dry Stone Conservancy is dedicated to preserving stone fences and structures, not only in Kentucky but across the country. Gerrow says he’s worked on dry laid stone masonry projects in some pretty interesting places.

“Last year I went to Virginia, out in Appalachia, we were working on a stone wall there for two weeks, and that was really cool. We were staying in like, an off-season ski resort, and had the whole place to ourselves, like it was really awesome, and working with fun people. And then just this year, I went to West Point Military Academy with the Dry Stone Conservancy. We did some historic wall repairs there from the Revolutionary War period. And then right after that, I actually got to go to the Grand Tetons National Park in Wyoming, and that was pretty incredible. So definitely lucky to be able to go to all these cool places.”

Russell Waddell is the Executive Director of the Dry Stone Conservancy. He says it’s hard to estimate how many miles of stone fences crisscross the Bluegrass.

“We don't have any idea. We do know there was once a much higher concentration of dry stone structures on the landscape. There's no way to really kind of estimate how many miles. A good example would be Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill. There's some 20 miles of rock fences on there.”

The conservancy believes only five to ten percent of the stone fences remain in Central Kentucky from the 1800’s. Urban development and agricultural needs have destroyed many of the stone fences.

“All these walls are being threatened by developments. In fact, right up the road, they're destroying hundreds of feet of rock fence just so they can get an easement for a driveway and have sufficient sight line. And a lot of times they just tear the walls down because they don't know anybody who can fix it. They don't want to pay somebody to repair the walls. And so, what you see is a decline in the actual masons who do the work. For someone like Will, who's you know, in his 20s, interested in the heritage, interested in the craft. It's very important to get someone like Will out here doing the actual work and hopefully inspiring others to do it.”

The Dry Stone Conservancy offers workshops for various levels of masonry.

Waddell says, “We'll have 8,10, 12 participants in a workshop, and we'll teach people about the basics of a rock fence, the anatomy of a rock fence, and then we'll go out there and tear an actual damage section of rock fence out and then rebuild it for some hands-on experience. And a lot of times those are homeowners. They are landscape installers, landscape architects, contractors, people who just have rock fence on their property want to learn about you know, how they're built, or they want to maintain them on their property. And then we offer more advanced classes like stone shaping or building a wall head.”

One of the workshop teachers for the conservancy is Neil Rippingale, a Scottish master stone mason who says he’s taught thousands of people around the world and across the United States. He explained how the Scots and Irish brought their stone masonry craft to the states.

“They came over here for a better life, actually, in the mid-1800s. When they arrived, it reminded them of home, a special limestone in Ireland. So, there's a great connection. And not only that, they brought the recipes, brought their music and brought their skills as well to work on the stonework. It reminded them so much of home from, where they came from, and this is how they settled. They came up through the Cumberland Gap, the Appalachian Trail, and they settled in Tennessee, and actually Kentucky as well.”

There’s a misconception that enslaved people largely built the stone fences in Kentucky.

Waddell says, “There's evidence of slave help on the walls. There's a farm in Paris called Auvergne that has very intricate records that show slaves helping the Irish Masons construct the walls. And so, it really wasn't a real slave-built thing. It was mostly the Scotch Irish.”

Waddell says once the enslaved people were freed, they learned the stone masonry craft from the Scots and Irish and carried on the tradition into the 1900s.

For Gerrow that rich history resonates with him as he works on the stone fences. “Oh, definitely, all the time. It's really interesting. You know, the walls, they kind of tell a story. And, you know, I'm always wondering, when was it built, and, like, who built it? And, you know, did they enjoy building it? It's really cool.”

More information about the Dry Stone Conservancy is at www.drystone.org.

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Mark Blankenship is a Georgetown Police Detective, and his wife, PK Blankenship is a dispatcher for the Lexington Police Department.

Both are stressful, demanding jobs, but when the Blankenships have free time, you’ll likely find them on their 100 acres of forest and fields in Madison County near Waco.

PK says she can’t wait to retire and live on the one hundred acres. “I take this any day. This is paradise for me. Absolutely love it. I could stay down here all the time, and we will be soon. So, this time next year, we'll be down here all the time. I'll be retired, and I'll be able to wake up to this every morning. So, it'll be grand.”

The land borders the Daniel Boone National Forest, and the Blankenships are eager to build the John C. Cavendish Sanctuary, home of the Enchanted Forest Wildlife Rescue.

The couple is passionate about caring for neglected or injured wildlife.

Right now, those animals have a temporary place to recover at the Blankenship’s home. Two years ago they didn’t know where the land would come from for their sanctuary.

In stepped Rusty Reichenbach who had inherited the property from, John C. Cavendish, and donated it to the Blankenship’s non-profit sanctuary.

Asked how big that was Mark says, “Its life changing. You know, we had been looking for the right place for several years to go ahead and purchase and get it started. Primarily we're going to be rehabilitating native wildlife, which would be things like foxes, raccoons, possums, bats, native reptiles. I will eventually get my federal permit to do raptors, which will be your hawks, your owls.”

PK can’t wait to have more space for the rescues. “I've always loved animals, and it's just always been a passion. We started out with dogs and cats. When you were growing up, you had guinea pigs and iguanas and things like that. But now we've kind of upscaled it. So, you know, anything from now, we've got Sulcata Tortoises and Redfoot Tortoises, a bearded dragon that we've all taken in, there have been rescues, and now out here the sky's the limit. So, we can't wait to get out here and really start going.”

The Blankenships had a large storage building constructed to house large equipment like mowers and side-by-side utility vehicles. There’s also a house on the property that needs renovation and three ponds where the couple are stocking fish.

Mark explained how they could use the fish in the ponds. “Like the raccoons will come and they'll get small fish out of ponds. So, when you have an orphan litter, and you're trying to teach them how to fend for themselves, once they're big enough to be released, we can come down here with a cast net and catch smaller fish, and we'll put them into like a kiddie pool that's got water in it to teach, help them learn how to fend for themselves, how to forage.”

PK says they’ve learned on their own, but she also credits several wildlife rescuers for sharing their knowledge. “Love listening to other rehabbers that have been in the game for quite some time. Jamie (Rowe) with Grit and Grace (Farm & Wildlife Rehabilitation in Cynthiana). She's a godsend. She's taught us a lot. Nolin River (Wildlife in Glendale) with Mary Key, Wolf Run, you know, sanctuary in Nicholasville with Mary Kindred. All those people. They have no problem helping you. When you need the help, they jump in.”

In addition to caring for rescued wildlife, the Blankenships would like to open up the sanctuary for nature education classes.

PK says, “I really want to give back to the community. So, for sure, we'll definitely have educational programs out here for school kids anywhere from you know, if they want to bring their infant out here to the age of 99 or above. We want to teach everybody about nature, why it's important, how to keep the ecosystem going. Eventually, we might like to build walking trails for everybody to come out here and enjoy, because there's so many things that that are indigenous here to Kentucky, that many people just don't know about, because if you don't get out and explore, you won't know.”

The Blankenship’s hope to have the John C. Cavendish Sanctuary fully open by next Fall although they say volunteers are always welcome to help before then. More information on their work is at Enchanted Forest Wildlife Rescue of Kentucky’s Facebook page.

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Welcome to the workshop of Janice and her friends Judy Ridings and Jo Ann Park. The “three J’s” as they call themselves.

Best friends? Janice says, “we have been together since the 70s, and Jo Ann and I've been together since the 40s. I do not remember any time that we have fallen out. We just are on an even keel. And if we do get disagree on something, that's okay.”

On this weekday morning the “three J’s” are quietly sitting around a small wood worktable, heads bowed, staring down as their fingers weave small baskets.

The table is covered in baskets in different stages of completion. The basement has hundreds of baskets on tables, cabinets, and shelves. Coils of reed and cane hang from posts.

In the corner, a large set of shelves are filled with wood basket molds of different sizes. An old garden seed bin holds bags of basket-weaving parts like tiny nails, screws, and handle hardware.

If there’s any doubt how passionate these ladies are about weaving baskets listen to Janice.

“I'm lying in bed at night thinking about, what am I going to weave tomorrow? What colors Am I going in to put together? I would call it a passion. For me, I just love the simplicity of some of them. I just like the repetition, and it's just relaxing to me. It just makes me happy.”

Jo Ann says she appreciates their deep friendship. “I think my biggest thing is the fellowship is learning from my friends and being with them and doing it now.”

For Judy creating baskets of different shapes and styles is appealing. “It's an amazing thing to be able to create something. I've always done a lot of crafts. My mother was a seamstress, and from an early age, I learned to sew. I was about five, and so I, I did. I've done that all my life, but when Janice got me started weaving baskets, it was like a light bulb went off, and it was, it was just love at first sight.”

Many of the baskets they make have all kinds of purposes: carrying things, a wine holder, a door ornament, or an ice bucket. They sell their baskets at shows or give away to friends or donate to charity.

But they also make baskets to admire almost like pieces of art. The ladies specialize in a basket called the Nantucket. Remember those wood molds? The Nantucket basket is made on a wood base that’s attached by a screw to a wood mold. The mold is used to shape the basket. The base has tiny holes where the weavers insert staves that become the foundation for the basket. Then they weave cane strips in and out of the staves.

Jo Ann demonstrated. “The weaving is important, and that's the way I think all of us weave, is that you want to be sure that you have brought it behind that stave. You've sort of tucked it. See, I'm putting a little pressure with my hand. I use this hand to go to the next stave. So, we're carefully doing each stitch, if you want to go in sewing terms, so that we're pleased and proud of each stitch we've put on there.”

It can take dozens of hours to finish one Nantucket. The “three J’s” have even gone to Nantucket, Massachusetts where the basket originated. Jo Ann says it was a dream come true to learn from Nantucket Basket weavers. “I was in awe, because it was pretty new to me. But just to see the country and to be able to weave with these experts and weave have your friends with you. And I think my jaw stayed open the whole time. It was like, just can't believe this. I can't believe this is happening to me.”

The ladies travel several times a year to other states for basket weaving.

Judy says, “we go to classes when we go, and these are people that have national reputations as instructors. Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina. Judy and Joanne have been to Idaho. You take these trips, both to learn, but also you do. You're basically presenting to customers, right, or people that want to see how you do this.”

The “three J’s” have no plans of slowing down. Judy says, “Sometimes, if I've been intensely weaving for, say, a month. And I'm talking about weaving every day for a month. I walk away from it some, but not for long.”

Janice agrees. “Coming up every day, I already know what I'm going to be doing. I've picked out the basket that I'm going to weave. I have the handles. I will cook the three days. I'll take care of my husband, but during my main spare time I will be weaving on that basket.”

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Below her picture on the plaque it proclaims, “The Alex Theatre, lovingly named in honor of Alexandra Hudson Simpson.” Past the plaque, doors lead to a new black box theatre with mirrors lining one wall, and a piano in one corner.

It’s quiet on this afternoon, but normally it’s full of performers rehearsing, laughing, and focusing on their craft.

Alex Simpson, a Lexington actress, would have been right in the middle of all the action because she loved the theatre and all the pieces that make it breathe.

Lyndy Franklin Smith is a co-founder (along with her husband Jeromy) and Artistic Director of the Lexington Theatre Company.

“Alex was a force and a light. She was as kind and wonderful and loving and giving, but she also was a hard worker. She wanted to be pushed. She wanted to be challenged. She always pushed herself to be excellent. She was so much fun. She loved, loved, loved theater. She loved everything about it. She loved being on stage, but she also loved the work. She loved being in the rehearsal room. She loved the craft. She loved being around the company.”

Alex’s mother, Melanie Simpson Conley, says her daughter caught the theatre bug at an early age, around four years old.

“At a young age, she just commanded your attention. Part of it was her quirky little personality. But she loved the stage, and it loved her right back. The stage was her escape from all of her health woes. I think she found it a way to be someone else. When she would play an actor or actress, it was an escape from her reality.”

The reality was a journey that no parent ever wants their child to endure. At thirteen, Alex was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive cancer called CIC-Dux 4. It’s a sarcoma where tumors form on different parts of the body.

Melanie says Alex had a tumor the size of an avocado on the back of her neck.

“It's just soul destroying to see how few kids, how short their life spans are with it, how quickly it comes back, how aggressive it is. But she beat the odds for a really long time, just not giving up and refusing to let it beat her.”

Melanie says Alex refused to be limited or defined by cancer. “She did her own research, and she asked the tough questions, as I told you earlier, she wasn’t scared of the truth, and she just wanted to know what the game plan was. So how do we beat this? What do we do? And she didn't like the word no. It was, you know, that was not acceptable. It's like, why? What are we going to do? And how do we move forward? And if this is what I have to do to beat it, this is what I'm going to do. These are the cards I, you know, was dealt in life, and I just have to play them.”

As she endured surgeries and chemotherapy Alex pursued her love of the theatre. She honed her skills at the School for the Creative and Performing Arts, known as SCAPA at Lexington’s Lafayette High School, and she sang and performed in musicals at Central Christian Church in Lexington.

Michael Rintamma, Musical Director, remembers Alex. “She was sharp as you would ever believe. I think she knew every line in the entire show and every lyric in the entire show, even as a very small kid, and she you could tell that there was an energy. She just beamed when she was on that stage and right here in the right here in our sanctuary, right on these steps.”

Alex had lost her father, Billy Simpson, to cancer when she was eight so from an early age she saw the cruel reality of cancer. From age 15 to 21 Alex’s cancer disappeared, and she used the opportunity to enjoy other passions of her life like butterflies, travel, adventures, and all things French, one of her majors at Dartmouth College.

Her mother says, “If there is a silver lining to pediatric cancer, and it may be every cancer, not just pediatric cancer, it's the fact that you live like there might not be a tomorrow, so you don't just get through the day. You make the most of today, in case there's not a tomorrow. And that's why we live so fast. We traveled as much as we could with her, you know, she, she was a foodie. Loved eating, you know, wherever she wanted to eat, we would try to get there and get in so she could sample their food. You know, we just tried to make the most of her life, whatever she had.”

At 21, the cancer reappeared, and despite more surgeries and treatments over ten months, Alex graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College with a double major in French and Psychology. Despite the protests of her doctors, Alex and her mother traveled to Africa after graduation.

“She was determined to go. Her goal was to see all seven continents, and at that point, we'd been to five, and Antarctica just was not gonna happen, you know, but she wanted to go to Africa. She was a photographer, and she wanted to take pictures of elephants and giraffes and zebras.”

At the end of that summer, two weeks before her 23^rd birthday, Alex passed away. Her mother says two years later, Alex is always on her mind and in her heart.

“There is not a minute of the day that I don't think of her. And it could be as simple as a butterfly flying by, you know, in the backyard or at the arboretum or whatever. Or it could be a driver who drives like my daughter right there, drove like she drove. I mean, it can be that symbol, or it can be a song on the radio, but I can remember her singing, or somebody on television talking about musical theater, you know, it just there's so many triggers when you have that deep love.”

Before Alex passed, she and her mother set up the Alexandra Hudson Foundation from a trust left by her father. Melanie says she asked Alex to think of the trust like a pie that Alex could divide up and give out.

“I think Alex was mature enough and cultured enough to appreciate what she had, and she truly wanted other children to have that enrichment and that joy in their lives, especially if they had a setback, like an illness, right?”

Among many things that the foundation benefits, it helped build the “Simpson Theatre” at U-K’s Kentucky Children’s Hospital in Lexington.

After children and their parents check in at the hospital, they pass by a door and a wall of windows leading to the theatre. It’s brightly colored with a large mural featuring a smiling Alex in a fun pink dress.

She is standing on a bridge with a young child overlooking a river in Paris, France. The theatre room includes a table and chairs for art projects.

Jenny Decker is the Director of Philanthropy at the children’s hospital. “One of the things that Alex wanted for children was life to be normalized in the hospital as much as possible if children are admitted into the hospital, she wanted them to have opportunities on the inside of the walls that they sometimes were giving up outside.

Everything from theatrical performances to art activities to musical performances to maybe just hand massages, therapy, you name it.” Alex also wanted her church and its musical program to benefit. Central Christian Churches Musical Director says they’ve established an annual music program that will be held around Easter.

“The endowed legacy money pays for us to hire musicians to play. For that service, special soloists, if it calls for special soloists and just the materials. To buy the music that the choir would sing, and things like that as well.”

Alex’s foundation made a big impact on the Lexington Theatre Company and its new location.

Lyndy Franklin Smith says funding the new black box theatre was a breakthrough for the theatre company.

“So, it's this beautiful, beautiful, huge space, all black walls, so that when we convert it into performance space, it can feel like a theater. We have lots of plans. The Alex theater is going to grow. This is just the beginning. But what I love, and what I told Melanie as we were talking about this gift, one of our goals was to keep Alex's name on everyone's lips, and so the theater is called the Alex theater, or the Alex for short, and it is really such a beautiful thing, so heartwarming for me to just hear people who may not have even known Alex. You know, we tell her story.”

That story lives on through Alex’s foundation. Her mother says Alex would love the many ways she’s helping other people, especially children fighting cancer.

“I do think it gave her a peace of mind, knowing that if something did happen, that these organizations would receive gifts that can make a real difference, not just today, but down the road. For children, if you look at most of her gifts, they will touch children and help children have better quality of life, enrich their lives with theater, give them more educational opportunities, the church more spiritual outreach. So, I think that meant a lot to her.”

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He wants to show us a natural wetland area.

Biebighauser who lives in Morehead, travels the world restoring and building wetlands. He describes a wetland as a place with shallow water, knee high or less, that is home to many plants and wildlife.

“Wetlands have shallow water during part of the growing season, and wetlands have all these aquatic plants. So, in looking at these wetland areas that have been built that are less than one year old on the Round Hill Farm, they have hydric plants, all these sedges and bulrushes and flowering plants.”

Biebighauser says urban development and agriculture have destroyed most wetlands in the United States. He says it’s rare to find a private landowner who wants to restore wetlands and build new ones. That’s why Round Hill Farm is one of his favorite places where the owner, Dace Brown, has dedicated the land to helping the environment and attracting wildlife.

Biebighauser says that makes Round Hill Farm a special place.

“I'd like to take you on an adventure to see one of the most unique wetlands in Kentucky. It's called a vernal pond, otherwise known as an ephemeral wetland. And we're going to take a look at this wetland and see how it compares. This is a natural wetland which is quite special.”

Farm owner Dace Brown was unable to be with us for the farm tour, but her son, Hawkins, joined us. He’s grown up on the farm and pointed out some of the wildlife attracted to the wetlands.

“Normally when I'm coming out here, I'm looking for it. Kind of it almost looks like a little stick poking out of the water. Pokes out of the water about that far. It's a turtlehead. I've been spotting those my whole life. I would swim and catch them when I was younger. I mean, you're not gonna be able to see it, but I can see two right there.”

Biebighauser says some of the wildlife on the farm is rare.

“Now what was really exciting this year, I received a photograph from Dace Brown of our Roseate Spoonbill and one of the rarest bird observations ever in Kentucky. And the Spoonbill was using the new wetlands that we had restored here on the on the Round Hill Farm, and the Rosette Spoonbill, that's a bird that you find in Florida. And this was a juvenile bird, and it was spotted in the Louisville area. But it really did hang out quite a while here on the new wetland areas, which meant it was finding plenty of food to eat, which is really exciting.”

The wildlife biologist says wetlands provide many benefits including flood control.

“The weather patterns have been changing, and Kentucky is getting frequent and heavier rainfall and flooding is becoming more of a concern, and that's why communities are looking at restoring wetland areas so they can help reduce the flooding. And how does it do that? Well, wetlands act like a giant sponge. So, when it rains and rains hard and there's runoff, the wetlands will capture that water hold it and allow it to soak into the ground instead of rushing downstream and causing flooding to people who live further down in the valley.”

Wetlands also act as a natural insect control for mosquitos.

“During the day, we have swallows and Purple Martins flying around eating the adult mosquitoes. At night, there's all sorts of bats out here, and the bats are eating the adult mosquitoes. So, with all these mosquito predators in here, we do not have a mosquito problem. When we first started building these wetlands, the neighbors were concerned about mosquitoes. We explained to them, with all the life that will be in these wetlands, in fact, this will be a sink for mosquitoes. What do we say about a healthy wetland? Mosquitoes may check in, but they won't check out.”

On top of a hill at the farm, the sounds of nature are drowned out by heavy construction equipment.

John Utterback is on a tractor pulling a large roller that compacts the dirt. Utterback says he’s spent 70 hours on the project to build a new wetland on the hill.

“This was just a field here. Had a convex to it, and we're changing it to a concave, a saucer pool, so to speak, to hold approximately 10 to 12- inches of water when it's done.”

Biebighauser says he’s worked with Utterback on many wetland projects.

