December 2023-January 2024 | Kentucky Monthly Magazine

O N T H E C OV E R Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill, Photo by Rebecca Redding

in this issue

16

D E C E M BE R/ JA NUA RY D E PA R T M E N T S 2 Kentucky Kwiz 3 Readers Write 4 Mag on the Move 9 25th Anniversary 10 Across Kentucky 11 Music 12 Cooking 45 Kentucky Explorer 56 Off the Shelf 58 Past Tense/ Present Tense 60 Field Notes 62 Calendar 64 Vested Interest

8 25 Festive Happenings Get into the Christmas spirit with these seasonal events

12

30 Twenty-Three Dollars and Eighty-Five Cents A random act of kindness touches the heart of a frustrated family man at Christmas

16 Holiday Magic Mustard Seed Hill in Millersburg delights visitors with Christmas light displays, gingerbread houses, an artisan market and more

34 Contemplating the Stars Singer-songwriter S.G. Goodman reflects on her career, playing with established artists, and the comfort of solitude and small-town life

26 A Subterranean Celebration Mammoth Cave’s unique acoustics provide the setting for a holiday concert like no other

38 ‘The George Washington of the West’ Soldier, statesman and Kentuckian Isaac Shelby was the right person for his time and place k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 1

kentucky kwiz Test your knowledge of our beloved Commonwealth. To find out how you fared, see the bottom of Vested Interest.

1. Originally known as Mobley Stand, which Henry County community draws hundreds of people each year to its living Nativity (Dec. 22-25) and to get a special postmark for their holiday cards?

A. The Order of the Eastern Star

A. Yonderstar

2. Who was the first native-born Kentucky governor?

7. Mary Desha of Lexington was one of the five founders of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The DAR contributes $1 million annually to support five schools, including which one in Kentucky?

A. Isaac Shelby

A. Midway University

B. Henry Clay

B. Hindman Settlement School

C. James T. Morehead

C. Alice Lloyd College

3. Fact or Folklore: Daniel Boone reportedly ran from “Old Chillicothe” to Boonesborough in less than 48 hours to warn of an attack by the Shawnee. The journey would have included crossing the Scioto, Little Miami and Ohio rivers.

8. Gov. James Proctor Knott (18301911), the namesake of Knott County, turned down an appointment by President Grover Cleveland to become the first territorial governor of Hawaii to teach civics and economics in the law department of which Kentucky college?

B. Bethlehem C. Nazareth

B. National Society of the Colonial Dames of America C. Daughters of the American Revolution

Celebrating the best of our Commonwealth

© 2023, Vested Interest Publications Volume Twenty-Six, Issue 10, December 2023/January 2024 Stephen M. Vest Publisher + Editor-in-Chief

Editorial Patricia Ranft Associate Editor Rebecca Redding Creative Director Deborah Kohl Kremer Assistant Editor Ted Sloan Contributing Editor Cait A. Smith Copy Editor Lucy Saunderson Intern

Senior Kentributors

4. Duncan Hines is best known for cake mixes, but the Bowling Green native’s pathway to being a food critic was born from his career as what?

A. The first culinary graduate of Sullivan University’s Bakery Program B. A chef at the Seelbach Hotel while in the United States Army C. A traveling salesman for a Chicago printer, a job that meant eating many meals on the road

A. Transylvania University

A. Bowling Green B. Frankfort C. La Grange 6. Another professor at Masonic University was Rob Morris, the last poet laureate of Freemasonry. He was credited with founding which other national organization?

Business and Circulation Barbara Kay Vest Business Manager

Advertising Lindsey Collins Senior Account Executive and Coordinator

B. Alice Lloyd College

Kelley Burchell Account Executive

C. Centre College

Teresa Revlett Account Executive

9. Billboard Music Award-winning rapper Jack Harlow began his musical career selling CDs at which Louisville middle school?

A. Highland Middle School B. Roberta Tully Middle School C. Conway Middle School

5. Duncan Hines’ kinsman, Thomas Henry Hines, was a chief justice, an attorney and a Confederate spy before becoming a grammar instructor at Masonic University, which was located in which Kentucky city?

Jackie Hollenkamp Bentley, Jack Brammer, Bill Ellis, Steve Flairty, Gary Garth, Jessie Hendrix-Inman, Mick Jeffries, Kim Kobersmith, Brigitte Prather, Walt Reichert, Tracey Teo, Janine Washle and Gary P. West

For advertising information, call 888.329.0053 or 502.227.0053 KENTUCKY MONTHLY (ISSN 1542-0507) is published 10 times per year (monthly with combined December/ January and June/July issues) for $25 per year by Vested Interest Publications, Inc., 100 Consumer Lane, Frankfort, KY 40601. Periodicals Postage Paid at Frankfort, KY and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to KENTUCKY MONTHLY, P.O. Box 559, Frankfort, KY 40602-0559.

Vested Interest Publications: Stephen M. Vest, president; Patricia Ranft, vice president;

10. Kenny Rollins, the point guard on the University of Kentucky’s “Fabulous Five” who won the 1948 NCAA Tournament, was 24 years old in ’48 because he left school after his sophomore year and spent three years doing what?

A. Busking on the streets of Nashville, trying to get discovered for his banjo skills B. Traveling with the circus as a lion tamer C. Serving his country in the United States during World War II

2 KE NT U C K Y M O NT H LY D ECEMBER 2 0 2 3 / J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 4

Barbara Kay Vest, secretary/treasurer. Board of directors: James W. Adams Jr., Dr. Gene Burch, Gregory N. Carnes, Barbara and Pete Chiericozzi, Kellee Dicks, Maj. Jack E. Dixon, Bruce and Peggy Dungan, Mary and Michael Embry, Judy M. Harris, Greg and Carrie Hawkins, Jan and John Higginbotham, Frank Martin, Bill Noel, Michelle Jenson McDonnell, Walter B. Norris, Kasia Pater, Dr. Mary Jo Ratliff, Barry A. Royalty, Randy and Rebecca Sandell, Kendall Carr Shelton and Ted M. Sloan.

Kentucky Monthly invites queries but accepts no responsibility for unsolicited material; submissions will not be returned.

kentuckymonthly.com

Counties mentioned in this issue...

Readers Write Anniversary Regards Having been a subscriber since issue No. 1, I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the 25 Years issue (September).

I was amazed at some of the 25-year statistics, and, as always, I enjoyed Steve Vest’s column. I think that the upcoming “six degrees” get-togethers will be a lot of fun. And yes, two degrees is not too bad a guess for Kentuckians.

Here’s to the next 25 years!

Bill Leroy, Frankfort • • •

I had a great time at the 25th anniversary party in September. The food, refreshments, music and atmosphere were exceptional.

For upcoming receptions, to be even better, all staff and invited celebrities could wear name tags. As a 20-plus-year subscriber, I would have loved to meet you.

John Aboud, Louisville • • •

By page 17 of the September edition, I knew that I would be saving that issue in its entirety!

Seeing the lovely Amanda Stiltner again has given me pause. Kentucky A to Z has been on my reading table since it became available, and countless guests have settled down with it in our home.

On my next trip to Georgetown, I hope to look up Amanda and personally say, “Thanks for sharing yourself so beautifully!”

Happy 25th, Kentucky Monthly! I’ll be here!

Betty Norment, Henderson

Feeding the Soul As one who enjoys having his hands in the dirt and watching things grow— well, most things, anyway—I appreciated Walt Reichert’s column “Reflections on a Gardening Life” (September issue, page 59).

Whatever production we may enjoy from the time, money and sweat equity

we gardeners invest, an immeasurable bounty is returned to us in the form of an ever-deepening connection with earth and the life that so amazingly emerges from it, sometimes even in spite of our efforts.

“Good gardening,” as Mr. Reichert writes, is “also about feeding the soul.”

The Kentucky Gift Guide Kentucky Monthly’s annual gift guide highlights some of the finest handcrafted gifts and treats our Commonwealth has to offer.

Thanks, Walt, for sharing your story and your insight.

Ron O’Brien, Amburgey

Equine Education Your staff did a good job on the “Equine U” article (August issue, page 30). It included so much information and pictures, it would get the attention of a young person interested in an equine career.

Graduating from Morehead State then coming to Louisville, I became a huge fan of horses. Driving by a horse farm and seeing a horse and her foal running together shows the grace and beauty of the horse industry.

J.R. Harris, Louisville

We Love to Hear from You! Kentucky Monthly welcomes letters from all readers.

Email us your comments at editor@kentuckymonthly.com, send a letter through our website at kentuckymonthly.com, or message us on Facebook. Letters may be edited for clarification and brevity.

Drink Local This handy guide to sipping in the Bluegrass State spotlights local breweries, wineries and, of course, distilleries. Discover unique ways to drink in Kentucky, creative cocktail recipes and more.

Follow us @kymonthly Find more at kentuckymonthly.com.

Use your phone to scan this QR code and visit our website.

UNITING KENTUCKIANS EVERYWHERE. k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 3

travel

MAG

Even when you’re far away, you can take the spirit of your Kentucky home with you. And when you do, we want to see it!

ON THE

MOVE New Zealand & Aus tralia

“Flinns to the left, Flinns to the right …”

— Jimmy Buffett

(1946-2023)

Beverly and John Flinn of Union cruised around New Zealand for two weeks, and then spent eight days in Australia. Their stops included snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef and touring Sydney, including its famous opera house.

4 KE NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

Come visit us at

Jeptha Creed Distillery @JepthaCreed #HonorTheCreed

- tasting experiences - craft cocktail bar - creed cafe - gift shop -

Scan me to plan your visit

500 gordon lane shelbyville, ky 40065 502-487-5007

k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 5

travel

Florida

Longtime friends Glema Layne of Betsy Layne (Floyd County) and Toni Akers of Pikeville indulged in pastries from a German bakery in Howey-inthe Hills, Florida.

Bos ton

Bonaire

While visiting Boston, Don and Charlotte Colyer of Louisville posed in front of Paul Revere’s statue. The Old North Church is visible in the background.

6 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

Linda Waller of Frankfort and her best travel buddy Irene Flinchbaugh of Port St. Lucie stopped by the Lac Bay Bar at the end of the road on the Caribbean island of Bonaire.

U tah

Iceland

Janet and Tom Raderer, right, of Louisville and Libby and Joe Traxel, left, of Maysville are pictured at the North View Overlook (elevation 10,435 feet) at Cedar Breaks National Monument in Utah. They were on their way from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas to meet the Road Scholar Best of Color Country National Park Tour.

Maine Karen and Steve Fischer of Lexington traveled to Vik, Iceland, where they checked out the world-famous black sand of Reynisfjara Beach.

While on a cruise, Versailles resident Susan Buffin stopped at Bar Harbor, Maine, and is pictured in Agamont Park.

k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 7

25 holiday events Q There are plenty of opportunities to take in festive lights, enjoy familyfriendly activities, indulge in tasty treats, shop for gifts, and even meet Santa Claus!

NOV 1 – JAN 31

The Grand Rivers Christmas Celebration. Stroll through more than 1 million lights and displays in Patti’s 1880’s Settlement. pattis1880s.com • 270.362.8844 NOV 10 – JAN 1

Lights Under Louisville at Louisville Mega Cavern. Drive your car through the only underground holiday light show in the world!

Along the 1 mile of cavern passageways, visitors experience more than 6.5 million lights, festive laser lights and holiday music. lightsunderlouisville.com 1.877.614.6342 NOV 11 – JAN 7

Behringer-Crawford Museum’s Holly Jolly Days. Enjoy a family-oriented celebration of the holidays at the Covington museum with vintage Christmas trees, German toys and a large train display featuring 250 feet of track winding through an interactive miniature world. bcmuseum.org • 859.491.4003 NOV 13 – JAN 1

Winter Wonderland of Lights Festival.

Ashland’s Central Park is glowing with 60 holiday displays made up of more than 800,000 lights. winterwonderlandoflights.org 606.329.1007 NOV 24 – DEC 31

Southern Lights at the Kentucky Horse Park. Drive along the 3-mile display and then walk through the Holiday Village, which includes a petting zoo, a train ride and an opportunity to meet Santa. kyhorsepark.com • 859.233.4303

NOV 25 – JAN 1

DEC 2, 9 AND 16

Mayfield Festival of Lights. Drive through the Mayfield-Graves Fairground and marvel at the lights. visitmayfieldgraves.org• 270.705.5888

Illuminated Evenings at Shaker Village. Enjoy candlelight tours, live holiday music, and an opportunity to meet Santa while strolling the grounds of the Pleasant Hill Shakers, who established this village in 1805. shakervillageky.org/events 859.734.5411

NOV 25 – DEC 16 (TIMES + DAYS VARY)

Yuletide at Yew Dell Botanical Gardens. Traditional family fun at the Crestview gardens with a magical train village, lights and décor, holiday trees and, of course, Santa! yewdellgardens.org • 502.241.4788 NOV 25 – DEC 4

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by the Lexington Children’s Theater. This classic, humorous stage performance that shows the true meaning of the season is a holiday classic.

Lctonstage.org • 859.254.4546 NOV 30 – DEC 25

Holiday Light Display at the Trace.

Enjoy a drive-through experience at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, viewing the grounds all dressed up for the holidays. buffalotracedistillery.com/events 1.800.654.8471 NOV 22 – JAN 1

Christmas in the Park at Freeman Lake Park. This free driving tour takes visitors on an illuminated journey through more than 100 beautifully lit holiday displays. elizabethtownky.org • 270.234.8258

DEC 2

Christmas in the Country at Dinsmore Homestead. Enjoy festive decorations of a bygone era, period costume dancing and demonstrating, and crafts for kids, at the Boone County farm that dates back to 1842. dinsmorefarm.org • 859.586.6117 DEC 2

South Union Shaker Village Holiday Market. Browse antique vendors and artisans selling their wares and enjoy the historic atmosphere of the former Shaker village in Auburn. southunionshakervillage.com 270.542.4167 DEC 3

Maysville Annual Frontier Christmas.

Celebrate the holidays in the Old Washington Historic District, a historic 1700s village of authentic buildings.

Shop handmade arts and crafts from vendors lining the streets and enjoy holiday activities for the whole family. visitmaysvilleky.com • 606.563.2596 DEC 8

DEC 1

The Oak Ridge Boys’ Down Home Christmas Tour at Renfro Valley Entertainment Center. The show features both traditional and contemporary songs from the group’s eight bestselling Christmas albums along with Christmas trees, falling snow, and a visit from Santa.

Renfrovalley.com • 606.256.0101 DEC 1–23, THURSDAY-SUNDAY

Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill. A spectacular holiday tradition in Millersburg where you can enjoy live music, lights, a gingerbread house exhibit and an artisan’s market mustardseedhill.events 859.685.2190

8 KE NT U C K Y M O NT H LY D ECEMBER 2 0 2 3 / J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 4

A Brass Transit Christmas at Glema Mahr Center for the Arts. Get in the spirit of the season with this tribute to the beloved animated classic A Charlie Brown Christmas. glemacenter.org • 270.821.2787 DEC 8–17

Irving Berlin’s White Christmas at Playhouse in the Park in Murray.

Based on the beloved holiday film of the same name, the show will inspire you to sing along with all the tunes you know by heart. playhousemurray.org • 270.759.1752

DEC 9

Owensboro Symphony’s Home for the Holidays at RiverPark Center.

This family favorite includes performances of some of the season’s most recognizable tunes. owensborosymphony.org 270.684.0661 DEC 9 + 16

Kentucky Opry Christmas Show.

Bring the whole family to Benton to share your favorite country Christmas classics and enjoy the biblical story through song and recitation. kentuckyopry.com • 270.527.3869 DEC 11

MainStrasse Christkindlmarkt.

Inspired by German holiday markets, the Covington neighborhood of MainStrasse fills the promenade with an open-air market featuring crafts, treats and traditional music. rcov.org/covington-christkindlmarkt DEC 12

Christmas Cocktail Class at Down One Bourbon Bar & Restaurant inside The Galt House. Learn how to craft three holiday-inspired cocktails, just in time for your Christmas parties. galthouse.com • 502.589.5200 DEC 12

Nutcracker! Magical Christmas Ballet at SKyPAC in Bowling Green.

Enjoy the traditional holiday favorite with larger-than-life puppets, breathtaking acrobatics and dazzling costumes. theskypac.com • 270.904.1880 DEC 15 – 16

Kentucky Symphony Presents Merry Christmas, Darling. Sing along to the songs you know by heart at this tribute to The Carpenter’s Christmas album, which came out in 1978. kyso.org • 859.431.6216 DEC 20

The Louisville Orchestra: Nat King Cole Christmas at The Louisville Palace. Relive memories of holidays past with the golden era of music.

LouisvillePalace.com 1.800.745.3000

GROWING UP KENTUCKY MONTHLY Second in a series

T

hree hundred words to describe my experience as an editor’s daughter? I could write a Harry Potter-sized dissertation on the subject. My first comedy special will be called Daddy Issues. (Magazine. Issues. Get it?)

I’m sure my siblings will write about trips to Holiday World or the Miss Kentucky parties. I felt a lot of pressure when I was asked to write this article. I consider myself a decent writer, and I have my dad to thank for that.