“Utterback is really concerned about his work, very conscientious. He wants to do the best job possible. He does everything he can to have these wetlands turn out the way that we want them to turn out. So, if we're trying to build for a specific animal or a group of plants, he's really interested in how to build the wetland and how we want it to look when it's done. He and I have built wetland areas in New York, and I think we went 29 days without a day off, close to 12 hours a day. He really works, and he builds the best wetlands I know of.”

Biebighauser started his career as a Wildlife Biologist with the US Forest Service, first in Minnesota and later in the Daniel Boone National Forest. He’s been working on wetland projects since 1979. He leads workshops on wetlands and has written several books on restoring and building them.

His website is www.wetlandrestorationandtraining.com.

His passion for wetlands brings him great joy, especially at places like Round Hill Farm.

“Do you feel like you've gone to heaven when you come to this place? This is very close to it. Yes, yes. In fact, sometimes I wonder if I am in heaven because I get to build wetland areas.”

 
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It also includes a calendar of upcoming events: “Daffodil Days & Easter Fun, Memorial Poppy Festival, Fireflies & S’more Fun, and Flower Fields”. Welcome to the dream come true of Justin and Susie Menke.

The 34-year-old Justin grew up on a farm. He and Susie went to the University of Kentucky and dreamed of one day owning a farm that would be open to the public.

Justin says, “The definition of agritourism, I suppose, is inviting people onto a farm to experience a farm and to hopefully learn something about farming and to have a good time. And that was something that was kind of a dream of mine.”

Susie remembers that dream. “I think it's always been a dream of his, and then it kind of transformed into being my dream as well. I mean, really, we were talking about this since we were in college many, many years ago.”

The Menkes bought the fifty-acre farm in Bourbon County and now have three young children.

Susie likes where they are raising their family. “Having room to run and play and just get in fresh air and being able to let the kids go out and run and play. But also, we are kind of in a unique position too, where we're real close to this small town, so we also have a real small-town community that's been super supportive of us as well.”

Two years ago they opened their farm to visitors, and say they’ve had thousands of people enjoy various farm activities beginning in the Spring.

Justin says, “In the Fall, we have a four- or five-acre corn maze, and we'll have a couple acre pumpkin patch where you can pick the pumpkins right from the vine, and we'll have some sunflowers, a couple acres of those. We also have a play area and some farm animals that people can come hang out with.”

Susie says the fields of flowers like larkspur are her favorite. “The flower fields in full bloom are pretty amazing. I love seeing other people's pictures come out of there, but also being able to get our family's pictures out there and have them have that extra special connection of it being our fields and our farm has been really special to us.”

The couple turned a three-story silo into a welcome center by adding a porch, front door, and some windows.

Behind the silo is a play area for children with old farm equipment refitted into fun activities. An old grain carrier has a couple of basketball goals, and a bunch of balls to shoot with. Hay bales surround two slides. Nearby a former water trough is full of pea gravel that children can play in like a sandbox.

A short stroll down a slight hill takes visitors to a four-acre corn maze that Justin designed and made.

Each year the farm features a different design. This year Justin came up with a design that has the outline of the United States, and the words “United” and “We Stand” cut into the corn field.
 
He hopes the corn maze sends a message of unity. “Especially in a kind of divisive political year, divisive politically. But you know, do we have to be divided in every other way too? So, you know, finding ways to be united through, you know, helping one another, strengthening community ties, just kind of doing some blocks of kindness for one another. So, you know, forget about the politics for a second. And, you know, trying to find other ways to be united.”

Justin starts making the maze when the corn is about four feet high. He explained the technology he uses which includes a drone and his phone.
 
“The initial design is from a drone photo of the field, because I've got to get kind of the design to fit on the actual field. And so, after the corn has been planted, I took a drone photo, and then I actually just print that out and start sketching the design on top of that drone photo. I'll scan that back in and overlay it in Google Earth on the field. I'm scaling it to the size of the field that sketch that I made. Once it's in Google Earth, I can just use the GPS on my phone.”

Justin uses orange spray paint to mark the maze paths he will cut with his riding mower. 

At times he disappears in his field of dreams.

“It's a lot of marking it out and then actually cutting it doesn't take too terribly long, as long as I can, you know, see my painting and follow it and remember what the design was without getting too lost in there.”

Susie is impressed with each year’s corn maze. “Yes, Justin's ideas always amaze me. He goes out and he plans, maps out these awesome corn mazes, and then I feel like I get to be surprised, just like everybody else. I get to see him first, of course. But it's really awesome to see it all come together.” 

They enjoy watching families experience a little of farm life. “Walk around and meet our pigs and sheep and llama and we've got a peacock and a pea hen, chickens, and ducks. And then, yeah, we take a hayride, kind of loop around the back of the play area and around the back of this corn maze, and then we'll come around on the other side and let people out near the pumpkin patch. And then we'll have a couple field of sunflowers as well. And then, of course, the corn maze.”

The couple says an added bonus is connecting with the people of North Middletown.

Justin says, “we have been really welcomed into the community here. North Middletown has been great to us. They, I think, really appreciate what we're doing and are excited about it, and so that's great to kind of be welcomed in. Then, you know, we've made new friends here. And so, we're, you know, we think we're really a part of this community.”

For more information about Middle Springs Farm go to www.middlespringsfarm.com.

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The small lake is part of 575 acres in Woodford County at the Life Adventure Center (LAC).

The children come from Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bluegrass. Program Director for the organization, Ben Heinlen, sits in the shade nearby and watches the children splashing and laughing.

He says the center is a good fit for Big Brothers Big Sisters. “The Life Adventure Center has generously offered twelve of our kids a free week of camp, which is amazing, and this is the second year in a row, and we had twelve kids come last year. We identified twelve new kids this year so other kids could have the opportunity to be here. A lot of things that these kids are getting to try this week, a lot of them they've never done before, horseback riding, archery, some things like that. It's a really good opportunity for them to experience some new things that they might not otherwise get a chance to do.”

There’s also another part of the camp that goes deeper.

The Life Adventure Center works with groups of people, ages six and up, who have experienced some form of trauma.

Heinlen says, “The majority of our kids are facing some sort of adversity or experienced trauma, and it ranges from anything from chronic poverty to the opioid epidemic, incarcerated parent, and death of a loved one due to gun violence or drug and alcohol substance use, and those things are impactful to anybody. But when you have those types of adverse life experiences as a child during your developmental stages of life, it's going to have a profound impact on you, not just as a child, but it's really going to impact you as an adult as well.”

The center’s Program Director, Megan Patrick, says today’s theme for the children is confidence.

“Hopefully they're feeling empowered and gaining some confidence. Over the lunch hour, we did a Strengths Assessment. They all got to decide what their top strength was. Some of the things that I heard today were like curiosity, open-mindedness, bravery.”

Patrick says, “We know that they've experienced something challenging in their life, and here, we empower them to be the best version of themselves. The way that it looks here is like these kids having fun, right? Like some of these kids come from a place where they aren't often celebrated. They might be kids that have some behavior referrals in school, so they kind of come with these assumptions about themselves. We get to flip that on its head here and empower them to make good choices. We set the expectation that you're a great human, and here's what that looks like here, and we let them meet that.”

The Life Adventure Center’s Executive Director, Julie Breitigan, says they served 3500 people last year.

“Some of our longest partnerships are with Amachi. These are all kids that have been impacted by parental incarceration. We also work with Sunrise Children's Home. We have a very strong partnership with Mentors and Meals, which is a mentoring program right here in Versailles. We have worked with Greenhouse 17. We have Big Brothers, Big Sisters, this week for camp. So, we have a lot of great partnerships.”

The center is funded through foundations, grants, and donations. Breitigan says they can help groups that need a financial boost.

“We never let finances be a barrier. If we know a group that's trauma-affected really wants to and needs to be out here, we try to find a donor. We try to find a grant that will fund it, and if not, we partner and we still find a way.”

As the nonprofit center’s name implies, adventure activities are a key part of helping the clients. There is horseback riding, canoeing, archery, a climbing wall, bike trails, and swimming.

Program Coordinator, Jenn Fore, is giving some instructions at the archery range.

She says an activity like archery “can be very empowering, especially if a kid has either never done it before or did it in the past and didn't feel like they were able to really figure out how this works. No child is going to leave here an expert in what we're doing, but we at least try to leave them with some education around this, some encouragement, some affirmation and speak into the good things that we see them doing. So, we try to be just very intentional about that.”

Positivity and building self-confidence are important parts of the center’s mission.

Patrick says, “a really beautiful thing about Life Adventure Center is that we get to be trauma-informed, meaning people get to show up as they are, and we can assume that anyone in the world has experienced some sort of trauma, whether that be a worldwide pandemic abuse in the home, neglect in the home. But the cool thing about LAC is we don't actually have to know each individual story. We know that they've experienced something challenging in their life, and here, we empower them to be the best version of themselves.”

The center also serves as a place to unplug, relax, meditate, and learn about yourself. Atop the highest point on the property sits a labyrinth. Rocks of different shapes form rows and paths that eventually meet in the middle.

Breitigan says of the labyrinth, “It's intentionally facing east to represent hope and to remind us that there's hope in challenging situations. We use it in a lot of different ways. One of my favorite ways we use this is with Camp Hope, and we've worked with them in the past through Bluegrass Care Navigators. We've had the kids that have lost someone special in their lives create luminaries and to represent their special person. And so, we line the hilly walk up with luminaries, and then we're able to have a fire in the heart of our labyrinth, and they can write notes to their special person. We have tiki torches all around. It's a really beautiful, beautiful evening.”

All part of the Life Adventure Center experience.

To learn more about visiting the center go to info@lifeadventurecenter.org.

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It’s a gelato mixing machine.

Standing nearby are Beth Richardson and her husband, Philip Enlow. The couple owns Spotz Gelato. They hand make the frozen treat, and so far, have come up with 250 flavors that they sell at their five gelato shops in Versailles, Midway, Georgetown, Shelbyville, and LaGrange.

Beth says, “It's an Italian style of ice cream. The recipe is a little different. The ratio of milk and cream is different. So, it has less fat, it has more milk and less cream compared to American ice cream. It also has less air. So, the flavor comes through a little more in gelato than in American ice cream.”

The couple started making their own gelato after a vacation to Mexico and tasting the treat at a local shop.

Beth remembers, “After so many visits after every dinner during the vacation, we said what's the secret to the guy that owned it. And he said, well, it's not ice cream, it's gelato. And that was the first time we'd heard of gelato. And he gave us a description of what it was. And part of his description was that it was made fresh daily with local ingredients. And I thought, well, let's go home and try and make gelato.”

The couple spent many hours in their home kitchen in Scott County trying to perfect the look and taste starting with cookies and cream. At first, it was a hobby.

“So, we started taking it to family events and potlucks and things where you had to bring a dish and one too many people said you should sell it and here, we are today. Of course, things have changed a lot. I'm not making it in my home kitchen anymore. You know, we built a commercial kitchen,” according to Beth.

They took that big step after selling gelato from a food truck in 2013 and named their business Spotz Gelato.

In 2019, the couple opened their first gelato shop. Turning their gelato-making hobby into a full-time job was not what they had envisioned. Beth spent three decades in the real estate field, and Philip worked in the medical industry.

I asked Philip if he ever thought this is where he would find his passion, and he said, “not in a million years.” Beth says it was a big leap to invest thousands of dollars into a commercial kitchen.

“Just on the faith that what we were making was good and that somebody would want to buy it. And they did. Thank goodness, right? So, it all worked out in the end.”

She comes up with recipes with Philip’s help. “You know what you can find inspiration anywhere. You know, you go out to dinner, you have a fabulous dessert, and you think that my first thought is how could you make this flavor into a gelato? And so sometimes our flavors that we come up with are from other things that we've eaten or pairings that we've liked together.”

I asked what the weirdest flavor is.

Beth said, “Waffles and bacon. It really is good. You know, you've got that sweet. And who doesn't like to dip their bacon in the syrup? That's with the waffle, you know, but it's a weird one. Most popular right now? Cookies and cream or banana pudding? Either one.”

Philip shakes his head when I ask if making and selling gelato is a get-rich-quick deal.

He and Beth say they typically work 80-hour weeks during their selling season, from St. Patrick’s Day to Halloween. She handles marketing, staff hiring, and recipes. Philip is her taste tester and in charge of deliveries, the warehouse, and managing three food trucks.

He says, “I like the freedom. I like it. It's very rewarding because I know it's, you know, I'm able to make people happy. And it's just I enjoy it. I really do.”

Beth agrees. “You know, as a teenager, I had a job in a donut shop one summer. And that's the extent of my food service business, you know, when I was young, and so I never dreamed that this would be what I would be doing. But through a series of, of happy events, this is where we've ended up and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. “If you could ask anyone that runs any kind of business and it's a blessing and a curse. The buck stops here as they say, you know, ultimately we're responsible for everything that happens in every piece of product that goes out the door.”

The couple now in their fifties have been married for 25 years and like how gelato fits into their relationship.

Beth says, “Everybody wonders how you can work with your spouse on a day-to-day basis, and it's because we really don't see each other. He has certain jobs that he does, I have certain jobs that I do. And then we come together at the end of the day, just like normal people that don't work together.”

More about their gelato can be found at spotzgelato.com.

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The General’s Cabin as it’s called is in Lee County near the town of Beattyville. You can’t see the cabin from a two-lane, winding mountain road. 

There’s a wood sign on a post partially covered in vines that has a white star and the words, “The General’s Cabin.”

A grass and gravel-covered driveway is marked with the street sign Little Ln. The driveway disappears into a thickly wooded area, and after several hundred yards you’ve arrived at The General’s Cabin.

It’s a simple-looking, one-story structure with a porch supported by four wood posts. Several rocking chairs, small tables, and planters full of colorful flowers sit below a porch fan. For the last twenty years of his life, this was the home of U-S Air Force Brigadier General James W. Little.

One of his four children, Joy Massey of Lexington, says the cabin is not luxurious. “It's not fancy. It's not elegant, but it's rustic.”

Massey and her husband Michael own The General’s Cabin which is made of golden oak and popular trees that came from the 40-acre property. The front doors lead into a vaulted ceiling main room with a kitchen on the left, a large stone fireplace in the middle, and a small loft at the other end. The room is full of comfortable leather couches, sitting chairs, shelves of books, and reading lamps. Two bedrooms and two bathrooms complete the rest of the 1500-square-foot cabin.

Michael says his father-in-law used materials from the surrounding area to build the cabin. The windows that cover the kitchen side of the cabin were in a nearby old school. 

“The windows all came out of an old school that he had attended as a boy. And he said to me, one day, yeah, you stare out these windows and dream of getting out of here.”

Joy says her father was born in 1920 and grew up in poverty a few miles from the cabin.

“He and his brother were both born in a little log cabin and was just he and his mother and his dad. There were no other children. Extremely abject poverty. They were so poor, that his brother had rickets. They didn't have really enough of the right nutrition. And that happens when you don't have enough B vitamins. They were extremely poor.”

After he graduated from high school in 1937, Joy says her father hitchhiked to the University of Kentucky in Lexington and became the first member of his family to go to college. She says Little was a firm believer in education as a way to move forward in life.

“He joined ROTC. And I think he got a small stipend. And he also worked at the coal plant at the University of Kentucky. And at night, he would shovel coal into the furnace at night, and then he would attend school during the day. He was an extremely industrious, highly intelligent, a complex kind of guy. But he had drive. And he was really quite brilliant.”

Little graduated with a degree in engineering. In 1941 eight months before Pearl Harbor Little was accepted for training as an aviation cadet with the Army Air Corps. This was before the U-S Air Force was established as a branch of the military.

Michael recalls a conversation he had with General Little.

“He said he decided he would rather be up in the sky than down in the mud. And so, he applied for and then was accepted into pilot training.”

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor thrust the United States into World War II, and Little spent much of the war in the Pacific as a member of the famed Fighting Tigers. The P40 Tomahawks had a distinctive paint scheme showing the mouth of a shark.

Little is credited with shooting down seven enemy planes qualifying him as an ace.

Michael says Little helped start the U-S Air Force after World War II ended.

“At the end of the war there were 25,000 pilots in the old US Army Air Corps. And they mustered out all but 10%. They kept 2500 to form the separate service Air Force. And he was one of the 10% they kept. He's one of the guys who created the separate service Air Force.”

Following World War II Little was a test pilot and an instructor, but his days as a fighter pilot were not finished. During the Korean War, he earned a Silver Star for his bravery on June 27th, 1950.

Little was leading an escort mission to protect four transport planes that were evacuating civil service employees from Korea. Enemy planes attacked the group of American planes. Little shot down one of the Korean attackers. He then led the group of U-S planes to safety despite a fire in his cockpit.

Joy says her father is a hero.

“He was a true American hero. And as you said, his story is the quintessential American story. He went from rags to riches.”

General Little would earn many commendations for his heroism, and in 1969 during the Vietnam War, he retired as a Brigadier General. Little and his wife Jane returned to Kentucky to live in a large Lexington home, but the roots of his early life in Lee County were deep.

Joy says her father began building a cabin near where he grew up that eventually he and his wife would live in full-time. 

“It was what I call his Boy Scout project. It was his first foray into building. And he had all of these books that he gathered prior to deciding what he was going to build. So, I think this was a fun project for him.”

Michael says Little was reclusive, but also welcoming to family and friends at the cabin.

“He was not a small man in any way. I don't just mean physically because I probably had two- or three inches height on him. But he was a big personality. And as I said to Jane after he died, Joy's mom, he resonated with people. But yeah, he was a big personality and there was something about him.”

General Little passed away on February 22nd, 1995. He and Jane had been married fifty years. She moved back to Lexington after the general’s death. After Jane passed away, Joy inherited the cabin.

“We weren't coming up here very often. And we all realized, what are we going to do? Are we just going to let nature take over and just let it crumble into the ground, which is what he really wanted it to do. I don't think he wanted anyone to spend the time and energy and effort it would take to, to rehab it after his death. And then infrastructure things starting to be done, my mother needed to, you know, replace the sewer system and, you know, do things like that. And it was really with her in mind that Michael and I took this project on, because she didn't want to live here. But we all decided that we didn't want you know, want it to crumble and go away.” 

The Massey’s opened the cabin to the public as a vacation getaway and are proud to honor General Little’s memory. Guests can read about his achievements in a biography at the cabin.

Joy says, “it's a story worth noting, you know, people who come to the cabin to stay and read the bio, always leave messages in our guest book, when they realize that I'm aligned with him in terms of being his daughter. And they always make comments about thank you so much, thank your family for you know, because military families have a tough time.” 

In the end, Joy hopes people understand why her father placed too much emphasis on education.

“I want people to know that no matter where they come from, no matter what conditions, they live under, that with hard work, perseverance, and education, and drive they can get to where they want to be. And that was, you know, this little boy who had nothing, barely enough food to eat at times, and made his way in the world and came back and loved living here as an old man.”

You can learn more about the General’s Cabin at www.generalscabin.com.

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Her owner, May May Barton, has placed treats on the ground at the base of some of the trees. It’s part of Pinky’s training to learn how to hunt for truffles. 

Truffles have a unique smell that’s described as earthy. The delicacy is a spore-bearing fruit of a fungus that grows underground near host trees.

May May and her husband Chris Barton planted 250 trees, mostly English Oak and Hazelnut. Before they were planted, each seedling was inoculated or covered in truffle spores.

The Barton’s harvested their first truffles last Fall.

Chris, a professor at the University of Kentucky in the Forestry Department, says for years he tried to discourage people who were interested in growing truffles in Kentucky. 

“I had people call me in my, you know, roll with the forestry department saying we want to grow truffles in Kentucky. And I was like, nah, don't do it. The winters are too cold. And then I had this friend who was insistent on buying land and doing this. I was like, that's a waste of money. And so finally I was like, well, let's give it a try. Let's just do a trial.”

A change in the weather patterns in the last decade in Kentucky prompted Chris to reconsider his objection to growing truffles. He says warmer winters and wetter weather have made Kentucky a more conducive environment for truffle growing. 

“The trees have done very well. And, you know, the fact that we've had a truffle or two is promising. So, if we can get like a decent crop this year, I'll probably add another acre of trees next year.”

Growing truffles is expensive and you need a lot of patience. The Barton’s say they spent up to $12,000 on 250 trees for the truffle orchard.

It typically takes six to seven years before you have your first truffles. Also factor in that growers spend thousands of dollars on laboratory work and maintenance of the trees. The truffles are about the size of a walnut, but they can also be as large as a baseball. There are dozens of truffle species. 

“Depending on what species you have, the black truffles that we have here are generally worth $500 a kilogram.”

That’s about two pounds.

The truffle has a rich history going back centuries. In 14th-century Europe, truffles were valued food among the wealthy. Italy and France have grown truffles for hundreds of years. Homegrown truffles did not appear on the farming scene in the United States until about fifteen years ago.