Twenty-five years of Kentucky Monthly means I will be turning 30 shortly after this article comes out.

I’m currently writing this on a patio in Chicago with my dog, Mini, listening to Monday Night Football, remembering my earliest memories of sitting in press boxes at local sporting events, listening to my dad announce games. It also makes me think of the quote: “Dog is a man’s best friend,” which my dad often told me originated with George Graham Vest, or was it Mark Twain? A quick Google search tells me it actually may have been King Fredrick II of Prussia. That’s the gift of being a “creative nonfiction” writer.

Growing up Kentucky Monthly felt like many things. It felt like playing in the window display of the old office on St. Clair Street, walking to the old Paul Sawyer Public Library with my little sister’s library card because I was always losing mine, and watching Frog and Toad on VHS in the conference room while dipping Oreos in cone cups of water. It felt like driving around with my grandad to drop off boxes of magazines to doctors’ offices and sitting in my mom’s hot van waiting for what seemed like forever while she argued with publishers. It felt like knowing spring was coming when I got to spend my weekends schmoozing artists and sampling artisan chocolate and Cajun popcorn at the Kentucky Crafted Market and getting autographed copies of misprinted children’s books at numerous book fairs. Later, it felt like cringing every time my dad misquoted his “eldest daughter” but feeling grateful that he never wrote about any of my high school romances, while not understanding why his intern [Lindsey] could be featured on the cover but I could not.

Now, I just feel proud. I am happy to have been raised by dreamers who work hard, love their family, and value their home. Growing up Kentucky Monthly was certainly a unique experience, but I couldn’t imagine it any other way. I am proud of my parents and what they have accomplished, and I am grateful I was raised in a creative environment with a house full of personalities. Christopher, Molly, Sydney—you all have the biggest hearts, and I am blessed to grow up next to you and to keep growing beside you. Mama and Daddy, congratulations and thank you!

— Katy Vest We’re celebrating all year! Stay tuned for more 25th Anniversary news, including meetups and suggestions for activities in all our host cities. We will feature them in the magazine and online.

k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 9

across kentucky

Big Red in Bronze

birthdays DECEMBER 2 Mac King (1959), Hopkinsvilleborn Las Vegas magician 3 Katie George (1974), Miss Kentucky USA 2015 from Louisville, now a sideline reporter for national sporting events 7 Martha Layne Collins (1936), governor of Kentucky from 1983-87 7 Jennifer Carpenter (1979), Louisville-born actress best known for Dexter (2006-13) 18 Josh Dallas (1978), Louisville-born actor known for Netflix series Manifest 22 Diane Sawyer (1945), Glasgow-born journalist and television show host

T

he great Secretariat retired from racing in November 1973 and arrived at Claiborne Farm near Paris, where he was to begin his career as a stallion.

The city welcomed him with open arms, and he quickly became one of its favorite “citizens.”

On Nov. 11, 50 years to the day that Secretariat arrived in Paris, the city dedicated a new park on Main Street in his honor. The dedication was accompanied by a three-day festival and the unveiling of a life-size bronze statue of the legendary Thoroughbred. The statue, which depicts Secretariat in his paddock at Claiborne, was created by sculptor Jocelyn Russell from a photo taken by equine photographer Tony Leonard.

30 Trish Suhr (1974), Middlesboroborn comedian best known as the “Yard Sale Diva” on Style Network’s Clean House

JA N UA RY 2 Bryson Tiller (1993), singer/rapper from Louisville 4 Patty Loveless (1957), Country Music Hall of Fame singer/songwriter 7 Rand Paul (1963), United States Senator from Bowling Green

Artist Honored

T

he work of Oldham County artist Angela Campbell can be found in galleries, permanent collections and juried professional artist exhibitions across the United States. It comes as no surprise that Campbell has been honored with the Robert E. Mueller Award for Excellence in the Arts from the Arts Association of Oldham County. The nonprofit organization established the award in 2021 to honor outstanding artists and supporters of the arts in Oldham County.

In addition to her artistic achievements, Campbell has devoted countless volunteer hours to teaching and mentoring aspiring artists in Oldham County and beyond. She’s an active member of Oil Painters of America and has provided one-on-one instruction to more than 200 students at her Campbell Studio in La Grange.

10 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2 0 2 3 / J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 4

8 Crystal Gayle (1951), Grammy Award-winning singer from Paintsville 13 Nick Clooney (1934), newscaster, historian and journalist from Augusta 14 Emayatzy Corinealdi (1980), Fort Knox-born actress best known for 2022’s Reasonable Doubt 16 John Carpenter (1948), Bowling Green film producer and director 20 John Michael Montgomery (1965), country music singer from Nicholasville 22 Terry Meiners (1957), radio personality from Louisville 25 Angie Gregory (1975), Paducah-born actress/writer known for Alone Wolf (2020)

music

by Laura Younkin

Hallmark of the Holidays

A

relatively recent addition to the list of long-standing holiday traditions is watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel. According to a study conducted by Brigham Young University in 2021, Hallmark attracted 85 million holiday viewers.

That’s a statistic that hasn’t been lost on Mt. Sterling. Last year, the city selected a theme for its festivities for the first time, with “A Small-Town Hallmark Christmas Parade” as the subject of its primary holiday attraction, according to Tonya Jones of the Mt. Sterling-Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce and Industrial Authority.

The seasonal events— which include a Christmas market, a tree lighting and a parade—result from the combined efforts of Mt. Sterling Tourism, the city of Mt. Sterling and its Chamber of Commerce.

This year’s tree lighting and downtown market take place from 5-8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 1, and the Christmas parade is on Saturday, Dec. 2, from 6-7 p.m.

There isn’t a specific theme this year, said Jones, but “our small town always has the streets filled to watch the Christmas parade every year.” The wholesome, small-town vibe that Hallmark viewers love will still be present.

Any Hallmark Christmas movie worth its salt has carolers. That’s where Jordan Campbell steps in. Campbell is executive director of the Gateway Regional Arts Center (GRAC) in Mt. Sterling. Campbell knows musicians throughout the region and put out a call for volunteers and singers prior to last year’s event. Many responded, and the carolers debuted at the 2022 festivities.

Campbell’s mother, Lisa, was among the carolers last year. “It’s something special we got to do together for Christmas,” Jordan said. His mother sang madrigals in high school and has continued singing in church and community theater.

Last year, the carolers had only one rehearsal before performing, but the singers were all experienced and were able to read music. The singers were paid, which is important to Campbell. “We want to put artists to work,” he said.

Campbell grew up in Mt. Sterling but left for eight years to live in New York City and Washington, D.C., where he performed and also worked for the federal government. He said performers in those cities often sing carols at festivals

and corporate events during the holiday season to make money and to keep performing. Campbell would like to see that happen with the GRAC carolers.

In the future, Campbell wants to expand opportunities for the carolers by making them available for hire to perform at Christmas parties and corporate events. “That’s the goal, eventually,” he said.

“Everyone gets to enjoy the excitement of caroling, not just that one event.”

An obvious question about Hallmark-inspired carolers is whether they wear Victorian outfits.

“We have the full garb,” Campbell said.

During the festivities, downtown Mt. Sterling along Main and Maysville streets is turned into a Christmas market. Food vendors and pop-up markets line the streets, and stores stay open late. The carolers stroll through the area and sing.

The carolers attract small crowds wherever they stop and sing. Campbell said the look in the listeners’ eyes last year said, “‘This is out of a Hallmark movie. I’m living a Hallmark movie right now.’”

One of the most magical moments of the festival last year was unscripted. The sound system experienced technical difficulties during the tree lighting. The carolers were called over to Main Street Park, and they began to sing carols a cappella. The crowd joined in. “We didn’t need technology for that special moment,” Campbell said.

Another musical opportunity takes place before the Christmas Parade. Thinking of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Campbell last year asked if performers from the GRAC production of Rudolph: The Musical could do a number “in the center of downtown, where everyone was waiting for the parade to start.”

The song was a success, and the carolers will do the same this year but with a selection from the 2023 GRAC production, which is A Christmas Carol.

Last year’s parade also featured one more Hallmark moment. Campbell said one of the floats stopped right in front of the stand where cameras were filming the event.

One of the gentlemen dropped to one knee and proposed to his girlfriend.

Life doesn’t get any more Hallmark Christmas movie than that. k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 11

cooking

LEARN MORE...

S H O P K E N T U C K Y M O N T H L Y. C O M

12 K E NT U C K Y M O NTHLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

Just Desserts

Spiced Apple Cookies with Vanilla Glaze MAKES 36 COOKIES

Twenty-five years of publishing a magazine deserves a sweet celebration! We’re cooking up a new cookbook filled with your favorite Kentucky Monthly desserts. Just Desserts—loaded with recipes for pies, cookies,

½ cup shortening

1 teaspoon nutmeg

11/3 cups packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

released later this year. For now,

1 egg

½ teaspoon ground cloves

here’s a sneak peek at treats

¼ cup milk

1 cup walnuts, chopped

we thought would be ideal for

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup apple, peeled and finely diced

your holiday gatherings. These

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup raisins

recipes and many others will be

cakes and more—will be

found inside Just Desserts.

1. Cream the shortening and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat in egg and milk.

2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves.

Gradually add to the creamed mixture.

3. Stir in walnuts, apple and raisins.

4. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto an uncoated baking sheet.

5. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Remove to wire racks.

6. Drizzle with vanilla glaze while cookies are still warm.

VA N I L L A G L A Z E 1½ cups powdered sugar

1/

1 tablespoon butter, melted

2 teaspoons milk

8

teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon vanilla extract Combine powdered sugar, butter, vanilla extract, salt and enough milk to achieve drizzling consistency. Stir well.

k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 13

cooking

Car a m e l C h o c o l at e P r etz e l Cookies MAKES 60 COOKIES 13-ounce bag Rolo candies 60 Rold Gold Tiny Twist pretzels 60 pecan halves, toasted

1. Place pretzels on a parchment- or foil-lined baking sheet.

2. Place one piece of candy on top of each pretzel.

3. Bake at 325 degrees for about 4 minutes or until the chocolate becomes shiny.

4. Remove pan from the oven and gently press one pecan half onto each pretzel.

5. Cool for 10 minutes, and then place in refrigerator to set.

C h o c o l at e C h i p C h e e s eca k e Bar s MAKES 24 BARS 16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature 1/

3

cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract 2 16.5-ounce refrigerated rolls of chocolate chip cookie dough

1. Place cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl and combine with an electric mixer until creamy and smooth.

2. Slice 1 roll of the cookie dough and pat into the bottom of a greased 9x13-inch baking dish. Smooth the cream cheese mixture over the dough.

3. Slice the second roll of dough and place it over the cheese mixture, pushing it down partway into the cream cheese.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until top is slightly golden brown.

5. Cool and spread chocolate ganache icing over the top.

C H O C O L AT E GA N AC H E I C I N G 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips

¼ cup whipping cream

1. Melt semisweet chocolate chips in a double boiler over medium-high heat.

2. Whisk whipping cream into the melted chocolate.

3. Let the mixture cool and thicken. Spread over the cheesecake.

14 K E NT U C K Y M O NTHLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

Creating a Culture of Impact B o u r b o n Gi n g e r b r e a d with C r a n b e r ry Sau c e ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature ¼ cup light brown sugar 1 large egg 1½ cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/

8

teaspoon ground cloves

Educating Nursing Leaders to Have a Greater Impact on Diverse, Rural and Underserved Communities.

½ cup unsulphured molasses ¼ cup boiling water 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger ¼ cup bourbon for non-alcoholic, use apple cider

1. P reheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-inch square baking dish or a bundt pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.

73%

of our students live in rural or underserved areas

2. I n the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light in color. Add egg and beat until incorporated (mixture will have small clumps). Scrape down sides of bowl.

3. I n a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and cloves. In a 4-cup measuring cup or bowl, stir together molasses, boiling water, grated ginger and bourbon.

4. Add flour mixture (dry) and molasses mixture (wet) alternately to butter mixture, beginning and ending with dry (three dry additions/two wet additions). Scrape down bowl once during the process.

83

years of experience

8,000+ alumni

2,500 current students in all 50 states

5. P our batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake 30-35 minutes or until sides start to pull away from pan and top center is firm to the touch. Cool before cutting. Store leftovers in a covered container at room temperature.

6. Serve with cranberry hard sauce.

CRANBERRY HARD SAUCE ¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup jelled cranberry sauce with berries

1 cup powdered sugar

1 large egg white or equivalent egg white substitute

1. I n a stand mixer, beat together butter and powdered sugar until fluffy and light. Stir in cranberry sauce. Add egg white and beat until the consistency is light.

2. S poon into a serving dish without packing it and refrigerate until cold but not hard.

Serve with gingerbread.

Proud to call Versailles, Kentucky home

Learn more at frontier.edu/KyMonthly

holiday magic

photos by R E B E C C A R E D D I N G

16 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

AT M U S TA R D S E E D H I L L

by P A T R I C I A R A N F T

A

pproaching Mustard Seed Hill at Christmastime in Millersburg, about 30 miles north of Lexington, visitors first notice the spectacular light displays, as their brilliant glow would be difficult to miss.

Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill, from Dec. 1-23, certainly is a sparkling holiday feast for the eyes. But the impressive light displays are far from the only treats offered.

Guests at Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill, a holiday event that began in 2018, will delight in a gingerbead house display in the historical antebellum Allen House and the adjacent McIntyre Hall. These incredible edible structures are the entries to and winners of Mustard Seed Hill’s annual Gingerbread House Competition & Exhibit.

Some of the gingerbread houses have themes, such as one viewed in last year’s competition that honored breast cancer survivors. Others are replicas of actual homes, crafted with great attention to detail. A few of the entries may not be houses at all. An example from last year is a colorful, whimsical representation of a phonograph operated by cheerful mice sporting Santa hats.

If all the gingerbread viewing puts feasting on the mind of visitors, they’re in luck. “This year, every other weekend, we will have a featured food truck,” said Victoria Agnew Benson, president of Mustard Seed Hill. “We will have Bert’s SpeakCheezy from Berea. They have what I would call elevated grilled cheese sandwiches, which are delicious—perfect for cold weather.”

Burnaco’s Food Truck from Paris also is on tap to offer Tex-Mex cuisine.

In the mood for a sit-down dinner? “Every weekend, Neighbors will have a pop-up restaurant inside our Holiday Tent,” Benson said. “You’re seated by a hostess; they take your order; and they bring your food to you.”

Neighbors’ curated menu will include delights such as a brisket grilled cheese, candied bacon and Sriracha deviled eggs.

“Bourbon Christian Academy offers their famous hot chocolate, and they will also be selling some baked goods from Hopewell Bake Exchange out of Paris,” Benson added.

Guests can have their sweet tooth satisfied with Hopewell’s babkas, giant chocolate-chip walnut cookies, and sugar cookies with sprinkles.

An enormous sparkling ribbon arch welcomes visitors to Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill.

18 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

Spanning the campus, the stunning light displays are highlighted by a ribbon tree. Guests will “oooh” and ahhh” at a dazzling starburst, a Christmas sleigh made entirely of lights, and a Nativity scene to remind guests of the reason for the season. A huge ornament aglow with lights is a perfect photo op with friends and family.

’Tis the gift-shopping season, and a visit to The Artisan’s Market is in order.

There, visitors will find handmade treasures, crafted by more than 60 Kentucky artisans. There are plenty of Christmas décor items and one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry, hand-thrown pottery, carved wooden toys and more.

At Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill, guests will have the opportunity to craft their own treasures to take home or gift to friends and family.

New for this year are Christmas crafting classes, where you can make an ornament with KY Wool Works, design and construct a fresh wreath with Blue Ribbon Blooms, and assemble savory delights on a Christmas charcuterie board with Just Graze. Visitors also can enjoy a holiday tea. Be sure to sign up for these classes and the tea online to secure your spot.

Another new offering is the Campfire Reservation, which includes a basket brimming with gourmet hotdogs and buns, kettlecooked chips, soft drinks, and a Ghirardelli Chocolate S’mores Kit. Guests then settle on cozy benches and prepare their hotdogs and s’mores over a campfire.

Each basket feeds four, but multiple baskets can be purchased. k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 19

the history

EXTEND YOUR STAY

Photos shared from Mustard Seed Hill’s Facebook page.

Scan QR code to see more.

B

uilt in 1852 by Millersburg resident William Nunn, the Greek Revival house that is the centerpiece of the Mustard Seed Hill complex was later sold to Sanford Allen, from whom it gets its name.

Millersburg Military Institute, a private boys’ boarding school, was founded in 1893 on property that was the site of the former Kentucky Wesleyan College, then moved to what is now the Mustard Seed Hill campus in 1920.

MMI remained at that location until enrollment dwindled and the school closed in 2006.

A second military school, Forest Hill Military Academy, opened at the site in August 2012 but was short lived.

In 2016, Community Ventures, a community development nonprofit headquartered in Lexington, purchased the property and opened Mustard Seed Hill as an event space in early 2018. The campus consists of several buildings and houses a business incubator that assists startup businesses. It also is home to Bourbon Christian Academy, a K-12 private school.

On any given weekend, the campus may host a retreat. “We [recently] had Asbury come for a women’s retreat Friday through Sunday,” Benson said. “We do corporate retreats, retreats for churches and special events.”

Those special events include weddings. The Allen House provides a spacious, elegant setting for the wedding party to prepare for the big event, and guests can book accommodations at the house as well.

For Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill, visitors will find the Allen House dressed in its finest Christmas décor, with trees and garlands galore, not to mention the spectacular gingerbread house displays.

20 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

Guests can stay overnight in one of Mustard Seed Hill’s gracious accommodations. On campus are the Allen House and McIntyre Hall, the latter offering eight private suites, each with king-size bed and full bath. Reservations can be made at mustardseedhill.events. Families may want to select from The Booth House, The Williams House and The Summay House, which all have full kitchens. The guesthouses are short distances from the campus and are booked through airbnb.com.

the experience

the lights!

By the numbers: 32–Length of the ribbon archway in feet 30–Height of the ribbon tree in feet 20–Diameter of the starburst in feet 3–Acres of campus decorated with festive lighting

Gingerbread Competition + Exhibit A delight to behold, the intricately detailed gingerbread creations are constructed completely from edible items (except for the tiny light fixtures).

Campfires Guests can reserve a campfire experience and a basket of goodies for a cozy fireside dinner.

The Holiday Tent Café is a warm place to. take a break, relax, have a snack and catch some tunes.

The Artisan’s Market Handmade products make thoughtful gifts, and the market boasts a selection of more than 200 items crafted by more than 60 artisans.

k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 21

on permanent display

A collector of the work of Georgia artist Aaron Hequembourg, Community Ventures commissioned this piece. While it may appear to be a painting on canvas, the work is comprised of the pages of an old hymnal. Take a careful look at it while visiting the Allen House.

Shirts sporting the image—perfect keepsakes of a visit to Mustard Seed Hill—will be for sale in The Artisan’s Market.

EDIBLE ART

The gingerbread houses will be on display in the Allen House and McIntyre Hall from Thursday, Nov. 30 - Saturday, Dec. 23.

22 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

“It becomes a holiday tradition. It’s something that you come and see every year because it leaves you feeling nostalgic …

It’s almost like a Hallmark movie, in a way. Or that’s how it feels for me.”

— Victoria Agnew Benson

k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 23

Maggie Lander will be at Mustard Seed Hill on Dec. 8.

2023

NEW for this year

are craft workshops and a holiday tea!

12.03 Make & Take Felted Ornaments with KY Wool Works 12.07 + 12.10 Wreath-Making Class with Blue Ribbon Blooms 12.10 Holiday Tea with Olive’s Apron 12.14 + 12.17 Charcuterie-Making Class with Just Graze

PLAN YOUR VISIT

Schedule your experience today at mustardseedhill.events.

did you know?

The name Mustard Seed Hill is derived from the Bible verse Matthew 17:20-21: “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move

Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill is a delight for all of the senses— especially sight and sound. Take in the tunes at The Holiday Tent Cafe, where guests can enjoy live music every evening of the event. For a lineup of artists, visit mustardseedhill.events.

from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Parent company Community Ventures sees Mustard Seed Hill as the

24 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

start of new life in Millersburg, which thrived when Millersburg Military Academy provided more economic opportunities in the area. According to its website, “Mustard Seed

Hill also represents the first step towards a new future for Millersburg, a chance for the community, like a tiny mustard seed, to grow once more.”

W H E N

Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill

Y O U

G O . . .

Dec. 1-23

Mustard Seed Hill 1122 Main Street Millersburg

859.685.2190 mustardseedhill.events

Thu-Sun 5PM

and 7PM

k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 25

I F YO U G O

Cave Sing 2023 Dec. 3, 2PM, CST

Mammoth Cave National Park Visitor Center

The Cave Sing is a free event.

The round-trip walk is about three-quarters of a mile, with 60 steps down and back out of the cave.

Visitors remain standing for the entire event.

LEARN MORE

270.758.2180 nps.gov/maca/ planyourvisit/ cave-sing.html

a Subterranean

Celebration

BY KIM KOBERSMITH

Mammoth Cave’s unique acoustics provide the setting for a holiday concert like no other

F

or more than 40 years, holiday revelers have gathered at Mammoth Cave National Park on the first Sunday in December for an underground musical extravaganza called Cave Sing. This year, the celebration features four musical performances in the unique venue.

Guests for the one-of-a-kind event

will gather at the national park visitor center and walk down into the cave together. Two instrumentalists will entertain guests in the passageways as they journey to the concert space.

Trumpeter Hillary Sward, a former music teacher, is now a park guide.

She has performed at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the inaugural parade for President Barack Obama’s second term, and on tours in Europe and China. Flutist Ema Plafcan is a Student Conservation

26 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

Association intern at the park. She played in numerous music groups while pursuing her music degree at the University of Arkansas.

The two mainstage performances will take place in Rafinesque Hall, one of the cave’s large rooms, where each group will sing five or six songs apiece. Made up of a group of friends from Glasgow, the Band Table Singers began singing around their high school breakfast table. The group specializes in gospel music. The

Caveman Chorus has been part of the local arts community for 50 years, entertaining audiences with a range of music in a “barbershop” style of four-part a cappella harmony.

After the performances, the hall will darken, lit only by a Christmas tree and candles held by guests.

Everyone will join in a carol sing, filling the cave passages with joyful music.

This year, a festive reception will be held after the musical event at The

Lodge at Mammoth Cave. The Lodge is newly reopened after having been closed for two years of renovations.

Expect light refreshments, hot beverages, a story read by Santa Claus, and elves distributing candy canes.

Kennetha Sanders, a lead cave guide and park ranger, has been involved in the Cave Sing for many years. With Chris Clark, Sanders is one of the organizers this year. Word of mouth was the main promotion of the Cave Sing for many years, but with

social media plugs last year, the event drew 900 people—one of the largest crowds ever in Mammoth Cave. In expectation of a similarly large crowd this year, organizers are moving the event from the traditional Methodist Church room to Rafinesque Hall to accommodate more people.

“The acoustics are wonderful in the cave,” Sanders said when asked what makes the sing so special. “The taller ceilings in the big rooms create a buoyancy, and the music bounces k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 27

Scan to listen to “My Old Kentucky Home” performed in the halls of Mammoth Cave by former Cave Guide Dr. Janet Bass Smith on piano, accompanied by Klaus Kaemper playing cello.

Recording was made inside Mammoth Cave during the annual Cave Sing in 2008.

around. It carries down corridors and rings through passageways.”

Christmases of Yore

Mammoth Cave National Park first held this annual holiday gathering in 1980, and the celebration has run continuously since except for a twoyear hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a cherished tradition for locals and park visitors, including those who travel from out of state. At least one of Kentucky’s lieutenant governors has participated, and, last year, Yo-Yo Ma and members of the Louisville Orchestra came in advance of their cave concert in April 2023.

Christmas traditions in the cave have a much longer history than this modern holiday sing. A tuberculosis patient, who lived in the cave during its short-lived period as an experimental treatment facility for the disease, wrote that he heard visitors singing carols in December 1842. The first formal account of a Christmas celebration in the cave was in 1883, when area residents sang carols around a 10-foot cedar tree in the Methodist Church area. They decorated the tree with ribbons and

stringed popcorn, and surrounded it with lanterns and candles to illuminate the festivities.

For some reason lost to history, that tree became a fixture in the cave.

The tree dried out, but the brown needles remained in place. It became a popular stop for visitors, who hung letters and business cards in its branches as a sign that they had been there. Eventually, the tree was cut up and moved out of sight of the trails, where it remained until a park ranger’s torch throwing demonstration (part of the cave tour until 1990) threw a spark onto the desiccated wood. Spreading light one last time, the holiday tree’s demise is jokingly referred to as the only known forest fire inside Mammoth Cave.

Other music was part of the Mammoth Cave experience through much of the 1800s. Visitors were invited to sing on early cave tours to appreciate the unique audio reverberations. Musicians sought to perform in certain locations that were known for particularly good acoustics. A string band maneuvered their instruments through Fat Man’s Misery, a particularly narrow passageway, to reach their perfect

28 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 2 0 2 4

spot. In 1845, renowned Norwegian violinist Ole Bull visited Mammoth Cave to play in a cave chamber now known as Ole Bull’s Concert Hall.

A Cherished Tradition

As befits a 40-year event, the Cave Sing is steeped in tradition. Through the years, performers have included college choirs, school groups, local bands, a park service staff band, violinists and a pianist.

“Everyone around here has a connection to working at the cave— whether themselves or family members,” Sanders said.

That is the case for Michael Goodman, a Friends of Mammoth Cave board member, who plans to attend the Cave Sing this year for the 10th time. His great-grandfather was a cave guide in the 1930s. His grandfather was born where the visitor center stands today before Mammoth Cave was a national park. The grandfather spent his working career there, first as a guide in the 1950s, then as the chief of interpretation until his retirement in 1992.

Above, The Lindsey Wilson College Singers perform at the annual Cave Sing event at Mammoth Cave National Park.

Left, several cave visitors gather around the historic tree in Mammoth Cave in 1936.

N P S P H OTO

Goodman grew up in Park City and visited the cave frequently in his childhood but didn’t attend the sing until he began his own decade-long stint as a cave guide in 2008. “I tried to attend every year after that,” he said. “It is a kind of homecoming for former seasonal guides.”

A special memory for Goodman was the year he was chosen as emcee for the event, where he gave the safety and introductory talk to hundreds of guests and orchestrated their journey.

Sanders explained the Cave Sing coordinators choose who will serve in the emcee role, which usually is bestowed on a seasonal park guide with many years of experience. Dave Spence emceed last year, and Ashley Decker will do it this year. “It is a very big honor to be chosen, since we only have one chance a year,” Sanders said.

Aside from his history with the cave, what draws Goodman back is the variety of holiday music with a foundation in traditional Christmas

carols. He has fond memories of the returning barber-shop group Cavemen Chorus and the choir from Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia. That, and the “tropical” feel: With a steady temperature of 54 degrees, the cave often is warmer than the outside air in December.

Along with the natural acoustics, there is something special about being surrounded by hundreds of people sharing the same experience. There is a 5,000-year legacy of people interacting within the longest cave system in the world—as a shelter, a place to explore, a concert hall and a church.

“I encourage people to check out the Cave Sing and experience it for themselves,” Goodman said. “It is a unique experience you can’t do anywhere else. There were significant human uses of Mammoth Cave throughout human history, and the Cave Sing adds to those longstanding cultural traditions.” Q

30 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

Twenty-Three Dollars and Eighty-Five Cents A random act of kindness touches the heart of a frustrated family man at Christmas B Y C H R I S TO P H E R E DWA R D S

T

he beads of sweat begin forming on my brow with the first distinctive autumn breeze. The thought hits me like a snowball to the face: Christmas.

I am aware that it is a blessed holiday, and many humans on the planet take much pleasure in preparing for the season. For me, that slight hint of air current reminds me that “noel” will be rushing toward me faster than a pack of reindeer headed back to the North Pole barn.

The ritual begins before the first jack-o’-lantern is carved. Catalogs stack up in the mailbox with models dressed in green satin and white flannels; toolboxes with ribbons and bicycles with bows crowd the pages.

Television ads roll glamorous scenes of luxury automobiles pulling away from black-tie affairs. Other ads depict tough people in rugged trucks driving up a hillside to the edge of a remote cliff, where you can picture yourself looking out on the sunset of your financial balance.

It isn’t that I don’t like giving gifts or that I’m without the means to do so; my cup of good fortune has been generous and steady. The same issue every year is what to give. Find the elusive perfect gift that won’t be set aside and doomed to sit on a Goodwill store shelf.

Once Thanksgiving is over, retailers are decking the halls with boughs of holly, setting the stage for their annual shakedown, welcoming consumers to help their year-end balances. It’s “Blank Friday” for me. That’s what my list looks like as we set off to the races or, more accurately, the demolition derby known as the mall parking lot.

Courtesy is just a rumor, and the season’s delight is offset with backstories of dashes to the last parking space. Multitudes engage in frightful rushes to the latest must-have gadget. Yuletide carols mix with the static backdrop of “I was here first!” I elbow my way to a respectable harvest of packages, thankful to have all limbs attached, happy I’m able to extend my thoughtfulness to those I love.

• • •

Of course, decorations are in order. Dutifully, I pull open the door to the storage closet under the stairs. My first move is to bump my head as I crouch and begin lugging out all the stuff marked “Xmas.” Boxes of ornaments, angel figurines, leftover greeting cards, mushed rolls of wrapping paper, and assorted snowmen and Santas of all sizes and hard-to-store shapes flood out like school kids bursting from class for the holiday break.

At the bottom of the stack is the old lawn-mower box, now tasked with keeping the tree parts together. Inside, the color-coded branches pretend to be ready to be assembled. Perspiration forms on my neck as I once again put together the worn “evergreen.” The so-called tree seems “hell bent” on being contrary and tips over. At last, the crooked sapling imposter stays in its assigned space, leaning ever slightly on the corner walls.

Of all the yearly decorations, the lights seem to resent being packed away the most. They project a palpable spirit of revenge, as the half-dozen boxes sit on the table as if in defiance, waiting to test my “string them up” skills. Barely legible markings offer little help in

k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 31

determining which carton offers the best chance of successfully illuminating a gala glow with the least amount of struggle.

Determined to conquer my festive kingdom, I dig in with dim hope and false courage. I open the most promising box of the suspicious bunch. I begin to coax the lights out of their incarceration as peaceably as possible, but no matter how carefully I rolled them in the year before, I always forget which end to unravel first. I start with a delicate tug, followed with a polite pull, and then with a mighty yank, out they flow in a twisted tumble and pile into a heap onto the tiled floor.

By now, the family is hunkered down behind the couch as I tap into my reserve of foul words. I begin circling the misfit lights around their partner in crime, while contemplating their shipment off to the Island of Misfit Toys. I call on their deep-seated need to be loved, and, at last, they hang around the tree like a row of convicts waiting for inspection, daring me to reach over and straighten the line. I take a knee and untwist my nerves. I hear, “Daddy, here is the pretty angel for the top.”

At last, everything is just so—the candles are on the mantel, the wreaths are hung, and the garland is spread all over like a December blizzard. The assorted snowmen are placed all around, and Santa Claus figures occupy strategic locations where he is always watching.

• • •

Just as I set my sights on the couch, “Honey, can you run a couple of errands?” rattles my ear like a third grader’s trumpet lesson. It’s another list. “Of course, dear.” I plot my course like a sailor headed out to sea. I proceed to the other side of the tracks for beer and wine at the cut-rate liquor store. The next stop is Mac’s Meat Market for steaks and bologna. The strip mall has the dessert shop for pies, crescent rolls and breakfast cinnamon buns. The Highlands Galleria has craft booths for stocking stuffers. I’ll take the backstreets over to the grocery to get some milk, cranberries, eggnog and ginger ale for the kiddie cocktails. Finishing my voyage, I’ll resupply the pet treats at Animal Emporium.

My fuel gauge was sinking faster than you can hit the deck walking on a patch of ice, so I darted in to GetGo for a refill. I hopped out, selected premium grade for better mileage, and pulled the trigger.

As I leaned on my car watching the gallons and price meter flow, I heard a loud muffler, loosely attached to a lemonade yellow Buick lurching into the drive. It heaved to a stop with a loud bang next to pump No. 7. The right rear hubcap was missing, and a slight windshield chip was spreading across the glass and into the driver’s field of vision. The bumper seemed held on by a washed-out American flag sticker that proclaimed: “United We Stand, Divided We Fall.”

32 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

The Buick’s driver squeezed out her door and approached the pump. My trigger clicked as I heard her exasperated groan, “See the cashier.” With a sharp glance my direction, she grabbed her purse and told her kids to stay in the car. She frowned and slumped her shoulders on the way to “see the cashier” as the plaza speakers blared “Joy to the World.”

I’d earned a snack with my chores, so I headed inside to browse the assortment of indulgences.

As the Buick’s driver stood in line, watching out the door toward her car and kids, I picked up Big Grab chips and a Big Gulp soda and took my place in line behind her.

“Your card was rejected,” the clerk flatly replied after the woman explained her troubles with pump 7. She glanced out the door, then around to everyone in the GetGo who was glancing back at her. “He must have taken that $10 this morning,” she muttered to herself as she shuffled the items in her purse and searched the pockets of her burger chain smock, coming up empty on any spare change. She glanced out the door again as the lifeless voice of the clerk indicated that she’d have to step aside if she wasn’t going to make a purchase.

The people in the line behind me cleared their throats and shuffled from one foot to the other as the woman murmured that she was going to be late for her shift and kept looking for what obviously was not there.

She shuffled away sideways from the counter, paralyzed in her need, searching in her purse, looking out the door and appearing as though she was about to cry. The patrons brushed past her at last, hurrying home to watch the big game.