Margaret Townsend is the president of the North American Truffle Growing Association. She grows truffles on her farm in Allen County, Kentucky near Bowling Green.

Townsend says her twenty-five-acre orchard is one of the largest truffle-growing farms in the U.S. She says the West Coast is a key region for growing truffles. Townsend says Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina have also seen more truffle farms in the last decade.

She estimates there are about a dozen truffle growers in Kentucky including a brand name in the bourbon industry. Maker’s Mark in Marion County planted a truffle orchard a couple of years ago. 

Brian Mattingly is the manager of the distillery’s Star Hill Farm where 875 seedlings went into the ground. Why truffles? Mattingly says about eight years ago they discovered naturally growing truffles on the distillery property, and that sparked the idea for an orchard.

“We just set out to grow these native truffles so that we can use them in our cocktail program and in our restaurant program. And if you haven't had a cocktail that's been infused with truffles, you're definitely missing out. I think it just has a little bit more of an earthy taste. When cooking there is more of like an onion flavor, but in a cocktail, it just made a really earthy additional flavor I think to the bourbon that was already great.”

A key part of the truffle growing project at Maker’s Mark is Star. The bundle of energy is an Italian breed called a Lagotto Romagnola, and is trained to find truffles. Her handler is Amanda Humphrey, the distillery’s Advocacy and Experience Manager.

“He is the most loving dog that I've ever had the pleasure of looking after. And he is so smart. One of the smartest dog breeds that I've ever worked with, he picks things up incredibly well.”

After a year of training, Humphrey says Star is doing a great job finding truffles.

“Great news is that I don't have to say he's in training anymore. He's fully hunting truffles.”

Townsend says what’s needed to grow the truffle industry is more education. She says the public needs to understand the difference between artificial flavors of truffles served at local restaurants versus the truffles grown on farms that are not a chemical reproduction.

Part of that education will come this Fall when the University of Kentucky and Maker’s Mark host two-days of seminars and activities related to truffles. The North American Truffle Growers Association is organizing its “congress” on October 28th and 29th. Details on how to take part will be available at trufflegrowers.com.

If you have never tasted a bit of truffle, Chris Barton recommends you try it. 

“The truffles are so expensive that very seldomly would you eat one raw. Once we start producing out here, I'll give it a try. But usually, you shave it over pasta or eggs, or you add it to things to give flavor to your dishes. And generally, that's the way I've always had it is just, you know, lightly graded over, you know, something and it just adds a little kick to the food you're eating.”

 
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Kenna Smith, the founder of Living Clean, says just about every day it’s a person who is addicted on the other end of the phone looking for help.

But for Smith, it’s not just another stranger’s voice. She’s from Manchester and treats each person like their family or a friend.

“I know these people because they are me. And I know their motives. And I know what they're doing, what they won't do.”

The 47-year-old Smith can relate to people who are addicted. She says she spent the first 40 years of her life drowning in drug and alcohol abuse.

“I've been in about 30 or 40 treatment centers.” Smith says she started drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana at age eleven. Her mother had died, and she was adrift with how to deal with the loss. She was in and out of jail, cut off from family, and hopeless.

Finally, she reached the bottom when she suffered heart and lung problems. It was a wake-up call to sober up. She became clean on August 17^th, 2017. 

Four years ago, with the help of a friend, Lisa Burton, Smith opened the first recovery home in Manchester for Living Clean. Burton says a lot of people doubted them, but Smith wasn’t going to be stopped.

“This is definitely her passion. She loves to help people. She's very determined, she will not give up like anything that goes on. If any of my coworkers say, you know, what about this? I'm like, don't worry about it, because Kenna’s not gonna stop until she gets through it or figures it out.”

Today Living Clean has four recovery homes, two for men and two for women, with a total of fifty beds. Smith says the men’s homes stay full. Many of the clients stay up to a year as they begin a new life.

Each day is organized with activities like group discussion. Tammy Jo Jackson, the Clinical Director at Living Clean, also takes the client’s journey personally.

“Personally, for me, it's a spiritual thing. Yeah, it's a beautiful thing, because I've been there. And I've also, you know, lost everything in my life over and over and over until one day it clicked. And now I've been in recovery for eight years, and I could not have dreamed that I would have the luck that I have. So, to see someone else get that and actually fight for their life. Like it makes me personally like, want to cry. It's the most beautiful thing you will ever witness to see someone come in, completely devastated, completely broken without anything. And I don't even mean material things but no hope, no love for themselves, no self-esteem, and then go from that to someone who has self-esteem, who holds themselves proud and, like just builds this beautiful life, rebuilds with their children and gets custody back.” 

Smith says they have helped thousands of people in the last four years.

“I feel like that somebody gave me a voice when I was recovering. I think I want to be their voice. And when, you know, a lot of people won't listen to them. Because, you know, they're not trustworthy right now. They're not whatever, but I want to be the one who stands up, be like, you know, we're going to stay here. They’ve got a right to leave and be responsible citizens.”

One of the clients, Emily Taylor says she’s in her fifth month of recovery at Living Clean.

“They have taught me a new way of love. I came from a small town. And the judge labeled me as hopeless. I was a drug dealers’ child, grew up in that atmosphere. I was rejected all my life until I come here. They have a saying they love you back to life here and that is real.”

Smith and Living Clean do not hide from their mission. The recovery center offices and one recovery home are located right off Main Street in Manchester. 

Smith says she feels grateful for how far she and Living Clean have come, but sometimes she needs a reminder.

“Sometimes when I forget, I start getting ungrateful and mean or, you know, smart off to my kids or my staff, I have sat back down, reflect where I was at seven years ago. And where I'm at today.”

Living Clean has sixteen employees, and Smith keeps them stay focused on moving forward. 

“It's my career. My passion goes hand in hand. I don't think I could do this without going through that. It's a spiritual thing. To me.”

More on their mission and facilities is at www.livingcleanllc.com

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As you pull off Lawrenceburg Road in Franklin County and drive up a gravel road, you immediately notice a couple of metal sculptures in nearby meadows.

Welcome to Josephine Sculpture Park. A free outdoor sculpture park where nearly 80 sculptures are spread throughout the 40 acres of woods and fields.

Melanie VanHouten, the creator of the park, says it may be the only one of its kind in the state.

“You know, most sculpture parks start because there's a benefactor who collects giant sculpture, which means there's some kind of billionaire. And they bequest, like a huge sculpture collection to a museum. And then the museum says, what are we going to do with all this giant, amazing sculpture, we have to build a park to, to house it. And that's normally how it starts.”

But VanHouten says that’s not how she and her husband, William Duvall, started Josephine Sculpture Park.

“It normally doesn't start with two people that have no money. But we knew how to rig sculpture, we knew how to build sculpture, we knew sculptors. My family still had this farm, thank goodness. So, we had the land.”

The land. That’s a big part of this story, and how the park ended up in Franklin County.

50 years ago, the property was a farm operated by VanHouten’s grandparents. She has fond memories of growing up in Franklin County, and spending time as a child exploring the family farm.

“I explored this farm by myself. And so, there were, you know, natural wonders to find, and I found some prickly pear cactus on parts of the farm. There are ponds out here, I would try to catch frogs, you know. But there were also all kinds of stuff to build with. And so, I would explore in these barns, and back then this was the barn for the cattle, we had some beef cattle out here. This was the feed barn, and we had the tobacco barn too. And I would just, you know, play and imagine and, you know, have these big adventures that were totally unstructured. And it was just really good for my imagination.”

VanHouten went on to graduate from the University of Kentucky with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in the sculpture program. She and her husband moved to Minneapolis, and for nine years VanHouten taught sculpture at a university in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

She says she was on a tenure track position when disturbing news came from her family in Kentucky. Her grandparent’s farm was headed for commercial development.

“And that just hurt my heart. And I couldn't let it go. And I had to come home. I mean, it was a big decision for us to leave. My husband and I both were in jobs that we loved. And you know, I had gone to school my whole life because I wanted to teach sculpture. And that's what I was doing in a school that I loved and a city that I loved. But you know, things in your life happen that sort of guide you.”

VanHouten and her husband set up a non-profit and honored her grandmother with the name, Josephine Sculpture Park. They found funding through the National Endowment for the Arts and opened the park in September of 2008 with sixteen sculptures.

VanHouten says she found plenty of fellow artists interested in the outdoor sculpture concept.

“In the beginning, you know, I just called all my friends all over the country that I knew made big sculpture. I mean, I made big sculpture. I know all these people, you know, it's kind of a small community. I called them and told them what I was doing and they're like, oh, a sculpture park in Kentucky. I don't have any sculpture in Kentucky. I'll bring it to you. Or I drove all over the country with a trailer and picked stuff up and brought it back.”

Today the sculptures number nearly eighty. The park is open every day of the year from dawn to dusk.

A large colorful map details the various trails and layout of the park. At each sculpture an information sign has the name and background of the artist and the sculpture. Unlike art in museums, guests are encouraged to touch the sculpture, and in some cases, visitors are allowed to climb on the structures.

Some of them are twenty feet tall and weigh several pounds. Most are made of metal, wood, and stone. Some are permanent fixtures at the park, and others are on loan from the artist. There are even a couple of sculptures made of shredded rubber tires.

The artists come from around the world. Perhaps one of the most unique exhibits is a circle of eight stone walls that are covered in bright colors of graffiti.

Visitors can bring their own paint and spray cans to mark the walls with words and pictures.

“We get some really seasoned graffiti writers that come out here and do amazing artworks, I mean, amazing paintings. And then we get, you know, kids that come out who are just kind of interested in like, what does it feel like to spray on a wall or to put their name on something, and they can do that here, you know, in a in a safe way. But then we also have, if you get close, you'll see like people write with markers or paint pens. And we've had poetry workshops out here, where we use this space for kids to write poetry on the walls, inspired by the natural landscapes. So, you really see a little bit of everything, and people just continue to paint over.”

VanHouten has also established an artist residency program at the park. Artists stay in housing nearby and can use the metal and wood shops, and tools to create sculptures.

“The goal is to exhibit work and to be able to pay artists to be able to make new work and to experiment. It's scary to be innovative on your own nickel, when you have to eat food, and pay rent and mortgages and things. So, you know, we're really committed to supporting them, and we encourage them to do things like they might not do other places.”

Nationally acclaimed blacksmith artists Matt and Karine Maynard of nearby Lawrenceburg support the park’s mission and created one of the sculptures.

Matt says, “I think it's a great way for the community to access art in a in a real tangible way. And you can walk up and touch these pieces. They're not on a pedestal in a museum which is fine, those are great, you know museums are fantastic but something about being able to come and touch a piece and physically be there with it to me I think that's really important for the health of the community and what Melanie has done to raise the level of arts in not just Frankfort but in Kentucky is something that I think is really commendable and we're really proud of what she's done.”

To support the park VanHouten says she submits ten to fifteen grant proposals a year plus she accepts donations and has a park membership available for patrons. Each year in June the park also hosts an event to support Josephine Sculpture Park.

“We have a great fundraising event each year called ‘Barn Raisin’, which celebrates conservation, culture and cuisine. And it's a musical concert with a farm to table dinner and it's a fabulous event.”

Tickets are on sale now for the gathering on Sunday, June 9^th. More information on that event and other events is at www.josephinesculpturepark.org.

In the end, the park is a labor of love for VanHouten.

“I'm grateful that I like had the vision, but also that so many people in my life. And maybe I picked those people, but you know, so many people in my life said yeah, do this, I'm gonna help you do it. We're gonna do it. It's gonna be amazing. And the community was like, yes, please. Let's do this. And it's just grown tremendously from then.”

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What started as a side hustle turned into a full-time business called Dirty South Pottery.

The 34-year-old Ashley says, “To think that we started not really knowing what we're doing as a side hustle in our backyard studio 16 by 16. Very small little shed with a very small kiln. So, to grow it to what it is today and hopefully even further, we're just grateful every single day for it.”

This is not only a story of building a thriving business, but it’s also a love story. “Why didn't I meet a guy who was a sort of like a printmaker, or a photographer? No, it had to be a ceramicist. I think that our relationship did help our love for pottery because it was what we had in common, too. And so, I think that it is kind of tied. Our love story and our ceramic story are tied together in a way that you kind of can't separate the two of them.”

Ashley and Carvel met at Eastern Kentucky University. Ashley started at EKU with thoughts of studying nursing. She switched her major to photography, and she says that required taking a ceramics class.

“I was very nervous about working in clay, I wasn't sure how to create in that condition. And so, the ceramics one I took because I had to, and ceramics two I was trying to avoid. But circumstances, the class schedule, everything made it to where that was my only option. And so, I took it and that's where I fell in love with it.”

Carvel also didn’t automatically take to working in ceramics. The 37-year-old remembers going to a community ceramics class in Glasgow, Kentucky.

“It was a probably a two-and-a-half-hour class. And I got so frustrated with it that I got up and I walked out after 45 minutes. And I never wanted to sit at a potter's wheel again. And then for my art major I had to, and I was scared to death because I knew going into it how difficult it is. And the idea of doing this for a grade was horrible. So, I ended up going into it and working with it.”

Carvel graduated from Brescia University in Owensboro with a major in Art and Ceramics. He then took classes at EKU and worked in the ceramic studio where he met Ashley.

They married and moved to her hometown of Winchester. Their hobby of making pottery expanded into a lifetime commitment when they bought a century-old building on Main Street in Winchester and opened Dirty South Pottery in 2015.

Today, the Normans say they’ve sold their clay creations to customers in every state. Ashley says it’s a humbling experience.

“We're so grateful for anybody who wants to come in and buy our work, but we have collectors now and people who anytime that we release something they want the new one. They have cabinets full of our work.”

The front part of their ceramics studio in Winchester has shelves full of their pottery. Bowls, cups, mugs, and plates in what Carvel describes as cool and neutral colors like aqua.

Their trademark phrase “this might be bourbon” is on many of the mugs, and they say one of their most popular items is the “Bigfoot Mug.”

Yes, it has a silhouette of the famous mystery figure.

All their pottery begins as a chunk of clay. The first step is called wedging. Ashley slams the clay on a table and pounds it with her hands.

“It's very similar to what you might see with kneading bread so there's gonna be some loud noises. We’re trying to get all of the clay molecules kind of going in the same direction. Cracking is a big problem in our industry if you don't have clay that's kind of all homogenized. Then you will get things like air bubbles and clay kind of going in opposite directions and that will cause a crack. Whereas whenever you make bread, you want to aerate this is the opposite. We're trying to get any air out of the of the clay.”

The next step is slamming the clay onto the center of a pottery wheel about the size of a large plate. The metal wheel spins inside a tub sitting on a worktable. The speed of the wheel is controlled by an electric foot pedal just below the table.

The Normans say getting the clay centered on the pottery wheel is key.

“I want to make sure that the clay is good and centered. Because if it's not centered, then there might be more clay on one side, less clay on another,” explains Carvel.

They dip their fingers into a small water bowl as the clay begins to take shape on the spinning wheel. Ashley says learning how to use their hands to mold and shape the clay takes countless hours.

“I'm using the base of my palm to force the clay down and flat from a ball to a kind of more of a plate form. The sponge is there to help have some water because it's very easy for the piece of clay to dry out in this process, and the oils from my hands will cause problems. Whenever it gets too dried out, that's when it'll hang up on your skin and it will pull it off center.”

Once they have the clay in a bowl, cup, or plate shape it’s still soft, so it sits on a shelf overnight. Next, the ceramic item is ready for one of three electric kilns that heat it to 1800 degrees and make it hard. After baking in the kiln the Normans add a liquid glaze for color to the ceramic piece.

The couple says part of their success is staying flexible with what they produce.

“We have to be ready to adapt and ready to ready to change our minds on things. I know, just in the last year, we had a lot of plans and a lot of designs. I was in the process of redesigning a couple different items, when we realized that we were going to have to change our clay body. And that completely changed the complete direction of where we were going for the rest of the year and for this year entirely. So, I keep it pretty open,” says Carvel.

They also want to be community-oriented. Ashely says it’s important to help grow the arts in Winchester.

“I think that kind of mentality really lends itself to small businesses that we can foster a community where we can come to each other with problems and then try to get some solutions for everybody. So as far as having a community of like-minded small businesses, that was something that we always really liked the idea of, and then also just being a part of the community as a whole, to have people who have been with us from the beginning, who were here the day that we opened up our store, and they're still coming in shopping with us. And anytime they have friends or family in town, they come and bring their visitors down to us, that all makes this worthwhile. It makes it feel like home. It's just been very integral to our business as a whole.”

Dirty South Pottery is located at 38 North Main Street in Winchester, and at dirtysouthpottery.com.

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The 60-year-old Carloftis is a tenth-generation Kentuckian who grew up in Rockcastle County near the Daniel Boone National Forest. He recalls as a child that his family had no television but lots of books to discover and nature everywhere.

Carloftis says the outdoors became his classroom. “We played outside. And that's what we did. I learned nature. I love and to this day, when I come home, and people know this, I don't go inside. Now I've been working all day long. I don't go inside until it's dark till I have to. I mean, I'll come in and change clothes. I gotta be outside all the time.”

Carloftis took that love of the outdoors and built a career of designing and building garden landscapes at many of the most well-known bourbon distilleries, horse farms, and private homes in Central Kentucky—places like Makers Mark Distillery, Castle & Key Distillery, Ashbourne Farms, and Mt. Brilliant Farm.

“The people are what I'm interested in is just as well, because that's what makes each garden. I don't go in there and just go stamp, stamp, stamp. I try to figure out what they want. Sometimes they don't know what they want, but I can figure it out. I can talk to him; I can figure out exactly how to make them happy.”

Carloftis calls himself a country boy, but his breakthrough in landscape design started in New York City.

Carloftis had graduated from the University of Kentucky and spent the summer of 1988 visiting Manhattan. That visit turned into 26 years. Carloftis started designing and installing rooftop gardens in Manhattan. It was a learning experience beginning with his first client.

“I took the elevator up. And I thought we would get out in the house, and then go up on the roof, when in fact, most of them they weren't that way. The penthouse was on the top, and then you had wraparound terraces all the way around. This one was huge. So, I will never forget, I learned a lot. Because I tried to learn a lot every day, you keep on learning, let's hope.”

He says his rooftop garden business spread by word of mouth, and over the years his customers included celebrities like Julianne Moore and Mike Meyers.

“So, Estee Lauder’s granddaughter, Jane, I did her amazing terrace at Park Avenue. It was a huge one. It was the building. The apartment was only a one-bedroom. So, it had huge terraces around it. And I did that. It was so beautiful. She's president of Clinique. And I was with her 15, 20 years.”

Carloftis estimates he created around a hundred rooftop gardens in New York City. At the same time, he had his eye on a dilapidated historic home called Botherum in downtown Lexington.

Built in 1851 on thirty acres, Botherum was the home of Madison C. Johnson, a friend of Abraham Lincoln and Henry Clay. The Greek and Gothic Revival home had fallen into disrepair and was boarded up when Carloftis bought it in 2012.

He had a lot of work to do. Down in the basement, a group of unwelcome guests had to be removed.

“I had to get rid of, had to pay to get rid of 16 raccoons that were living down in here, repointed all the walls, and then the ceiling was rotted.”

Carloftis turned the property into a showcase that has been featured in, to name a few, Southern Living, Martha Stewart Living, and Garden and Gun Magazine. Each wing of the home made of Kentucky limestone has several columns outside, and the roof is capped off with an eight-sided cupola where an American flag flies.

Carloftis enjoys the sunshine, and each room has windows that give visitors a view of the gardens outside.

The original wood floors made of ash, poplar, and heart pine have all been restored.

Carloftis filled Botherum with an eclectic collection of antiques and items from junk stores. But there’s nothing stuffy about the furnishings.

“I tried to make everything easy and comfortable just like this sofa. I bought this in a junk store in Columbus Ohio. I take things that some people would throw away or just let fall away like a house or a little building or outbuilding, and I turn them into something that can be enjoyed for generations.”

A spiral staircase leads to the basement that features a custom chestnut bar, a large billiards table, a guest bedroom, and a huge metal sign that advertises a church revival.

In addition to the main house, Carloftis transformed a 1980s garage into a three-story pool house with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a sitting area. Called the Carriage House, it’s available for vacation rental and also serves as a party area for charity events.

Outside a massive ginkgo tree that was a gift from Henry Clay gives visitors shade and a large porch swing to enjoy relaxing moments.

Carloftis created gardens throughout the property with fountains, rock paths, bench seats, and Kentucky-native plants. Asked his advice for people who don’t have a large budget and want to start improving their home’s landscape design, Carloftis recommends working on one small area at a time and using perennials.