I looked at the items in my hand, realized they cost more than she’d make in an hour, and turned to put them back. Next to the ice machine, I searched my pockets. I had $23.85 in cash. I moved toward her and offered what I had. Surprised, blinking back tears, she replied, “Oh, I can’t take that.”

I nodded, stepped around her, placed the money on the counter next to the lottery tickets, and said, “Twenty-three, eighty-five for pump 7, please.” The cashier grunted and said, “I’ll ring it up in a minute,” as he motioned for the next customer to step up.

The woman sputtered a thank-you to me as the entangled lights unraveled around my heart. “Merry Christmas, miss,” I said.

The bell jingled as I stepped out the door and headed toward my car. The kids in the backseat were still watching for the woman to come out. At home, I surveyed the scene of good tidings. The Nativity was nestled among the presents. I then realized that $23.85 was probably the best gift my heart could ever receive that Christmas. Q

k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 33

34 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

Contemplating the Stars Singer-songwriter S.G. Goodman reflects on her career, playing with established artists, and the comfort of solitude and small-town life B Y J A R R E T T VA N M E T E R

S

.G. Goodman’s childhood bedroom conveyed her growing interest in aliens.

It was decorated with a Space Jam poster, a lava lamp and glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. Her toys consisted of a plastic Buzz Lightyear and a replica ray gun from the movie Mars Attacks.

At one point, she painted the walls yellow.

While she was growing up in Fulton County, the room was her escape hatch, her hideaway from the world, from her brothers and from daily chores on the family farm. It’s where she listened to music: the Space Jam soundtrack and Christian music on her JVS stereo system and surreptitious mixtapes, borrowed

from friends, on a Sony Walkman.

Alone, with tunes playing, her mind was free to wander.

“I was definitely a daydreamer, loved being alone since I was a kid and loved whatever type of privacy I could get,” Goodman recalled.

Today, Goodman shares many of music’s grandest stages with some of its biggest names. Yet even as her profile grows, she continues to make her home in Western Kentucky— Murray, where she went to college.

While Buzz Lightyear is long gone, she still delights in opportunities to hide away in peace.

“Depending on the amount of time that I have at home, I literally might not leave my house, just to recoup,” Goodman said. “I would

say I am not an extrovert; I just have some social skills.”

The recharges are vital, if infrequent. Her 2023 touring schedule is packed, and, with each stop, more and more people are taking notice of Goodman’s unique sound. Following a summer of touring with Jason Isbell’s 400 Unit, Tyler Childers and Margo Price, Goodman made her Grand Ole Opry debut in September, sharing the stage for her song “Space and Time” with Erin Rae, who Goodman said was her “first champion” in Nashville, and Childers, who has covered the song.

“It was kind of a strange full circle, getting to perform that song with two people who believed enough to share it,” Goodman said. “Erin Rae shared k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 35

that song in demo form with my current manager, and then there I was singing with Tyler, who believed in it enough to want to cut it himself, and he doesn’t really need other people’s songs to cut. It’s rare to have such a good writer wanting to cut somebody else’s song.”

Price was also on the evening’s bill. The Opry date came as she and Goodman were in the midst of a run of shows together.

“Opening for Margo—getting to open for another woman—is really special because in the industry, there’re just a lot of guys all around all the time,” Goodman said. “So, it’s really nice to kind of have mentorship from another woman in the industry, and we just had a good time.”

A few weeks after the Opry, Goodman won the Emerging Act of the Year Award at the 2023 Americanafest in Nashville, then trekked out to Colorado to reunite with Childers for two nights at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Childers hails

from the mountains (Lawrence County), Goodman from the riverbanks, but she said she feels a kindred bond with her fellow Kentuckian.

“With Tyler, we come from similarsize areas, kind of similar backgrounds even to an extent, and in the same way with his band, they’re just all good ol’ country boys that are kind and humble and take care of their crew and their people, and it just felt like home,” she said. “It’s pretty simple. There is something comforting about things that feel familiar. And I would say being out with Tyler and his band and crew, there was a sense that I was around people who were familiar to me.”

Goodman said that, culturally speaking, there are plenty of similarities between Western Kentucky and Appalachia, but that, like the mountains in Eastern Kentucky, the river gives her region its flavor.

“One thing that maybe sets it apart

36 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

is just the history of the Mississippi River and the types of cultures,” she said. “Like where I grew up here, it’s called the Bayou de Chien, but we pronounce it ‘By-da-Shay,’ so there’re like little remnants of—just on the river—French, Cajun-type stuff.”

In her corner of the state, the Mississippi River is the lifeblood for farming families. It keeps the land fertile but can wreak havoc in the event of a sudden rise. Goodman grew up fishing on the river but also spent many arduous hours picking up driftwood, or “chunks,” from the family’s fields after floods. Images from the land permeate her lyrics in the form of killdeers, cottonmouths and cypress knees. She attributes her high-lonesome sound to growing up singing three times a week in her Southern Baptist church, but—like the covert mixtapes of her youth— there were other influences, too, such as punk shows in nearby Mayfield and barn shows in Graves County, where she first met fellow musician

Kelsey Waldon at age 16.

• • •

The omnivorous musical diet persists today. Goodman said that her most prominent memory from the past few years isn’t the Opry or her 2022 NPR Tiny Desk Concert but an evening that occurred a few hours downstream from Fulton County in the Mississippi Delta, far from the bright lights of growing stardom.

It was a cool night in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in late December 2022.

Goodman had made the trip south with a friend. They toured the Delta Blues Museum and poked around in the downtown shops.

They drove out to the crossroads, ordered hot ham and cheeses from Abe’s, then made their way over to Red’s Lounge to listen to some blues.

Red’s is an oldschool spot.

Decorations hang from the ceiling, and beer is served from a cooler, cash only. On this night between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the sink in the women’s bathroom wouldn’t shut off.

Goodman and her friend arrived early.

They took in the ambiance as the band members made their way in and began setting up. Goodman started talking with one of the men.

“What do you play?” she asked.

“Guitar,” he responded. “What do you play?”

When Goodman answered in kind, the man took note. The set began. The room heated up. About an hour and a half in, he walked over to Goodman and handed her his guitar.

“I want you to play,” he said.

Goodman had a blues riff prepared in her mind. She took the guitar and dove in. It was the thrill of a lifetime.

“That might sound weird for folks, because yes, I just got to play the Opry, I’m playing the Ryman [Auditorium in Nashville] this year,

Tyler Childers with Margo Price, S.G. Goodman and Erin Rae Live at the Grand Ole Opry. Scan QR code to watch the full performance.

playing Red Rocks,” she said of the moment’s significance. “There’re other venues that I would love to be able to play one day, but those all have the potential of being able to do it and do it more than once. I don’t believe I’ll ever be at Red’s juke joint in Clarksdale, Mississippi [again], and get to have a guitar in my hand.”

• • •

The story keeps with Goodman’s humble, low-key ethos. While her profile, success and industry connections might point toward a move to Nashville or New York City, she is content to live in Murray. It has

a good record shop in Terrapin Station, a tasty diner in Rudy’s on the Square, and she’s an hour from her hometown of Hickman. Like her childhood bedroom, it’s a comfortable retreat. Quiet. Authentic.

“I am a small-town girl; I like living in rural areas,” she said. “I don’t need to have every restaurant accessible to me in the world. There are all the things that a lot of people enjoy about city life and, I mean, they’re great, but I’ve never had to have them. I’ve never known what it was like to have them, so it’s not something I’d go around missing.” Q

k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 37

‘The George Washington of the West’ Soldier, statesman and Kentuckian Isaac Shelby was the right person for his time and place B Y R O N S O O DA LT E R

38 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

The Battle of Kings Mountain; painting by Don Troiani, dontroiani.com

L

ooking at Matthew H. Jouett’s classic portrait of Isaac Shelby, it would be difficult to envision his subject in the buckskins of a canny frontiersman or the uniform of a seasoned field officer. The face is round and jowly, and the body is somewhat rotund. The portrait depicts Shelby at around 70, in failing health and just a few years before his death. It does nothing to convey the lifetime of military and political service he devoted to Kentucky and the fledgling American nation.

Isaac’s grandfather brought the Shelby family to Pennsylvania from Wales around 1735. The clan soon moved to Maryland, where land was affordable and the country full of promise. Evan Shelby Sr. acquired around 1,200 acres, upon which he built a plantation, while Evan Jr.—Isaac’s father—purchased some 24,000 acres close to his father’s property. It was there that Isaac was born in 1750.

Evan Jr., who divided his attention between fur trading and farming, also served with distinction during the French and Indian War, swiftly rising in rank from

private to captain. He set an example of boldness and fortitude that his son would emulate throughout his life.

Of necessity, the men of all three generations of Shelbys became skilled frontiersmen. According to his biographer, Paul W. Beasley, the young Isaac “inherited a sound, sturdy physique. In his prime, he stood about 5’11”, and was dark, spare and clean cut.” Formal education on the frontier was all but unheard of, and Isaac received relatively little of it.

His time was spent in learning woodcraft and acquiring the skills of a hunter and surveyor. He apparently stood out among his neighbors, who appointed him deputy sheriff in his 18th year.

Five years later—by which time the peripatetic Shelbys had moved to Fincastle County, Virginia—Isaac fought as a militia lieutenant under his father at the Battle of Point Pleasant. It was the final engagement in what is known as Lord Dunmore’s War. The 1774 “war” was a blatant and ultimately successful attempt by Virginia’s royal governor, John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, to remove the Shawnee and other tribes, open the Western frontier to white settlement, and “pacify [the] hostile Indian war k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 39

Traveler’s Rest, Isaac Shelby’s home in Lincoln County, is thought to be the first stone house built in Kentucky. Constructed in 1786, the original limestone structure was destroyed by fire in 1905. Shelby’s descendants built a brick Georgian and Federal Revival home on the same site in 1906, and it remains standing today.

bands.” Following their defeat at Point Pleasant, the Shawnee surrendered their tribal hunting grounds to white settlement.

After the war, Shelby briefly surveyed for the Transylvania Company, a short-lived land-investment firm intent on acquiring property for white settlement in the fertile region of Virginia and North Carolina known as Kentucky. While surveying, Shelby marked out 1,400 acres for himself and “improved” on it by planting a field of corn, thereby establishing legal possession.

When the Revolution erupted, the Virginia Committee of Safety appointed Shelby captain of a company of militia.

Virginia Gov. Patrick Henry assigned him to the post of commissary agent, directing Shelby to secure provisions for the troops on the frontier. The assignment, which grew to encompass provisioning the regular army would occupy the young man for the next three years.

• • •

In 1780, Shelby, by then a colonel in the militia, was called upon to help stop the British from seizing North Carolina and the northwest corner of South Carolina. The redcoats had already overrun Georgia and much of South Carolina, and things were going badly for the Americans.

Maj. Patrick Ferguson, the British officer charged with uniting and commanding the Loyalists in the region, had publicized his intention to hang any “Overmountain 40 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

Men”—frontiersmen living west of the Appalachian Mountains—caught fighting against the Crown and to level their towns by fire and sword. It was a threat that motivated rather than frightened the rugged mountain folk, and they joined the rebels in large numbers.

Shelby had fought American Indians in Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. Now, he would face the British as an officer in the field. He combined volunteers from his county militia with Overmountain Men and militiamen under Cols. John Sevier and Charles McDowell. Bolstered by volunteers from Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas, they marched to find and eliminate Ferguson and his command. Their little army by then totaled around 900, while Ferguson commanded some 1,100 Loyalists.

On Oct. 7, after successfully fighting two smaller battles just days earlier, the Patriots attacked Ferguson’s forces along a ridge atop Kings Mountain, in what is now Cherokee County, South Carolina. Shelby’s advice to his men was short and to the point: “When we encounter the enemy, don’t wait for the word of command. Let each one of you be your own officer … If in the woods, shelter yourselves, and give them Indian play; advance from tree to tree, pressing the enemy and killing and disabling all you can. Your officers will shrink from no danger.”

After an hour of heavy fighting, the firing ceased.

Ferguson had been killed, and his second-in-command

congressionally organized Board of War for the District of surrendered. American losses totaled 28 killed and 62 Kentucky; served as high sheriff, justice of the peace and wounded, while the Loyalists suffered 157 killed, 163 member of the court for Lincoln County; and in 1792—the wounded and 698 missing or captured. A Tory who year Kentucky became a state—he was named its first survived the battle wrote in his diary, “The 7th of Octor governor. Somehow, Shelby found the time to marry and [sic]. the cursed rebels came upon us killed and took us father 11 children. every soul and so My Dear Friends I bid you farewell for I Shelby’s four-year term as governor was fraught with am started to the warm country.” issues. One of the biggest problems facing Kentuckians Although the credit for the battle plan has never been was the constant fear of attack by Native Americans. As fully resolved, Beasley wrote, “Impartial searching of the governor, Shelby was also commander-in-chief of the evidence seems to indicate that Shelby was the one who militia, and when Gen. “Mad Anthony” Wayne roundly designed the method of attack,” but added, “No one man defeated the confederation of tribes at the Battle of could claim sole honors for the victory.”

Fallen Timbers, thereby ending the threat of Indian Still, from that day forward, Shelby was widely known hostility, fully half of his as “Old Kings Mountain,” force was comprised of and the battle as the Shelby’s Kentucky “turning point of the militiamen.

American Revolution.”

The newly forged Beasley succinctly stated, Kentucky Constitution “Ferguson [had] boasted prohibited a governor that ‘he was on Kings from serving consecutive Mountain, that he was terms. At the end of his king of the mountain, and four years in the that God Almighty could governor’s chair, Shelby not drive him from it.’ retired to Traveler’s Rest, Shelby proved him the Kentucky plantation wrong.” in Lincoln County he had Word of the victory, built years earlier. When singular in a string of the War of 1812 broke out, recent Patriot defeats, the citizens of Kentucky spread and emboldened voted Shelby back in as the Americans, inspiring governor by an long-lived legends of overwhelming majority.

Shelby and his fellow He gave his whole-hearted commanders. Thirty-three support to the defense of years after the battle, the the new nation, and—at governor and general nearly 63 years of age— assembly of North raised and commanded a Carolina presented force of some 3,500 Shelby with a Kentucky militiamen. commemorative sword When his age was “for your gallantry in questioned, he replied, “I achieving with your Matthew H. Jouett’s portrait of Shelby. have never enjoyed a brothers in arms the better state of health.” glorious victory over the A major general by that time, Shelby marched his men British forces … at the Battle of Kings Mountain.” to join Gen. William Henry Harrison’s army, and together In the year following the battle, Shelby raised a force of they re-took Detroit from the British. They then invaded some 400 riflemen and joined the camp of Francis Canada at the Ontario border, pursuing the retreating Marion, the famed “Swamp Fox.” Marching with the British army and their American Indian allies under combined force, Shelby was instrumental in seizing two Tecumseh. On Oct. 5, 1813, they met and engaged along enemy forts simultaneously without firing a shot. the Thames River near the Native settlement of • • • Moraviantown. Harrison’s forces inflicted a stunning defeat on the enemy, killing Tecumseh and taking nearly Shelby’s successes in the field led to what would 600 prisoners. The American casualty list totaled seven become a lifelong political career. He was well known in killed and 22 wounded. The victory enabled the United the region, and over the next several years, it seemed that States to maintain control over what then was the he was named for every available position in Virginia and Northwest.

Kentucky. He was elected to the Virginia legislature in In his report to the secretary of war, Harrison wrote in 1781 and re-elected the following year. He was named a praise of Shelby: “At the age of sixty-six [sic], as preserving trustee of the new Transylvania Seminary; chaired a all the vigor of youth, the ardent zeal which distinguished convention of military officers discussing the separation him in the Revolutionary War, and the undaunted bravery of Kentucky from Virginia; became a member of the k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 41

Left, Shelby’s final resting place is in the Isaac Shelby Cemetery State Historic Site in Junction City (Lincoln County); below, a replica of the medal awarded by the United States Congress to Shelby for his “gallantry and good conduct” in the Battle of the Thames.

which he manifested at King’s Mountain … I am at a loss … how to mention [the service] of Governor Shelby, being convinced that no eulogism [sic] of mine can reach his merit.”

• • •

When his second term as governor ended, Shelby was prompted to run as presidential candidate James Monroe’s vice president, but he refused. After the election, President Monroe offered Shelby the Cabinet position of secretary of war. Again, Shelby demurred, citing his age as the reason.

In 1818, Congress passed a resolution: “That the thanks of Congress be and they are hereby presented to Major General William Henry Harrison, and Isaac Shelby, late Governor of Kentucky, and through them to the officers and men under their command, for their gallantry and good conduct in defeating the combined British and Indian forces … on the Thames … and that the President of the United States be requested to cause two gold medals to be struck, emblematical of this triumph, and presented 42 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

to General Harrison and Isaac Shelby, late Governor of Kentucky.” And so they were.

That same year, Shelby performed his final public service when he and Andrew Jackson arranged a treaty with the Chickasaws in which the tribe ceded all the lands west of the Tennessee River to the United States. In 1820, Shelby suffered a debilitating stroke that deprived him of the use of his right arm and resulted in the partial loss of function in his left arm and legs. Over the next few years, his health continued to decline. On July 18, 1826, he quietly passed away while in conversation with his wife.