“Like I'm getting ready to split dailies, hostas, all kinds of perennials coming up soon here in the next few weeks. And if I can take one this big, split it in half, each of those halves will be that size. So, it's like you know the fishes and the loaves. You can make a big garden by using good perennials and split them up each year. And you have to keep on going. And again, perennials are plants that come back.”

To show some of his finest landscape and garden work a new book is available now called Jon Carloftis Fine Gardens. He highlights various horse farms, distilleries, and private estates with before and after pictures along with pictures of the owners.

“This is my fourth one. I did before and afters because I want people to see what you start with. I just wanted to share the beauty of Kentucky. These are all Kentucky gardens, ranging from big farms down to small little half acre, or less gardens, urban gardens. There are just vegetable gardens, all kinds, but it shows, it tells you the story about each.”

As for his home at Botherum, Carloftis says it will be around long after he’s gone, and he relishes that legacy of beauty.

“When I'm gone this place is going to be here because I do things right and it has been fixed. It's here. It's here for a while. So, you give it a lot of love. Pure love and it gives it right back to me this place. I'm just in love with it. I just love it.”

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Jim says his great-grandfather had served in the Union Army’s 5^th Colored Infantry, and their courage during a battle in Louisiana helped President Lincoln push for more black soldiers in the Union ranks.

James and Lucy Coleman raised six children, including Jim’s grandfather John who along with his wife Mollie would take over running the family farm in 1910. Later in 1950 Jim’s father and mother, Sam and Cleo Coleman, took the reins of operating the farm.

Today Jim who bought the family farm in 2001 honors and remembers the generations who came before him. He understands they faced many obstacles.

“They didn't waste any time. They focused on what is it that we can do, not what we can't do. And so that was passed on to John and Mollie's kids with a sense of urgency, a fierce sense of focus of what do we need to do today, to be able to build wealth and a great future for all of our kids. And that's what they focused on.”

Near the new home Jim built on Coleman Crest Farm, his grandparents are buried marked with a small flat gravestone.

“This is truly where I feel their spirits right now, they're here. And it's just a marker that they again, they persevered and saved this land and raised the seven beautiful children that all went out and did well.”

Jim traveled many miles before coming back to the family farm that he grew up on. Jim went off to college at Howard University in Washington D.C.

He says all four of his siblings received college educations.

Coleman studied economics and married his college sweetheart. He and his wife Cathy would eventually live in New York and make a couple of trips every year to visit the farm in Fayette County.

Sadly, life took a drastic turn when Cathy was diagnosed with breast cancer. Jim says she fought it with courage, but in 2020 she lost the battle.

They had been married 37 years, and Jim says he was lost without her.

“When you get hit with something like that, the only thing that I've learned to do is to number one, remain very busy. Or you'll lose your mind to find a new purpose. And I didn't have to go far. I said my main purpose is going to be I'm going to go home and restore my heart and restore my family farm and absorb a lot of my thoughts, my energy, I didn't get as depressed as able to contribute to our community.”

 Jim focused on turning his 13 acres into an organic vegetable farm where he would grow produce like okra, potatoes, beets, onions, squash, and green beans that were harvested in the morning and delivered to stores and restaurants in the afternoon.

“I'd like for my produce to not be more than two days old. What I do now is pick and deliver so when they get it, it's less than two hours old. Now what does that mean to the customer? To the customer that means they've got a longer shelf life. They can have it stored in their facilities longer, but most importantly it's fresh and it tastes good, and it looks good on display which makes the customers buy it faster.”

Jim likes to say he’s a businessman who happens to be a farmer.

“I'd say the first year I did about $5,000 in gross sales. The following year did about 8,000. Last year, we did probably about 13,000. This year, we're gonna do over $100,000. And that's from taking on two big accounts. I'm blessed that I've got a good relationship with this firm called Black Soil Kentucky. Ashley Smith is the CEO of the firm and she's a great aggregator and a connector. And she connected me to a great opportunity called Feeding Kentucky.”

While he’s growing healthy food, Jim also enjoys feeding the minds of people, especially younger folks who are interested in agriculture.

“When I talk to young people, and I've said this, just in the last week, when I talk in front of them, I say, a slave buying land. What excuses do you have? They could not vote, they had just taken the shackles off, they could not go to JPMorgan Chase or any other bank to get a loan. Many times, they didn't know how to read or write. Many were still dealing with a lot of trauma. But they didn't give up or quit. And they decided to focus on what they could do, not what they couldn't do.”

From a personal standpoint, Jim says he’s grateful for the hard work and determination to succeed that those who plowed the farm before him passed on to the next generation.

“They ended up generating wealth for future generations and being able to have an impact. I like to say that on March 27, 1888, that was the day I was conceived as well as 300 other descendants of James and Lucy Coleman. It didn't happen overnight. It did not. They were so focused. Now one thing too is that they were very spiritual. They honestly deep in their bones believed in the Lord and that things can be better as long as they worked hard. And as long as they were responsible.”

Jim’s farm was part of an African American community called Utteringtown that included a church and a one-room schoolhouse. Utteringtown was one of twenty hamlets in Fayette County where freed black slaves lived, went to school, and worked.

Today a few buildings remain from those hamlets.

All of the hamlets are in the 12^th District represented by Council Member Kathy Plomin. She’s part of an effort to preserve and honor the history of those freed slave communities.

Plomin says, “Most of them did have a church, and then others had even more than churches. They're very tight communities, very generational, and they still exist, some still exist, and you've got still some of the original families. But back in the day, you know, obviously, those children didn't go to school, no public schools. So back in the 20’s Rosenwald schools were built across the country. We had five in Fayette County, only one exists today. And that's where we're going to build eventually a cultural center to recognize and celebrate these hamlets.”

Plomin believes it’s important to recognize the history of freed slaves in Fayette County.

“This is part of all of our heritage, but especially our black citizens. When you think about Lexington, Kentucky, if it wasn't for that group of folks, there wouldn't be the involvement of our community like it is today. They did a lot of hard work. They did a lot of the work. And we need to celebrate that and make sure kids know that their ancestors were part of a very vital part of the growth and the perseverance of Lexington, Kentucky.”

Jim Coleman is working hard to preserve that history, and he wants Coleman Crest Farm to be a part of that for future generations.

“The big hope is that I want to have this farm to where it's in perpetuity. There's some way I can have a partnership with UK or Kentucky State and my fund to where it's a teaching farm where young people, especially disadvantaged youth, women can come out here and experience what I've experienced to learn how to be a farmer, how to understand the business of farming and how to get their own farm. That's what I would love that would be the ideal situation.”

In honor of his wife Cathy, Jim Coleman gave three million dollars to fund scholarships at UK and Howard University. The Cathy and James Coleman Scholarship Fund at UK will help future farmers and leaders.

Coleman says his gift started with the grit and determination his ancestors had 136 years ago.

“I'm just so impressed with all of my ancestors, with all that they didn't have access to all the things that I have today. But they were still able to persevere, kept their focus, operated with a fierce sense of urgency, and accomplished so much with so little.”

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Dr. Mike Eden, a family physician, is 59 years old and looks trim and youthful as he volleys one afternoon on an indoor court at the Lexington Tennis Club. 

“One of the things I love about tennis is the traditions of tennis, that it's a game for gentlemen. You know and women. And I love that part of it. And I think that's just about as more important than actually winning because it shows your true character.”

His love of tennis began in 9^th grade in Elizabethtown when he was cut from the high school baseball team.

“I had friends on the tennis team, and they invited me to come out to play. And that's how I got started. And then I got what I call tennis fever. I loved it, couldn't get enough of it, would play eight hours a day that summer after my sophomore year.”

Eden went on to play for the Georgetown College Tennis Team where his wife Marsha also played. Later both their daughters would play tennis for Georgetown College.

“That's one of the wonderful things about tennis is, it is truly a family sport. And so, the whole family can play together. And we had a lot of matches together. As a family over the years when the girls were young, I would introduce them to tennis, and get to go out and spend time with them and play.”

Eden not only played tennis, but through four decades, he took on leadership roles in the sport. He’s the former USTA (U.S. Tennis Association) Kentucky President, a KY Tennis Hall of Fame Inductee in 2018, and started the KY High School Tennis Coaches Association. 

Eden’s love of the game took on another level of passion when he began buying and collecting old tennis items.

“I always was interested in history growing up and I had a stamp collection and coin collection. I love history, I love organizing things and learning the story behind those particular artifacts. So, I came across a metal tennis can back in the early 80s at a garage sale. And it was an old Slazenger can made in South Africa. And that was around that time they had switched over to plastic cans. I thought that's kind of neat. And that's how it started.”

For the next 40 years, Eden looked for historic tennis items at auctions, on eBay, and from other collectors.

Can it get expensive? Eden says, “Yes, some of them are expensive. Yes. But most of them are reasonable tennis memorabilia in comparison to baseball, or golf is really undervalued. And so that's good for me as a collector, I can find a lot of things for reasonable prices as opposed to if this same memorabilia was baseball from the 20’s it'd be worth a lot more.”

David White, the Director of the Lexington Tennis Club that Eden joined in 1990, says the doctor’s tennis memorabilia collection is one of the best in the world.

“I can't imagine a bigger collection in the world. Honestly, I don't know how his wife feels about the basement being completely taken out. But it's quite impressive.” 

I asked, “You seriously think it's one of the best in the world? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, you're in the top five for sure. He's very modest, but I can't imagine. It's like a museum.” 

Eden’s collection starts in his living room where a wall of shelves displays hundreds of tennis memorabilia. Decades-old boxes and cans of tennis balls, cardboard advertisements for the game, and old books about tennis. One of the tennis racquets on display in the living room is more than 140 years old. 

“This is called a flat top racquet, flat on the top. And it was made in 1880. And this particular racquet is an Ajay Reach from Philadelphia. But the inlay on it. I mean, look at the craftsmanship on that. It's beautiful. I think it's a work of art.”

He even has a leather boot tied to lawn tennis and horses. “It's specifically a horse boot for tennis. And this came from England turn of the century in 1900. They would have to carry a pole, a heavy roller to roll the grass courts. They would wear these boots so they wouldn't tear the courts up. And since we live in horse country, I had to have one of these.”

But Eden’s living room is just the tip of the iceberg with his tennis collection. I followed him down the steps to his basement, and it was hard not to be amazed.

“Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, how much? Like how many items do you have down here?” Eden estimates about 4,000 tennis items. He has them arranged chronologically around the 2,000-square-foot basement. 

His collection began when tennis was created in the 1870s in England. 

“Tennis, as I mentioned to you earlier was patented by British Major Walter Wingfield in 1874. And this is a repo of the original patent, which the original patent is in Newport, Rhode Island, International Tennis Hall of Fame. And so, we're coming up on the 105th anniversary. It was the 23rd day of February 1874.”

Back then they had large wood boxes that contained tennis racquets, balls, and the net.

“This particular box set came from 1875. It's only a year after tennis was patented. And then the earliest rackets are like this one up here. This is called a tilt-top racket. And they made these in the 1870s. This is an English racket, so it has a slight tilt to it.”

A visual history of the sport of tennis continues around Eden’s basement. As we move through his collection Eden points out that women in long dresses played tennis in the early years of the sport.

“I'm glad that women played from the very beginning, you know, and that's one of the things I love about tennis. The only thing that you need in order to play tennis is a racquet, ball, and somebody else to play with and a desire to play, because anybody can play. And you can play from all ages, you can play your whole life. That's the wonderful thing about tennis.”

He has a lot of vintage advertisements for tennis with products like Lucky Strike Cigarettes, Ladies Home Journal, Coca Cola, Cleary’s Ice Cream, and Dairy Orange Drink. Part of one wall holds racquets and presses.

“The purpose of the press was to keep the racquet from warping. And they made lots of different variations of this press. And I was telling you earlier, there's a collector in New York, and he only collects presses. That's the only thing he collects.”

Nearby Eden shows me a pinball machine from 1977 that he says was the only kind made with a tennis theme. He has so many things that two other rooms are also filled with tennis memorabilia. He’s very proud of his tennis can room which has three walls nine feet high with shelves.

“I have over 700 different tennis cans that come from all over the world, very colorful. As well as I have about 150 different tennis ball boxes that also have great advertising and graphics on them as well. Some of them have players. It's the thing that when people come to visit, this is the room that people really liked the best.”

Eden admits there’s a thrill to searching and finding a rare item. “It's the thrill of the hunt. You're always looking for things and it's exciting when you find something you've been looking for and you may be looking for it for decades and all of a sudden it comes available, which is what happened with this Tennis Magazine, which just went out of publication. I had all of them except for August of 1965. It started in May of ‘65. Finally, this past summer, I found the one I was looking for. So that was exciting to complete the collection.”

Eden is also looking to the future. What will become of his massive tennis memorabilia collection?

“Oh, absolutely. I've given a great deal of thought to that. I want to be able to donate the collection and so people can see it. I've talked to the Kentucky Tennis Hall of Fame. It currently is at the local tennis club. There's some thought they may have a site where they may want to decorate it with tennis memorabilia. I would love to do that. UK, I've talked to Dennis Emery about the possibility when they build a new UK tennis facility. They want to have a little Hall of Fame and I'd be happy to donate some things there. And then of course I may donate to the Hall of Fame up in Newport, Rhode Island.”

As for his playing days, Eden has no plans to stop. He just loves the game too much, and he says don’t discount the social part of the sport.

“I think it’s as much important as the actual fitness in play. In fact, one of the things about tennis that you may have heard of or be aware of is that there was a study from the Mayo Clinic proceedings. It was published several years ago, and it was a Danish study of people over time when compared to sedentary people to people who played various sports and tennis was shown to add about 10 years. And they found that, that social sports, the social aspect of it helps people live longer. It wasn't just the exercise. When you're a tennis player, wherever you go, other tennis players are very accepting, and so excited to play with you. And you get to meet people literally all over the world. So, the social aspect to me is huge.” 

If you see Dr. Eden on the court, say hello and ask him about that tennis memorabilia collection in his basement.

 
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Whitney Lewis pulls her maroon, 1998 Ford pickup truck into a boat ramp area at Cedar Creek Lake in Lincoln County.

It’s an unusually warm January day of 50 degrees sandwiched between days of more chilly weather. Ideal for Lewis as she prepares her kayak for the water with a couple of large bags.

“Rope and headlamps and dry clothes and first aid kit. There's a lot of stuff in here. You just never know what might happen when you're out there so try to come prepared.”

Lewis puts on a life jacket and adjusts her paddle as she pushes the kayak into the water. She’s dressed in a pink winter coat, blue jeans, and knee-high mud boots. Lewis paddles for a few minutes before pulling up to the bank and tying up. She’s on a mission to pick up litter scattered in the nearby woods. It all began last April when she did a Facebook challenge.

“I could have never dreamt that it would be as big as it is now. You know, I started out with an Earth Day goal, and one month to get 500 bags, and we exceeded that goal to 750. And now to think that we're at 11,000. Plus, I never would have dreamt that, that it's my calling. I've totally found my calling in life. You know, it's my sole purpose. I honestly believe that now. Did I know that when it started? No. But I do now.”

Yes, one person, Whitney Lewis, says last year she filled 11,000 small grocery bags with trash from Kentucky rivers and lakes.

“I started with grocery bags, because everybody has an abundance of them and they're free. So that's how it started was me just taking a bag or two in my pocket. And now a bag or two is not enough.” At each location, Lewis attaches all the bags of trash to her kayak, and paddles it back to her truck.

Lewis says it’s become a full-time job. She’s also an insurance agent and the mom of two daughters.

Asked if she picked up litter at an early age, Lewis recalls, “I can remember going to Texas Roadhouse with my parents, and seeing nuts all over the ground and just feeling like it would be satisfying to clean them up. You know? Actually, when I was a child, my dad had us clean out our garbage bin, about once a month, okay. And when he would tell us that this weekend, we were cleaning out the garbage bin. I mean, like, I would do anything in my power to get out of it. I hated it. And now look at me, it's just the strangest thing. How ironic is life.”

Lewis says she’s filled bags of trash at Lake Cumberland, Nolin River, and Green River Lake just to name a few places.

What kind of reaction does she get from people? “Here at Cedar Creek Lake, I came in one summer night. And there were guys out here fishing. And I had probably 40 bags on my boat. And this guy walked up to me. And he said I'm so sorry. I said for what and he handed me a water bottle. He said I just threw that down before you got up here. So doing it with love in your heart and not complaining about it can change the way people think. You know, you're not trying to put them down. You're not being judgmental. You're just out here trying to perform a service through love. And I think that people see that, you know, that's what changes their way of thinking.”

To get the word out about her cleanup efforts Lewis posts pictures and encourages others to help on her Facebook page called “Sun KYst sticks and stones.” She also has a GoFundMe to help support her travel and time. Her new goal for 2024 is a total of 25,000 bags of litter.

“I think about the future, I would like to take it to a national level, be amazing for other states to do this as well. That's my goal is to go to a national level. And I also have some other things in the works. For one, I want to start talking at some schools, you know, because that's where it starts is with our children, you know, and, yeah, I want to expand. Absolutely I do.”

Lewis is determined to clean up Kentucky. It’s her passion. “It's a power that's much greater than me. And I'm honored and grateful to be that vessel to be honest with you. I mean, whatever it is, it's made it to where I absolutely love going out and cleaning up these places. Like it's all I ever want to do. You know, it's not normal, that's for sure. But the only thing I can say is it's a higher power. something bigger than me.”

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If there’s any doubt of the homeowner’s team allegiance, inside on a Sunday afternoon in January a dozen members of the Collier family gather in front of the TV to cheer on their favorite sports team.

Their love of the Cleveland Browns runs deep and eight decades old. 84-year-old Kay Collier McLaughlin says they are more than football fans.

To the Colliers the Cleveland Browns are family, and it began in 1946 when Kay’s father, Blanton Collier, was hired as an assistant coach with the Cleveland Browns.

As children Kay and her two sisters, Carolyn and Jane, were immediately immersed in the world of professional football. She remembers “going with mother to have a game that we got to see in Cleveland, which meant we got to stay at the hotel with the team beforehand and go to the movie. And we each had our special players that we adored. So yeah, it was it was sort of this is our life.”

Blanton Collier grew up in Paris, Kentucky where he coached high school sports for 16 years. After serving in the U-S Navy during World War II, Collier was hired by the Browns.

Kay says her father became an innovator by using practice and game film to grade the players.

“He had a little projector that sat in front of him, that he could roll back and forth. And the players would talk about how many times that he would roll a piece of film back and forth. He was grading everything from how they, what their eyes were doing, how their arms moved, how their feet moved, every single thing of every play was graded. And so, he produced this study, which then became the model for grading players in the NFL. And I like to think it's sort of the model that led to Analytics.”

Kay says her father became known as a coach who respected his players, and truly loved them. Blanton Collier would later become the head football coach at the University of Kentucky from 1954 to 1961.

“I think, first of all, our father’s love that for the team. He truly loved his team. And they were our family. The coaching staff was just as they were at Kentucky, my parents had an ability to bring people together in a way that bonded them. And so over the years, there have been these tremendous loyalties. And they've simply been our family.”

After coaching at U-K, Collier returned to the Cleveland Browns where he eventually became the head coach. Under his leadership, the Cleveland Browns won the NFL Championship in 1964. During Collier’s head coaching tenure of eight years, the Browns won 69% of their games.

His family says during that time Collier was challenged because he was going deaf.

Granddaughter Mary Blanton Ware says, “he did most of this with a serious hearing impairment, winning the championship and everything. And that's why he had to pull away at the end because he couldn't hear. He could read lips. But as the helmets changed, there were more bars. And so, he lost the ability to read their lips. And so, he got very frustrated because he was such a teacher. He had to talk and communicate with the boys. And he couldn't do it after a while.”

Collier retired from coaching in the early 1970’s. He died of prostate cancer in 1983, leaving behind a legacy that three generations of his family live and breathe.

Granddaughter Sarah Smith says her two young daughters proudly wear Cleveland Browns jerseys and cheer on the team.

“You're kind of born into it and it's all you really know. It's wonderful. I mean, it kind of makes me tear up. I feel very proud. Very honored. And it's neat to you, to teach them a lot about this family legacy so I'm proud.”

To mark the 50^th anniversary of Blanton Collier’s NFL Championship in 1964, Kay Collier McLaughlin wears a Browns jersey with number fifty. “What I have on is the shirt that was given me at the 50th anniversary of the ‘64 championship. So that's why it has the number 50 on it. And they gave each of us, the team members that were there, and I was there representing the family. With my nephew, Blanton Collier Hansen. And so, this is what I wore onto the field.”

In addition to cheering on the current Browns, Collier’s family has also honored his legacy by establishing an award in his name for integrity on and off the field. In 2023 the award went to the only three African American head coaches in the NFL.

Kay Collier McLaughlin says her father loved his players no matter their race at a time in the early 1960s when NFL teams were becoming more integrated.