Shelby had long since achieved national fame, and newspapers throughout the country wrote eulogies. The Vermont Sentinel and Democrat of Aug. 25 contained a lengthy paean, stating, “A more honest man never lived, a more noble one never died.” And The Kentucky Gazette of July 21 closed with this: “His name will descend to posterity as one of the worthies of Kentucky.”

That Shelby was the right man for his time and place is beyond dispute. His biographer, Beasley, referred to him as the “George Washington of the West,” and few if any who knew him would have disagreed. Q

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k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 43

Kentucky high school sophomores:

our post-secondary, residential program provides two-years of university courses at no cost to you; giving you the opportunity of a lifetime to change the world.

WWW.MOREHEADSTATE.EDU/CRAFT-ACADEMY MSU is an affirmative action, equal opportunity, educational institution.

kentucky monthly’s annual writers’ showcase

PENNED

attention, writers...

We are seeking submissions for the literary section in our February 2024 issue.

Entries will be accepted in the following categories: POETRY • FICTION CREATIVE NONFICTION OPENING PARAGRAPH FOR NOVEL

Submission Deadline: December 8, 2023

S U B M I T AT K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY. C O M

44 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

A section for Kentuckians everywhere … inside Kentucky Monthly.

The 1901 Kentucky Derby was the 27th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on April 29, 1901.

K ENTUCKY XPLORER E All About Kentucky

Volume 38, Number 10 – December 2023/January 2024

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas …

This photo from 1940 shows the S.S. Kresge Company at 414 West Market Street in Louisville. It was called a five-anddime store because most of the products sold for either a nickel or a dime. Sebastian Spering Kresge opened the first S.S. Kresge store in Detroit around the turn of the 20th century. The chain grew to more than 700 stores, with most in the Midwest and eastern United States. In 1977, the discount store chain was renamed Kmart.

Your Letters -- page 46 The Pilot and the Packard -- page 52 Beaver Dam Celebrates Milestone Anniversaries -- page 54

“I Remember” By Our Readers

and More!

Featuring Things Old & New About Kentucky

46 THE KENTUCKY EXPLORER

Kentucky Explorer a magazine published for Kentuckians everywhere Charles Hayes Jr. • Founder Stephen M. Vest • Publisher Deborah Kohl Kremer • Editor Rebecca Redding • Typographist One-Year Subscription to Kentucky Monthly: $25

Letters to the Kentucky Explorer Letters may be edited for clarification and brevity.

Recipe Jogs a Memory The Original Kentucky Whiskey Cake recipe (Kentucky Explorer, September issue, page 47) brought back a special memory for me. My mother made this cake every year during the holidays. Everybody loved it, except me. I thought it to be too strong. Maybe it was because she wrapped it in cheesecloth and soaked it with whiskey.

My sister and I were married to career soldiers, who each did three tours of duty in Vietnam. At Christmas, each husband received this cake in the mail.

I don’t know how my mother acquired this recipe, but I know she made a lot of soldiers happy at Christmastime a long way from home in Vietnam.

Mary Hoskins, Clarksville, Tennessee

Are They Still There?

Regarding Mr. Charles Dwyer’s question looking for information on businesses that might still be around (Memories of Kentucky, October issue, page 76), The Little Inn and Cape Codder Restaurant have been closed for a long time.

My husband remembers a restaurant at Donerail but not a general store, so we do not know about that. I remember the Dutch Mill Restaurant on South Limestone in Lexington, but they tore it down a few years ago.

Patricia Shifflett, Lexington

Cape Codder Became an LJS Also regarding Mr. Dwyer’s letter, reader Scott Holbrook of Scott County found this posting on Facebook. Apparently, the Cape Codder later was the site of the original Long John Silver’s on Southland Drive in Lexington.

In memory of Donna Jean Hayes, 1948-2019

FOUNDED 1986, VOLUME 38, NO. 10

In memory of …

Ronnie Doyle, 1943-2023 Park City resident Ronnie Doyle was a frequent contributor to and faithful supporter of Kentucky Explorer.

He regularly sent in newspaper and magazine clippings, plus hand-written articles of interest to our readers.

With every envelope he mailed, which was sometimes more than once a week, Mr. Doyle complimented the magazine and thanked us for keeping Kentucky Explorer alive.

We thank you, Ronnie! We could not do what we do without readers like you. Rest in peace.

— Deborah Kohl Kremer Here are two recent submissions from Mr. Doyle: When I was growing up, there was a place on Green River near Mammoth Cave called Turn Hole Bend. I always wondered the reason for the name.

I started working as a guide in Mammoth Cave National Park in the summer of 1969 and saw excursion steamboats bringing visitors to the park. I learned there was not enough room to turn a boat around at the landing.

Years earlier, the steamboat captain had realized that about 1 mile downstream from the park was enough space for a boat to turn around and then travel in reverse for the last mile of the trip.

The place that was used to turn the boat around was given the name Turn Hole Bend.

I was the principal of Red Cross Elementary School in Barren County in the 1970s. I always wondered how it got its name.

I was told that in the early 1900s, there was a one-room schoolhouse for the community. Around 1917, a new school was built at the crossroads of the two roads in the community. It was noted that the dirt was composed of red clay soil where one road crossed the other road.

Putting these variables together and seeing a red crossing, it was decided that the school would be named Red Cross.

In 1992, the American Red Cross asked the school to change its name but dropped the request when the school system responded with history that dated back more than 80 years.

Ronnie Doyle, Park City Kentucky Explorer appears inside each issue of Kentucky Monthly magazine. Subscriptions can be purchased online at shopkentuckymonthly.com or by calling 1.888.329.0053.

Actress Patricia Neal was born in Packard (Whitley County) on Jan. 20, 1926.

December 2023/January 2024 47

Louisville Courier-Journal Culinary Archive:

Brrrrr … Soup Sure Would Hit the Spot

Old Stone Inn, at 6905 Shelbyville Road in Simpsonville, was built around 1817. It became a restaurant in the 1920s and was a wellknown eatery for nearly 100 years.

In 1884, Phillip Mazzoni, who recently had emigrated from Genoa, Italy, opened Mazzoni’s, a tavern at 212 South Third Street in Louisville.

Known for its rolled oyster sandwich, Mazzoni’s also served up this hearty stew.

Published Dec. 5, 1990

Published Jan. 26, 1994

Published April 6, 1994

There is no better time than January to put a big pot of soup on the stove, brew some tea, and sit down with a good book (I am a librarian, after all).

Featured in this issue are soups from long-gone

restaurants. One of the long-running columns in The Courier Journal was the Cook’s Corner (1979–c. 2004). It was written by the assistant food editor and featured questions from readers. Alice Colombo, who wrote the column from 1985–2001, was a genius at getting restaurants to part with their recipes. Let’s celebrate National Soup Month in January by making one of these Kentucky classics.

Published Oct. 2, 1991

By Jackie Young, MLS, Ed.D Library Director, Sullivan University

Hasenour’s at 1028 Barret Avenue in Louisville, served upscale Germanstyle food. It was open from 1952–1996.

In 2021, Sullivan University acquired The Louisville Courier-Journal’s culinary archives, which include 30,000 recipe cards, 1,500 cookbooks and decades worth of newspaper clippings. Each month, Kentucky Explorer shares a piece of this history, along with a recipe or two, and takes a look at how Kentucky cooked. For more information about Sulivan University, please visit Sullivan.edu or call 1.800.844.1354.

Henderson, named for pioneer and land speculator Richard Henderson, was formally incorporated on Jan. 21, 1840.

4 THE 48 THEKENTUCKY KENTUCKYEXPLORER EXPLORER Send memories to Deborah Kohl Kremer at deb@kentuckymonthly.com or mail to Kentucky Monthly, Attn: Deb Kremer, P.O. Box 559, Frankfort, KY 40602.

“I Remember” Send your memory in today!

Santa Comes to Bloomfield

By Catherine Essex, Bloomfield The excitement begins as you turn the calendar to the month of December, and we start to look forward to the special things each day can bring.

In the 1950s, every year at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, Santa Claus was situated in front of Snider Drugstore on Taylorsville Road in Bloomfield. This was the center of town, where you found the town’s only traffic light.

Children from Bloomfield and the nearby towns of Fairfield and Chaplin lined the sidewalks waiting their turn for a visit and a treat from Santa.

I always looked forward to this event.

My brothers and sisters all made the annual trip to see Santa on Christmas Eve. We always were so excited. My mother drove us, and, before we could get in line with the other children, she had a message for us: Stay in line; do not

Christmas on the Farm

By Lois Wilcox, Piqua, Ohio On the hill behind the farmhouse on Big White Oak Road in Load (Greenup County), there stood an acre or more of different kinds of pine trees. Some had large needles; some had short needles; and some had pinecones. At Christmastime, we had our choice of pine trees to decorate.

There were three Christmas wreaths adorning the windows at the front of our home. These wreaths were made from metal coat hangers lined with sweet-smelling pine twigs and a pretty red bow. The fireplace mantel was decorated with pine twigs and pinecones. The mantel and windows were decorated the week before Christmas. The tree was put up on Christmas Eve Day and taken down the day after Christmas. The reason for this is that the tree took up space for our large family.

By Our Readers

push others; look before you cross the street; you older ones, hold tight to the hands of your little brothers and sisters; always say thank you; keep your hat and gloves on; and do not open your treat until you get in the car with me to go home.

Santa passed out treats to the girls and boys as he stood on the corner by the red light. You could feel the excitement and the anticipation among the children standing in line. Santa’s suit of red and white and his hat blowing in the wind appeared to be magical as the children watched and waited for their time to see him and get the special treat he had in a little brown lunch sack.

Each child received a bag that included two chocolate drops, a peppermint candy cane and two pieces of fruit—a big juicy orange and a beautiful red apple.

The candy and fruit had been put together by the community of Bloomfield. The lines were long, but patience prevailed during this annual Christmas Eve tradition. Heading home, we giggled as we enjoyed our candy and fruit along the country road to our house in the community of Fairfield. We were all tired and slept in peace, if only for a couple of hours. Soon, little feet were going down the stairs from the bedrooms to see what Santa had left under the tree.

The familiar red stoplight in Bloomfield has been taken down and replaced with a four-way stop sign. The drugstore is no longer there. Things change, but the magic of Santa is always alive and well.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

The stockings were hung on the mantel on Christmas Eve. The next morning, we kids found an orange and a few pieces of hard candy in the stockings. The reason for oranges was that country stores did not have oranges in stock until Christmas.

Some Christmases, my grandma, Anna Hannon, came down from Ohio for a yearly visit. On Christmas Eve, Mom served some of her berry pies. My grandma said it tasted like summer, but my older brother, James, said, “No, Grandma, it tastes like more.”

Mom also made fruitcake, chocolate cake, and several kinds of berry pies.

We sat around the open fireplace eating roasted-in-the-shell peanuts or mixed nuts.

We were poor, but because we were young children, we didn’t know it. The older kids knew a different lifestyle, having lived in Portsmouth, Ohio, when Dad worked in the steel mill.

There were 13 children, 10 of whom lived to be adults.

The first constitutional convention of Kentucky was called by Col. Benjamin Logan on …

December 2023/January 2024 49

Family Love: The Best Christmas Gift

By Markley Midkiff Freer, Owensboro Some of my most pleasant childhood memories were of celebrating our family’s love for one another on Christmas Eve. I grew up on an 80-acre farm in Ohio County, about 8 miles from the small town of Fordsville.

My parents, Heber and Della Midkiff, were married on Dec. 24, 1913, in Canalou, Missouri. Our family celebrated their anniversary on Christmas Eve every year in our white wooden farmhouse with a metal roof. My mother and father were the parents of six children. The oldest three boys were born in the 1920s, with the younger siblings arriving during the Great Depression years of the 1930s.

Our family celebrated Christmas around a big farm table that had two drop leaves at each end and could seat 18. The long table was bountifully filled with homegrown produce and meats all raised on our farm. Cured country ham and sausage from our smokehouse, chicken and dumplings that Mom cooked from scratch, canned white half runner green beans and sweet potatoes, frozen lima beans and cut-off-the-cob sweet corn from our large chest freezer in the washhouse, baked apples or pears from the trees in the small orchard in our yard, canned sweet pickles and mashed potatoes. The potatoes usually had been laid out in the pumphouse or washhouse so they wouldn’t freeze before we used them. Homemade rolls, biscuits and cornbread were served with hand-churned butter and homemade jams, jellies or honey.

Our family loved sweets! Therefore, we had lots of desserts—hickory nut pie made from the nuts we had gathered and picked out by hand, chocolate pie, angel food cake, jam cake with caramel icing, and banana cake.

There was a huge bowl of fruit salad with peaches from the cans we sold in our country store. For Christmas money, Dad went to Owensboro and sold some tobacco we had raised. While there, he bough grapes, walnuts, oranges and bananas. We washed all this delicious food down with sweet milk from our cows, iced tea and coffee.

Later in the evening, more sweet treats were passed around the living room. There was chocolate fudge with black walnuts and white, pink and green divinity with a whole pecan or English walnut placed on top. Homemade popcorn balls were made with sorghum molasses. They

Special Christmas Memories

By Ella B. Culp, Concord, North Carolina I grew up on a 100-acre farm in Columbia, in Adair County, in the late 1950s. There were five of us children— three boys and two girls. We shared a small two-bedroom and one-bathroom house.

When I look back on those childhood days, I wonder how we all managed in such a small place. I guess we were somewhat like the Waltons, each taking our turn in the bathroom. We walked a mile and a half to our school, Frasier Elementary, in snow or rain. We were a one-car family, and my father drove it to work in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. He was a heavy equipment operator. He was a good provider. He was gone all week, and we saw him only on weekends. We never had our wants, but he

were fun to make and eat but always stuck to your teeth!

My four brothers began entertaining us with oldfashioned string music on the fiddle, guitars and mandolin. My father did a few jig steps to the lively music. I “cut a rug” to the beat every time I got a chance!

My brothers’ music provided a nice backdrop for the 30 family members plus neighbors to talk, laugh and sing in celebration of the joyous occasion. It was the highlight of our Christmas Eve celebration!

Christmas decorations were simple.

A cedar tree had been cut from the pasture that morning. We decorated the tree with paper chains made from red and green construction paper, sweet-gum balls wrapped in shiny gold or silver paper that we’d saved throughout the year for that purpose, and a yellow paper star on top of our tree. Our family had a few cheap glass or metal ornaments that were bought from the five-and-dime store.

When we finally got electricity in 1946, it was a delight to see the tree lights “bubble.” Of course, like most farm families, we made strings of popcorn and added small squares of red, green and gold cellophane paper.

Most of our gifts were practical things like gloves, caps, socks and other clothing. I did receive a few toys when my older brother got a job teaching. I still have my little red tin stove that cost 49 cents. My glass play dishes are still on display today in a glass case in my living room. My sister got a few kitchen items, such as a toy sifter and a small rolling pin with a board. We had paper dolls and a few books. My younger brother had a yo-yo, jacks, marbles, a toy airplane and firecrackers. I can remember my older brothers saying that they got fruit, nuts and a candy cane in their stockings.

Money was scarce, but our close-knit family had plenty to eat and never, ever doubted that we were loved. The love our parents shared, and the love we had for one another, was the best Christmas gift we received each year.

Markley Midkiff Freer is the author of the book Markley’s Memories.

For more information, email francis.melinda0720@gmail.com. made sure we had our needs. Every year, I looked forward to Christmas. My parents made it a special time.

My father took us to the woods to pick out a Christmas tree. We had a grove of beautiful cedars. He cut down a 7-foot tree one year. I said, “It’s going to touch the ceiling, and we don’t have enough ornaments for such a big tree.”

My father just laughed. He seemed to get as much joy out of picking a Christmas tree as we did. My mother did a lot of baking at this time. I loved how the smell of apple pies traveled through the house.

We all made homemade ornaments to go on the tree. There it stood in all its glory, touching the ceiling. Christmas was a special time, and I will always have these fond memories of a Christmas long ago.

… Dec. 27, 1784, in Danville, the capital of Kentucky County, Virginia.

6 THE 50 THEKENTUCKY KENTUCKYEXPLORER EXPLORER

in the wreaths and the baskets she had woven from mere dough.

Everything revolved around family, food and fun. Aunt Lena got us dancing and being silly, and she always had us do a parade of fashions. She sent us upstairs, and, one by one, we came downstairs showing off our holiday dresses and suits. She clapped and hugged us, and we had the best time.

Over the years, the times have changed. The Grecos’ Newport home remained in our family for 76 years. Menus Submitted in loving memory of Lena Ciafardini Greco changed a bit, but we still celebrate family, give thanks to

By Pamela Ciafardini Casebolt, Alexandria God, and celebrate life.