“I never knew him to be judgmental of I mean, you know, he responded to people as people. He looked for characteristics that connected people. And he, he loved people.”

The 2024 winner of the “Blanton Collier Award for Integrity On and Off the Field” will be named a few days before the Super Bowl.

Win or lose on the field, Blanton Colliers’ legacy lives on in his family. He’s remembered as the quiet Kentuckian.

“You know many times people expect a football coach to be quite loud and a little bullish. And people would always say of him, if you met him on the street corner, you might have thought he would be a college professor. You know, he had a very quiet demeanor. And I think that that's where that came from.”

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Maynard Studios a few miles from Lawrenceburg are six-thousand square feet full of worktables, stacks of steel, anvils, a machine shop, and heavy blacksmith equipment like two-century old power hammers.

51-year-old Matt Maynard uses a hoist to hold a steel rod that is nearly four feet long. The end of the rod is red hot, about 2000 degrees. Matt guides the steel tip under one of the power hammers, and it slams into the hot end so he can shape it.

24 years ago Matt moved to Anderson County to open a blacksmith shop, and what began as a hobby turned into an internationally acclaimed business.

“We are very much a boutique operation; we don't do a lot of mass-produced things. Everything is we don't do the same thing twice; we may take a design and use it as a springboard to go to a different version of that, but we'll never do. It's not like we have a catalog, you can say, oh, I want design b. It's not like that. We like to meet each client. Preferably in the space where the commission is going to be we do a lot of exterior staircases, railings, balusters.”

Matt’s wife Karine is the other half of their collaboration. She has a background in fine art training from the University of Kentucky.

“So as artists blacksmiths, we take it into an architectural level. And as fabrication shops. They'll also do architectural ironwork, but we mix we merge the blacksmithing. With the fabrication we do take it to a whole another level.”

The Maynard’s blacksmith art can be found in homes and businesses across the county, and even in Europe. Their work has also been featured in galleries and museums like the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C. and the Headley-Whitney Museum of Art in Lexington. The couple lectured overseas on their nontraditional blacksmithing.

“We actually lectured at Hereford College in England, right before COVID. And getting to meet the second, third-year blacksmiths. They're all graduating and wanting to to do that. That was a really neat experience. They had questions and it just wound up being the highlight of the whole trip, it was really neat to meet all those students.”

One estimate counts about 500 blacksmiths in the United States, but Karine says there are very few incorporating art and architecture in their work. “There's not many of us. Certainly, less than a dozen that like to do three story elliptical staircases and drive them across the United States or have shops with, you know, full time employees and 5000 or 6000 square feet.”

The Maynards have several employees who help with various projects like their work at Maker's Mark Distillery in Marion County. They designed and crafted two gates for the gardens at the distillery.

The five-by-six-foot gates feature intricate pieces of steel that tell a story. One gate depicts Springtime with the corn just coming up, an oak tree with dozens of tiny leaves, daffodils blooming along with rain coming down. All of it is steel.

Frank Krockenberger, Senior Manager of Visitor Experience at Makers Mark Distillery, says the Maynards turned a gate into a piece of art.

“We have about 130,000 people that pass through those gates every single year. And as they pass through, we want everything to be very purposeful, and driven by what our mission is here. And for people to touch and feel and understand and see these things and kind of, you know, let that detail be a little bit of a mystery, is really exciting for us.”

After customers discuss their project with the Maynards and agree to a ballpark price, the couple travel to where the finished piece will be located. They come up with a composite sketch and make precise measurements.

Matt says, “Yeah, you don't want to get to San Francisco and find out it doesn't fit. So yeah, careful measurement. Careful measurement is really, is really key.” Most projects take several months to complete back in Maynard’s Studio, but that can change due to the uniqueness of each piece. “When you think about some of the jobs, these jobs may take 14 weeks, 16 weeks to create? When you have three to five people working for 16 weeks, that's a lot of labor, and it just adds up just by the nature of it. So yeah, it's important to kind of keep your finger on, where are these costs? And how are they doing because it could get to where you are, and it costs more than you quoted to make it.”

In the end, Karine Maynard says it’s hard work that gives them great satisfaction.

“I love that we are taking raw materials, sticks of steel, and making something incredibly heavy that looks light as a feather. And I love that I think our work speaks like paintings do on a wall. They have a purpose and a function. And just the beauty of what can be done with the materials.”

The Maynards have an open house at their Anderson County studio on the first Saturday of November.

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On this crisp November evening in Lawrenceburg, Annette Brady Fugal and Dan Kelly are preparing for another night of playing music with the Song Farmers of Anderson County.

It’s a group of people who love playing music with other people. Fugal says Song Farmers is bringing back that time years ago when people would gather on their front porch, pull out the fiddle and guitar, and start playing.

“I went to Renfro Valley two years ago to the WoodsSongs annual gathering, and they had a class on how to start a Song Farmers group. And the point was to build a front porch around the world to sort of reclaim what we lost during COVID. And what the music world has lost because of digital music, where there's not a lot of knee to knee, arm to arm, laughing, conversing, playing music together.”

Fugal grew up in Idaho where her family played music, and later moved to Kentucky where they learned about bluegrass music.

“So, all of the older half of the family are classical pianists to one degree or another. And the younger ones. Fortunately, we moved to Kentucky, and they became bluegrassers, and the older ones are a little jealous. But anyway, there must be music in my blood and my DNA because I can't get by without it.”

Kelly was in college when his love affair with music began. He says it was a struggle learning how to play the guitar, but he didn’t give up.

His passion for playing music even found its way into the Kentucky State Capital in Frankfort. Kelly was a state senator from Washington County from 1991 to 2019.

It wasn’t unusual to hear music coming from his legislative office. Kelly learned a cameraman from KET also enjoyed playing music.

“So, I asked him to bring his guitar and play with me. Several other staff people who could play would come in and join us. And before long, before every session started, and I was the floor leader, which is you know, a lot of pressure and stress. And I'd come there, and we'd play that music, and I was just like, ah, I'm ready to go and we did that for a long time and people enjoyed it.”

Back in Lawrenceburg, as Kelly and Fugal set up a circle of chairs for a night of playing music, people of all ages and musical abilities begin coming in and unpacking their instruments.

At Song Farmers the instruments include guitars, fiddles, the mandolin, a standup bass, and harmonicas. The first hour is dedicated to teaching less experienced musicians a few chords so they can join in. It’s very informal and relaxed. And you don’t have to have any experience to join the group.

Fugal says all you need is the willingness to learn.

“If you can't play, if you think you're not good enough, then you are the perfect person for Song Farmers. Because I've never been in a group where everyone was the same. There have been some who are fantastic and others of us that are just struggling along, and you never get good if you're not with a group.”

At Song Farmers they play American folk music with some bluegrass and country tunes thrown in. Josh Hall and his wife Judy are here for their first Song Farmers session.

“I think it's kind of something that needs to be brought back. It's something I've always wanted to do. So just good old-fashioned fun.”

Bethany Sawyer also brought her guitar to Song Farmers. She says it’s fun playing what she calls old timey music on the porch.

“Yeah, that's what it's supposed to be. Let's just instead of like worrying about performing or just trying to, like make a splash. It's just you play for fun, just for the heck of it.”

About two dozen players sit and stand in a circle and begin with the classic song, “Boil them cabbage down.” Fugal has passed around song books with chords and lyrics to help everyone. She hopes new musicians feel welcome to join them.

“I hope that more people will come of all ages. So, we can do what used to be done in Kentucky which was pass it on to the next generation and then the next generation and to have people who are grandparents sitting next to grandkids, or teenagers next to people their parents ages so that they can all move forward together. I want people who may have emotional trauma or mental trauma or isolation. I think, as well as if we're together, and we're playing music, and we're genuinely with friends. And we generally don't want it to end.”

Song Farmers was created by Kentucky folksinger Michael Jonathan who is the host of WoodSongs Old Time Radio Hour. There are chapters of Song Farmers around the world.

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But Tone’s full-time career started in 1983. The now 61-year-old has worked the last 40 years in guest relations at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Lexington with one goal.

“My job is I tell the guests, I said if you're not happy, I'm not happy. Tell me what I can do to make you happy because I don't want to leave her unsatisfied. So, I try to make everything, I try to make everybody happy when they leave here. I'm the first person you see here. And I'm the last person you see when you leave.”

Tone’s first job at the Hyatt was as a doorman. He says he did that for about 10 years and then was promoted to valet. Tone explained the biggest difference between the two positions.

“As doorman, I used to just open up the door, check the guests in the luggage, take him inside and give them to the Bellman, pass on to the Bellman. And then the valet guy will take the car across the street.”

Tone does a lot of running on the job. When guests need their cars, they hand Tone a ticket, and he uses that to find their keys on a wall inside a nearby valet office. He then sprints across High Street from the Hyatt to a large parking lot and drives the guest’s car back to the hotel.

How many miles does he run on the job? 

“Oh, my goodness. That's a good question. It's 136 spots over there. Right now, we have over 100 cars over there. So, you're running all the time all the time. Back and forth, back and forth. Yes, sir. That's what keeps me healthy.”

Through wind, rain, and snow Tone has made that run.

On a rainy October Saturday, Tone greets Hyatt guests at the main entrance with a smile. 

His friendly personality and interest in people have made him popular among longtime Hyatt guests like Paul Jones of Pikeville. “This is the man of the Hyatt Regency. He is the face of the Hyatt. There's never been a better employee than I know when I've been traveling to the Hyatt for 40 years. He has been taking care of me. He is Mr. Hyatt to me. And if he ever retires, I don't know what I'm gonna do.”

The hours can be long. Tone clocked in at 3:30 a.m. after working late the night before.

“Well, we have airline crews to stay here. And they have to be at the airport. You know the first crew leaves at 4:01 in the morning and the second leaves at 4:08. Then we have several other ones that leave so you have to have at least two people here just in case somebody gets left behind.”

You might assume with his seniority and his job title, Guest Service Supervisor, he’d have better hours, but Tone says it’s hard to find people who want to be a valet.

“These people don't like to work, you know, the younger people. And I try to talk to them. I say hey guys, I've been here 40 years. I've been here 40 years for a reason. I said it's a good job. It'll take care of everything. All you got to do is just put the time.”

Part of his job, Tone says, is making sure guests have whatever they need, and it helps to be well-connected in the community.

“I've got connections with car dealership owners, lawyers, judges, just about anything.”

Lex Veech who says he spent years in the hospitality industry in Florida says Tone also has something special when he talks to guests.
 
“Tone is the ultimate in delivering personal hospitality. I've been able to know him for the last four, five, or six years. When I come up here to represent the Citrus Bowl. And he is just the greatest gentleman in the world. He will look you in the eye. And he's sincere when he speaks with you. And the big difference in accomplishing Guest Services is that you listen, not hear. So many people hear but they don't listen. And tone. He takes that listening and delivers the ultimate and guest services.”

Tone says he tries to treat all the Hyatt guests the same, including the celebrities he’s met over the years. “I've met Muhammad Ali, Janet Jackson, and James Brown. You know, I've seen anybody that plays over at Rupp Arena. But Muhammad Ali was an inspiring person when I saw him, to see him get out and the way he was walking and stuff and then went inside and he made a speech, and I was just shocked. You know? He really impressed me.”

Tone is not ready to retire anytime soon. 

“It's not about the money. It's the people I like to have. I like to see to repeat customers come back. That's what keeps me going. And then going back and forth across a parking lot. Keeps me healthy. Because if I was sitting at home doing nothing, I'll probably get old, real quick.”

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Justin Fraser of Lexington describes how his then 5-year-old daughter Morgan got interested in the sport of fencing. “She and her brother were playing with little bubble wands in the backyard during COVID. And basically, she instead of blowing bubbles, they were playing swords, and she had this beautiful form. And so, when she came in, I said, Morgan, you look like a fencer. And she said, what's a fencer? And I said, someone who does sword fighting as a sport? And she said, yes. And so that's what started it.”

Now nine years old, Morgan Fraser is a medal winning fencer. She took the gold medal in her age group last August at the Pan American Youth Championship in Uruguay.

Morgan’s passion for the sport impressed her older brother Rhys so much that the 13-year-old put away the golf clubs and began learning how to fence. Both of Fraser’s children are members of the Bluegrass Fencers Club in Lexington where they practice four to five days a week.

The club and its coach have built a reputation for producing national and international champions like Lee Kiefer. The 29-year-old UK medical student became the first American in history to win a gold medal in individual foil fencing at the Olympic games in Tokyo 2020.

Kiefer is proud of the club that she joined as a child. “Yes, I have been a member of this club since it's opened in 2004, a long time ago, almost 20 years. And it's been such a joy to see all these little ones, like grow up and get some skills and just learn to love fencing like I do.”

Coach Amgad Khazbak started the Bluegrass Fencer’s Club in 2004. “I was the US Olympic coach in London Olympic Games, 2012 and 2016 and 2020.”

He says the club in Lexington is regarded as one of the best in the nation, if not worldwide.

In addition to Kiefer, the club boasts members who have won multiple national championships. Plenty of other members, including some adults, learn fencing as a fun hobby that is also great exercise. 

Justin Fraser says he’s seen a lot of benefits for his children.

“It's given them such a sense of discipline, a sense of achievement, or confidence and self-confidence. My daughter used to be a, if you'll pardon the phrase, a wallflower. And now she that she's fencing, she’s outgoing, she makes friends easily, she reaches out to people. And, you know, it's really given her a sense of purpose and a sense of something she can really aspire to.”

Fraser who is a surgeon and professor of neurology at U-K, says fencing is very safe for children. They wear several layers of protective clothing, a mask or helmet that covers them from the neck up, sturdy gloves, and special fencing shoes.

Most of the club fencers use a foil sword which bends easily and has a blunt tip. The tip is actually a “button” on a spring that is attached to wire inside the foil. When the end of that foil touches an electrified vest worn by each fencer, a buzzer goes off, and a point is scored. Fencers don’t stab or slash with their sword. It just takes a light touch of the sword tip to score points.

The most common injury in fencing is a sprained ankle.

Fraser says “the elements of the routine, and the rules and the etiquette, really maximize safety for the kids. And we, you know, Coach teaches those rules of etiquette. It's very important, it's really hammered into the kids from day one. And by obeying the etiquette by wearing their protective equipment, it really is extremely safe.”

At a recent practice, children as young as five and college age fencers filled the floor.

Kiefer has been known to practice with younger fencers who look up to the gold medal winner.

“I don't want to take too much credit. I wouldn't say I'm a coach, I would like to say maybe I'm more of a mentor, someone who has more recently been through the ropes myself and I can tell when you know, emotions are getting really high, or maybe people feel stuck, and I can offer maybe some comforting words. But yeah, it's just it's fun to be part of it.”

National champion from the University of Notre Dame, Stefani Deschner, is training to make the U-S Olympic team for the Paris games.

“I think this club is extremely accomplished, I think that it's probably one of the best in the US. And what I really love about it is the collaborative environment, a lot of clubs can be very competitive, because there's a lot of people that are trying to make the same teams, but everyone here wants other people to succeed. So, we'll talk about fencing strategy, after we finish a bout. So, it's a really friendly, collaborative environment. And I think that's what lends to the success of so many in our club.”

Nine-year old Morgan Fraser has a goal of one day competing in the Olympic Games. For now, she’s having fun using that foil to score points and win medals.

“My goal is probably right now, or later in life to get into the Olympics. And I also really want to just have fun and try hard.”
 
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There are several composting piles, a garden, several beehives, and some egg-laying chickens. Next to the garden, the students oversee a hoop house that has more garden plants and two tanks with fish, part of an aquaponics system.

The waste from the fish is collected in a settling chamber, and the students use it to fertilize plants without much soil called hydroponics.

Michael Harr is the teacher overseeing all this. He explained how the hydroponics works.

“It is an enclosed system where there's a reservoir and some sort of growing medium or tank, and water flows through that. And then plants are grown in that system using either the fish waste or the chemical fertilizers being added in. So, it's really great fun, like a science project with the students, where they get to see beginning to end of like growing something from seed, watching it grow in this system every day. And then finally getting harvested.”

Harr and his middle school students want to produce enough produce, eggs, and honey to sell to local restaurants and businesses.

“So, a big part of the Montessori curriculum is micro-economy or production in exchange. And so, part of that is a garden system that we have gardens, aquaponics, hydroponics, all of that, where we will produce goods then we, right now sell to parents in the car line. We also use it to produce baked goods that we sell, but working towards having business partners in Lexington, real restaurants to sell to is one of our medium-term goals.”

Last Christmas a conversation between one of Harr’s students and her uncle led to a partnership with Coles 735 Main in Lexington.

13-year-old Julia Cauthen talked to Chef Cole Arimes about using his restaurant’s food waste for composting and feed for the chickens. He liked the idea after touring the school and talking to Harr’s students.

“We started talking about fermenting, and composting, and just all the different ways to utilize you know, all those good vegetables, especially the local ones that come in. And I got an invite to the class. And so, I came and took a tour and didn't realize how much they have going on. I was blown away.”

Arimes estimates Coles produces fifty to sixty pounds of food waste each week. His staff began collecting all the food scraps, and instead of putting it in the dumpster, they filled up a plastic tub.

“It's a good training tool for my staff. So, they can see just exactly how much waste they are generating and get a little more efficient with their cuts, and their knife work. And you know, we're always working on knife skills here. So, it gives them a good visual aid to say, oh, man, I'm wasting more than I should. But it also, you know, just instead of going into the trash can into the landfill, it's going back to the land, which, you know, makes it nice. We save anything from vegetable scraps, we've got eggshells, that go there. Providence has got a lot going on. So, the more they take, the better off we are.”

Each week Harr picks up the tub of food waste and brings it to school where the students pick through it. They fill a bucket full of vegetables to feed their chickens.

I asked Harr, “Have you noticed any difference in the chickens since you started feeding them this kind of stuff versus just like store-bought chicken feed if you know what I mean?”

Harr says, “They absolutely love this stuff. As soon as we give it to them, they go wild, and they'll just eat it all day. I think that they're a lot happier with getting fresh quality food than they would be with getting just regular old feed.”

13-year-old Bailey Collier says, “I didn't know a lot about chickens before I came to the school. I guess I learned a lot about them, their needs. And like all the other creatures that we have. So, like fish have to do with compost. And like in the long run that really surprised me. I didn't know that it would tie into each other so well. But I feel like we have a really good composting system. Like our school, our curriculum is very different from other people. So, this is like all doing all this is like a class for us.”

Arimes’ niece Julia agrees that the restaurant food scraps are important.

“We're really big on sustainability here. So, it was really nice to be able to add to our compost pile and help feed the chickens, too.”

Their teacher sees a lot of benefits beyond the school.

“Oh, it's awesome. It's what keeps me going, is watching the students realize, you know, this is meaningful work that I can actually do here. I can produce something; I can grow something and then it's going to actually go and impact somebody else's life.”

Harr says the students decide what to do with the money they make from selling the produce and other items.

“We just use a micro economy fund, right? It's just a bank account that the students have semi-control of, we as the adults still have to have our names on everything. But they make community decisions about what to do with those funds. So, a student will bring an idea or a concern to everyone and say, this is something that I want to do, this is how much it will cost, and the community will vote on it and say this is something that we want to spend that money on or not, as well as all the maintenance types of things. We have chickens, they have to get fed. So, we have to buy that food. We have to buy the fish food that feeds the fish in the aquaponics system. So, it's that maintenance type stuff, but then also bigger projects that they get to decide on.”

Arimes calls the relationship with the Providence Montessori students a win-win. “I love it. It's a really good example of just how a simple conversation can turn into some proactive you know, actions.”

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The former tennis player went through four knee surgeries and has switched sports to pickleball which is played on a smaller court and requires less running.

Roberts, who was Fayette County Attorney for 16 years, takes pickleball lessons from Coach Danny Carollo.

“This game is a really good competitive game. So, Danny started working with me back in, I guess, October, I was coming off my last knee surgery replacement in July 2022. And I came out on the courts in October and said, would you work with me? And he said, sure, I'll work with you. So, it was awful. I couldn't hit the ball at first. The ball didn't come to me like a tennis ball. But I looked like a fool.”

Coach Carollo has seen Roberts improve a lot in one year.

“He's in shape for his age, but he wasn't in pickleball shape. Now that he's working on all these drills, it's light years, because now his feet are under him good. He's playing good pickleball. He's making good decisions. And it's just, it's fun to watch.”

Carollo says the dozen pickleball courts at Kirklevington Park are usually full in the morning and evening during the warmer months.

In August city leaders in Lexington announced that nearly three-million dollars would go towards building new pickleball courts and rehabbing tennis courts at thirteen parks.

Nationally sports experts are calling pickleball the fastest-growing sport in America. USA Pickleball estimates 36.5 million people are playing the sport and fourteen percent of Americans have played pickleball in the last 12 months.