The tradition of having homemade ravioli for Christmas Some of my fondest childhood memories are of my dinner has been passed down from my Aunt Lena to my Aunt Lena. Easter and Christmas Day were always joyful parents and on to me. Every year, my at her house. Aunt Lena and Uncle children, along with their spouses Pat (full name Pasquale Greco), were and my grandchildren, get together to excellent cooks, but on those make homemade ravioli for Christmas holidays, my memories are of her. dinner. Each of us has a role in When we arrived in our finest preparing the dish. The dough makers outfits at their Southgate (Campbell mix the ingredients and knead the County) home, Aunt Lena was in the dough. Then, the dough rollers take kitchen with her beautiful black hair over and cut it with a Kentucky Derby pinned beneath a scarf. She wore a glass for the perfect size. Next are the fresh white blouse and a full skirt fillers and pressers, who close each that swirled as she whipped in and ravioli with a fork. We have counters, out of the kitchen carrying massive who also flash freeze the ravioli in platters of food. order to bag them. Five hundred of The tomatoes came from Uncle the little pastas usually are made and Pat’s garden, and in the spring and divided up, so each family member summer, you could smell fresh mint can take some home. growing by the steps just outside the This tradition is not only part of dining room door. Aunt Lena always my family Christmas but that of other had a big pot of soup simmering on families of Italian descent who live in the stove. Christmas dinner included Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati. salad, homemade ravioli, meatballs These communities became and braciole. She also had turkey strongholds for Italian immigrants with all the side dishes, fresh fruit, during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Aunt Lena, pictured above, and Uncle nuts, cookies and candy—always They brought their faith, their skills Pat Greco of Newport took in her candy. and a love for their new country. brothers and sisters from the Aunt Lena’s decorations included My children celebrate with their orphanages where they lived in a pink Christmas tree full of bubble families on Christmas Eve, but Wheeling, West Virginia, and Ft. Thomas, lights glowing in the living room. To Christmas day is mine. It’s a Kentucky, during the early to mid-1930s. this day, I have never seen another continuation of gift giving to each Her siblings continued to stay with the pink Christmas tree as beautiful as other and sharing memories. couple until they entered the armed hers.

We still cook “big” on the services during World War II and On Easter, she prepared an Italian holidays, and that always reminds me married. During that time, Lena and Pat Easter bread. As a young girl, I was of Aunt Lena. raised their own three children. so amazed as to how she got the eggs

“I Remember”

continued

Aunt Lena, the Cook

Rebecca Aldridge: A Woman Ahead of Her Time

By Bob Morris, Blue Ash, Ohio Rebecca Aldridge was born in Winchester in 1896.

Unlike most women at the time, who married young and raised families, Rebecca opted to pursue a career. The 100th anniversary of The Brown Hotel in Louisville sparked memories of my Great Aunt Becky and her ladies’ apparel shop, which was located in The Brown Hotel lobby.

“Rebecca’s” was more than a women’s clothing store.

Customers included some of Louisville’s most prominent families, as Aunt Becky’s shop brought high fashion to the region. She made periodic trips to New York to select and bring back the latest styles “for the discriminating woman.” Her busiest time was Kentucky Derby week, when celebrities from around the world stayed at The Brown and shopped at Rebecca’s. Family members claimed that she was a personal friend of The Brown’s owner, J. Graham Brown.

During the early 1950s, my mother and I rode the bus from our apartment at Lynn Acres to downtown Louisville.

John C. Breckinridge, the 14th and youngest-ever United States vice president, was born in Lexington on Jan. 16, 1821.

December 2023/January 2024 51

The trip always included a grilled cheese sandwich and a Coke at the Woolworth’s lunch counter and a visit to Aunt Becky’s shop, where she had some sort of treat for a young person. She was a successful—and generous— businesswoman. Every Christmas, she sent me and all my cousins (who were many) a crisp $5 bill, back when five bucks was really worth something (more than $50 today).

She continued the annual practice until I was in college.

Aunt Becky began her career before 1920 and progressively went from working for others as a bookkeeper, salesperson and buyer to starting her own business. She was a true Southern Lady, who probably never thought of herself as a groundbreaker or role model.

She was ahead of her time. As a single woman, she had to

overcome the obstacles and prejudices of the time to work with banks, suppliers and customers. I doubt that she received any help as she was launching her shop, but the 1950 census lists her occupation as “proprietor” of an apparel shop, which was her “own business.” By that time, she had been in business for many years.

The original Brown Hotel closed in 1971. I’m not sure when Aunt Becky closed her shop and retired, but I do know that she lived until 1993. She was representative of the future as a businesswoman who blazed a path for others to follow. But she also was the product of a longago past, when a grand hotel was the place to stay, downtown was the place to shop, and elegant clothes were the mark of “the discriminating woman.”

The Pie and Box Supper

However, I was starved for entertainment, and that’s what the box supper provided.

By David R. Caudill, Daytona Beach, Florida We didn’t restrict ourselves to our own school. After all, pretty girls are to be found everywhere. Schools like Growing up in the 1950s, we enjoyed attending pie and Grassy, Briar Fork, Solar, Yerkes and Forked Mouth come box suppers, which were events that served as social readily to mind. A gatherings and hand-lettered sign fundraisers. I suspect appeared tacked to a they are rare today and telephone post have been replaced by announcing a box magazine subscriptions, supper at a particular book fairs, carnivals and school on a certain other fundraisers. night. It didn’t matter The one- and twoif it was 5 or 6 miles room schoolhouses at away. That was just a the time depended on short walk for those of the box supper. The us used to scrambling schools generally were up and down the hills. without much of a That date was budget. If one needed tucked away in our playground equipment memory, and on that and basketball uniforms, night, a few of us A box supper at Quicksand School in Breathitt County, 1930s. it had to raise money. attended. (Note: It was That money certainly wasn’t going to be provided by most county school boards. always better to take some friends because the local boys didn’t take kindly to strangers among their women.) It was Big Willard Elementary in Perry County was no exception. quite innocent. If you were lucky, you might get to walk a The box supper was a combination of entertainment, a girl home and maybe get a kiss or two, but there was beauty contest and a stage show. Girls made picnic lunches and packed them in boxes that they decorated. No always the possibility of a long-term relationship.

The box supper’s success greatly depended on the names were placed on them, but boyfriends or other auctioneer. At Big Willard Elementary, there was a suitors usually could figure it out. The boxes were succession of auctioneers. Once, when my father, Albert auctioned, and, sometimes, the bidding became quite Caudill, was on leave from the service, I found out that he animated. Once the box suppers was sold, the winning was president of the PTA and acted as auctioneer at box bidder and girl who had packed it went off to eat the suppers. In all my years of growing up, my father took no meal. When all the box suppers were sold, the school interest in supporting the schools other than tanning our auctioned off pies and had pretty-girl contests. hides if we got in trouble. Further, he was an introvert in There always was either a group of musicians or a public. One-on-one, he was affable and jolly, but to take record player. Beer and whiskey usually could be found in charge of the PTA and to be auctioneer at a box supper the parking lot. An enterprising teenage boy could find was unheard of. some kind soul to offer him libation. After everyone ate, Father wasn’t averse to taking a drink, and when he there was square dancing into the late evening. had a few under his belt, he could really raise the money.

The box supper was a godsend for a teenager growing This was in the 1950s, and there wasn’t much loose money up in what outsiders considered a depressed area of around, yet I’ve seen him get $6 for a pie you could buy for Appalachia. I never felt depressed. Poor, yes, but never $2 in a supermarket. He also got $8-$15 for most box depressed. Most people I knew were in the same boat, so suppers and occasionally $20. it didn’t bother me.

Garrard County was formed in 1796 and was named for James Garrard, governor of Kentucky from 1796-1804.

52 THE KENTUCKY EXPLORER

Dreams Realized:

The Pilot and the Packard

By Hubert E. King Jr., Flemington, New Jersey

District School on Clifton Avenue in he spirit of adventure was characteristic of many in the Latonia from early days of our country. Richard King was one. A 1924-1931 to Revolutionary War veteran, he uprooted his family from Independence Virginia and moved to the wilderness of the Kentucky Hubert in his Packard, with a 1941 Kenton High School Territory in 1785, a time when the indigenous people and County license plate. (today known the unforgiving wilderness were challenges to survival.

Fortunately, he flourished. Settling in what is now Harrison as Simon Kenton High School), where he excelled in math.

He graduated in 1937. Afterward, he took his first full-time County, his sizable farm was located near Cynthiana. job at a Standard Oil service station.

Today, his name is inscribed on the county courthouse.

During his time at the service station, Hubert started Several generations of Kings followed. In the early 20th saving money for his dream—a Packard automobile. His century, the same adventurous spirit led two fourthhero, Lindbergh, had received a Packard as a gift, and generation brothers, Mortimer and Hubert W., to move Hubert wanted to follow in his footsteps. In a bold move, from agrarian to urban life, migrating to Kenton County. he approached a local Packard owner, with cash in hand, Our story focuses on Hubert E. King, Mortimer’s son, and declared his intention to buy the car. The exact who inherited that spirit of adventure. identity of the seller remains a mystery. It likely was a local In the midst of Depression-era America, this boy from a real estate developer with whom Hubert was friends. working-class family had dreams that seemed almost The Packard Motor Car Company, founded in 1899 by unattainable—to own a Packard automobile and to become James and William Packard, was known for its a pilot. Hubert’s remarkable journey was filled with riskcommitment to engineering excellence and luxury taking, resilience and a touch of luck. His story not only automobiles. Between 1924 and 1930, Packard was the topreflects the indomitable spirit of his generation but also selling luxury brand. It was the choice of royalty sheds light on the enduring allure of luxury cars and the worldwide. However, financial realities forced Packard to power of a childhood hero. introduce more affordable models in the mid-1930s, such as Born in 1919, Hubert spent his early years in the the Packard Six, which sold for $900. It was a critical Covington suburb of Latonia. His father and uncle were success and helped save the company from bankruptcy. successful home builders, a profession not for young Hubert’s Packard Six was an elegant convertible that Hubert. A product of the 20th century—the time of was not just a means of transportation but a symbol of advancements in aviation, automobiles, electric lights and radio—Hubert was fascinated with science and technology. aspiration and luxury in a time when the average annual income was around $1,000.

Like most of America at that time, his childhood hero Hubert’s life seemed to be on a smooth trajectory, but a was Charles Lindbergh, famous for his solo nonstop dark cloud loomed on the horizon: World War II. transatlantic flight in 1927. Lindbergh wrote, “Science, Lindbergh, a vocal advocate for isolationism, made a freedom, beauty, adventure: what more could you ask of significant speech in 1941 that motivated Hubert’s next life? Aviation combined all the elements I loved.” That move. Repudiating his fallen hero’s attitude and receiving spirit inspired young Hubert. encouragement from his World War I veteran uncle, he The Great Depression was rough on the household of made a daring decision. In November 1941, when the home builders, prompting the family to move to rural Oak United States was not yet at war, Ridge in Kenton County. Despite Hubert traveled to Canada and the economic hardships of the joined the Royal Canadian Air era, Hubert sought inspiration Force (RCAF). This bold move from mentors who encouraged provided him with the his dreams. One was Rev. Marta opportunity he had longed for: to McFarland, the minister at Oak become a pilot.

Ridge Baptist Church, who That journey took him through shared Hubert’s love for debate pilot training and flying bombers and exploration of ideas. Hubert for the RCAF. also bonded with D.B. Casey, a In 1943, Hubert returned briefly master mechanic who taught to the U.S. and married his Hubert the workings of modern childhood sweetheart, Laura. He machines and later helped build then transferred to the U.S. Air his race car.

Hubert’s journey through Left, Hubert’s school photo from 10th District School Force. Returning to combat, he flew numerous missions over education took him from in Latonia, which he attended from 1924-1931; occupied Europe for the remainder elementary school at the 10th right, Hubert and Laura, circa 1943.

T

John Marshall Harlan from Danville and Frankfort served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 34 years.

52 K E NT U C K Y M O NT H LY NOV EMBER 2 0 2 0

December 2023/January 2024 53

of the war. Back in Kenton County at war’s end, he was a local hero and received accolades that included the USAF Bronze Air Medal.

Hubert’s story is one of resilience, determination and an unwavering pursuit of dreams. He realized his childhood aspiration of owning a Packard and becoming a pilot.

After the war, he returned to civilian life. With Laura, he built a custom-designed brick home on Taylor Mill Road and raised a son and daughter. Being an iconoclast, he pursued various ventures, including racing his car at the local Hilltop Race Bowl off Taylor Mill Road and as fire chief of Taylor Mill and the Community Volunteer Fire

Department. As a lifelong avid outdoorsman, hunting and fishing were second nature. He hunted deer near Fort Knox and fished regularly at Lake Cumberland. Frequent weeklong trips, boat in tow, were a part of family life.

Hubert’s 1967 passing was a loss deeply felt by his family and community. The Kentucky State Assembly recognized his contributions and passed a resolution in his honor, underscoring his significance as an outstanding Kentuckian. His life is a testament to the enduring power of dreams and the ability of individuals to shape their destinies, even in the face of adversity. His legacy lives on as a symbol of courage and determination.

Kentucky’s Big Game: White-tailed Deer

By R.L.Guffey, Lexington

K

entucky pioneers largely relied on wild game for meat.

The menu included rabbits, squirrels, wild turkeys, upland game birds and waterfowl, but white-tailed deer were especially prized for the large yield of meat. Hunters with good butchering skills could expect to recover about 50 percent of the carcass to supply their meat needs.

Even today, the white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, is the most commonly hunted animal in the state. These deer have several subspecies of variable sizes, with bucks between 150-300 pounds and does weighing in from 88-198 pounds. The bucks carry antlers to advertise genetic superiority to females, not as weapons for defense, since they lose antlers in the winter when they are most vulnerable to attack from predators.

White-tailed deer mating season is between September and November, with most of the breeding in October. The gestation period is about 7½ months, with fawning between late May and June. Twin fawns are the norm for white-tailed deer, and triplets are not uncommon. The fawns are remarkably well-camouflaged, and newborn fawns are nearly odorless, an adaptation that stymies predators who hunt by sense of smell.

Deer are the largest wildlife most people see around them, and seeing them stirs a sense of wonder in us. My family had a pet deer for three years when I was young. My father worked in the logging woods. One day, he found a doe that had been killed by a falling tree, which also had broken the leg of her fawn. Dad captured the fawn, whom we named Baby, and brought it home, where he and my siblings put a cast on the broken leg. He built a high, fenced-in pen, but as Baby acclimated to captivity, he was allowed to browse in the fields and forest during the day before returning to the safety of the barn at night. When he was about a year old, he broke his leg again, but setting the leg that time was much more difficult.

When Baby grew antlers, he delighted in terrorizing my mother. He left the pastures to venture to the backyard, where he shook his head and pawed the ground in front of my mother, who threw pop bottles and mops at him to drive him back to the fields to which he fled more out of boredom than fear.

When he was 3, we tagged and released him in the hinterlands of Sunnybrook on the Tennessee border.

Hunters found his body bearing an ear tag a few years later.

Pioneers relied on black powder muskets and muzzleloading Kentucky rifles, while Native Americans used bows and arrows. The state still has specific seasons for different types of hunting gear.

White-tailed deer prefer open areas rather than deep forests. As old-growth forests have disappeared, the deer population in the state today is many times larger than it was in the days of Daniel Boone. Some wildlife experts estimate that, nationwide, the white-tailed deer population today is 100 times what it was in the 18th century.

In 1942, Disney Studios released an animated film inspired by Felix Salten’s book, Bambi: a Life in the Woods. It became an instant classic. The movie generated controversy over the death of Bambi’s mother, which many viewers thought was too disturbing for children. Walt Disney’s daughter, Diane, begged her father to remove the scene from the movie, and director Quentin Tarantino has said that the movie was one of the most traumatic events of his childhood.

Killing their first deer is a rite of passage for many American boys, particularly in Appalachia. A dark consequence of indiscriminate shooting by amateurs has surfaced in recent years: Wounded deer escape only to die later, leaving a carcass for scavengers to eat. Eagles, hawks, owls and vultures ingest lead shot from the kill and die of lead poisoning. Manufacturers of ammunition are being pressured to phase out lead shot.

Proponents of anti-hunting policies fail to realize the risks associated with overpopulation of deer. White-tailed deer are the primary hosts of the ticks that spread Lyme disease, which afflicts tens of thousands of people a year in the U.S. In addition, the highly contagious wasting disease spreads more easily in deer overpopulations. A quick death from a bullet or an arrow is much more merciful than the agonizing death of wasting disease.

On a brighter note, despite the fact that Santa Claus is supposed to use reindeer to pull his sleigh, white-tailed deer typically are present in Christmas decorations.

Who is to say that seeing a graceful deer prancing in a meadow is not a special gift we are lucky to experience?

On Jan. 2, 1943, the UK Wildcats men’s basketball team began a 129-game home winning streak that ended in 1955.

54 THE KENTUCKY EXPLORER

Beaver Dam Celebrates Milestone Anniversaries

By Mayor Paul Sandefur, Beaver Dam

T

his has been a busy year for Beaver Dam. The town has spent 2023 celebrating its sesquicentennial anniversary of being incorporated as a city by the Kentucky legislature. This also marks the 225th anniversary of the city’s founding in 1798.

Beaver Dam is an example of the proverbial question: “What came first, the chicken or the egg?” In our case, it’s what came first, the city or the church?