Its popularity is linked to several factors. People of all ages can play the game. It does not require a lot of equipment. A pickleball paddle, a plastic ball that has holes in it, a court, and tennis shoes. Running shoes are not recommended because you need foot support for movement in all directions.

Carollo says pickleball has wide support. “You can see people of all ages of all sizes. This is just a great community of people that come out that probably wouldn't do life together but because of the sport they are.”

Pickleball can be played as singles or doubles. To start, a player serves the ball, usually underhand, across the court. The opposing player hits the ball back. There are rules on when and how close you can play to the net. A zone called “the kitchen” is within 7 feet of the net. Points are scored by the team that serves, and you play to 11 points.

Most people play recreational pickleball, but some like Roberts pursue a more competitive game at tournaments.

“I love to compete. And it's not hurting me to do it. And it's having to get in shape. But it's not hurting me. And I like doing it.”

In addition to taking lessons from a coach, Roberts practices on his own at a gym where he uses a machine that shoots balls over a net. Roberts hits the ball back. He also gets a weekly massage and does stretching exercises.

“I'm like a baby zebra out there. And if I don't have good legs, I'm gonna get killed. I mean, really, it's like that. And so, if you can't run, you can't possibly play singles. And I want to play singles.”

Roberts has qualified to play in November at the USA Pickleball Nationals in Dallas, Texas. He’ll compete in the 80-years and up age group.

“Well, I've been wanting to do it for 50 years. I've always wanted to play in the national tournament. And in tennis, I was never good enough to do it. It's a big deal to me to be able to say you're a national champion in anything. And I think I've got a chance.”

Roberts also likes to help beginners in the sport. “I love teaching people how to play pickleball. One facet of people, when they get really good at pickleball, they don't want to play with people who are beginners, it's a waste of their time because they want to go out and play hard. And well, I like to, but I really like teaching people how to begin to play the game. And usually, it's a recreational person who didn't, he's not trying to be, you know, an athlete, you know, he's 65 years old, or he's 30 years old, or he's maybe in high school. And he's never played before. So, if I can get them I really like teaching them.”

Roberts says his days as a prosecutor are over, but he’s looking forward to many more years on the pickleball court.

The national championship he’s playing in begins November 5^th.

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The road winds its way through dense woods past a retreat center, several guest cottages, and the two-story home of the Mt. Tabor Benedictines.

The Benedictines are a religious order of men and women who live a communal life of prayer, work, and community outreach. Currently, seven Benedictine sisters live on the 24-acre monastery property in Floyd County.

Five are Catholic nuns, another is an Episcopal Priest, and one sister describes herself as a follower of Jesus Christ who does not have a church affiliation.

One of them, Sister Eileen Schepers, helped start the monastery in 1983. She says there were no buildings or roads on the property.

“There was nothing here. There was the rubble of a house that had burned down as we drove into the driveway down below but there was no road past that. And this was all just forest, a lot of vines and poison ivy.”

Their mission was to establish a prayer center where people of all denominations could come to pray and disconnect from the busy world. Sister Eileen says people in Floyd County were not quite sure what to make of the monastery.

“The people are very spiritual people. And they understood the need for quiet. They didn't come up to see the place. You know, that was a little bit farfetched. But I think they were accepting as long as we do our own thing, and don't bother us leave us alone kind of thing. But they would see the work that we do in the community with our jobs with our ministry there. And that was good. And so gradually, we got to know people.”

All the sisters have professional jobs or do volunteer work in the local communities. There’s an attorney, a substitute teacher, the former executive director of a non-profit, and an advocate for social justice. Sister Jan Barthel volunteers at a food pantry in Salyersville at St. Luke Catholic Church.

“I think our heart has always been outreach. It is more important, prayer is important. But we can pray by assisting. For me, that's the best way to do it.”

Sister Kathy Curtis sees the work they do outside the monastery as critical to following the path of Jesus Christ.

“The work I do outside of here really stems from my belief that we are all created equal in God's eyes and that we all deserve to have the best life possible. And so, I'm always looking for ways to help the marginalized folks, whether it's the houses or the gay folks, the people with disabilities. There are so many invisible people in our society that deserve to be seen and deserve to be fed. And I think since I'm coming to the monastery, I've recognized the fact that we have so much abundance here. And it's such a good life.”

The sisters have daily prayer service in their chapel before breakfast and dinner. They say the peace and slower pace of life are key to their life at the monastery, and they want to share that experience with more groups of people.

Sister Kathleen Weigand says, “As you can see, or as you can hear, it's very peaceful up here. We're not a big institution. And there's plenty of room to be and not have to necessarily always be with people. We've got 24 acres you can hike here, you can be quiet, you can sit in the memory garden, you can take a walk with the dogs, the dogs will go with you. So, we have the retreat center.”

The sisters range in age from 64 to 82 and understand that a new generation will need to eventually move in and lead in their own way at the monastery.

Sister Kathy says it’s a time of transition.

“There's over 30 years of prayer and devotion on this mountain, it is soaked into the ground here, I do not believe that God's just gonna shut it off. And so, I truly believe that God is sending younger people, different people here to continue this place of peace, this place of acceptance. And it's, it's not going to look like what we've got now. And so, we're trying very hard to be open to whatever is coming next. While continuing to live our best lives here, as we age out is the phrase that a lot of folks use. So, we were trying to figure out different ways that we can offer hospitality for short term, or long term. And what does that look like?”

The sisters have a new website at www.mtabor.com to answer questions and allow people to see what they offer as a retreat center.

Sister Kathy says The Dwelling Place Monastery is a special place.

“It's all God's home. The whole planet is God's home. Here we've been gifted with an opportunity to live in a way, where we are connected to that on our day-to-day from the moment we get up and start with Morning Prayer until the time we go to bed. With our evening devotions, we have a structure that can be more, it's easier to be Christian here. It's easier to be spiritual here. Because we don't have all of the things that draw you away, like the traffic and the noise and the people and the job and the career and the kids. We are gifted with the ability to just stay in one place and be who God's calling us to be.”

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In all the federal forest is 700,00 acres of dense woods, mountains, streams, and rock shelters. It’s those rock shelters that archeologists say are a gold mine of artifacts from Native Americans that date back at least nine-thousand years.

The rock shelters are not caves, but outcroppings of rock that protected people from harsh weather.

Jon Endonino is an Associate Professor in Anthropology at Eastern Kentucky University who says thousands of years ago the state was full of “hunter-gathers, people who made their living off of the land.”

He says the rock shelters are often cool, dry areas that are ideal for preserving artifacts.

“They’re outstanding for organic preservation. So, you’ll have animal bones well preserved. Plant remains for food, textiles, and clothing. In some cases, you’ll even have slippers, sleeping mats, and basketry.”

The U-S Forest Service says they’ve located at least 6,700 archeological sites in rock shelters in the Daniel Boone National Forest.

Megan Krietsch, an archeologist with the U-S Forest Service, says in the Daniel Boone National Forest the “vast majority” of the rock shelters have been disturbed, even destroyed by people digging for artifacts.

“It's heartbreaking. Removing it so that other people can’t see it and can’t enjoy it is upsetting. We need to look at these as natural resources.”

Melissa Ramsey agrees. She’s also an archeologist with the U-S Forest Service. “To know that people at some point in the past came in and destroyed and took information that could be very useful to us as archaeologists and to Kentuckians as a whole about how people, indigenous peoples, lived in this area and used it. When they want to destroy a site like this, they’re ruining it for generations to come because you can’t get it back.”

In the two rock shelters that the U-S Forest Service took us to there were numerous mounds of dirt about a foot high. That plus many footprints are evidence the forest service says that artifact collectors have looted the rock shelter.

Professor Endonino says when people dig for artifacts like arrowheads and tools, they destroy lots of other items or materials that archeologists study.

“We bring back literally bags of dirt to the lab and then go to specialists who remove and study the animal bones, the plant remains. And many of them don’t really contain a whole lot of interesting artifacts, but they’re loaded with information that is not like a spear point or pottery or anything like that.”

Endonino says the artifacts they recover, and study are eventually sent to a “curation facility” like the William S. Webb Museum at the University of Kentucky.

Not only is valuable information lost from people digging through the rock shelters, but it’s also against the law to collect and remove artifacts from federal and state-owned property. It's a felony, and if convicted a person could be sent to prison and face thousands of dollars in fines.

But U-S Forest Service says in the Daniel Boone National Forest few people are caught in the act, and placing security cameras at all the archaeological sites is not feasible. Krietsch says the U-S Forest Service tries to monitor the rock shelters.

“So that we can see if there are any changes. Then we could discuss with our law enforcement officers about putting up a trail cam so that we can capture on film the folks who engaging in the looting.”

Why do people disturb and destroy archaeological sites?

Endonino says there’s money to be made from selling artifacts. Krietsch also says collecting artifacts can be a family activity that’s been passed down through generations.

Endonino adds that even if the artifacts are kept in a person’s home as a collection there’s no guarantee it will be intact in the future.

“What happens in fifty years? What happens in 100 years? Does the collection get sold off piecemeal? And then all of a sudden, we don’t really know where this came from.”

At a museum, he says, “that history is still available.”

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For a group of Berea College students, the Gorge became a place to build teamwork, trust, and leadership skills as part of the school’s Entrepreneurship for the Public Good Program, also known as EPG. EPG is a multi-year program for undergraduates where they learn to practice and use entrepreneurial leadership in rural communities of Central Appalachia.

In July fourteen freshmen and sophomores, led by Professor Peter Hackbert, came to the Gorge for a day of rock climbing. Many of them had never been to the Gorge or even tried rock climbing.

Hackbert who has led the entrepreneur program for the last sixteen years wanted his students to enjoy the beauty of the Gorge, and at the same time develop skills that will help them become future business leaders.

Hackbert says “My hope for the day is that students begin to feel the exhilaration that the Red River Gorge has promised to its world-class visitors. I hope students feel that, and that they personally challenge themselves because it does require some agility and some physical attributes.”

Hackbert and the students are at Southeast Mountain Guides in Wolfe County a few miles from Natural Bridge State Park. It’s a family-run business that teaches new climbers the basics, and guides climbers on various routes.

The students are eager to get started as they listen to a climbing instructor who goes by the name of Poe.

“Glad to have you here today. We’re gonna break this orientation down into three different parts. The first is gonna be the gear up where we get the gear on you and make sure you know how to use it.”

The students put on a rock-climbing harness that includes a leather belt and loops for each leg.

“We’re gonna step into these harnesses one leg at a time. We’re gonna pull the harness as high as we can on our hips, and then we’re gonna tighten it down.”

The students also learn about climbing clips and are fitted with safety helmets. Professor Hackbert sees a connection between rock climbing and becoming a successful entrepreneur.

“Entrepreneurs are risk takers, and the interesting part about being an entrepreneur is you can learn to mitigate the risk, you can learn to lower the risks, but you have to generally do that with coaches and mentors, and it’s not just thinking about doing that by yourself. It’s also about being guided through the process.”

He says rock climbing as a group like becoming an entrepreneur is about teamwork and building trust. “I don’t teach entrepreneurship as a lone ranger, as a single activity. Most successful ventures do in fact have small teams or groups that work together.”

The Berea students will put their new rock-climbing skills to the test in a rock canyon shaped like a horseshoe that serves as a practice area.

The rock-climbing training wall is 120 feet high with a continuous loop of cable to clip onto. There is also metal rebar embedded in the rock to step or hold on to. Before they climb, Professor Hackbert asks them to choose a partner.

“Somebody who you trust that you can work with as you’re going through this experience because you will come to challenges, and it’s so much fun to have somebody who you can trust who can work you through thinking how to overcome that challenge.”

As the students climb, there is nervous laughter and encouragement for each other. 20-year-old David Brother says he’s never climbed rock before and describes himself as a tech nerd.

“It was really exciting. If you can get someone like me who doesn’t like going outdoors in their free time at all…to enjoy something like this, I think you can get anyone, and that’s really what EPG has done for the last fifteen years.”

The students spend several hours navigating the climbing wall which becomes more advanced the farther you climb around it.

19-year-old Alexia Holderfield saw the connection between rock climbing and being an entrepreneur. “Being an entrepreneur requires a lot of working with other people. Talking to people, making connections, growing those relationships.”

Catherine Barile, also 19, says it’s about building trust whether you are rock climbing or growing a business. “I can trust those around me, and I can have encouragement from them and vice versa. I think that built a really solid community within us.”

Professor Hackbert watches his students navigate the rock wall. “I can teach them to be a traveler, and an adventurer, and a visitor. In their second and third and fourth year at Berea, they’ll start to major, and they’ll take this entrepreneur leadership, and they’ll apply it to their major.”

All the students come down from the rock walls safely. It’s been a good day of enjoying the natural beauty of the Gorge and learning more about themselves and their fellow students.

Alexia says “I’m extremely proud of everybody. They’ve all come far, and I know some people are extremely scared of doing this right now.”

As they head to Miguel’s Pizza for lunch in the Gorge, Professor Hackbert prepares for a new life journey. He’s retiring from Berea College. His legacy at the school has touched many young lives.

“To me, the Entrepreneurship in the Public Good Program has been a unique program in the way it helps students to transform their lives and their ambitions. Many of these students will end up in employment and working for firms they didn’t even know existed when they first came here, and they use the program and the college to transform themselves. And I’m real proud of that.”

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Since 1953 Duff has water skied at Herrington Lake in Central Kentucky.

His wife Joyce Duff remembers in the fifties there was not a lot of gear available in the area for Joe and friends. “Everything was trial and error. They were all determined to do it and went downtown. Oh, they bought clothesline, and I don’t know what all to ski with because there wasn’t any Overton’s (a large marine supplier online) or ski shop.”

For the next seven decades, Joe perfected his water skiing. He would go on to compete in water skiing tournaments around the country, win awards, and start a ski club at Herrington Lake.

Joe says he became good at three facets of water skiing: slalom which is on one ski, jumping off a wood platform, and trick skiing. He says his record in the 1960s for jumping on water skis was 113 feet.

For trick skiing, he would ski backward and attach his toe to the rope.

Joyce Duff recalls, “There’s a little toe bridge thing, and he did toe tricks front and back and jumped the wake.”

Joe is humble and a man of few words. He says in addition to trick skiing, “I could never be the best skier, the best jumper. But I could do all three fair, and that kinda keeps you around it.”

In the first few decades of skiing his wife drove the ski boat, but in the last ten years, that duty has gladly been taken by his friend Thad Holway.

Holway who is 58 and also skies on Herrington Lake, says he and Joe have become close friends.

“It’s not all about skiing. It’s just hanging out, enjoying each other’s company. We’ve gone through a few rough spots together which is life and we’ve been there for each other so it’s awesome.”

Holway feels honored to be a part of Joe’s water-skiing journey. “It’s incredible just to watch him, and people will ask me, do you ski a lot down there? And I go yea. They will go well I remember a guy named Joe Duff, and they’re talking thirty, forty years ago. And I still ski with him, and people are blown away.”

For Joe’s part, he appreciates his friendship with Holway and credits him with staying active in his later years. The pair exercise at a nearby gym in the Winter months to stay in shape for skiing.

Joe says “Back in the Wintertime he’ll say you know, 13 more weeks we’ll be at the lake. So, it’s all worked out pretty good.”

Holway says Joe has made a great contribution to water skiing in Kentucky.

“Joe is the definition of humility. I know he has some state records. He’s just basically been the backbone of water skiing in the state of Kentucky for a number of years. Everybody knows Joe Duff.” Does Joe plan to keep skiing into his nineties? “Well, if nothing doesn’t happen I will. My goodness yea.”

As Joe climbs onto the back of a ski boat he’s breathing hard and smiling. I ask him how it felt skiing.

He says, “It always feels good. It’s fun alright. Whoo!”

Joe Duff is not letting his age define what he can or can’t do. He’s an inspiration to many people on and off his water skies.

If you see him skiing, give him a wave. He’ll wave back to you with a great big grin.

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Bradford Ledford and his girlfriend Logan Brooke Grant have the landowner’s permission to search for Indian artifacts here.

After a few days of rain, the couple says this is a prime time to spot the flint that Indians used to shape tools like axes, knives, and scrapers.

Ledford says he has a good feeling on this day that they’ll make some valuable discoveries. “I love it. I love it. And I know they’re there. I’ve discovered them many times. We have several examples here, and I just love it. I love being outside if anything I get some sun and get some exercise.”

The 45-year-old Ledford estimates they’ll walk three to four miles on this day searching for artifacts. He says a newly plowed field brings up what has been covered for thousands of years.

“You gotta imagine how many times the leaves have fallen off in thousands of years, and plant material has grown up and died, and that creates a new layer of soil each year. So, when you go back thousands of years these artifacts are several feet in the ground.”

Historians believe Native Americans go back at least eleven-thousand years in Kentucky. They camped here, hunted, grew crops, and left behind many clues of Indian life. What looks like just a shiny rock to the average person can turn out to be part of an arrowhead used with knives, or a bow and arrow.

“It’s definitely a passion. It’s definitely an obsession. It becomes addictive. It’s like going fishing for example, and there’s all those times you go and you don’t catch anything. You catch some little fish, and then that day you catch that big one.”

Ledford and Grant found what they consider “the big one” in this same Bourbon County field. Grant noticed a brown-looking shape in the dirt one day while searching. When she and Ledford slowly uncovered the object, they were overcome with emotion.

She says, “I knew exactly what it was. I knew it was an ancient Indian pipe. And I was just beside myself. I mean I was speechless.” The three-to-four-inch pipe made of polished sandstone was nearly flawless.

Often farm machinery not only digs up the dirt but it also breaks the artifacts into small pieces of rock.

Not so with the pipe that Ledford estimates is at least three thousand years old. “It was just unbelievable. You know my whole life I’ve been searching to find something like that. And it’s a once-in-a-lifetime discovery. I was just in shock and awe.”

Ledford says he can’t put a price tag on the pipe or his entire artifact collection. “The first thing people say, oh you found this pipe. What’s it worth? Well, it’s priceless. There’s no monetary value. I mean it’s priceless. I, we wouldn’t sell it for anything.”

Ledford and Grant document each significant discovery with its location and date. Some of the flint pieces are only an inch long but can be part of an arrowhead, a blade, or tool. Ledford says “you really got to have patience and take your time. And especially when it’s this dry, they’re a bit harder to see than when its wet and they’ve really been washed down.”

Near the end of a three-hour search in the tobacco field, Ledford looks down and sees something promising. Dirt has covered part of what looks like a four-inch arrowhead. If the tip of the arrowhead is intact it will be a good discovery.

Ledford bends down to gently move the dirt around the object as Grant looks on. “It’s pretty loose. We’ll just flip it over. Let’s hope and pray that it’s all there. Usually, the tip is gone.”

No one speaks for a couple of seconds, and then Ledford yells in excitement. “Oh yea! Nice! Killer! And it is perfect. Look at the fine tip on that. That’s what you come for.”

He believes this arrowhead was attached to wood and used as a knife. Ledford estimates the arrowhead is three to four thousand years old. It will go into a collection with the rest of the objects found on this day.

“People think, ah that’s cool it must be a few hundred years old. No, it’s most likely a few thousand years old. We’re talking about ancient man. The first human beings that we know that we can prove scientifically were here in Kentucky. Fifteen-thousand years before Christ.”

It’s been a productive search for Ledford and Grant. Step by step they are uncovering part of Kentucky and Native Americans' rich history.

It’s important to note that it’s against the law to hunt for artifacts on federal, state, and city-owned land. That’s why Ledford and Grant only search on private property where they have the landowner’s permission

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Beer cheese is mostly made by mom-and-pop small businesses that keep their exact recipe a secret. The Beer Cheese Book by Garin Pirnia credits the Allman family of Kentucky with creating beer cheese in 1939.

Johnnie Allman had a restaurant along the Kentucky River in Clark County and gave customers a complimentary plate of beer cheese. His grandson, Ian Allman, says Johnnie thought the beer cheese would make his customers thirsty, and they’d buy more beer.

Today Ian Allman makes and sells Allman’s Beer Cheese with the old family recipe.

He says it’s his way of remembering life on the Kentucky River back in the 1940s thru the 70s. “It’s just keeping a little bit of that river spirit alive. I meet people all the time who have great memories of the restaurant and spending time on the river.”

Johnnie Allman has passed on, and little is left of his restaurant which was across from Hall’s On The River. But his legacy lives on in different recipes for beer cheese.

The Bailey family of Winchester has made and sold beer cheese for 15 years. In 2008, Jenny Bailey closed her restaurant in Winchester and was looking for another small business to start.

She and her husband, H.R., came up with their own recipe that includes sharp cheddar cheese, garlic, cayenne pepper, and beer.