In 1798, the Kohlman family arrived at the little valley with a creek running through. The creek was filled with small dams built by the area’s industrious beavers. The Kohlmans decided to settle along what they dubbed “Beaver Dam Creek.” A small group of settlers came together and organized a church, aptly named Beaver Dam Baptist Church. More settlers came, and a community was born.

As the church grew, so did the community. But growth was slow. By 1852, a post office had been established, and commercial interests were starting to grow. Commercial coal mining and the arrival of the railroad in 1871 brought real progress to the community. The railroad followed the valley but, more importantly, the veins of coal opened markets up to Louisville and Paducah and beyond.

In 1873, the city of Beaver Dam was incorporated. In the following years, a number of businesses sprung up, including a hotel and livery stables that provided services to the salesmen, or “drummers,” as they were called. The salesmen arrived by train and used Beaver Dam as their base to take their samples to shops in the outlying communities.

The town welcomed its first fast-food restaurant, the Freeze King, in the late 1950s. In the 1940s and early ’50s, Peabody Coal Company had several mines in the area. As referenced in the John Prine song, Mr. Peabody’s coal train found its way to the Western Kentucky coalfields. Goodpaying coal jobs had come to the community, and by the late 1970s, the city’s population had almost tripled. There were a number of subdivisions developed in the ’60s and ’70s—Green Meadows, Willowbrook, Twin Hills and Rolling Hills.

With this boom in population came new businesses and shopping centers, such as Embry’s Valley Shopping Center, which was home to Houchens Grocery Yesterday and today: top, downtown Beaver Dam, 1930s; left, the Freeze King, 1950s; the Beaver Dam Amphitheater, which opened in 2014.

and a bowling alley. In the early 1970s, Midtown Plaza Shopping Center opened, with tenants such as Stewart’s IGA, BD Drugs, Taylor’s Department Store, Coast to Coast Hardware and the Pizza Place.

Other popular businesses in town were the Tri-City Drive-In Theater and Sheffield’s Café. Sheffield’s was located at the intersection of U.S. 231 and U.S. 62. The story was that any politician or businessman who lived in far Western Kentucky and was traveling to Frankfort or Louisville knew to time their trip so that they would be in the vicinity of Sheffield’s around lunchtime or dinnertime. It also was the place to be after a Beaver Dam High School basketball game, as the restaurant was about a block from the school.

While the coal industry dropped considerably, Beaver Dam is still pushing ahead as strong as ever. Today, the city and nearby areas are home to numerous industries, including automobile, timber, oak millwork, precast concrete structures, non-woven fabrics, medical waste disposal, chrome plating, bourbon distilling and warehousing, and agriculture.

Beaver Dam is the gateway to Rosine, the birthplace of Bill Monroe, the father of Bluegrass Music. Sites include the Bill Monroe homeplace, Bill Monroe Museum, Bill Monroe burial site and the Rosine Barn.

While we are proud of our bluegrass music heritage, we are diverse in our musical offerings. Beaver Dam is home to the award-winning Beaver Dam Amphitheater, which has hosted the likes of Prine, Hank Williams Jr., Bret Michaels, Night Ranger, The Beach Boys and ZZ Top. The amphitheater has hosted music lovers from all 120 Kentucky counties, all 50 U.S. states and at least 13 foreign countries since its opening in October 2014. This worldclass facility that can accommodate more than 6,000 people is located in downtown Beaver Dam. Like many communities in Kentucky, Beaver Dam has had its ups and downs. However, the city is wellpositioned to have a bright future. It is home to the Bluegrass Crossings Business Centre industrial park, which has more than 1,000 acres of industrial property. The park is located at the crossroads of U.S. 231 and U.S. 62 and at the crossroads of I-165 (formerly the William H. Natcher Parkway and the Western Kentucky Parkway, with the railroad.

As we have celebrated our past during 2023, we can’t help but be excited for what the future holds for Beaver Dam!

Only three states have capitals with smaller populations than Frankfort (25,527):

December 2023/January 2024 55

Manmade hilltop pools, better known as:

Sky Ponds

By Mark Mattmiller, Cynthiana

K

entucky’s topography wasn’t always ideal for farming, but early settlers and landowners made it work. The hilly terrain of the parts of the Bluegrass region results in very little level ground. The hillsides are especially steep along larger streams, such as the Licking River in the north. Small, level ridges are on top of these steep hills. It is there that an interesting man-made feature is prevalent.

Small ponds, or remnants of them, can be found on nearly every hill farm, and they are right on top—at the apex—of the hills. Their only source of water was, and still is, rain that falls directly into the ponds. The late University of Kentucky Professor Emeritus Joseph Schwendeman said that they are called “sky ponds.”

There are two interesting facts regarding these sky ponds. First, many of the hundreds that still exist today were made before the days of bulldozers and backhoes.

Second, with the exception of a few in West Virginia, they are found only in Kentucky.

The common rock of this area is Eden shale. The shale forms a clay soil that gullies from rain. Thus, the topsoil can be carried away quickly and leave the surface stony and thin. Ponds had to be built where there could be no runoff.

When left to settle in the bottoms of the ponds, the clay forms a bond that, as the farmers said, “Holds water like a jug.” The combination of this shale, the resulting clay and the steep hills are found only in this part of Kentucky.

The ponds were made using a workhorse and a tool called a “pond scoop.” The scoop was harnessed to the horse with a single chain. The farmer held the two handles at the back of the scoop and guided the tool as the horse pulled it back and forth across the area to be made into a pond. When the farmer lifted up on the handles, the scoop dug into the ground. If he pushed down on the handles, it glided across. He lifted up until the scoop filled with dirt.

Then, he pushed down on the handles, let the scoop glide across, and dumped it on the side that quickly became a rounded bank.

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The topsoil was deepest on the top of the ridges, and there were virtually no rocks to impede the pond-digging process. It was hard work and took days to complete. When the job of digging the pond was completed, Pond scoop it was a matter of waiting for the rains to fill it. This could take months, but once full, the ponds almost always held water.

Farms that were situated on river banks or creeks that carried water all summer had no need for sky ponds, but these farms were not numerous. The small hill farms needed a source of water for the farm animals. Even though livestock was pretty much limited to a couple of workhorses or mules, a cow or two to milk—generally called table cows—and maybe a calf or two, the ponds were a necessity. These ponds wouldn’t support the large numbers of livestock we sometimes see today, but they were perfect for earlier times.

Sky ponds were an important feature in early Kentucky agriculture and are today often overlooked as a unique Kentucky feature.

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Augusta, Maine (18,560); Pierre, South Dakota (13,876); and Montpelier, Vermont (8,035).

off the shelf

Glimpses Into the Past The historical railroad running down Main Street is an important feature of the city of LaGrange in Oldham County. There is much more to the town’s history that only recently has been uncovered.

With the release of her book, Hidden History of LaGrange, Kentucky, Nancy Stearns Theiss brings interesting information to light.

Theiss, the local historical society’s executive director, uses oral history accounts and a trove of research findings to present a fascinating look at the city’s past.

The interurban, a “one-car passenger trolley that ran by an electric cable overhead connected by wooden poles,” provided day trips between LaGrange and Louisville in the 1920s and ’30s.

Oldham County native D.W. Griffith, the iconic and controversial film director, gets significant coverage. Information on past stores, churches, schools, houses, Civil War influences, devastating fires and entertainers from the area comprise much of the book, supplemented by plenty of black-and-white photos.

Theiss offers a compelling perspective on a community she knows well, befitting the citizens there and offering connections to a sense of place that also stretches to those outside the area.

(P)-Paperback (C)-Clothbound (H)-Hardback

Gideon Shryock: Kentucky Architect

A Passion for the Cats

Although many not be familiar with the name Gideon Shryock, there is a good chance they are familiar with his work. Born in 1802 in Lexington, Shryock studied architecture and specialized in the Greek Revival style.

As a 25-year-old, Shryock designed a structure that eventually became the statehouse for Kentucky. The building, now known as the Old State Capitol, was used as the seat of Kentucky government for almost 80 years and garnered Shryock a $150 prize for his design. Shryock caught the attention of Henry Clay, who hired him to design a Lexington building, now known as Old Morrison Hall, for Transylvania University in 1831.

This beautiful coffee-table book spotlights 14 Shryock-designed buildings. Illustrations and photographs show how the buildings originally were constructed. The book also includes the history of each building.

Winfrey P. Blackburn Jr. is an attorney in Louisville, and R. Scott Gill teaches architectural history at the University of Texas at Austin.

Blackburn and Gill are co-authors of two other books: Kentucky Houses of Stratton Hammon and Country Houses of Louisville, 1899-1939.

Kyle Macy has a secure place in University of Kentucky Wildcats basketball lore, especially for the generation who watched him lead a star-studded group to the 1978 NCAA men’s basketball championship. Now, Macy’s authoritative knowledge and passion for Big Blue, along with his probing interviewing skills, has led to more success. His engaging television program, From the Rafters of Rupp, spawned a book version, and it likely is a slam dunk for those who can’t get enough of their favorite UK hoopsters.

Macy, along with Dr. John Huang, present an attractive coffeetable book with colorful photos and nearly two dozen interviews with past and present players and others associated with the program.

Deceased players from the early days of UK basketball are included with photos and statistical charts.

Macy writes a personal introduction to each interview, with his remarks about Coach Joe. B. Hall particularly enlightening regarding Macy’s transfer from Purdue University to UK. Former Wildcats broadcaster Ralph Hacker sets the table for Rafters with entertaining remembrances of the Wildcats, including the “magnetism of Kyle Macy.”

By Steve Flairty

By Deborah Kohl Kremer

By Steve Flairty

Hidden History of LaGrange, Kentucky,

by Nancy Stearns Theiss, The History Press, $23.99 (P)

Gideon Shryock: His Life and Architecture 1802-1880, by Winfrey P. Blackburn Jr. and R. Scott Gill, Butler Books, $75(H)

From the Rafters of Rupp: Legends of Kentucky Basketball, by Kyle Macy with Dr. John Huang, Acclaim Press, $34.95 (H)

56 K E NT U C K Y M O NTHLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

WALKER

FIRST SENATOR 1757–1837 As the thirteen colonies struggled for independence and wrestled

defense and government while also pursuing

with concepts of republican government, the times made many

a varied academic path. Along the way he

men. Those beyond the mountains, in the burgeoning American

gained degrees in archaeology and ancient

west, faced additional challenges as they strove to secure their place

history, management and research, defense

in the new nation. From this crucible emerged John Brown, a man

and strategic studies, and cultural heritage.

whose natural reserve belied a deep and abiding devotion to his

His PhD is in settler colonial history.

country and its citizens.

One result of his love of heritage and the

With a keen analysis of the major issues and personalities of the

built environment is the antebellum home,

time, deftly illuminated with vivid details, Steven Walker has

listed on the National Register of Historic

created, in this handsome volume, a fully-realized portrait of this

Places, he now shares with his wife Lynn in

extraordinary man and the new state and nation he dedicated his

Perryville, Kentucky.

life to building.

His previous work, the economic history Enterprise, Risk and Ruin: the Stage-coach and the Development of Van Diemen’s Land and Tasmania, was in part a result of his

1757–1837

operations, Steven Walker led a career in

FIRST SENATOR The Life and Times of John Brown

1757–1837

The Life and Times of John Brown

The Life and Times of John Brown

From piloting fighter jets to commanding

KENTUCKY’S FIRST SENATOR

KENTUCKY’S

KENTUCKY’S

restoration of a c. 1833 Georgian sandstone coaching inn.

BUTLER BOOKS

S T E V E N WA L K E R

With a keen analysis of the KENTUCKY’S FIRST SENATOR major issues and personalities 1 7 5 7 – 1 8 3of 7 It is surprising that this volume should be the the time, deftly first full biography of a man who did so much to shape the development illuminated withof the new American west immediately following the War. John Brown became vividRevolutionary details, the first senator for the district of Kentucky Steven some nineWalker years before statehood, when Kentuckians made him their first choice has forcreated, inwhich twice the US Senate, a body appointed him president pro tempore; yet this today handsome he is largely unknown. volume, a Whether dealing with the physical threat from Indians, local personal political fully-realized opposition, rival inter-state motivations, or the influences French or Spanish portrait ofof British, this agents, John Brown fought for the interests of his fellow Kentuckians. In due course, extraordinary this founding father of Kentucky became manembroiled and theover the Spanish in controversies and Burr conspiracies, but throughout, he newretained state and the confidence and respect of his friends, including the founding fathers and nation he early presidents of the United States. dedicated his life to building.

The Life and Times of John Brown

Purchase at Butler Books butlerbooks.com/ kentuckys-first-senator.html

A Lexington Gem

A Remarkable Life

The stunning Ashland Park neighborhood in Lexington is the creation of descendants of some major league players in Kentucky history. The original owner of the property was statesman Henry Clay, who arrived in Kentucky in 1797 and began practicing law. He went on to serve in both the United States House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and ran for president numerous times. In 1804, he began building a plantation east of the city that sprawled over 500 acres.

The Clays and their descendants owned the land for decades but in the early 1900s sold a portion, which was subdivided into a neighborhood. Then, another prominent name in Kentucky history entered the picture: Frederick Law Olmsted. Olmsted had designed New York’s Central Park, along with many other parks, including the Louisville park system. The Clays hired Olmsted’s son and stepson, known as the Olmsted Brothers, to design the neighborhood.

This softcover book explains how the neighborhood was developed and includes maps and drawings of original plans and photos of the homes that began lining the streets a century ago.

Author Dennis Carrigan has lived in Ashland Park since the 1970s.

With arresting passion and an ability to create a blazing narrative from her familial history, Sheila Williams brings a powerful accounting of the remarkable life of Maryam Prescilla Grace, a midwife born in 1758. In her historical book, Things Past Telling: A Novel, the Newport resident demonstrates an intuitive knowledge of the forces of Black subjugation throughout history and the courageous acts to resist.

The book is inspired by a 112-year-old woman Williams discovered in an 1870 United States federal census record. Grace experienced a life that “spans what is now southern Nigeria to the Ohio River.” Marked by information gained through many meticulous hours of study, the author craftily takes the reader along the protagonist’s challenging journeys, navigating and surviving such because Grace and the other women of her times exhibited an amazing spirit of overcoming adversity.

Besides previously publishing a wide assortment of critically acclaimed books, Williams was commissioned as the librettist for Fierce, an original opera from the Cincinnati Opera.

By Deborah Kohl Kremer Ashland: 100 Years of a Lexington, Kentucky Neighborhood, by Dennis Carrigan, images by Walter Foreman, Butler Books, $25 (P)

Horticulture Meets Humor

shopkentuckymonthly.com 888-329-0053

WW_fullpg.indd 51

Get ready for gardening season with down-home collection of practical advice and personal anecdotes from Kentucky Monthly’s gardening colum Walt Reichert. Organized by the seas each chapter offers color photograp and straightforward tips for everything from combating critters to pairing pla The Bluegrass State’s green thumbs h proliferated, thanks to Walt’s encouraging and down-to-earth mor of gardening wisdom.

Horticulture meets humor in gardening columnist Walt Reichert’s collection. o o o o o

To order: kentuckymonthly.com 1-888-329-0053

By Steve Flairty Things Past Telling: A Novel, by Sheila Williams, HarperCollins Publishers, $25.99 (H)

k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 57

past tense/present tense

by Bill Ellis

It Always Comes Down to What Lincoln Accomplished

I

wish you all a happy holiday season.

Earlier this year, I attended a wonderful presentation by native Kentuckian John McKee Barr, the author of Loathing Lincoln: An American Tradition From the Civil War to the Present, in Hodgenville.

Barr explained that Abraham Lincoln became a public person through his political life and his presidency, and in the years since his 1865 death, many Americans have come to loathe, if not hate, him.

No one else involved in the turmoil of this country in the late 1850s and 1860s could have accomplished what Lincoln did.

Although he was a troubled person, suffering from “melancholy” or depression at times, he was perhaps the only politician of that age who saw clearly what lay ahead. The United States sundered would have led to dire consequences unseen by secessionists.

What would have happened if Lincoln had allowed the Southern secessionists to have their way? Or if the secessionists had won the Civil War? Something like this could have happened.

There would have been at least two nations: the Confederate States of America and the United States of America. If those two nations finally “recognized” each other, there would have been borders.

Where would Kentucky have been in such a mess? The Civil War did not end in Kentucky in April 1865, according to James C. Klotter and Craig Thompson Friend in A New History of Kentucky. “It continued to be fought in the imaginations of Kentuckians, Black and white, Unionist and Confederate. Their competing memories added to the difficult task before Kentuckians as they tried to heal from the war.”

Kentucky was truly a border state with a substantial 58 K E NT U C K Y M O NTHLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

slave population, yet twice as many Kentuckians joined the Union forces as they did the Confederate Army. But why are there so many more Confederate monuments than Union monuments in the state?

Kentucky never officially seceded and drifted throughout the war. If there were peaceful separation of the states, which side would Kentucky have joined? Or would the border states have separated into a third entity?

• • •

I and others have always thought that Texas would have been in a pickle had the Confederacy prevailed. Would Mexico have found it a perfect time to reclaim territory from the original Lone Star Republic?

If so, would the Confederate government have been willing to expend itself to gather armies to defend Texas? Maybe so, maybe not.

California, the Bear Flag Republic, joined the Union in 1850. It certainly had a growing population. And think of all that gold. Maybe California could have gone its own way. Would Mark Twain have become the poet of the California canon but not universally noted?

The Mormon population of Utah was already spreading into other territories. It could have declared itself a nation and become more expansive.

What would have happened to the western Native American populations? Not facing a “united” United States, would they have been more successful in harassing white encroachment and settlement?

Would Canada, perhaps encouraged by British imperialists, have pushed against its traditional border with the United States?

The list of possibilities goes on and on. I am sure that Kentucky Monthly readers have their own opinions of the possibilities of a divided nation.

The Civil War claimed more than 600,000 lives on both

sides. And what about the men and women whose lives were scarred forever?

• • •

Looking back at more than 20 years of writing this column, I— and probably you—have noticed the high number of times I have written about the Civil War and its repercussions on the American body politic. Regardless of how many times Publisher Vest tells me to move on, being born and bred in a border state, I can’t help but feel the tensions of that conflict to the present day.

In the November 2015 issue of Kentucky Monthly, I corrected a wellknown historian who wrote that Clinton County Union Cavalryman Milton E. Wallen died from a serious arm wound. My further research found that he survived, only after his severed right arm was possibly treated with carbolic acid to control gangrene (read up about gangrene if you have a moment).

Wallen was among thousands of amputees, Confederate and Union, who suffered after the war ended.

We should be forever grateful for the outcome of the Civil War. It was a great testing time.

What would the world be like without the “United” States? The United States helped stop Japanese aggression in the Pacific and twice entered a European war to suppress German aggression. Can you imagine what the world would have been like if Adolf Hitler and Nazism ruled multiple continents?

Only the United States was large enough and powerful enough to halt those aggressions.

Can we still survive as the United States of America when my 1-yearold great-granddaughter Maisie reaches her 83rd year as I have?

I leave you with an old country saying from the Great Depression Era by way of my friend T.K. Strong of Jackson: “If ifs and buts were fruit and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas.”

Readers may contact Bill Ellis at editor@kentuckymonthly.com. k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 59

field notes

by Gary Garth

Calling the Shot

W

elcome to the December/ January issue of Kentucky Monthly, one of two double issues published annually (the other is June/July).

Unofficially, I consider December/ January The Waterfowl Issue. This will come as a surprise to my editor, but my reasoning is solid. In addition to Christmas, Hanukkah, the hanging of the green, New Year’s, winter solstice, shopping, cooking, reindeer, Scrooge, twinkle lights, presents, stockings, caroling, Mary, Joseph, the innkeeper, shepherds, the Christ child, candy, Christmas trees, fruit cake, Santa Claus, office parties and the myriad seasonal traditions and happenings celebrated across the Commonwealth and wrapped into the closing of one year and the opening of another, December and January include the bulk of Kentucky’s duck- and goosehunting season. For some families, a Christmas or Christmas Eve morning duck hunt is a generations-long tradition.

Duck and goose hunters are generally a dedicated and conservation-minded bunch. They care deeply about the critters they hunt and work hard to assure the birds have the habitat necessary not only to survive but to thrive. This is important far beyond action in the duck blind or goose pit. Kentucky and the world beyond have their share of problems—climatic, political and others. But the appearance of a migrating v-wedge of geese or a string of ducks is a comforting reminder that somewhere, things are as they should be.

Duck and goose hunters also can be somewhat quirky, a by-product, perhaps, of the critters they chase.

Waterfowl are seasonal travelers.

They travel hundreds—sometimes

thousands—of miles, their movements driven primarily by weather and water conditions, both of which are beyond the control of any hunter. Conditions can literally change overnight. The most challenging conditions—rain, cold, wind, sleet, snow or any combination thereof—can, but do not always, lead to the most productive hunting.

During a recent visit with my nephew, who lives in northwest Missouri near the Missouri River, the conversation turned to waterfowl season. Now a young husband and father, my nephew comes from a family of hunters, but he had never shown much interest in field sports.

He told me he was thinking about duck hunting. I shared what I knew but recommended that he work with a local waterfowl guide.

“Just remember that the guide calls the shot,” I said.

“Calls the shot? What do you mean?”

“Yeah. Your guide tells everyone in the party when they can shoot. It’s important.”

Several years ago, when I was new to the outdoor editorial business, I accepted an invitation to a waterfowl hunt. I was also new to duck hunting.

The hunt was a standing timber hunt, meaning we donned waders (which I borrowed) and hunted in a patch of flooded timber. I’ve

60 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 2 0 2 4

forgotten the specifics, but there were five or six hunters in our group. The guide—a tall, thin man with a bushy salt-and-pepper beard—was probably in his 40s but seemed older. As we were gathered in the timber in the chilly, predawn darkness, the guide explained where we would be positioned.

He could handle the duck calling. The birds (if they arrived) would circle overhead, then drop into the timber.

“I’ll call the shot,” he said.

He asked if anyone was hunting “timber” for the first time. Mine was the only hand that went up.

He positioned us roughly in a circle. I could pick out some of the decoys that were scattered about, but in the shadowy darkness, it was difficult to see clearly. The guide unexpectedly appeared at my side.

“You’ve never done this before?”

I shook my head.

“When the ducks start circling,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper, “it’s exciting.” He looked at me. “But don’t shoot ’til I say so.”

The sun had cleared the horizon when a handful of ducks appeared.

They turned toward the guide’s expert calling. Then, for some unknown reason, they flared and were gone. A few minutes later, a few more appeared and homed in on the duck talk coming from the trees. The birds circled above us, lower with each pass.

“Get ready,” the guide said in a choked whisper.

He worked his call quietly. The birds made a couple more passes, lower each time. I cradled the Remington 870 I’d inherited from my father, my finger on the safety.

The birds swung around again, seemingly grazing the treetops. The guide had been right. It was exciting.

“BOOM!!” From my immediate left, a shotgun roared. A startling, unexpected blast that brought the morning to a stunning halt. The ducks vanished. Silence.

The guide waded past me and stood face to face with the hunter. He uttered a profanity, and then said, “I wish you’d killed that duck.”

The hunter, who was about the guide’s age, had misread the moment.

“Me, too,” he said with a chuckle, then added a coarse comment meant to be a joke.

The guide leaned forward and spoke in a low whisper that was nearly a growl. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but the hunter unloaded his shotgun. His morning was done.

The guide walked past me. He glanced up, stone faced, eyes blazing.

“You did good,” he said without stopping.

...

You can find Kentucky waterfowl season dates, bag limits and other rules and regulations at fw.ky.gov/ Hunt/Pages/Waterfowl-Hunting.aspx.

Hunting for ducks, along with coots and mergansers, is open Dec. 7-Jan. 31, while gunning for Canada geese, along with white-fronted geese and brant, opened Nov. 23 and continues through Feb. 15. The sandhill crane season also is Dec. 7-Jan. 31.

Most of Kentucky’s public hunting areas are open for duck and goose hunting. Special regulations apply to several areas. A list of those can be found at fw.ky.gov/Hunt/Pages/ Waterfowl-Public-Land-Hunts.aspx.

...

For the last-minute holiday shopper, a few gift ideas for the outdoors person on your list can be found at theoutdoornotebook.net.

Wishing a safe and splendid holiday and New Year to all.

Readers may contact Gary Garth at editor@kentuckymonthly.com k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 61

calendar

DECEMBER 2023 Winter Wonderland of Lights Festival, Ashland

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

Ongoing Lights Under Louisville, Mega

Ongoing Holly Jolly Days, Behringer-

Cavern, Louisville, through Jan. 1, 1.877.614.6342

Crawford Museum, Covington, through Jan. 9, 859.491.4003

Ongoing Winter Wonderland of Lights Festival, Central Park, Ashland, through Jan. 1, 606.329.1007

Ongoing Stories Retold: American Art from Princeton University,

4

5

Lyric Theatre and Cultural Arts Center, Lexington, 859.252.8888

Kentucky Opry, Benton, 270.527.3869

Holiday Tour of Homes, various

<<<

locations, Madisonville, 270.821.4171

WoodSongs,

Kentucky Opry Christmas,

3 12

Nutcracker Magical Christmas Ballet, SKyPAC,

6

24 Christmas Eve

31

25

<<<

The Virginia Theater, Somerset, 606.679.6366

FRIDAY

2

downtown Central City, also Dec. 2, 8 and 9, 270.754.9603

downtown Williamstown, 1.800.382.7117

7

9

Paramount Arts Center, Ashland, 606.324.0007

RiverPark Center, Owensboro, 270.687.2770

Louisville Palace, 1.800.745.3000

14

15

Mercury Ballroom, Louisville, 502.583.4555

Glema Mahr Center for the Arts, Madisonville, 270.821.2787

20

21

22

Louisville Palace, 1.800.745.3000

SKyPAC, Bowling Green, 270.904.1880

EKU Center for the Arts, Richmond, 859.622.7469

Center for the Arts, Richmond, 859.622.7469

13

Dirty Honey & Austin Meade Concert,

Louisville Orchestra: Nat King Cole Christmas,

Christmas Day

New Year’s Eve

Whiskey Myers Concert,

Michael W. Smith Christmas,

19 28

MCC Singers Community Christmas,

Lexington Ballet Presents The Nutcracker,

29

Kentucky Flea Market, Kentucky Expo Center, Louisville, through Dec. 31, 502.456.2244

a guide to Kentucky’s most interesting events 62 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2 0 2 3 / JANUARY 2 0 2 4

Country Christmas,

8

Steven Curtis Chapman – Acoustic Christmas,

A Charlie Brown Christmas Live Onstage, EKU

SATURDAY

1

Lu-Ville!

Kentucky Museum, Bowling Green, through Dec. 31, 270.745.2592

Bowling Green, 270.904.1880

A Celtic Christmas with The Founding,

THURSDAY

Owensboro Symphony – Home for the Holidays,

16

A Cathedral Christmas, Cathedral of Christ the King, Lexington, 859.233.4226

23

Jefferson Tarc Bus in Concert, Mercury Ballroom, Louisville, 502.583.4555

30

JANUARY 2024 Louisville Boat, RV and Sportshow

SUNDAY Ongoing Regional Art Show, Baker Hunt Art and Cultural Center, Covington, through Feb. 23, (859) 431-0020

7

Aerosmith: Peace Out, The Farewell Tour,

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

4

1

8

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show, Boyle County Performing Arts Center, Danville, 859.439.5143

<<<

15

16

12

13

Mania: The ABBA Tribute,

On Golden Pond, Market

Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, Glema Mahr Center for the Arts, Madisonville, 270.821.2787

<<<

22

Lexington Opera House, Lexington, 859.233.4567

19

Norton Center for the Arts, Danville, 859.236.4692

Glema Mahr Center for the Arts, , Madisonville, 270.821.2787

11 24

Louisville Boat, RV and Sportshow, Kentucky Expo Center, Louisville, through Jan. 28, 502.637.5000

23 31

25

The Iron Industry at LBL, McCracken County Public Library, Paducah, 270.442.2510

Ongoing The Kentucky Sugar Chest, Speed Art Museum, Louisville, through April 7, 502.634.2700

6

Concert with the Stars, Lexington Opera House, Lexington, 859.233.4567

Simone Porter,

Brian Woods in Concert,

SATURDAY

Spotlight Playhouse, Berea, also Jan. 6-7 and 12-13, 859.759.0011

KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, 502.690.9000

House Theater, Paducah, through Jan. 23, 270.444.6828

28

Twelfth Night,

Harlem Globetrotters,

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

21

FRIDAY

5

New Year’s Day

KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, 502.690.9000

14

THURSDAY

20

Black Jacket Symphony, Lexington Opera House, Lexington, 859.233.4567

26

27

Lexington Opera House, Lexington, through Jan. 28, 859.233.4567

SKyPAC, Bowling Green, 270.904.1880

The Cher Show,

Revisting Creedence,

Ongoing Patti’s Festival of Lights, Patti’s 1880’s Settlement, Grand Rivers, through Jan. 31, 270.362.8844

find more at kentuckymonthly.com k e n t u c k y m o n t h l y. c o m 63

vested interest

Bully Bear

I

’m not going to check the facts.

Still, I believe “bully” originated with President Theodore Roosevelt, known for being loud and pushy, getting what he wanted through bravado and intimidation.

He was a master; you’ll find his likeness on Mount Rushmore as one of our four outstanding United States presidents.

From what I know about Roosevelt, I admire his drive and the irony in him being the origin of the soft and cuddly teddy bear. Soft and cuddly he was not.

How Roosevelt became associated with the teddy bear begins with a Kentuckian—Clifford Kennedy Berryman (1869-1949), a Woodford County native and Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist for The Washington Post. In a Nov. 16, 1902, cartoon, “Drawing the Line in Mississippi,” Roosevelt is shown compassionately refusing to kill a small bear during a hunting trip. The cartoon inspired Morris Michtom, a New York merchant, to create a new toy called the teddy bear.

• • •

Over the years, being a bully has somehow become equated with leadership. In this view, kindness and compassion are weaknesses. One of my acquaintances echoed this when he tried to explain why he didn’t like recently reelected Gov. Andy Beshear. “He’s nice,” the former football player said. “People like him—so how can he be any good?”

• • •

This has been a long-held belief in sports. At one time, Paul “Bear” Bryant and Adolph Rupp coached together at the University of Kentucky. Neither was considered a teddy bear, and both were great coaches in history. I’m sure you can think of other examples.

I’ve never cared much for bullies. In STEPHEN M. VEST junior high school, I had a gym teacher Publisher + Editor-in-Chief who looked for any excuse to give me swats with his customized fiberglass paddle, and with my uncontrollable mouth, he had ample opportunities. Years later, we ran into each other in a store, and I tried my best to avoid him. He cornered me and asked why I was

ducking him. “You made my life miserable,” I screamed.

He seemed surprised. “You know,” he said. “You were just too nice, and I wanted to see how far I could push you before you stood up for yourself.”

So, when I found myself being a sportswriter, a career I pursued for 15 years, I bristled when coaches bullied the media, which happened often.

Before coming home to The State Journal in 1989, I wrote for a newspaper in Shelbyville, Indiana, and had a few opportunities to meet “The General”—Robert Montgomery Knight, who died Nov. 1.

In 1986, author John Feinstein published A Season on the Brink, a behind-the-scenes look at Indiana University basketball. In the book, Coach Knight claimed that local eighth-grader Damon Bailey was better than any of the guards then at IU. Feinstein tried to clarify.

“You mean he will be?” “No,” Knight said. “I don’t mean potentially better, I mean today.”

Comparing Bailey to All-American IU guard Steve Alford prompted Hoosiers to sell out every game of Damon’s high school career.

Flash forward to Jan. 3, 1993. Fourth-ranked IU played third-ranked UK at Freedom Hall in Louisville. Travis Ford, guarded often by Bailey, scored a career-high 29 points (hitting a school record seven 3-pointers) as UK prevented Knight from earning his 600th career victory. When he came into the press room, Knight was spewing profanities.

When a reporter asked him a question, he called it the #$%& dumbest question of all time. The next, he said, was even dumber. “Can anyone of you @$*&@# top that &$*@# stupid question?” Knight snarled.

“Yep, coach, I can,” I said. “I was wondering if you thought Travis Ford played as well today as Damon Bailey did as an eighth grader?”

The room fell silent for maybe two counts when Knight spewed a half-dozen obscenities, crushed his paper cup of water, glared and stormed out. I had done it: I had asked the dumbest question ever. Throwing Knight’s words back at him filled me with a fleeting feeling of pride.

I thought standing up to Coach Knight might make me feel like Ralphie when he unleashed his anger on his bully Scut Farkus in A Christmas Story. Instead, I thought about how I might have finally made my junior high gym teacher proud, which made me sad.

I hope I didn’t hurt Coach Knight’s feelings.

Kwiz Answers: 1. B. Bethlehem is located at state Routes 22 and 573; 2. C. The namesake of the city of Morehead was born in 1797 in Shepherdsville; 3. Probably folklore. To run from “Old Chillicothe,” located near Xenia, Ohio, Boone would have been required to travel at 3.3 miles per hour without a break; 4. C. Hines and his wife compiled lists of good restaurants from those nationwide travels; 5. C. Masonic University was in La Grange from 1842-1881 on the site of the Oldham County Fiscal Court Building; 6. A. The Order of the Eastern Star has more than 500,000 members; 7. B. In addition to Hindman, the DAR supports schools in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Massachusetts; 8. C. Yes, Centre had a law department; 9. A. Harlow and his friend Copelan Garvey recorded Rippin’ and Rappin’ as seventh graders; 10. C. After returning from the war, Rollins was a two-time All-SEC player, was a member of the Wildcats’ 1948 NCAA championship team, and won an Olympic gold medal with the United States basketball team in the 1948 London Olympics.

64 K E NT U C K Y M O NT HLY D ECEMBER 2023/ JANUARY 20 2 4

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