The exact mixture of spices and beer is a family secret. H.R. laughs when he says, “I don’t want to discuss how that came about alright? It’s a cold pack of cheddar, garlic, cayenne, and beer. I mean everybody knows that. So that’s my own version of that, is a good way to put it.”

It's no secret that beer cheese makers use different beers in their concoctions. The Baileys use Budweiser.

Jenny says people often ask if they’ll get drunk from eating beer cheese. “I always say no you get a belly ache before you get drunk.”

The Baileys spent tens of thousands of dollars building a 600-foot commercial kitchen that met all the requirements of local, state, and federal food inspectors.

They began selling their beer cheese at farmer’s markets, liquor stores, and small grocery stores. It took years Jenny says to get their beer cheese on the shelves of the big retailers. Bailey's Beer Cheese is now sold in 65 Walmart stores in Central Kentucky and some Save-A-Lot stores.

The Baileys say they now make 30,000 pounds of beer cheese a year. Jenny says the best part of their small business is their hours are flexible, and it provides income for their 28-year-old daughter Hannah.

Their commercial kitchen also serves as a small business incubator for other cooks who make beer cheese, hot sauce, and CBD oil.

How does it feel to make and sell something that many people enjoy eating? Jenny says, “Well, we get pictures all the time and we’ll have people message us and say I had your beer cheese. It’s the best beer cheese I’ve had.”

They sell online too so people across the country have ordered the Central Kentucky product. “I love that whenever it happens, we get pictures of people on camping trips out West in the desert, eating their beer cheese. I love that.”

In 2013, the Kentucky legislature designated Clark County as the birthplace of beer cheese. Every June Winchester hosts a beer cheese festival.

84 years later, Johnnie Allman’s beer cheese, along with various versions of it, is a tasty treat for many people.

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Four years later in 1962 after he graduated from the University of Notre Dame, Ron married a girl named Carol Weller. The couple would leave South Bend, Indiana and live out West and in the Mideast.

They had five children, and in 1992 moved to Lexington where Ron worked for Sears and later the Lexington Legends. In addition to raising the children, Carol enjoyed reading, walking, and becoming an excellent bowler.

It was 2010 when Carol drove away from a bowling alley and life took a dramatic turn. She had told Ron she was going to visit a friend after bowling. Ron says four hours went by when he took a phone call from Carol.

She was not in Lexington. In fact, she was a long way from home. Carol was in Ashland, Kentucky on the side of the interstate. She had run out of gas and told Ron she had no idea where she was. A Kentucky State Trooper found her.

At that point, Ron knew something was very wrong. Carol was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, and for the next ten years, she and Ron would do everything they could to fight it. Ron became her full-time caregiver.

Increasingly there were moments she didn’t recognize Ron. He was devastated. “It’s a killer. That’s the hard part.” But they pushed on.

The couple agreed to take part in a clinical trial at U-K’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging. For two years she took an experimental drug called Lecanemab.

It’s a drug for patients with mild symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease. Ron says during that time Carol stabilized and her symptoms did not get worse.

Ron remembers how much that meant to him as her husband and caregiver. “I had my Carol back. I didn’t have to worry about tomorrow. Yea you worry, but you could see that hey she’s right in there with you.”

Dr. Greg Jicha, a neurologist at Sanders-Brown, says the drug was a huge success during the clinical trial. “It is an antibody that’s been created in the laboratory to remove, dissolve the amyloid plaques that are at the core of Alzheimer’s Disease from the brain.”

Those plaques are abnormal proteins that first develop in areas of the brain connected to memory and mental activities like thinking.

Dr. Jicha cautions this drug is not a cure, but a critical step forward to finding one. He says, “Carol’s study and the medicine she was taking turned out to be a huge success. Really leading right now to the potential first disease-modifying therapy. Not the eventual cure we’re looking for but the first step in that direction.”

In Carol’s case, her symptoms did eventually become worse, and after eight years of caring for her at home, Ron made a very difficult decision. “We vowed we’ll always take care of each other. You know you’ll never be in a home (nursing home). And the hardest day of my life was when I had to take her and drop her off at the home. And then they suggested I not see her for four to six weeks because she had to get into a new routine for her life.”

Carol received 24-hour care at The Willows of Hamburg. On March 28^th, 2020, Carol passed away at the age of 76. She and Ron had been married for 58 years.

He says he misses her every day. “That’s hard. She was so much part of my life. That loneliness is there. And the memories are there.” Now 83 years old and in very good health, Ron has dedicated the rest of his life to helping the caregivers of people with dementia.

He attends a caregiver meeting once a month in Lexington to pass on what he experienced and learned.

His advice to them?

“Basically, surround yourself with support. Because most people say I’m going to take care of you. Don’t worry. And if you do that, what you don’t realize is you start to lose your life. Because you are of no value to your loved one when you start losing your life.”

Dr. Jicha says what Carol and Ron did in the clinical trial cannot be appreciated enough. Lecanemab is expected to be available to the public sometime this Summer.

He says, “That contribution should never be understated. Carol, I’m sure is looking down at us from wherever she is and has to be smiling knowing that she has helped make the world a better place.”

As for Ron his legacy now includes his openness to help others navigate a cruel disease. “It makes me feel like I’m contributing through the memory of Carol to help others. Do I feel good about doing it? Yea I do because hopefully it’s helping someone.”

You can learn more about the Alzheimer’s drug Lecanemab here.

Ron Borkowski of Lexington was his wife's main caregiver for eight years while she fought Alzheimer's Disease. In this conversation, he shares how family and caregivers of people with dementia can better understand what their loved one is going thru, and the support group in Lexington that he speaks with.

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Some 500 animals from 35 species inhabit this family-run zoo created by Wisconsin transplants Shaun and Julie Wendt. The couple opened their zoo two years ago after working and living on the road doing pig races, camel rides, and petting zoos from New York to Florida.

Julie says it was a fun time because she and her husband spent all their time together. They even homeschooled their two oldest boys, Colt, and Eli, on the road.

But Julie says life on the road was also tough. “Set up a show and stay there a week. Tear down, set up, and repeat. So, there was a lot of physical labor involved with that.”

When the Wendt’s had their youngest child, daughter Ava, they decided it was time to come off the road. They settled in Nicholas County where they bought a 125-acre farm.

Shaun says their plan to operate a small zoo quickly grew. “It’s more work than we bargained for. I just thought we’d set up it up and coast along, but there’s been no coasting.”

After parking visitors go into a welcome center where zoo merchandise like t-shirts and cold refreshments are available. It’s also where people can buy cups of small carrots to feed the animals. The Wendt’s encourage visitors to interact with the animals when it’s possible.

Julie enjoys watching when visitors connect with the animals. “It’s fun to see the reactions of people. People are so happy when they come here and see all the animals. Here people can get up close and personal.”

Inside the welcome center, there are different species of birds including parakeets, turtles, snakes, lizards, goats, and three sloths named Charlie, Lola, and Sunshine plus a baby born on Easter Sunday.

Outside the welcome center, people can walk across a covered wood bridge over a stream. There’s a playground and picnic area nearby. Visitors will see “Hair Sheep” that look like goats, and you can walk inside the “Parakeet Encounter” where 250 birds are sitting and flying by.

Shaun says carrots are a good food for many animals.

“Most of the animals around here will eat carrots. It’s a good source of nutrition and fiber for the animal without overfeeding the animals like you would if you gave ‘em a lot of sweet food.”

A short walk up a hill takes you by zebras and camels. Shaun introduced a couple of the camels. “This is Junior, and this is George. Anybody that’s been to the Kentucky Horse Park at Southern Lights have seen these guys.” Junior is seven-foot-two inches tall and weighs about 1650 lbs. They are curious animals like many at this zoo that enjoy meeting people.

Each animal exhibit has an information sign so visitors can learn more about the animal’s native country and habitat. Last year the Wendt’s say about 5,000 school children came to the zoo on field trips.

Last month, Jenna Dodge from Mason Country brought Annabelle, her toddler daughter, to see the animals, and feed the goats. “I think it’s nice to have a place like this close to home that we can bring our kids to, that we don’t have to travel hours away to get to. If you don’t live on a farm, you don’t get exposed to these types of animals, and I think it’s important for littles to be around different types of animals.”

For Julie and Shaun Wendt, it’s gratifying to see people enjoy the animals. Shaun says, “the first week we were open, and I saw people enjoying something you built. There are not very many people that can say they’ve realized that, but it’s kind of amazing to see.”

Wendt’s Wildlife Adventure is open Wednesday thru Sunday. There’s even some Kentucky history to explore. The last cabin that Daniel Boone lived in before leaving Kentucky is on the property for people to see. Historians say the one-room cabin was built by Boone in 1795. He and his wife Rebecca lived there until they left for Missouri in 1799.

More information about Wendt’s Wildlife Adventure is on their Facebook page.

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She stands in the middle of a school crosswalk on busy Clays Mill Road in Lexington. Virginia Mayes wears a yellow safety vest, holds a large red stop sign, and blows her whistle to stop traffic in front of Clays Mill Elementary School.

From 7:15 to 8:15 in the morning Miss Virginia as she’s called known ushers’ children across with a smile and a friendly, “have a good day baby.”

Two other schools, Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary and Lexington Catholic, are nearby making this a very busy place. “I’m looking this way, that-uh-way, and this away. 'Cause, see I got three schools. So, I got kids coming this away, that away, and this away.”

In 31 years as a school crossing guard, Miss Virginia says she’s never been hit by a car, but there have been many close calls. “I’m telling you I can’t even count how close I’ve come to getting hit out here.”

Just a few months ago she remembers a car going very fast ignored her standing in the middle of the crosswalk just as a 6-year-old girl was running across. “And when she runs, I see this out of the side of my face. I see he’s coming on, so I just grab her, and just ran on down the street with the baby. Her mom, oh she just went off. She just-oh my gosh Miss Virginia you just saved my daughter’s life.” The driver was going so fast Miss Virginia says they couldn’t get the license plate number.

As I was talking to Miss Virginia, we both learned from a Lexington police officer that a school crossing guard was hit by a car that morning on Polo Club Boulevard and suffered severe injuries. Later that night 73-year-old James Arthur Holland died.

Miss Virginia was upset by the news and frustrated with drivers. “Oh my Lord.”

Miss Virginia can’t say enough good things about the children she helps. “I don’t have one child that talks back or gets smart with me at Clays Mill, or Lexington Catholic, or Mary Queen. They all respect me. I guess because I’ve been here so long. And they know I’m a good person, and they know I’m gonna treat ‘em good.”

Parents like Elysa Neely who has two children at Clays Mill Elementary say they completely trust Miss Virginia. “I do. It’s paramount. I couldn’t even imagine anyone else at that crosswalk because it’s a serious street. It’s a big street. There are speeding drivers on their phones.” Neely calls Miss Virginia “an additional parent.”

Clays Mill Elementary Principal Grant Davis echoes those sentiments. He remembers the first time he saw Miss Virginia in charge of a crosswalk. “She just had a magnanimous glow about her. You just knew that she was in charge, that she was going to be the right person to take care of our kids. I just remember thinking like I don’t know if I could do that job very well.”

After working at Clays Mill Elementary, Miss Virginia heads up the road to help children crossover to Jessie Clark Middle School.

Fayette County school crosswalk guards are trained by and work for the Lexington Police Department. Public Information Officer, Sgt. Guy Miller, can’t imagine not having school crosswalk guards like Miss Virginia. “If we didn’t have them out here directing traffic, I think it would be chaos. Just look at the cars now and look how far they’re backed up. I mean it’s backed up two blocks.”

It can be very stressful, but Miss Virginia makes it a fun time for the children at her crosswalk.

Fridays are candy day. Miss Virginia hands out candy to each child. It’s just one more way she shows her love for the children, a quality she says is a requirement for being a school crosswalk guard. “You have to be a person that loves kids first of all. You have to love kids. If you don’t love kids, it’s not a job for you.”

Miss Virginia, who is in her early sixties, has no plans for retiring anytime soon. “I’m gonna work as long as the good Lord up above let me work.”

That’s welcome news to the children and their parents along Clays Mill Road.

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Olivia Buckner came from what was considered an old and wealthy Kentucky family. Her granddaughter, Rose Buckner, says Olivia was a rebel with a temper and an independent nature. Rose never met her grandmother but heard stories from her father John Buckner.

“And always part of his story was how wonderful his mother was, and always part of the story was the fact she had been quite a rebel.”

Rose says in 1903 her 28-year-old grandmother was teaching Sunday school at Cane Ridge Meeting House in Bourbon County when she met a young seminary student from Japan named Yutaka Minakuchi, also about the same age. He was preaching that day, and Rose says the Buckner family was so impressed they invited Yutaka to dinner.

Rose says her grandmother was smitten, and soon she was engaged to be married to Yutaka. Rose says some members of Buckner’s family were so upset, they considered killing the young Japanese man.

“That clearly was the line that was crossed that you could not cross, that would make him a member of the family, and that would introduce his blood, just to be very graphic about it, into their white family, and that was intolerable.” Rose says a cousin spoke out against killing Yutaka, and that ended the plot.

The threat did not stop the couple from marrying in July of 1903 at Blue Lick Springs, Kentucky at the home of another branch of the family that was more supportive.

Their marriage made newspaper headlines. The Los Angeles Record proclaimed, “Yutaka Minakuchi wins the hand of Miss Olivia Buckner of Bourbon County, Kentucky. Bride to be met Oriental student at village church. It was love at first sight.” The newspaper story described Olivia as “an American girl of wealth, rare beauty and accomplishments. Her husband is a wealthy Japanese of partly royal blood.”

Rose found her grandmother’s story so fascinating that she spent 17 years writing a script for a play called “The Reigning Belle of the Bluegrass”. It’s a solo performance with Rose playing her grandmother.

On stage Rose is dressed in a long black skirt, a white collared shirt, and wearing a long green scarf. She stands at a podium with two large pictures on either side of her. One is her grandmother Olivia in her younger days with a mischievous, beguiling look on her face. The other picture is of an adorable, naked baby boy looking over his shoulder at the camera. That is John Buckner, Olivia’s only child and Rose’s father.

The new family moved across the country to follow Yutaka as he pursued his educational journey. Rose says the couple was ostracized by people who didn’t approve of their mixed-race marriage. On stage, Rose describes a scene in Ashville, North Carolina where rocks were thrown at the family, and their car was vandalized.

“And then I saw it. Go home chinks scrawled in big letters on the side of our new Cadillac.” After eleven years of marriage, Olivia and Yutaka separated and later divorced. Rose describes in her play the pain of that moment. “The day he left, Taka (John) and I lay on the bed and cried. I lost all sense of time passing.”

Olivia and her son moved back to live with their family in Bourbon County, and Yutaka eventually remarried and started another family.

Rose says in later years her father never expressed any bitterness about the breakup and always praised his mother who passed away in her late forties. “Always part of his story was how wonderful his mother was.” Rose says she started crafting the script for her play in 2005.

She says it’s a tribute to her grandmother’s memory. “Her life would largely be invisible if it weren’t for me. I think it’s a story worth telling, that she followed her heart, that she really did what she thought was right at the time.”

Rose also finds the story relevant to the current events of today. “Never in a million years did I think when I first did this first production of the script…never did I think in 2005 that in 2023 our country would be involved in anti-Asian sentiment that is a burning issue. Not just an issue, not just an issue from the past, but it is smoldering, it is on fire.”

More on the couple’s challenges and their life can be heard in an extended interview with Rose Buckner.

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There’s a ten-foot-high red elephant made of metal standing out front of the entrance, a wooden four-foot long, black and white potbellied pig sits on a table, and a four-foot-high metal cartoon minion stands nearby. These are just a few of the old and odd-looking things that cover the space leading into the coffee house.

It's named for Brewster McLeod, the owner and creator who retired a few years ago after serving four decades as a minister at Southland Christian Church in Jessamine County. Inside the coffee house is filled with more items that he bought from garage sales and flea markets. All of it is for sale.

“I’m not a picker, but I’m a treasure hunter.”

Lights made from roof vent caps hang from the ceiling. A bicycle from the 1950s is mounted on one wall. There’s a 1940’s radio, a bowling ball from the sixties, and a large velvet sofa. All of it is for sale.

McLeod describes the coffee house as, “eclectic. Antique-ish. Edgy. Fun. A safe place where you can come and get great coffee. A great donut. But you can also buy that velvet sofa today. You don’t have to order it.”

McLeod says the money made from selling the items goes to support the coffee house which is a non-profit. He retired four years ago after serving four decades as a minister at Southland Christian Church in Jessamine County.

As a youth minister, he created the Jesus Prom, an event each year that hosts the special needs community for a night of dancing and fellowship. McLeod says he was inspired to open a coffee house staffed by disabled and challenged people.

“I did it because I wanted this group to be included. Inclusive. Inclusivity is the most important thing about doing this.”

McLeod calls his coffee house staff… VIPs. They include people who have challenges like cerebral palsy, autism, social anxiety, and blindness. 24-year-old Samantha Miller works the counter selling coffee and food.

“I do have social anxiety that can kinda get in the way. They understand about everything. Whether it's mental, physical. I actually have a friend who works here who’s missing a hand. She works the expresso machine like a two-handed person would.”

Samantha is behind the counter making a hot chocolate for a customer. “This is just a great atmosphere to be in. I don’t think I could possibly find anything else I want to do later on. Because all my friends are here. They’re like family.”

39-year-old John Smith agrees. He has cerebral palsy and is taking customers’ orders. “The friends I have made here are phenomenal, and our customers are phenomenal so it’s great.”

McLeod says his staff of “VIPs” is very dependable and hard-working. He says he has never had to fire anyone at the coffee house.

“Faithfulness. They never quit. They’re so faithful with what they do.”

Conversations fill the air as customers hang out. A pottery class is underway at one table. There’s even live music from blind 67-year-old Harley Cannon. He used to own a recording shop in Lexington. Now his plays his keyboard and horn at various places around the area.

At McLeod’s Coffee House, he sits just inside the front door and belts out jazz and gospel tunes. “My heart's in gospel, and then jazz and an old favorites. I majored in jazz, piano, and trumpet in college.” Harley echoes the thoughts about the atmosphere at the coffee house.

“It seems as people tend to really care about each other that come here, and they’re interested in what’s going on in each other’s lives. That’s huge to me. He hires people with disabilities, and I’m just thinking that’s just rich.”

McLeod says just about every day they’re open something special happens. On a Friday in March he appreciates his staff being interviewed by this reporter.

“Today has been that and you. And you gave value to them. Almost there’s a story every single time that door opens up.”

McLeod’s Coffee House is serving up more than drinks and food. It’s a place of relaxation, community, respect, and understanding.

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Sometimes even as a young child, you find your calling or passion in life. You don’t know how you’ll get there, but you do know what you love.

LaVon Williams, Jr. fell in love with art as a young child growing up in Sanford, Florida near Orlando. Now 64 years old, Williams remembers his first art teacher in life. Poet, author, and civil rights activist, Maya Angelou hosted an art show on PBS every Saturday back in the 1960s.

Williams recalls, “I think until I was 15 years old, I watched that show every Saturday. So, she would talk about different artists, poets, paintings. She talked about Picasso, (and many other greats). I was sitting there mesmerized as she explained about art.”

Turns out Williams had many art influences in life as a child. His father was a teacher, his grandmother made quilts, and his great-uncle became a master carver who taught Williams’ older brother the craft. Williams says his mother would tell him stories and show him illustrations in books. “When I was coming up, I made things, and we built things, and cut things.”

Drawing skills, knowing which colors worked well together, and learning how to use tools like a saw would be important later in life for Williams and his passion for carving art pieces. At the same time, Williams began to excel at playing basketball.

He had moved to Denver, and his high school team won the state championship. Williams was named “Mr. Basketball” in Colorado. All this drew the attention of Coach Joe B. Hall at the University of Kentucky. Williams signed a scholarship to play for the Wildcats and was on the team from 1976 to 1980 which won the national championship in ’78.

Later Williams played professional basketball overseas in Japan and Italy. But his heart was always on his art. Williams’ older brother had taught him carving. “Even as a kid I was watching PBS one time, and there was a show called the American Masters, and when I saw that show, I said that’s what I want to be.

Not being a basketball player, not being anything else. I want to be on the American Masters.” After his basketball career ended, William tried attending an acclaimed, private art school in Los Angeles. He says the professors were not encouraging, and so he left to come back to Lexington, and immerse himself in carving.

His art studio is in a 130-year-old, tiny house on Jefferson Street in Lexington and it’s filled floor to ceiling with art that inspires him. “I have my brother’s work in here. I have work from the Pacific Islands. I have work from Africa and Japan. I just have a multi-cultural art studio.”

Shavings from his carvings cover the floor as his six-foot-six frame towers over a worktable using a mallet to strike a chisel and carve his latest project.

Many of his wood carvings are two-sided panels with brightly colored characters with elongated feet and hands representing African Americans and their culture. “I love the human form. And then I love American history. I love just the history of people.”

Some of his work can be seen at U-K’s Lucille Caudill Little Fine Arts Library, the U-K Albert Chandler Hospital, and the Keeneland Library. Williams says Keeneland commissioned him to do two pieces that represent black jockeys from the late 1800s.

His pieces are on display along with art from the legendary sports painter, Leroy Neiman. “I didn’t know the magnitude of it until I stepped in the building and saw the show, and I was like whoa! Right now, that is probably one of my biggest accomplishments.”

Williams is also working on six panels for the Isaac Murphy Memorial Garden in Lexington at Midland Avenue and East Third Street. It’s another art project that combines history with African American culture. Murphy won three Kentucky Derbys in the late 1800s but was largely ignored later for his racing accomplishments.

Williams has no plans of stopping. “I think it’s the only thing I can do, that I want to do. There’s nothing else more in the world that I have a passion for other than my children and grandchildren. I mean I’ve always had a passion for art as far as I can remember.”

What’s his message to younger people about art? “Art teaches you about your past, it teaches you about your culture, it teaches you about your future. But the one thing with art is art is universal. If you love art and your culture, I think that’s what being as American is…”

The art carvings of LaVon Williams, Jr. can also be seen on his website: lavonsfolkart.com.

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Go down the steps into the basement of 54-year-old Mark Rucker’s home in Lexington and you immediately come upon small tables, shelves, and closets full of bourbon. All sizes, shapes, and brands.

Rucker does not have an exact count, but he says his wife estimates it’s in the range of 500 to 600 bottles. Many come from Kentucky distilleries. Most of the bourbon made in the world is produced and aged in Kentucky according to the Kentucky Department of Tourism.

And bourbon has quite an impact on the state’s economy. The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce says bourbon accounts for 22,500 jobs and nine billion dollars a year. Those kinds of numbers only add fuel to Rucker’s passion for the beverage.

“It’s kinda weird because I don’t make bourbon, I don’t produce it, but I take a great sense of pride in what bourbon does, and what that represents in the worldwide economy. And how it’s perceived and accepted now,” says Rucker.

Several years ago, Rucker combined his love of bourbon with photography. He began posting pictures and information about bourbon on Instagram, and within a year attracted 20,000 followers. That led Rucker to start The Bourbon Life podcast.

After three seasons with more than 159 episodes Rucker’s podcast has attracted listeners from 45 countries, and 275,000 downloads. Those numbers he says now rank his podcast second among all those devoted to bourbon.

“It’s a very humbling experience to know that someone from around the world, someone who I will never meet is listening to a show that I did, sharing these great stories from all these wonderful people.”

The Bourbon Life is a weekly podcast that usually runs at least one hour. Rucker wants to give his guests plenty of time to discuss bourbon.

“I just see myself kind of as a conduit. So, the stories are there, and I just afford these master distillers or these master blenders, these people in this industry the opportunity to share these stories with people around the world.”

Rucker, who is a Lexington attorney, co-hosts “The Bourbon Life” with 36-year-old Matt Hughes. He’s also passionate about bourbon.

Hughes who works in the Engineering Department of the Urban County Government in Lexington spent years working as a cook in restaurants. That experience he says, prepared his palate for smelling and tasting the nuances of bourbon.

“I got to cook a lot of different cuisines, try a lot of different spices, and had a lot of carte blanche within a couple different kitchens to really play and experiment. When I’m tasting whiskey or bourbon, I like to try and think of a food or a memory or something that it ties me to.”

Hughes and Rucker have at least one guest on each podcast. Sometimes they are from out of state. Last month the pair talked with Al Laws, President and Founder of Laws Whiskey House in Denver, Colorado.

Sometimes the guests come to Rucker’s home studio in his basement. He has a large table set up with four microphones and earphones to accommodate everyone.

He says he’s spent thousands of dollars on recording and editing gear on the podcast to make it as professional as possible. He has some corporate sponsors that help defray the costs.

“I didn’t do it for the money. I did it because I loved it. Don’t go into it expecting that you’re going to make a lot of money doing it.” I asked him if was now making some money. “I’m doing okay. Yea not enough go quit my day job. But enough to buy nice equipment and to be able to market and do some things that I think other podcasts aren’t financially able to do.”

In the end, he and Hughes love sampling bourbon of all brands and talking about it. “I enjoy the flavors. I’m always looking for the complexities, for the different profiles, for the taste, to nose it. So, when I drink bourbon, I don’t want to say it’s an extravaganza, but it’s a sensory adventure for me every time I drink a different bourbon.”

Hughes agrees. “We have gotten to meet so many interesting people and spend so much quality time sharing great stories, not just about good bourbon, good rye, good whiskey, but just getting to know the people. It’s the people that totally make this industry what it is.”

The Bourbon Life is available wherever you get your podcasts.

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She describes herself as a teaching artist who travels the state inspiring students in vocal storytelling in her mountain dialect.

The 69-year-old Sexton explains to the students, “I tell my stories in dialect. Your teacher teaches you in what’s called standard English. So, everybody can understand you even if they’re not from here. And it’s important you learn it. But my dialect is a part of who I am, and I’m not ashamed of it. Don’t you ever be ashamed of the way your grandma talks.”

Sexton grew up in Rockcastle County and remembers facing discrimination and being stereotyped. Part of her message is about uplifting the students no matter where they come from. “To be proud of who they are. Absolutely. Not to be ashamed. And I continue that in all my classes. We get to be talking about bullying, and I give them points. But it’s all subtle. It’s mixed into what I do.”

To bring Sexton to Mt. Vernon Elementary, the art teacher applied for a grant through a non-profit called the Arts for All Kentucky. The grant pays for Sexton’s expenses. Rumsey says it’s important that Sexton brings back the Appalachian roots to the students “that are kinda disappearing for these smaller children.

But Octavia is just a genuine jewel. It’s more than hearing Appalachian storytelling. She loves the students. She knows how to kind of read their personalities and their disposition. And she brings things out in them that are just special.”

When Sexton tells her stories that she heard from her grandparents, she moves and acts the story. She explains her approach to teaching the students. “Focus on presentation skills. We work on that a lot. I want to get them to develop speaking skills and confidence.”

Sexton and the students create their own story with characters and a plot. Nine-year old Grayson Vance says, “She’s really funny and she’s like a very good like storytelling about the story.” Eight-year-old Arabella Smith adds, “she’s a very good voice actor.”

I asked Sexton what it means to her when she connects with a student. “Oh, I mean that’s why I do this. I used to work a lot in Western Kentucky, and I have kids from over there in Muhlenberg that are now in their 30s and 40s, and they still keep in touch with me.” She remembers one student who reached out to her. “He said because of you I found my confidence and I’m a director in New York City.”

Back at Mt. Vernon Elementary, the children are creating their own story. Sexton says no matter your background, “we’re all connected through story. And story is important whatever it is or was.”

To hear Octavia Sexton tell some of her stories go to octaviasexton.com

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Computer dating, and now online matchmaking has helped hundreds of millions of people meet. It’s estimated last year that thirteen percent of people using a dating site eventually got engaged or married, that’s according to data research firm Statista.

Back in the 1950s and early 1960s, computer matching of couples was just getting started, and that’s how one Lexington couple met more than 53 years ago.

Dick Owen, who is 77 years old now, grew up in a small town named Delmar in New York State not far from Albany. About 12 miles away, his future wife Sherry, now 74, grew up in the town of Cohoes.

When Sherry was ten, she remembers watching a popular television show called The Art Linkletter House Party that included a segment using a computer to match couples. The couples filled out a questionnaire on their likes, dislikes, physical attributes, and the geographic area they wished to meet someone. The show would introduce couples on television to talk about their first date.

Sherry says, “Well I’m ten years old, when grow up, I’m going to do that. And I walk into my college library and there’s an application.”

She was 19 and going to a community college when she sent in the questionnaire. When her computer matches came back, Sherry, had five names of men, and the last one was Dick Owen. She wrote him a letter introducing herself. It turns out he had also filled out an application for the computer dating match, but Sherry’s name was not on his list of matches.

Dick remembers, “I get this letter from a girl I don’t know. So, I’m playing the guessing game before I open up the envelope. Who is Sherry Mason? I have no idea.” Dick wrote Sherry, and they started writing each other in the months to follow.

Their first face-to-face date came on Thanksgiving Day 1967. Dick recalls driving up to her house and feeling a bit nervous. He was about to meet Sherry and her entire family. She was nervous too. I asked them if it was love at first sight. Sherry says, “No. No. I was too nervous.” Dick agrees. “No definitely not. It was a very slow evolution type of thing for me. It grew on me as time went on. I always liked her red hair, and she had blue eyes, and they sparkled.”

One and a half years later in June 1969, Dick and Sherry were married. Dick says, “there are so many things that we, whether it be jewelry, furniture, whatever, almost everything we like together. There are very few things that we disagree on which I think has made our marriage very successful. That doesn’t mean we don’t have disagreements at times.”

The couple had three children and eventually moved to Lexington where Dick was a police officer for almost 25 years.

They celebrated each wedding anniversary at a different restaurant, and Dick would arrange to have a special cake for the occasion. “I would usually design my own cakes. The bakeries don’t like that because they have signature cakes, and I’d go in there, and this is what I want, and this is how I want it decorated.”

They also had a practice of always kissing at least once or twice a day. The couple will celebrate 54 years of marriage in June.

What are some of the keys to a long and happy marriage? Sherry says communication and compromise, and Dick agrees. “Lots of compromise. A lot of give and take. And I tell people it’s an everyday thing. It’s not just a one-time-a-week thing, a one-time-a-month thing. You have to compromise just about every day, and you have to work at it.” Sherry says, “many times you know, you just don’t say anything, turn around and leave the room.”

I asked them how they celebrate Valentine’s Day, and they both said they didn’t until much later in their marriage. Sherry says, “I never heard of people celebrating it until one time I had asked my babysitter if she could babysit, and I didn’t even know it was Valentine’s Day, and we weren’t going to do anything.”

It sounds like love and friendship were not dependent on them celebrating Valentine’s Day. But patience on other matters of life and relationships is important. Dick recommends this on marriage.

“Take your time, don’t rush into it. There’s more than enough time to make decisions. That’s a big decision that’s going to affect you for the rest of your life.”

Congratulations to Dick and Sherry Owen of Lexington on 53 years of marriage and counting.

The wind blows the American flag on the rear of the 327-foot ship anchored in this tropical paradise.

The engines of the USCGC Ingham no longer operate so it’s now a floating museum that gives the public a look at life aboard a ship that served in World War II and Vietnam.

Launched in 1936, it was decommissioned in 1988, and eventually found a home in Key West.

Four days a week a former Lexington firefighter opens the ship for visitors.

54-year-old Robert Crow started as a volunteer on the ship when he retired to Key West. Crow is now in charge of the ship, and it’s a full-time job. “You don’t get this history in school. So, when people come aboard, they actually find things they never knew, what the Coast Guard actually does. People think the Coast Guard just patrols the water. They do so much more.”

Crow has a connection to the naval history in Key West. His father served in the U-S Navy and was stationed on a ship in 1965 in Key West. “Being on a ship here in the same harbor that my father served in, it’s really impressive to me. It’s a lot of fun. This is the greatest office in the world.”

His wife Tracey, 52 years old and a former manager in health care in Lexington, also works on the ship doing the accounting and writing grants to help support the preservation of the ship.

They moved to Key West eight years ago to get away from the cold Winter months of Kentucky and look for a more laid-back lifestyle.

Tracey says people in Key West were very helpful and kind to the Kentucky transplants. “They were willing to help you do anything. You had a question? Sure, let me help you, let me take you there. It was just the freeing of everybody’s happy. There was no stress here.”

Robert appreciates the 70-degree temperatures in Key West during the Winter months. “I like getting up in the morning and having the sunshine. When we were in Kentucky the last two weeks of Christmas, it was just grey. I like Kentucky, but it’s grey in the Winter and that gets old. Just being on the water, it’s just a fantastic place to be.”

The couple has learned to cope with the threat of hurricanes. Key West is the last island along The Keys and is only about 90 miles from Cuba.

The city of about 27 thousand people has not taken a direct hit from a hurricane in more than a century (1919), but there have been some close calls.

Hurricane Irma in 2017 came ashore just north of Key West in the Lower and Middle Keys. Last September Hurricane Ian missed Key West and smashed through Ft. Meyers.

Robert says “we didn’t take a direct hit. We had some damage here. Our church had some damage. The ship as you noticed as we walk out, there’s no awning over top the bar area. We lost all of that, all the railing that all blew away.”

Tracey says they have plenty of warning when severe weather comes their way in The Keys. “You have a week preparation. You fill our washing machine with ice. You fill your tub full of water. You have those weeks for preparedness.”

On board the Ingham, I follow Robert down a steep set of metal steps into several levels of what was essentially a city on the water for up to 200 crew members.

Robert says the Ingham was made to be out on the water for long periods of time without needing to come back to shore for supplies.

There’s a laundry, officer’s rooms and eating area, the Captain’s dining table, desk, and sleeping bunk, and even a brig that held up to three people. The Crows noticed something was missing and created a chapel in one small room.

Robert says “we need a chapel on board because we have a lot of children from the Coast Guard that are baptized here on the ship. And we have ceremonies for some of our sailors who have passed on.”

Near the end of its duty on the seas, the Ingham helped during the Mariel Boatlift in 1980 when Cuban leader Fidel Castro allowed 125-thousand refugees leave for the United States.

Robert says, “I was here one day, and there was a woman at the end of the gangway, and she was just looking up at the ship and she was crying. This ship brought her to America.”

For people considering doing something similar to what the Crows did by retiring to a tropical place, Tracey has this advice. “Definitely visit every season. So, you know you can live in hot and cold, whatever the seasons are. Be prepared for some life-changing emotional things you’re going thru. And take it all and enjoy. Don’t take anything for granted.”

If you are ever in Key West, the USCGC Ingham is usually open Monday thru Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm. It’s a self-guided tour, but there are people available to answer questions.

**In a sea of partisan news, WEKU is your source for public service, fact-based journalism. Monthly sustaining donors are the top source of funding for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation.

Dr. David Moliterno, a Professor of Medicine and former Chief of Cardiology and Dr. Randy Schell, a cardiac anesthesiologist are back from a 1500-mile bike ride through Vietnam and Cambodia.

The 62-year-old doctors have a lot in common. Both are from Michigan. Both came to U-K about 20-years ago, and both love riding their bikes long distances in places around the world.

“I absolutely love the freedom, and the feel of being on a bicycle, and travelling around. Kentucky is absolutely gorgeous. In fact, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ridden around the world is right here in the state of Kentucky,” says Dr. Moliterno.

Moliterno has ridden his bike in France, Italy, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Canada. Not to be out done, Dr. Schell rode his bike in those countries, across the United States, and from Canada to Mexico along the West Coast.

He says “that feeling of peace that you get out there you’re on your bike, I can’t even describe it. All I can say it’s there, it’s wonderful. It’s part of that living life to the fullest and living without regret.”

The nineteen days of riding last October and November in Vietnam and Cambodia were with a tour of riders mostly from the U-S and Canada. They had a guide, a bike mechanic for repairs on the road, and hotels to stay in along the way. Both doctors say the people in Vietnam and Cambodia were friendly and welcoming.

Dr. Schell says, “what was so much fun, we would stop in the little Vietnamese villages and get a coke or something or a coffee at their little stands at their homes. It was actually I think more fun stopping and trying to talk to some of these people then stopping at a regular store.”

Dr. Schell also says the children cheered them on as they rode past. “The kids would know one word, and it was hello and would yell hello as you went past, and smile big, and I loved that part.” The biggest challenge was riding on roads that were sometimes a mess.

Dr. Moliterno recalls, “there were some days where it was a lot of potholes and dirt roads, and heavy rain and high winds.” Both doctors were used to steep climbs along mountain roads, but they say on this trip they encountered even steeper ascents. “I remember one day it was monsoon rains blowing at you, and by the time you get to the other side, it was very cold actually,” says Dr. Schell.

Neither doctor recalls seeing much evidence of the war that consumed those countries in the 1960’s and 70’s, but they did spend one day visiting the museum at The Killing Fields. In the late 1970’s the Khmer Rouge regime tortured and murdered more than a million people. Thousands of those people were buried in mass graves called The Killing Fields.

Dr. Schell says in one place, “they had 17,000 skulls there, and turned into a monument. As we walked thru the killing fields where it had rained over a couple of days, you could see remnants of clothes coming up from the ground, pieces of bone coming up from the ground still from that era and it’s just sickening.”

The doctors averaged about eighty miles a day on this trip. They dedicated the ride to raising money through donations for a non-profit called The Unforgettables Foundation which pays for the funerals of children from low-income families.

Dr. Molinterno says of the families, “they go thru the devastation of losing a young child, but then right on the back of that, not being able to adequately fund a dignified burial. So, one of the nice things with this foundation, the money goes directly to the funeral home, to the tab of the family to offset that.”

To date The Unforgettable Foundation has helped more than eight-thousand families. The UK doctors would like to start a chapter of the foundation in Kentucky. They estimate their 1500-mile ride has raised at least $30,000.

The bike trip introduced them to new cultures, and a greater appreciation for simplicity. Dr. Schell explained, “I realized a new appreciation for happiness without things and many of the families there, they were getting together, eating together. They were very simple homes. Their kids looked happy, they seemed happy. I thought wow, no cell phones held up. They’re doing things together as a family, maybe we can learn something from that here in in the U-S.”

The doctors are planning their next biking trips with no sign of slowing down, and credit their wives for supporting them.

You can hear an extended interview with the doctors below.

You can donate to the doctor’s rides by going to unforgettables.org and clicking on a link to “Drs. David & Randy’s Global Ride 1.0.”

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His first opportunity to wear the white beard came in the fourth grade. “They had a Christmas program at school, and I got to be Santa because I was the teacher’s pet. And my mom stuck that beard on, and it smelled to high heaven, but I thought that’s the neatest thing I’ve done in my life. And that impressed me, that someday, I’m gonna be Santa Claus.”

In 2006 he grabbed the chance to try Santa Claus as an adult. “I got cast as Kris Kringle in the Miracle on 48th Street in Woodford County. And so that was a great learning experience.” Pattie went to a Santa Claus convention, grew a white beard, and began booking Christmas events around Central Kentucky. He admits to spending thousands of dollars on Santa costumes. “It gets to be a little bit of an obsession, I’ll admit it. And I probably have three times more wardrobe than I need, but I have a great wife who turns the other way, and never asks me what that cost.”

Pattie says the key as Santa Claus is to keep the focus on the children. “The first major thing I learned is don’t be loud and boisterous and animated because you’ll scare them to death. It takes the focus off the kids and putting it on you. It’s a scary experience for some kids so I speak very low in terms of volume.” In fact, Pattie sees himself more as an assistant to the man in red and white. “I also always tell myself, I’m not Santa Claus, I’m a helper. I get kids that come up to me at the holidays. It’s really interesting. I keep the beard all year. A child will come up to me at a restaurant, and say, are you Santa Claus? And I’ll always say no, but I know him.”

As I watched him at a Santa Claus appearance at a marina restaurant on Herrington Lake, I noticed a twinkle in his eyes as a photographer took pictures of him and the children. “I don’t know Sam, it’s not intentional. It’s just magic. It’s nothing that I have stood before a mirror and practiced. I kinda think I know how Santa would smile.”

Patience is also key to his Santa Claus experience. “It requires a lot of patience, and I don’t have a problem with that. I’ll take as long as we have to, to bring a child along. I do get inpatient with obviously spoiled children, and the good thing about my experience is I haven’t seen all that many.”

Pattie says he’s booked as Santa Claus nearly every day in November and December. Considering the time it takes to get into his costume, travel, and time at holiday events, I was surprised to learn he is not paid for most of his appearances.

Pattie says his payment comes in other ways. “There are a lot of other ways besides money that you get paid off. When you make a child happy and get a nice picture for their parents. I’ve worked with hospice and other organizations. And you’ve got children, the only way they’re going to get a picture with Santa is you go see them.”

Pattie says he sees no reason to stop wearing the red and white coat with black boots and white gloves. “I just turned 70, and as long as my health allows me, I don’t see any reason to stop. I’ll be doing this longer than I’m doing radio. The cool thing about Santa is you can’t age out because Santa is old to begin with so you can’t be too old to be Santa.”

Don’t fret radio listeners, Pattie says he just signed a two-year contract to continue at WVLK.

As for children’s holiday wishes for gifts, listen to our extended conversation with Santa Claus about the hot toy this year.

**In a sea of partisan news, WEKU is your source for public service, fact-based journalism. Monthly sustaining donors are the top source of funding for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation.